Glasses are, quite literally, the tools for sight.
As such, they bear great spiritual significance. Vision is a spiritual concept signifying imagination, clarity and understanding.
I feel that when I think about the purpose of eyeglasses, they contribute to making me see things more real.
So, spiritually speaking, it allows for an increase in my ability to see the truth about things regarding myself.
Sight has been associated with enlightenment in Buddhism.
The third eye (Ajna chakra) symbolizes a higher level of vision that goes beyond just physical perception to spiritual sight.
Eyeglasses help me physically see, leading to a symbolic improvement of my spiritual sight as well.
If an eyeglass frame breaks, does this mean that my vision was changed in any way?
This can be an invitation to my inner seeing.
What is it that I refuse to admit?
Breaking can mean that I have to re-evaluate my spiritual clarity.
This moment of contemplation can be a life-changing revelation.
I recall the first time my eyeglasses broke.
The trouble it brought was not all the absence of having a good sight.
For one of the few times in my life, it forced me to take a mental clarity check.
The universe was forcing me take pause and contemplate my vision within
When I looked over my broken eyeglass frames, something clicked in me, though.
How dependent had I become on not just them for physical awareness but as a pillar to hold up the vision inside myself? This shattering was a reality check.
What it did was remind me that clarity does not simply come from external aids but, more importantly, must be cultivated within.
It inspired me to turn within and sweep off the dust which had laid on my brain.
The breaking of my glasses drove home how transient material goods are.
By clinging to the physical world, we will only experience disappointment in life because everything is temporary
. It’s the times when I break my glasses, and it makes me realize how nothing last forever, so you have to be able to adjust to whatever happens in life.
Accepting the impermanent nature of reality is a fundamental principle in spiritual practice.
I ended up finding meditative solace in fixing my glasses.
An opportunity to be in the moment, concentrate on what I was doing. The act of repair was a metaphor for the work that I needed to do within myself.
When I finally picked a new pair of glasses, it was empowering.
I also chose more consciously what I really needed and wanted.
It mirrored the spiritual decision making I encounter in life, to keep choosing pathways of beliefs and practices that resonate with me at my core — whatever enhances my clarity within.
It is about reflection
Breaking my eyeglass frames can throw me off my routine. But this upset can actually be a positive force in my spiritual life.
During these moments of breakage, I am given no other remedy but to sit down and acknowledge that something is broken in my normal life.
I can ask myself, where in my life or mindset is broken?
In what areas am I unreasonably resistant to change?
It might not be that big of a deal after all – but the frame is broken, which could have been telling me that I no longer see things correctly.
It forces me to zoom out and reexamine my beliefs and behaviors.
I know in my spiritual practice, it seems that before great growth comes many disruptions.
They are inconveniences in the form of opportunities.
It’s no more challenging than a broken eyeglass frame — an opportunity to take a pause and do better or perhaps just rebuild my vision, literally and metaphorically stronger from the ground up.
It is about impermanence
In a way, a broken eyeglass frame can remind me of our transient life.
The notion of impermanence (Sanskrit: anicca) is a core theme in the Buddhism.
Life is a rhythm, and the world of materialism brings suffering. I remember this when my eyeglasses frame broke.
And maybe this event can lead me to turn to change instead of away from it.
Change is usually uncomfortable, but it makes me grow.
That is why the breaking of the eyeglass frame can be a symbol for this break and bring forward more options.
It asks us to surrender and let go of our attachments and just flow with the natural happenings of life.
Accepting impermanence teaches us to treasure the present for the moment that it is.
This attitude can really improve my spiritual health.
It is about practical spirituality
In a more practical sense, replacing a broken eyeglass frame in and of itself can be an exercise in spirituality.
This ritual allows for a meditative state and grounds me in the present moment.
Fixing my glasses is also a reflection of the work doing within myself.
So is with healing my frame, only then can I heal and feed by spirit. It takes patience, attention to detail and care — qualities that are also essential ingredients in spiritual practice.
It is about material objects and spiritual life
While material in nature, eyeglasses are an essential part of my spiritual existence, enhancing a direct portal to the world through sight.
This reveals more about the larger relationship between materiality and spiritual beings.
If you take good care of these objects, it is a sign that I am grateful for them.
By being conscious of all my things, it makes me live more mindfully.
It also gives me an opportunity to practice non-attachment.
It teaches me not to attach my happiness or spiritual fulfillment too heavily to material things.
The discernment between working with gross elements and not attaching to those same things is a subtle notion of spiritual maturity.
It is about loss
Though small, a broken eyeglass frame is also a loss. How I handle such challenges speaks about my spiritual strength.
I’m Bulgarea Candin Stefan and I have started Spiritual Whirlwinds to pass my learnings from my spiritual journey. Spiritualwhirlwinds.com provides a space of spiritual awakening with guided meditations, e-books, mantras, and pendulum readings.
