© 1991 ANZURA, Australia & New Zealand Urantia Association
From: TRIANGLES Bulletin 88, June 1989
As a general rule, when we look at the world around us, what we see tends to be limited to the dense outer shell of the manifested universe. We can use our powers of insight and intuition to understand something of what lies behind the myriad faces of the phenomenal world but only those rare individuals gifted with second sight are able to actually see into the subtle levels of form. The powers of insight, intuition and intellect have, however, enabled humanity to invent tools and techniques that greatly refine our vision. Through the centuries these inventions have allowed us to penetrate many of the natural barriers that limit our sight.
In this century new techniques have dramatically transformed our view of the world. We can now use ultrasound to see inside matter; we can magnify the minutest objects tens of millions of times; we can, through infra-red light, actually see in the dark; we can use thermal cameras to see the world in terms of hot and cold; and we can use Kirlian electrophotography techniques to capture images of the energy fields that interpenetrate and surround all forms.
And still more advances are being made all the time. Early this year (1989) a new microscope in California enabled scientists to see for the first time the structural detail of DNA’s double helix. A newspaper report stated that, until now, most information about DNA had been inferred and deduced from numerous experiments. The new microscope can record images of the structural detail of surfaces as small as a single atom. The report suggests that this invention could lead to major advances in the understanding of the building blocks of life because researchers can now “see” important relationships between DNA and proteins.
The way in which science is transforming what we can see is captured in a stunning book published by Secker and Warburg in 1981. The book, “The Invisible World: Sights Beyond the Limits of the Naked Eye”, is now unfortunately out of print. Let’s hope that it will be reprinted.
As a general rule, when we look at the world around us, what we see tends to be limited to the dense outer shell of the manifested universe.
It reveals something of the profoundly beautiful images of the world that modern techniques of photography and science are giving us through colour pictures of such infinitely small regions of matter as atoms of gold, and such massive, macrocosmic forms as planets and galaxies. The book gives a dramatic impression of the extent to which the invisible is being made visible.
The editors comment that “the telescope and microscope are about the same age. Both were invented in the seventeenth century, and each expanded the known cosmos by extraordinary proportions … Today we can see the heavens as never before. Telescopes sensitive to radio waves, x-rays, heat, and ultraviolet light are unveiling awesome parts of the universe that were once completely invisible”.
As the human kingdom evolves, and as we become more conscious of the world in which we live, it is perhaps not surprising that veils should be lifted from our eyes. Through the collective efforts of scientists and technologists we are coming to see the world in a quite new light. In a sense this is the process, is it not, of humanity using its skills of intellect and intuition to make darkness visible? Yet we should remind ourselves that it is a process that is only in its early stages. Even though so much has been revealed to our sight we can still only see a small portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. One can but rejoice at the thought of the new levels of subtlety that the cameras, microscopes and telescopes of the 21st century will reveal.
Perhaps these advances in what we can see with our eyes are a symbol of the transformation that is occurring in humanity’s inner sight. For it is here, on subjective levels, that the most dramatic changes are taking place as people everywhere deepen their personal vision of the world through meditation, visualisation and reflective thought.
From: The Invisible World; Sights Beyond the Limits of the Naked Eye, as mentioned in the above article
Our normal vision is but a narrow window on a vast and awesome universe, a universe of sights and happenings that are too fast or too slow, too faint or too minute for the human eye to record. And when we get beyond the spectrum of visible light, we find even more foreign realms — dimensions of energy, such as x-rays and heat, that elude our sense of sight. In the time it takes to blink an eye, a host of exotic cameras and other imaging tools can transport us into these invisible worlds. In conjunction with microscopes, telescopes, strobe lights, radiation detectors, and even computers, cameras can now reveal once-hidden sights, Possessed of powers to explore and reveal in ways that our unaided eyes cannot, cameras are extending enormously the once limited reach of our vision and knowledge, altering forever our image of the world.
This article reminded me of the ‘camera of past events’ that Baird T. Spalding was talking about in Volume V of “The Life and Teachings of the Masters of the Far East” in which he describes how they actually took pictures of The Sermon on the Mount and saw the little boy with the five loaves and fishes and how Jesus just said: “Sit down and prepare for the feast”, and there was an abundance for all.
Editor