 |
| Bubbles at the beach |
In all ages the various religions have given different standards of good and evil, calling them virtue and sin. The virtue of one nation has been the sin of another. The virtue of the latter is the sin of the former. Travel as we may through the world, or read the histories and traditions of nations as we may, we shall still find that what one calls evil, another calls good. That is why no one can succeed in making a universal standard for good and evil. The discrimination between good and evil is in man's soul. Every man can judge that for himself, because in every man is the sense of admiration of beauty. But he is not satisfied with what he does himself, he feels a discomfort, a disgust with his own efforts. There are many people who continue some weakness or some mistake, or who are intoxicated by some action which the world calls evil or which they themselves call evil, yet go on doing it. But a day comes when they also are disgusted. Then they wish for suicide. There is no more happiness for them. Happiness only lies in thinking or doing that which one considers beautiful. Such an act becomes a virtue or goodness. That goodness is beauty.
from http://wahiduddin.net/mv2/VII/VII_31.htm
Man is always seeking for beauty, and yet he is unaware of the treasure of beauty that is hidden in his own heart. He strives after it throughout his whole life. It is as if he was in pursuit of the horizon: the further he proceeds, the further the horizon seems to have moved away. For there are two aims: the one is real, and the other false. That which is false is momentary, transitory, and unreliable - wealth, power, fame, and position are all snatched from one hand by the other. ... Man wants something in life upon which he can rely; and this shows, whether he believes in a deity or not, that he is constantly seeking for God. He seeks for Him not knowing that he is seeking for God. Nevertheless, every soul is pursuing some reality, something to hold on to; trying to grasp something which will prove dependable, a beauty that cannot change and that one can always look upon as one's own, a beauty that one feels will last forever. And where can one find it? Within one's own heart. And it is the art of finding that beauty, of developing, improving, and spreading that beauty through life, allowing it to manifest before the inner and outer view, which one calls the art of the mystic.
Struggling a bit with words and feeling the judgement and separation from identifying aspects of life as good/bad, dark/light etc. Nice timing with the Bowl of Saki and how to roll it all into the word beauty. A good descriptor for the fabric of Oneness--life.
Continuing to be amused and transfixed by the openings to the layers of awareness. The truck I was loading had a shipment of spices/teas that gave it the fragrance of walking through the spice markets in India. As I followed this thread, I was swiftly moved to the ashram and presence of the Divine Genealogy. The welling up of uncontrollable tears had to be stifled, since I didn't deem it appropriate to be sobbing from this perspective while loading boxes in the early morning hours. But, oh what a lovely touchstone to the ever present fabric of Oneness.
Timing is interesting as well for the convergence of grace in one's life. I have had this wound on my head for years that moves between activity and dormancy. It was recently identified and a small team of surgeons quickly assembled to remove the troubled zone. As I sat with the gratitude of being attended to by a specialist in skin cancer removal and in a facility that houses a clinic that specializes in one of the most modern treatments, the uncontrollable tears welled up again. Beauty--there is is no true darkness.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
