Be Beauty
by Wayne Dyer
Emily Dickinson wrote:
“Beauty is not caused. It is ... “As you awaken to your divine nature, you’ll begin to appreciate beauty in everything you see, touch, and experience. Beauty and truth are synonymous as you read in John Keats’s famous observation in Ode on a Grecian Urn: “Beauty is truth, truth beauty.” This means, of course, that the creative Spirit brings things into the world of boundaries to thrive and flourish and expand. And it wouldn’t do so were it not infatuated with the beauty of every manifested creature, including you. Thus, to come back into conscious contact with your Source, so as to regain the power of your Source is to look for and experience beauty in all of your undertakings. Life, truth, beauty-these are all symbols for the same thing, an aspect of the God-force.
When you lose this awareness, you lose the possibility of connecting to intention. You were brought into this world from that which perceived you as an expression of beauty. It couldn’t have done so if it thought you to be otherwise, for if it has the power to create; it also possesses the power not to do so. The choice to do so is predicated on the supposition that you’re an expression of loving beauty. This is true for everything and everyone that emanates from the power of intention.
Here’s a favorite story of mine that illustrates appreciating beauty where once you didn’t. It was told by Swami Chidvilasananda, better known as Gurumayi, in her beautiful book, Kindle My Heart.
“There was a man who did not like his in-laws because he felt they took up more space in the house than they should. He went to a teacher who lived nearby, as he had heard a lot about him, and he said, “Please do something! I cannot bear my in-laws anymore. I love my wife, but my in-laws — never! They take up so much space in the house; somehow I feel they are always in my way”’ The teacher asked him, “Do you have some chickens?” “Yes, I do,” he said.
“Then put all your chickens inside the house.”
He did what the teacher said and then went back to him. The teacher asked, “Problem solved?” He said, “No! It’s worse.” “ Do you have any sheep?” “Yes.” “Bring all the sheep inside.” He did so and returned to the teacher. “Problem solved?” “No! It’s getting worse.” “Do you have a dog?” “Yes, I have several.” “Take all those dogs into the house.” Finally, the man ran back to the teacher and said, “I came to you for help, but you are making my life worse than ever!” The teacher said to him, “Now send all the chickens, sheep, and dogs back outside.” The man went home and emptied the house of all the animals. There was so much space! He went back to the teacher. “Thank you! Thank you!” he said. “ You have solved all my problems.”