There are times that I have a deep sense of seeing people just as they are. I see them as they are present before me, standing or moving in my presence. Their flesh and blood are so obvious. I’ve noticed that I see them independent of whatever they are wearing.
This isn’t the same thing as seeing them naked. It is not even about the kind of seeing that I do with my eyes. Imagination is only faintly in play. I am simply aware of the body they exist as, the space they physically occupy.
This means activating a vision that goes beyond common, ordinary experience. For me, it involves developing and using an awareness that is centered in and surges through my whole body. It is not unlike the vision I have inside me when I visit the plants in my garden. There is the obvious sensory experience of sight, touch and smell. And there is also a vision that is active deep inside of me.
This has reminded me that the clothing we wear mostly conceals what our body is like, what we are really like as we physically, materially exist in time and space. At best, clothing signals to others what we want them to imagine what we really are like. Clothing signals attitude, status, cleanliness, wealth and so many other things. It also gives hints of the individual body beneath the clothing. It hints at who we really are. The hints are sometimes subtle, sometimes bold and clear.
Having the vision to see who we really are, independent of clothing, is something beyond sensory or imaginary awareness. I think that nakedness makes that vision easier, but in our culture, it also makes it more complicated. Nakedness confronts me with the physical presence of someone without the distracting, often unreliable influence of clothes.
For me it is as simple as being able to be aware of a person’s hands if those hands are not buried in mittens. I am more aware of the presence of their arms or feet or face if they are not somehow covered. Clothing, for the most part, centers on the sensory or stirs imaginary sensory experience. Clothing often suggests a presence, and only that.
I want to further develop an inner vision that doesn’t rely on sensory experience or stimulation, real or suggested. The starting point for me is to be deeply aware of my own body and be in deep contact with its presence. That vision of awareness is like a spark that can reach out to others. My vision begins inside of me, then other things get a lot more clear.