Keep All Eyes Open
Learning to see with three perspectives in times of upheaval
The Storm We Cannot Avoid
We are all living in a hurricane of disruptions and possibilities right now.
We are all confronted with political polarization, technological upheaval, climate change, and social movements reshaping our communities.
As the political winds and cultural landslides rage through our daily lives and around the world in every country, it might seem easy to close our eyes. It might seem like the right thing to do to look away while the storm passes.
But if we do that, we rob ourselves of the gifts of this moment.
The crises of our lives have the potential to open us and expand us.
Why should we turn such a gift away? Why should we take such a gift back to the post office and “return to sender”?
Embracing the Gift of Crisis
Don’t turn away from this. Don’t look away. Bear witness. Meet this moment.
See what you are being asked to see. It will stretch and expand your sight.
Feel what you are being asked to feel. It will expand your ability to feel the concerns and needs of others.
Understand what you are being asked to understand. It will increase your knowledge.
It may not be easy. It may not be comfortable. But growth never is.
The whole point of growth is to take you beyond your current understanding into a new larger way of understanding. Even if the steps to get there are difficult.
The Three-Layered Vision
So don’t look away. Learn to keep all your eyes open.
And to truly meet this moment requires more than simply looking—it demands seeing with fullness and depth and layers. This is what I mean by keeping all eyes open: developing three distinct ways of seeing that are layered together to reveal a fuller picture.
The first eye sees what’s happening in front of you. If the trees are on fire, you see the trees on fire. If a man and a woman on the street are hungry, you see the man and the woman and the hunger. This eye sees exactly what is happening. With this eye, you name what is happening.
The second eye sees the connections between what’s happening and what happened before. It sees cause and effect. It sees cruelty causing harm. It sees greed causing injustice. It sees the paths that brought us here. And by extension, it sees other paths that can take us elsewhere.
The third eye sees the spiritual background behind what’s happening. It sees what is not easily seen and not usually talked about. This is where the mysterious reasons and purposes of spirit operate—the patterns that connect seemingly random events, the opportunities for growth embedded in difficulty, the deeper meanings that transcend surface appearances. The third eye reminds us that life has dimensions beyond what our physical eyes perceive.
The Danger of Closing Our Eyes
When you refuse to see what’s in front of you and name what’s in front of you, you block all your eyes.
When you block your first eye, you also block your second and third eye. You make yourself blind. This is how and why some people don’t see and can’t feel for the suffering of others.
Keeping your first eye open and working properly is what allows you to start opening and using your other eyes.
A Practice for Seeing Clearly
When something happens, walk through it with all your eyes. Whether it surprises you, disappoints you, shocks you, or devastates you, walk through it with these questions.
First eye: what’s happening? What am I being told to see? What am I being told not to see? What is actually happening in front of my eyes?
Second eye: what caused this to happen? What are all the factors and connections that led up to this outcome? What could have led to a different outcome?
Third eye: what is the wisdom behind all this? What are we being shown and taught here from a higher spiritual point of view?
For instance, when facing a sudden job loss:
Your first eye acknowledges the situation: “I’ve lost my source of income.”
Your second eye examines connections: “This happened because of rapid industry changes and economic upheavals. I can look for ways to update my skills and diversify my income.”
Your third eye might recognize: “This disruption is creating space for me to pursue work more aligned with my purpose.”
The Benefits of Layered Seeing
If you develop the layers of your seeing in this way:
* you can meet your personal challenges more thoughtfully
* you can address the concerns and suffering of others more graciously.
Practice keeping all three eyes working and engaged at all times.
There are possibilities hidden inside this hurricane of disruptions.
Learn to see them and act on them.
By keeping all three eyes open—seeing what is happening, understanding connections, and perceiving deeper meanings—you’ll find yourself not just weathering the storm, but discovering new paths through it for yourself and others.
—Rahim
[Note: I use the phrase “third eye” to make a point about the layered nature of our seeing. It does not refer to any of the popular notions of a “third eye” drawn from ancient or modern metaphysics.]