The senses were built facing outward, and outward is where we look. Then this verse mentions one man who saw what was behind him, and it tells us what his eyes were doing. They were closed. He did not turn them around.
The Self-existent pierced the openings (of the senses) so that they turn forward; therefore man looks forward, not backward into himself. Some wise man, however, with his eyes closed and wishing for immortality, saw the Self behind.
The openings face one way, and that is simply how we are made. A question about what is in front of us is answered well by equipment like that. A question about ourselves gets asked with the same equipment, and the equipment has only the one direction, so what comes back is an outward answer with our name on it — what happened, who said what first, how long the day has been. It is made of the same material as every other answer the senses bring in.
Look at what it costs to take that answer. It arrives fast, it hangs together, and it is usually true as far as it goes. It also closes the question, which is the expensive part: once there is a reason, there is nothing further to look at. The account is complete and the one who made it is not in it.
Look at the second move, which is to look inward harder. A forward-facing opening does not point backward because more effort is put behind it. What comes back is a longer version of the same outward account, and effort makes an account more convincing without making it any more about the one asking.
The third position is to leave the question alone, and most of the time it costs nothing at all. The forward look is accurate about what is out there, and the verse makes no complaint about it. The one thing it cannot bring back is the one who is looking. That is the single question it is the wrong instrument for, and it is the one that keeps returning.
He is not handing us a posture. Eyes closed, in a verse about openings pierced to face forward, says the forward equipment went out of use — nothing was aimed in a new direction. And the verse does not say he waited for anything. It says his eyes were closed and he saw.
So what are we aiming at. We want to be able to ask one question with the usual equipment set down. The same question we already ask, with nothing sent out to fetch the answer.
Let us see where this shows up in an ordinary day. Three places.
- You are short with someone at home, and a second later you know exactly why: the hour, the day you have had, the thing they said first.
- A remark from the morning is still with you at night, and you can state precisely what was wrong with it.
- You notice you have gone quiet in a room, and the reason is already there: the room, the people in it, what they are talking about.
In all three the answer arrives before you have asked for it. One question, two answers. Is there anything in that answer that is not out there.
You are not deciding anything in that second, and you are not trying to produce a better answer. Look at what the answer is made of, and leave it as it is.