Is Seeing Believing?

Good Morning!

I was reflecting on events of the past that changed my life...

...there are many that I can recall...many that I have forgotten...and probably many more that I do not even realize that shaped me into what I am today!

One that recently came to mind was also experienced by more than 100 college students at the same time that it happened to me.  I would guess that a majority (if not everyone else but me) did not see it as anything more than an interesting lecture.  Knowing the professor, this lecture was a part of his Philosophy of Eastern Religions course that he taught every semester.  That being the case...Thousands of students had my same experience...but my question has always been...Did they perceive it the same as me?

The lecture specifically focused on Eastern Mystics and Magicians.  These individuals were renowned and as they traveled from town to town drew huge crowds of people who came to see the miracles they could perform.

One such magician (as his story was told) performed a rope trick, in which his assistant climbed into a cloud and disappeared...

The professor (actually studied mystics for his Phd)...and had heard of this fellow...

He was a skeptical! (the professor, that is)...

He and a camera man traveled and found this roaming magician...

The magician announced that he was going to put on a demonstration of his abilities.  These demonstrations generally occured outside the town in an area that resembled a natural stadium.  Small hills surroundeed a depression so that all of the townspeople could sit on the slopes and have a view.  The magician and his band of assistants set up "the show" in the middle.

The professor spent the day interviewing the townspeople...hearing what they had to say about this magician...

The professor found it interesting that the magician took up a collection at the end of his demonstration that most of the townspeople gladly paid...because they were in fear of him...

The rationale was that if he could perform such feats of magic...he could surely destroy the city if they did not pay homage!

The professor set up the camera on a prime spot and began filming...

He and the camera man watched as the magician walked to the center of crowd and began chanting...soon the crowd was chanting along with him...

After a while three assistants joined him...two carrying a large basket...

The magician reached into the basket and removed a large coil of rope...and threw it skyward...the rope stiffened and stood erect!  The crowd gasped in amazement and by his own confession so too did he...the professor and the cameraman...

Then the magician ordered a small boy (the third assistant) to climb the rope...which he did...all the way up to and into a cloud...

The crowd was shaking...

The magician then grabbed the rope gave it a jerk...it went limp...and fell to the ground!  There was no young man in sight!

The two remaining assistants re-coiled the rope, threw it in the basket...and carried it out of the sight of the crowd...

Minutes later a collection was taken up (in presumably the same huge basket) and the magician went on his way!

The professor was absolutely amazed...and during his lecture you could see the conviction as he relived this experience!

He and his cameraman turned off the camera and could not wait to return to the US and have it developed...and show the world this amazing trick!

The return trip went without a hitch!

They developed the film and began watching it...

This is what they saw...

The magician walked to the center of the group...followed by 3 assistants...

After the chanting the magician reached into the basket and took out a coil of rope...he set it next to the basket and "mimed" throwing the rope skyward...

The child asssistant approached the magician and mimed climbing the rope and then stepped into the basket and sat out of sight...

After a few minutes...the magician again mimed jerking the rope...the assistants picked the acutal coil of rope from the ground and placed it back into the basket left (carrying the boy out) and returned to take up the collection...

This would have been an interesting story except for the fact that the lights dimmed in the lecture hall and he started a grainy black and white movie that was the film he described taking!

He ended the lecture by saying what he and the cameraman saw was what he described...and nearly 10,000 people saw the same thing...what the camera saw was entirely different!

He said...can we really say that "Seeing is believing?"

Plato questioned this...in his anology of the cave...

The Matrix...(one of my favorite movies) (now you know why I an intrigued by this concept)

and many other movie and fiction story plots...

Reality is not as it appears...it is pure deception...

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That single lecture shook the very foundation of my belief system!

I was a cynic to begin with and didn't believe anything if I didn't see it with my own eyes...and others saw the same thing...

Now I couldn't even trust what I saw...even if what others saw confirmed it!

I could have allowed this experience drive me absolutely crazy!

But I found significant value in the experience...

As I wrote my final paper for this course...I reflected on what we see doesn't matter...as long as it serves a better purpose...

Is it real or an illusion?

There is no value in the effort of confirming the validity of an event...but value is found in what can be done with the perception!

Our eyes and ears deceive us...

We are doing an injustice to ourselves and our mission...if we focus on ascertaining the truth...separating fact from fiction...

It is all about what we do with what we have!

Can a boy climb a rope into the clouds?

Although most of these people who experienced that demonstration have probably passed on...my guess is that if you asked them...they would say they saw it happen!

Can we say that "seeing is believing?"

I think better stated...if we believe that we can see it...we will!

There has always been two questions looming from this experience...

The first...Did he really see that?

The answer to that question is simple and it leads to the second question...

Answer - It doesn't matter!

The second and more important question is...How do you test for reality?

The Answer is - Reality is substantiated by the good that comes from that which you believe that you see.

If what you see has no impact or no results...it isn't real...if it has detrimental effects...it may be real...but definitely not worth your effort believing...and finally if what you see leads to a greater good...that is real and of value...

Have a great weekend...

Pura Vida!