The eye is present as an inferred image because I am seeing. I experience it as an external object which doesn’t appear directly, even when I perceive it in a mirror or touch it with my hand. If I pay attention to the physical eye, it is generally with a neutral sensation but it can be painful at times. I know that this seeing organ diminishes because of the present blurry vision, helped back into clarity with glasses.
So due to sight and touch and the quality of such perceptions, I infer an eye, the mental image of eye appears when I think about the eye. I imagine the eyeball and it’s physical sensation.
However the mechanics/inner workings of the eye are not operated by me, it’s way of seeing I have no say over. The way it works does not appear but I know it sees. It is almost like another creature living in my head. It searches for and finds particular sights amongst many possible sights, it seems selective.
To assume that it is self aware seems stupid, it is more like a plant to me. It feeds, grows, lives. A symbiotic organism living in the head of the body. A light absorbing jelly ball with roots.
It seeks and sees things which produce certain effects like lust, anger, delusion, joy,calm,inspiration etc the most intense sights seem to be the most searched after. Therefore if the eye is what it seems i.e a plant, a creature, then it can be guided, governed as such. If it is not governed it will naturally just go the path of least resistance, or whatever it has been doing , it is thus far not producing anything liberating and in fact I can say that it is more on the untrained side.
The eye seeing sights is not beneficial apart from the basic function for survival. It sees this and that, this and that…until it ends. Every sight is just seen. There has been so far no lasting sight , no sight that the eye has stuck on. The eye cannot keep the light it receives, just like eating food…except for the excrement part. In fact what the eye gets from its living is not known to me, it’s as pointless as a flower or like an animal that has its own feeding ground where it roams aimlessly.
The eye organism ,like a flower/plant, indicates to me that it does not think, therefore I infer that it is not even unconcerned about me, it doesn’t and cannot acknowledge me or my concerns. It is not a self aware entity that I can communicate with. It is simply a bodily organ, making up a significant part of my experience and so I cannot just ignore it.
I can choose to damage it on some levels, like blinding it in various ways but even once blinded, the blinded eye or missing eye remains as an image or thought, just like before and it would still play a significant part. .
Knowing that the eye is growing or feeding in whatever way presents itself, I can see why guarding of the eye is important. If it feeds on things which result in an agitated mind then it’s best just to keep it clear of such sights., Which then could produce a less agitated experience but it is not satisfactory because it’s not about finding the right kind of sights which will make all things wonderful.
In fact the more the eyes is seen as it is, like a plant etc the less importance sights become and I could say that that transcendent attitude is satisfying because it doesn’t depend on sights or state of eye.
So I could calm the eye through restraint, which is pleasant but I cannot rely on the eye or sights to sustain that pleasure. However if I grow the knowledge of the Nature of eye, then the pleasure of release(transcendent attitude) will sustain itself because it is dependent on knowing the Nature(abhijanati) of eye and sights, not on particular sights but sight in general( they only remind me(abhijanati) of the knowledge i.e anicca,dukkha,anatta
SuttaCentral