Looking without Looking

Our ‘Ball in a Bin’ experience is progressing. We have applied the ‘doctrine of the easy’ and taken a look at how our subconscious mind is capable of creating an outcome independent of our conscious control.

It is time then to introduce a new concept to Awareness training. It is the principle of ‘looking without looking’. To understand the basic premise perform the following exercise – look straight ahead and allow your gaze to fall on an object directly in front of you. Now without altering your gaze concentrate your awareness on the furthest fields of your peripheral vision. That is, look straight ahead and yet focus on the outside points of your vision to each side.

Alternatively, you can place 3 objects on the ground in front of you. Stare at the middle object yet concentrate your awareness on the 2 outer items. When your eyes glaze over a little you will have found that state that can only be described as looking without looking. You are aware of and yet you don’t actively look at.

When we perform our throws during ‘Ball in a Bin’ we must ensure that we are aware of and yet don’t observe the target directly. A target observed is a target that exists outside of you. This is a classic case of duality and separateness created by mind. The target is something you will throw through rather than throw to.

For me, my gaze is wide eyed and yet my eyes and consequently my mind are relaxed. For others however this state of awareness is characterised by different looks.

Musashi states in the ‘Book of 5 Rings’ (Kaufman), “Look at the enemy as if you are looking through him…Learn to see things far away and up close.” Musashi also says to, “Narrow your eyes slightly and ever so subtly flare your nostrils.” You will notice that this action has become ubiquitous in Japanese munga films that seek to emulate the heroics of Musashi.

So you will need to develop your own style of looking without looking in order to continue down the rabbit hole that is awareness training. The target must not be observed as an independent entity separate from the individual. The target is only part of a broader awareness of all things, and by becoming part of a broader awareness, no longer exists outside the individual but rather becomes the individual.

Weird stuff hey? So how do you look without looking?