Rainbow Over the Stupa
Only if there is beauty in us can we recognize beauty elsewhere: beauty knows beauty. In this way beauty can be a mirror that manifests our own beauty. … To achieve a glimpse of inner beauty strengthens our sense of dignity and grace. John O’Donohue (Beauty: The Invisible Embrace)
On our walk yesterday afternoon, shortly after stopping briefly to help a neighbor, something caught my eye as I looked at these amazing mountains: a faint band of red, a rainbow beginning to form.
I watched as the other bands of color slowly became visible – yellow, green, blue, purple. Beauty unfolding on the stage before me, the sacred Sangre de Cristo Mountains a splendid backdrop. Continuing to watch, colors brightened, faded, brightened again through several cycles as rain moved south. Zadie Byrd patiently sniffed the territory in no rush to move on from the beauty her olfactory system was discovering.
As the rainbow faded, we walked on. With the mountains behind us the vast San Luis Valley now offered its own visual feast. When we rounded the corner toward home, the mountains were once more ahead. Taking in the sacred landscape, I discovered that the rainbow had brightened once again and, from our vantage point, was hanging over the largest of several local Buddhist stupas. Another dose of stunning beauty.
Now, as I write before dawn, the tingle of rainbow’s beauty returns. Or, perhaps, it lingers. I’m reminded of this O’Donohue wisdom which seems to mirror my experience:
The experience of beauty has for the most part a particular force. It envelopes and overcomes us. Yet there are times when beauty reveals itself slowly. There are times when beauty is shy and hesitates until it can trust the worthiness of the beholder.
The visual beauty of the rainbow eventually faded but the imprint of its beauty on this heart lives on, a gentle reminder that beauty is first and always an inside job. Beauty is always present to the heart that beholds her.
I gently close my journal feeling that Muse and I are complete. I notice that beauty has been our focus of late and am curious about Muse guiding me here. No,’ nudges Muse, ‘we aren’t quite done yet.’
Questions emerge: How might we call forth the shy beauty hidden in the so-called problems of our world? Of the bumps and bruises in our individual roads of life? How might we demonstrate our worthiness so that beauty will be revealed? How might I behold that beauty?
My questions hang like the crescent moon over these mountains as dawn breaks.
I think of how slowly and deliberately Nature revealed hidden aspects of her beauty during the Covid pause two years ago. Wildlife returning. Skies clearing. Clean waters flowing. What was our worthiness to witness that? How could we allow it slip away in our quest to return to ‘normal’?
My attention turns to a contentious issue here in my community. How can I call forth the beauty that is surely hidden in the divisiveness? How can I demonstrate my worthiness so that any shy beauty can be revealed?
With a gentle nod, Muse seems to say, ‘Simply stop, look, listen, and love. Know that beauty IS there in each and every player.’
Indeed, beauty IS there. And so it is with all the world’s seeming darkness as well as the dim patches in our own lives. Gentle rays of light penetrate deep to point the way when we stop, look, love, and listen for beauty and light of wisdom within.
Now, about that mouse that visited the kitchen overnight … surely there is beauty waiting to be revealed.
Morning Moon Over the Sangres