We admire sometimes the beauty of a person by seeing the contour, texture and complexion of the skin and hair of a person. It is an immediate exclamation: “Wow! How beautiful she looks!”, “How handsome he is”. Beauty, nevertheless we know, is skin deep. But have you ever analysed what is that which makes the person beautiful, or rather makes the person stand as a person, upright and erect?
To know what shines through a person as a real beauty, you should see both sides of a so-called beautiful person. When that person is alive and standing up by a force, we say she or he is so good looking. But if it is the very same body that seemed so beautiful is lying in state, then where has that beauty gone? If life force is that factor which makes a beautiful person look beautiful, then beauty pervades everything in this universe. It is there in the shining face of a child, it is there in the compassionate smile through wrinkled old eyes, it is there in the fresh blossom that opens gently into a wide flower, sometimes well after it is plucked from the plant too. There is a sort of light-less light that shines through. It is there in the flashy smooth skin. It shines through a lovely photograph or a vivid movie too. When this life force shines through, there is brilliance in the classroom, there is sharpness of intellect, there is a precise memory of all that is needed to be remembered and forgetfulness for all that is unwanted in life. This life energy shines through in a beautiful relationship that is founded on understanding and trust.
The surest way for instant peace of mind and freedom from stress is to admire the beauty around. We talk of how modern day life is so stressful, but we forget that immediately around us, there are so many ancient things, that are older than all of our oldest epics, histories, civilisations—as old as creation. The sun is one example.
We come face to face with it daily, but we hardly show our face up to the sun to see its beauty. Can there be anything more beautiful and worth watching than the waxing and waning moon or counting the stars at night, or just peering through the dark sky to look at just one of the billion stars up above, twinkling as a bright spark? Just imagine you have to stay in a house where there is just space for your body to stand upright or sit? You will appreciate the beauty that is in space.
I once mentioned to a friend, “The best part of my house that I like very much is the terrace.” It was with a lot of excitement that I said this about a new house that I happened to move into and a colleague remarked, “What is there to like in a terrace?” True, there is nothing, but that empty space is something you will really value when you do not have it.
So for many of us who are worried sick about our expanding contours, a twist in the nose, shape of our eyes, take a deep breath and exhale. If you are able to do this, then you have that thing in you which is the beauty of all beautiful things in this world.
—Swahilya Shambhavi (www.swahilya.blogspot.in)