At times this life defeats me. On the outside most people would say I have an awful lot to be grateful for, and I have. I know this. But sometimes a tendency for depression creeps in and takes up residence for a few hours.
It mainly happens at night. As the sunlight disappears, its absence leaves a space for all things dark. I have developed strategies for dispelling the shadows of my mind: exercise, music, the company of good friends. Today it was this video a friend sent me:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj2ofrX7jAk&feature=youtube_gdata_player
I just read a couple of days ago that our eyes are our camera to the soul. What we perceive with our eyes leaves an eternal record on that intangible part of ourselves that never dies. That which we perceive becomes part of us because it is the lens through which we see and interpret everything ‘out there’; it creates the space in which we operate in the world.
But it also reminded me the importance of looking others in the eyes when we communicate with them.
A few years ago I participated in a self-development group in India. One of the first exercises they had us do was to pair up with someone who was a complete stranger. They told us to sit cross-legged facing each other and for five minutes just look, in silence, into each others’ eyes.
I teamed up with a young German fellow. We knew nothing of each other on a human level. As I stared into the depths of his eyes a deep sense of connection, affection and peace came over me. I felt like I knew him thoroughly, on a soul level.
I know he felt the same way, and we were both transformed by the connection. We had a special bond that existed for the duration of the course, and which I still feel today, six years later.
I realized that the human elements of our selves and our lives are merely a distraction. They are the mechanism that operate to keep us separate and isolated. When my partner and I by-passed the human forms of contact and communication - those that utilize the five senses - our souls took over and made an irrevocable and everlasting connection.
This video reminded me today to look everyone I meet in the eyes. Our eyes are a portal into the infinite divine, where we are all safe, beautiful and eternally connected. There is no room for the blues there.
Try it.
