On Learning to See

Reflections / Part Two

Sometimes when looking at something—anything, really—I do a double take. My first glance is shaped by language, subjectivity, and the assumptions that come with it. But then, something shifts, and I look at it again. For a moment, my seeing transcends differentiation and connects with an indivisible reality.

Where my first seeing was fragmented by language and assumption, I’m now humbled by what I witnessed: a fleeting glimpse of the undifferentiated ground of being that we all share. It could be a person, a flower, an insect, etc. For that moment, I remember that everything, at its core, is interconnected.

These double-take moments come to mind as I reflect on that pivotal moment when Inanna crosses the final threshold of the underworld and encounters her sister Ereshkigal.

In the first part of this series, I reflected on the meaning of Inanna’s journey in light of Perera’s work. In this post I want to reflect on how, according to Perera’s analysis, Inanna’s experience in the underworld initiates her into a new way of seeing.

To reach the underworld, Inanna needs to pass through seven gates. At each of the gates, Inanna must give up a representation of herself so that she can descend further.

At the first gate, she gives up her crown, representing her rulership and celestial connection, followed by her lapis lazuli earrings, a sign of wisdom. Next, she relinquishes her double strand of beads, symbolizing wealth, and her breastplate, which signifies protection and strength.

At the fifth gate, she surrenders her golden ring, another marker of authority, then her measuring rod and line, tools of justice and order. Finally, she is forced to remove her royal robe, leaving her naked and powerless before her sister, Ereshkigal.

At this moment, as Perera describes, Inanna unveiled, sees her own mysterious depth—Ereshkigal—who glares back at her. In this moment she has an immediate, full experience of her underworld self and what Inanna sees initiates her into a new way of seeing.

Before the vision of Ereshkigal, the familiar structures of objective reality are stripped away, revealing something raw and unmediated.

Ereshkigal, the Queen of the Underworld, represents the force of undifferentiated consciousness. In her presence, all distinctions dissolve: the boundaries between self and other, light and shadow, life and death. To enter into her domain, she demands complete surrender—not just of status and identity, but of the very sense of individuality. To stand before her is to be unmade, undergoing a transformation so total that nothing of the old self remains intact.

This is not merely a symbolic death but an existential confrontation with the fundamental ground of being, where differentiation dissolves and only the vast, unformed potential of the netherworld remains.

In this state, the usual patterns and concepts that structure everyday thought are stripped away, breaking through the limits of language and the mental frameworks that define perception. Freed from surface appearances and false collective beliefs, this vision cuts through the rigid ideals imposed by the superego, revealing a deeper reality unshaped by words and untouched by judgment.

Such knowledge is difficult to bear.

We try to soften it, hide from it, or ignore it. However, according to Perera, facing this fundamental truth allows a woman to stop striving to meet the expectations of parents and animus-driven ideals.It’s like reaching rock bottom, where those demands no longer hold power. This realization puts all principles into perspective and opens her to the paradoxes of living in alignment with the Self.

Such vision is radical and deeply disruptive, but it is not inherently evil—only dangerous when unbalanced, rigid, or incomplete.

To those unprepared, it can feel monstrous, ugly, even terrifying, because it strips away defenses and demands the sacrifice of comforting collective beliefs, as well as the desire to appear good and to belong safely. It is raw, unpredictable, and revealing, offering a glimpse of reality beneath moral and aesthetic judgments, beyond opposites.

This is the instinctual eye—the spirit’s vision within nature, awakened by Ereshkigal in those ready to see. For those who endure it, it grants a refined perception and source of grounding—a wisdom that cuts through pretence to the essence of being.

Inanna’s encounter with Ereshkigal leaves her forever changed. She now knows that death is not an end but a passage into transformation. Stripped of all she once believed defined her, she now understands true power lies not in what she possesses or commands, but in surrender and renewal.

She can not unsee what she now knows. It becomes part of her wisdom and this wisdom changes the way she sees the world.