Inner blindness is when awareness is absent

Manal Al-Hussaini

The title of the article does not mean the lack of vision by the eye due to the absence of sight.. but it is the absence of inner vision and the lack of awareness of those feelings, thoughts, and many motives. It is that inner thing that moves that we do not see clearly. It manifests itself to us in the form of something that we do not know the cause of, sudden anger, perhaps unjustified sadness, and many conflicting feelings that are not seen clearly.

“Self-awareness” is crucial to self-understanding, and ignorance of it takes us to the stage of “inner blindness” and thus a lack of clarity of motives. Scientists have explained that there are “neurological and cognitive mechanisms” behind self-awareness that reinforce the idea that losing this process leads to inner blindness.

Not training self-awareness is one of the most important causes of lack of awareness or what is called internal blindness, as “awareness” is not an automatic thing, but a skill that is developed.

To repress and perhaps emotionally exclude by not allowing the expression of feelings and burying them inside the self until they become hidden from consciousness, and to pant with external preoccupation for long hours with devotion.

Work, relationships, and noise without resorting to contemplation and thinking result in an accumulation of feelings inside us that have not been addressed. Perhaps the culture of lack of self-questioning is the intellectual and perhaps social pattern that prevails in most societies and makes him avoid asking about his motives, feelings, and perhaps his behavior, as if he is living on “inheritance.” It is shameful for him to question what this collective behavior is doing, as the focus is on compliance and obedience more than critical thinking.

Here the body language begins to appear. The body “speaks” in the form of organic diseases without clear reasons, and perhaps a lack of comfort and anxiety without justification for it. Behavioral patterns are often repeated without knowing their frequency, and conflicting emotions led by a disturbed feeling. All of this internal maze occurs when we ignore feelings and bury them inside ourselves. The body has the honesty to translate to us what we cannot talk about in words. The body expresses this silence as a warning against this internal emotional chaos. But we can regain inner vision and get rid of inner blindness if we understand the reasons for losing what moves us, know the feelings we do not know, and allow ourselves to ask ourselves about what we want and why we do not want. With these questions, we create a map of our inner life through which we understand our motives, our feelings, and many of our desires, and thus we will understand the contradictions that were like a terrifying emotional storm.

Observing the body, frequently asking questions to ourselves, and meditating help us illuminate the inner darkness. All of these tools will help us, over time, to make our feelings clearer and will result in thoughtful actions that make our bodies less turbulent.

Inner blindness is not a dilemma, but an alert to look inward to understand oneself and build a more balanced and conscious life.