If the mind does not engage—we will understand nothing from what we do, read, or see.
By Coşkun Karabulut
I can’t recall what I wrote previously. Even if I did write about this before, there’s no harm in writing it again from a different perspective at another time. Ahmet Haşim also reflected deeply on this matter—the issue of seeing versus observing. Observing and seeing are entirely different concepts. There are many things you don’t actually see when you merely observe something. If you look at something directly, a thousand thoughts might cross your mind, and you may fail to pay attention to the object itself. In other words, you don’t see it. In certain situations, people may even say that you’re not seeing.
This is not exactly what I want to convey, but it’s something along those lines. Sometimes, you reach the end of a book without realizing how you got there. Your mind might have been elsewhere, or perhaps you weren’t paying full attention. When you reach the end, you realize you haven’t understood a thing and start reading it all over again. This time, you try to read “more attentively” and “with more focus.” Similarly, when listening to a live radio or TV broadcast, you might sometimes get lost in thought and miss parts of the discussion.
Here lies the essence of my thoughts. The inability to distinguish between what we see with our eyes and hear with our ears, and what we actually perceive and understand. When our minds are elsewhere, our eyes and ears lose their function. When our minds are present, and if our intellect permits, sensory organs like the eyes and ears gain meaning. Otherwise, we hear without listening, look without seeing, or fail to see altogether.
Read: The Power of Observation
Thus, for our sensory organs to function, we need to be aware of what we are doing, focus our attention, and immerse ourselves in the subject. Now, the question arises: who is it that focuses their attention? Who immerses themselves in the subject? Who becomes aware? If it is us who do all these things, then who is it that looks, listens, and observes? Isn’t it all us?
Of course, it’s all us. However, we possess a dual-layered structure—physical and spiritual. Functions like observing, seeing, and touching are carried out by organs like the eyes, ears, hands, and even their central processor, the brain, which are located in our physical bodies. These organs are common to all living beings. Yet, the mechanism that transmits all this to the brain and places it in the “meaning-making” process is not within the body but within the spiritual structure. In other words, what makes humans distinct from animals is their intellect—something animals do not possess. If we do not subordinate our physical structure, where our sensory organs are located, to the command of our intellectual and human structure—if the mind does not engage—we will understand nothing from what we do, read, or see.
Translator: Lazizbek Rakhimov, poet and writer
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Coşkun Karabulut, poet and writer, born in 1956 in Sarıkamış, Kars, Turkey, graduated from Hacettepe University’s Department of Sociology in 1980. He worked as a manager and director in various banks. After retirement, he managed a hotel for a while. Between 2005 and 2014, he worked as the Director of the Art House of the Ölüdeniz Municipality (Fethiye, Muğla), striving to transform Ölüdeniz into an art hub. His first poem was published in the “Senfoni” magazine in Mersin. Later, his poems appeared in various magazines, while his articles featured in a newspaper. He gained attention with his humorous poems written in line with the Garip poetry movement.
Read – The Art of Self-Awareness: Rising Beyond the Echoes of Empty Applause
