Beyond Beauty

"Beauty is a dynamic event that occurs between you and something else. Beauty is thus an altered state of consciousness, an extraordinary moment of poetry and grace."

Beauty?

What defines beauty? What is this state of beauty?

The human consciousness is so drawn into, so completely transfixed by what they deem beautiful, that we become victim to our physical egos. This ego at its root is supposed to give you boundaries and a sense of self, but when it becomes off-balance, it leads us to define ourselves according to these various external qualities/circumstances like in the case with beauty.

Beauty is so much more than this smug perception we have altered our minds to believe.

Beauty forces the contemplative being out of all of us, it forces us to marvel, to become mesmerized…resulting in that euphoric feeling of time being frozen. In that mere instant, our awareness is present. We remove our conscious from the constant rush of our existence and enter into a dream-like ecstasy. A mystical experience.

Beauty itself may come from our own growth of our conscious. If our consciousness is the base of all reality, any shift will change every aspect of our reality.

“Awe is therapy. It is inspiration. Inspiration is therapy.”

There is actually research being conducted at Stanford University called “Awe Therapy,” in which people, whom have “awesome experiences” experiences of beauty, get fixed on the present moment and feel time slowing down.

The core of every spiritual teaching is how to train the mind to be in the present. Maybe beauty is our most spiritual self without even recognizing it. Beauty has the capacity to terminate the negative physical entities of our ego, which is why when we reflect on that particular moment of beauty, we feel a sense of clarity. 

I remember when I was in India, I got to see the beauty of wild elephants in the monsoon-covered hills of Munnar. There have only been a few moments like this in my life where I have experienced this absolute awe in my mind.  Everyone who was with me (my brother, mom, emma, alex and lisa), knew I could have just sat on that rock for hours upon hours gazing at this moment. I didn't realize it then, but I was in a complete meditative, euphoric state, with no sense of time but the present.

In yoga and in meditation, I always seek to return to the breath in maintaining being in the present. Maybe beauty is just another realization and way of becoming completely present, unconsciously.

“Beyond the beauty of external forms, there is more here: something that cannot be named, something ineffable, some deep, inner, holy essence. Whenever and wherever there is beauty, this inner essence shines through somehow. It only reveals itself to you when you are present.” –Eckhart Tolle