Oct 04, 2015

Ponderings 

 

Is What We See as Reality Fact or Perceptual

 

What is reality? Is it “Just the facts, ma’am, just the facts” (If you don’t know what TV show that is from, you are much younger than me.)? Or is it our perception of the facts, that take on the facts that give the facts meaning in our world? Many would state that reality is only the facts, nothing but the facts. But where would that leave a beautiful sunset over the sea, with tall cumulus clouds towering overhead, lit with a fiery red color by the setting sun? Nice to view, peaceful and restful, romantic and comforting.

 

Facts

 

But the facts are simple: it is the time of the setting sun, with the sun’s rays slanting through the atmosphere which filters out much of the shorter wavelengths by absorption, (or what we call blue colors), leaving a predominance of the longer wavelengths, (or what we call red colors). There is a certain amount of moisture in the air, and some has pulled together through charge attraction creating large clumps of moisture that have been forced upwards by the warmer air beneath. These clumps have grouped together creating massive charged areas reaching high into the air. The high density of moisture has increased the filtering capability of that portion, preventing much of the light rays from passing through the clumps, and even reflecting off the clumps creating the illusion of something solid, clumpy and massive, of varying shades of hue. This is the factual reality of the scene.

 

Perception

 

Which description is the reality? If you are a weatherperson or interested in the science of weather, the second description is filled with the facts that provide the bases of determining future weather, and is far more interesting than the scene itself. But for the rest of us, we allow our perceptions to take all these facts, colored (literally) by the interaction with the limits of the human visual system, and create a combined scene that stirs the soul and awakens that “warm and fuzzy” side of our consciousness. Those terms, peaceful and restful, romantic and comforting, are words of feelings, and have nothing to do with the facts, but have all to do with our life.

 

Which version is reality?

 

Most of us would pick the visual reality of beauty as our choice. That choice creates a certain level of joy in our hearts, and that type of joy lies behind much of the choices we make in life. I know it was the view that lay out the windows of the house we bought in 1971 that persuaded us that this was the house, and when that house was destroyed in a fire in 1984, caused us to build on the exact same spot for our next house. On a clear day we can see for almost 30 miles across the high hills and valleys, green with woods and fields in the summer, and white and grey with the snow and bare trees in the winter.

 

In truth, our perceptions are our personal reality. Usually our personal reality lies reasonably close to some of the factual reality, but often bares little resemblance to the factual reality that is present. We may be aware of the factual reality in some level of our being if we are of a more scientific bent, but even then these facts have little to do with our perceptions of an event. Some of us, it is true, see more of the factual reality than is good and fail to see the wonder and beauty of all that lie around us, and too many fail to see any part of the factual reality and too often deny the factual reality that is around us, such as denying that human activities have an impact, for the good or for the bad, on the wellbeing of our planet.

 

Our personal history leads to our perception

Every person has a personal history at each moment that translates what facts lie before us and what our senses receive into a coherent picture that tells a story, based upon the interpretation of the inputs from the senses, which take the input data, beats it against what is stored in memory, and decides on the details to fill the mind on what these facts actually mean. The brain is not so much interested in the facts of the events and scene around us, but on the impact these facts will have on our presence, first of all on the safety of our being, then on the well being of our person. Only then does our mind begin to sort out any further meanings to the facts presented by the senses, and place other values on the inputs. All this takes place in less than a second of time, and that is why when we are startled by anything, even something beautiful that we did not expect, our mind instantly speeds up the heart and quickens the breath, just in case flight is required for our safety, before deciding that “no, all is well”, and the new data may be pleasing.

 

Our perceptual process lies after the initial brain process, where first we determine if the scene is a ‘flight or fight’, and we can look at the data before us and make a useful interpretation of the information.

 

Impact of Perception

 

Perception defines our knowledge and acceptance of the world. If we are to see the world as a gift from God, if we are to see that every person is an Image of God, if we are to see that the universe around us is a glimpse of the wonders of our Eternal Wisdom, we must work at our perceptual processes to enable those images to become our “go-to images” when we see all that is in our personal world.

 

We all have our own perceptual model

 

All of us have many perceptual models that were defined by us as children, and form the basis of all that we see in life. All that happened before the age of 5 determined much of what we see at each instance today. Did we have a happy and loving childhood? Then we will see the world today starting from that point, expecting it to be happy and full of love.

 

And it will be.

 

On the other hand, if we had a traumatic childhood, filled with pain and trauma, then we will expect to see a world that is dangerous and filled with fear.

 

And we will see that world.

 

It takes much effort to overcome our childhood, and many a psychologist spends much time helping a person overcome these early childhood events, if they where negative or painful.

 

Finding Joy and Happiness

 

But God has offered us means to move into a different realm, one not so strongly effected by our childhood, and Jesus stated it clearly:

 

“Seek first the kingdom of God, and all else will be granted you.”

 

This breathtaking statement clears the air of everything we have learned about living a joyful and happy life. Jesus did not limit his statement with the admonishment “Seek first the kingdom of God”, but stated clearly the result: “All else shall be granted you.”

The word ‘All’ encompasses everything, but above all it encompasses a life filled with Joy and Happiness, from the compass of the way of Jesus. Jesus promised that everything we could possibly need for happiness and joy would be given us. Not at some future time such as so many of our religions teach us, but today, right now, this moment, this NOW. The term Jesus used, “All else”, is to be viewed from the way Jesus looked at things: this ‘else’ included all that we need to be happy and find joy in life, not the stuff that our ego believes we need to be complete. Thus Jesus never promised the big car, the giant house, and the crowd of people bowing to us like Donald Trump.

 

Our Divine Wisdom promised us Joy and Happiness

 

Jesus promised us Joy and Happiness, the things of ‘The kingdom of heaven that lies within’. Jesus promised a life filled with joy, not of ease and comfort, but a life where we are happy. What more could we want? Now, all things being equal, Jesus did promise a comfortable life, where we have a roof over our head and food on the table. Maybe not steak, but food that is filling and nutritious. This is what I have seen in my own life. I have been granted far more than I had ever expected in life, where I have been able to see more sights of the world than we ever thought possible, have a comfortable home, drive a comfortable car, have help to keep our gardens at top shape. I have been amazed at the beauty I have been able to see, and the fact I have reached the age of 81 and am still able to write and communicate a message is astounding to me.

 

Our world is based on our personal perception of the facts before us, and it is almost impossible to see but through the colored lenses our previous history has led us. No two persons have ever had the exact same personal history, from the moment of conception to the day of transition. Even our in utero experience is ours and ours alone.

 

Meditation

 

Eternal Wisdom, I bow in wonder at the beauty you have shared with me. And to think, what I perceive is for me and me alone, and all 7 billion on earth today have their own vision of beauty separate from everybody else’s vision. We see our evolutionary universe, changing at every moment, seething with the energy of life, evolving constantly into the wonders we behold. I understand we stand at the threshold of a new life, as the mass of human life together with the wonders of technology give us the opportunity to raise the level of human existence to unknown heights. We have already reduced extreme poverty by half over the past 20 years, and are planning to eliminate extreme poverty by 2030. These are all steps in creating heaven on earth, but we seem to be struggling on an overall basis to achieve a level of peace, mutual respect, and a sense of oneness among all nations and all peoples.

 

Help us to move forward in the path of Joy, Love, and Happiness in our world, where we can live without outward fear and an