Paying Attention to the New Perception

When we are blessed with the ability to see, we are also blessed with the ability to choose what we put our attention on.  Amazingly enough, there is the possibility of being “blind” to something right before our eyes. This is a blindness, not of the eyes, but of the mind.  It’s referred to as “inattentional blindness” or “perceptual blindness.”

Coined by psychologists Arien Mack and Irvin Rock, it refers to the lack of ability to perceive something in our direct line of vision because we are attending to something else.  A great example of this is in the biblical story of Joseph and his brothers. The brothers spent many years looking for Joseph and yet, when they stood directly in front of him in the palace in Egypt, they did not recognize him. How could this be?  We could just say that so many years had passed since they had seen him, but it’s pretty remarkable that not one out of the eleven recognized him.  The main Torah explanation given is that the brothers could not have imagined that this powerful royal figure was their brother, Joseph. They stood before him and yet, he was invisible to them. This is perceptual blindness which is a “ form of invisibility (that) depends not on the limits of the eye, but on the limits of the mind.  We consciously see only a small subset of our visual world, and when our attention is focused on one thing, we fail to notice other, unexpected things around us – including those that we might want to see.” SmithsonianMag

When the Lubavitcher Rebbe said “Geula is here, we just need to open our eyes,” we can infer that the Rebbe means to open the eyes of our mind in order to recognize a new reality.  When we choose to focus our attention on signs of Geula as defined in Torah prophetic sources, more signs are revealed.  As Martha Beck recalled in a conversation with a white water rafter that in order for him to steer his craft safely in dangerous waters, he places all his attention on the space between the rocks.  Where his attention goes, his power goes.  If he put his attention on the rocks, he would probably hit the rocks.

In the present moment, the process of Geula is unfolding before our eyes.  As described in Jewish sources, Geula is a time when:

“There will be neither famine nor war, neither envy nor strife, because goodness will flow in abundance and all delightful things will be as available as dust.  The occupation of the entire world will be solely to know G-d.” ( translated from Maimonides, Code of Jewish Law (1100’s)

So , we have a choice too.  We can put our attention on the “rocks” and see all the negative things in the world at large (especially if you watch the news, which mainly focuses on horror stories).  This choice will probably cause someone to hit the “rocks” – meaning, feeling a sense of despair.  But if we choose to place our focus on where we want to go – towards world peace, healing and abundance, then we will be filled with a spirit of hope and empowerment.  Putting our attention on the Geula and the signs of Geula brings strength to this reality.

Here’s just a few signs that I’ve noticed recently:

When I see The Global Meditation for Compassion – over 500,000 people in over 100 countries choosing to shift the consciousness in the world toward compassion, I recognize Geula.

When I see and participate in KickDarkness.com, where people are participating in GIVING to strangers and doing random acts of kindness, I recognize Geula.

When I hear of a call to non-predatory leadership from horse specialists Linda Kohanov and Koelle Simpson, I recognize Geula.

When Martha Beck trained master coaches emphasize an attitude of “no competition” because each individual has their original medicine to share in service with others, I recognize Geula.

When I read in People magazine about individuals who change from work clothes into super hero clothes to deliver food to the homeless, I recognize Geula.

When I open up to emails from Louise Hay with the heading “You are a Natural Winner,” I recognize Geula.

My list can go on and on because I love opening my eyes to seeing Geula in the world.  Let’s encourage one another to put our attention on this beautiful process unfolding and truly tip the world fully into Geula.

Enjoy this video of the Maccabeats – it shows the power of choice we can all make in our lives when we pay attention to what truly matters.  Check out the “Open your Eyes” message!