Life's Illusions

Life’s Illusions

An illusion can be considered a misleading visual image; another way of putting it is “things are no always what they appear to be.” How many times have we heard the statement “This is not what it looks like.” Much of what we see is due to social programming. Two individuals can observe a situation and walk away with two different interpretations of what they saw. Some will see the glass half empty and others will see the glass half full.

Scientifically speaking everything that we see is in our heads. Inside of each eye are about one hundred million rods and cones. These rods and cones are stimulated by the rays of light that enter your eye which, in turn, create impulses that travel along the optic nerve system to the brain.

The brain receives those impulses and forms a picture. That picture is inside your head formed by your brain, within your brain. We never actually see an object, the only thing we see are light rays being radiated by, or reflected from objects.

This is also true spiritually, perhaps you have heard of the concept of the “Third Eye”. Taoist view the third eye when opened, allows one to see beyond ordinary sight.  It isthe gate that leads to the energy of the mind of the universe, and a higher consciousness, it allows one to see the path to enlightenment.

Heaven and Earth is the name of a Ki Energy training exercise that I teach on Wednesdays at the Harlem Taoist Ki Energy Center. This ancient Taoist training exercise allows the student to focus on opening the third eye by using breathing and Qigong movements. The concentration is on the area between the eyebrows with closed eyes.

I often use the Magic Eye book, which has a number of colorful 3D illusions by N.E. Thing Enterprises in my workshops on this subject. When we talk about opening the third eye, enlightenment and seeing past the illusions of life, The Magic Eye illusions provide a useful teaching tool. The colorful designs at first glance seem to be just that, colorful designs. After concentrating on the design for a minute or two a three dimensional picture will appear.

It may take more time for some then others, but if you have faith that you can see past the obvious a different picture will appear before your eyes. I use this example to help students understand the illusionary world that we live in, and how opening the third eye has a similar affect as finding the hidden image in the Magic Eye illusion.

My next four week workshop will be part of City College’s Continuing and Professional Studies fall semester. The title of the workshop is Taoism 2013, A Practical Approach to an Ancient Wisdom; For Health and Longevity.” The dates are Saturday October 12^th to Saturday November 2^nd. For further information visit www.cps.ccny.edu or call 212 650-7312.

If you are interested in my Wednesday Ki training classes call me directly at 646 329-6727 or send an email to harlemnewsgroup@gmail.com