Journey into Beauty As we journey into the meaning of beauty,
We will use our minds to explore and then our hearts to encounter beauty.
Whilst beauty can seem unnecessary for daily life,
It's interesting to note the deep human desire for beauty in all things.
We might call it perfection,
Excellence or truth instead.
Have you ever been moved by the utter beauty of a thing?
It's really hilly around where I live,
And at times the landscape seems to wear the weather like a garment.
Warm purple hazes in the summer place a filter over the receding hills,
Whilst colder months invite heavy white layers into the valleys.
I've honestly felt myself moved to tears by the sheer beauty of what I've seen.
It's an amazing thing when beauty gives you a sublime experience.
Our eyes can perceive beauty in a work of art,
Our ears hear beauty in a symphony,
Our taste buds in a vintage wine,
Our fingers in the contours of a loved one's body,
Our minds in a stunning theory.
Beauty is something we perceive with our bodily senses,
But it also transcends the physical.
We can perceive beauty in a harmonious and pleasing arrangement of words,
In ingenious theories and formulas,
In compelling plots and arresting atmospheres,
In acts of bravery and kindness.
So what is beauty?
The poet Keats said that beauty is truth and truth is beauty.
Beauty is the truth of a thing.
Not cold,
Hard factual truth,
But rather the expression of ideal realities.
To see and experience this is to know the beauty of a thing.
So whilst we often perceive beauty with our senses,
Our minds,
From time to time we may perceive beauty with a deeper part of our being,
Our inner being or soul.
And we can find ourselves loving and longing for more of this beauty.
The experience of the sublime,
Ultimate beauty.
We're going to move to contemplate ultimate beauty with our hearts in order to encounter something of it.
So close your eyes if you want and take a couple of deeper breaths.
And see yourself approaching a walled garden,
One that's unknown to you.
And you push the door and enter.
There's an aura of mystery and yet an air of expectancy.
This is the most beautiful garden you've ever seen or imagined.
And you take some time to explore it.
To look at the colours and forms.
You smell the aroma.
You hear the rustling of leaves on the trees and birdsong.
You can even taste the hint of rainwater lingering on the green grass.
Everything is the way that it's meant to be.
Everything is in order,
Full of peace and life.
Everything is beautiful.
You're in the presence of a kind of ultimate beauty that you perceive here.
And you receive this presence of ultimate beauty within.
Allowing it to permeate your inner being.
It's available to you and you're allowed to enjoy it.
As you experience this ultimate beauty,
It bears its own presence upon your very life.
A beauty where there isn't yet beauty.
And as we finish this contemplation,
You can allow the image to recede and open your eyes.
And allow the presence of ultimate beauty to reveal itself to you in the everyday and bear its presence upon your own life.
This is the way that it's meant to be.
