It is not what you look at that matters but what you see. H.

D Thoreau
Looks are deceiving. Sometimes it takes much more than eyes to see beyond the physical appearance. There is much more meaning and depth to life than we actually perceive. When was the last time you were struck by the beauty of a sunset or sunrise? Do you remember the sudden impulse and quickening of your heart the first time you gazed into the eyes of your significant other? Have you ever been moved to tears by a piece of music or a special passage in a book you were are reading? Do you recall the awe you felt the first time you looked into a newborn baby's eyes and considered the miracle and mystery of it all? These overwhelming emotions and feelings arent just the product of human mind. These are inexplicable intense emotions that arrive when we see beyond the physical appearance of a thing. Thoreau tries to make us indulge in the act of seeing through the form of all living things and recognizing and honoring the soul that lives within. Let us take an example. Suppose there is a passenger on a bus. His face is haggard and he holds his left arm in a stiff and unnatural manner. Suppose this guy is sitting beside you and it is a six hour journey. What will be your impression of him? Would you be bothered about the fact that he is sitting beside you? Here is a guy who looks suspicious, acts suspiciously and is mysterious in every other way. What we dont know is that he is a former army general who lost his one arm in a battle and wears a prosthetic one. He has undergone many hardships and troubles in life. He just lost his daughter to an accident and is returning home with her ashes. The physical appearance and outer looks rob us of our ability to see the soul within. Such depths of emotions can only be seen if one looks beyond what is visible to the eyes. The gift of conscious perception can be an astounding event that happens whenever we realize that it is we, and we alone, who assign meaning to whatever our eyes fall upon every moment of every day. We don't see just with our eyes; we see with our mind and heart. The practice is to become the conscious observer behind the camera lenses called "your eyes" and drink it all in taking nothing for granted. This sacred feeling is filled with beauty and amazement. The uniqueness of each being and the brimming emotions residing in each one of them is hard to miss. Even things like the sight of a waterfall or the chuckling of a baby fills our hearts with seas of emotions. Another point that can be derived out of the given topic is the ability to observe our surroundings and to be aware of things happening around us. What do you see, or do you usually just look? Its only human to not see everything. There is just too much to see and process, so our minds delete that which it believes to be unnecessary. As an example, if you looked for everything in a room that was red, and then were asked to close your eyes and describe everything that was blue, what would happen? We often ignore or take things for granted. We dont give much thought to what we see around us on daily basis.What do you look at on a regular basis, but dont always see? Perhaps it is a family member (or all of them), co-workers, or friends? Not just how they look, but what their needs are, what their wants and desires are, what they might be trying to tell you that you arent noticing. This ignorance and

indifference not only rob us of our ability to see beyond the visible but also of our ability to appreciate and acknowledge things around us. These are the things that matter in our lives and provide meaning to it. To conclude it all, we can say that physical form is not always significant, what really matters is the meaning you derive out of that. It is important to not only just look but also to see. When we perceive things this way then our experiences become our lenses. We begin to appreciate the world around us along with its beauties and bounties. The definition of namaste given by Mahatma Gandhi aptly summarises the essence of seeing beyond the visible: "I honor the place within you where the entire universe resides; I honor the place within you of love, of light, of truth, of peace; I honor the place within you, where, when you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us."

Written byNida Gul Niazi Lady Shri Ram College For Women B.A philosophy honors ( 1styear) Phone no.8527235788 Email i.d : nidagulniazi@yahoo.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------