What we normally perceive as concrete objects and discrete events emerge from interwoven relationships, our very act of seeing a part of the weave. When we recognize this, rather than feeling locked in by a state of mind, an encounter, an occurance, we see that the essential nature of all that is happening is not that  of a wall but of a web. When I see only suffering and unfulfilled possibility, I need to remind myself of the mystery of life’s unfolding – the many linkages that are carrying my efforts through currents of connection to results that I may never see. In order to know the truth of interconnectedness, we need to look at the world with what Robert Thurman calls “quiet eyes”. It might be through silent meditation that we see the hidden patterns of connection that make up our inner life. It may be through pausing long enough that we realize where a plate of spaghetti comes from. However we do it, softly receiving reality with quiet eyes,  rather than pinpointing objects and events as separate and distinct, opens up our view rather than closing it with predetermined boundaries. We take in what is appearing before reactions and conclusions get fixed. When we relax into this mode of perception, a different perspective on reality becomes available to us.

Sharon Salzberg, Faith