“Where the hands go to present an action,
there must go the eyes, where the eyes go, there must go the mind” - Kathakali quote.
Yet one can move without looking.
The blind still move their hands, though their eyes do not follow. Your mind…
Is incredibly complex. An intricate web of information and memories, all stored
and remembered beyond the reach of Psychologist and Biologists, no matter their
endeavors to completely understand.
“Where
the eyes go, there must go the mind”
Perhaps,
perhaps not – it all depends on the situation. However, ultimatums are rarely
completely true.
This quote embodies the principles
of Kathakali Theater. Kathakali is based on movement, no words. The body is the
tool, the main manner of communication, the base on which everything is built. With
the immense precision of the body movements come precise extreme facial
expressions, the eyes of the actors playing an important role. Hence, “there must go the eyes” – and in that
train of thought, the mind – extremely focused on the task and actions at hand,
will indeed follow.
Put simply, one could claim the
quote demonstrates single-minded focus of many humans – our eyes follow our
movements, and our eyes often direct our mind, stimulated by what we glimpse of
the world around us.
When you point towards an object,
your gaze will follow the trail that your fingers are indicating, and your mind
will focus on whatever object may occupy the area demonstrated. For example,
you point towards a friend, your gaze lands on that person, and your mind is
stimulated to recall all the details of that person you have stored, your
friend “status” and shared history.
Your attention may be so focused on
the person before you, so much so that you walk straight into a pole (I speak
from experience here). This basically demonstrates the single-minded focus one
gets, particularly during a performance. The way that you can get lost in the
moment, and loose sight of the bigger picture.
