“Thou art like unto the pupil of the eye which is dark in colour, yet it is the fount of light and the revealer of the contingent world.” -`Abdu’l-Bahá
The Pupil
The pupil of the eye is a portal which admits and regulates the flow of light to the retina. Without this passage, no images are perceived. At the retina, our consciousness is intimately in contact with physical reality, for the brain’s cells themselves flow out to the retina to receive information through the illumination modulated by the pupil.
The pupil has the dual function of light gathering and modulation. Light, which unites all colors and is composed of all colors, illumines physical reality, but at the same time its intensity can destroy the delicate structures of the eye. When light levels are high, it constricts to protect the retina from intense and even damaging exposure. Since sight is often described as our most precious sensory ability, we can say that the pupil helps to protect this most precious gift. On the other hand, when there is very little light the pupil admits more light through dilating, thus permitting sight even in very dark places.
The black appearance of the pupil is deceptive. The pupil appears black only until the inside of the eye is illumined. Then it becomes radiant, filled with a warm, reddish-orange glow. With this reflection from the inside of the eye, the pupil itself becomes a source of illumination.
The most remarkable quality of the pupil is that despite its vital service, it is the embodiment of “the hollow reed from which the pith of self hath been blown,” for it is the absence of physical structure that permits it to facilitate the harmonious functioning of all the other components of the eye that make sight possible.
-Dr. May Khadem Czerniejewski and Dr. Richard Czerniejewski
Source:
The Pupil of the Eye:
African Americans in the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh
by The Báb, Bahá’u’lláh, Abdu’l-Bahá, and Universal House of Justice
compiled by Bonnie J. Taylor.
Rivera Beach, Florida: Palabra Publications, 1998