Blue skies and sunshine with a few passing fluffy white clouds and a mild breeze. The temperature is comfortable, neither hot or cold – just right for jeans and a T-shirt. You enjoy a little walk with your dog and a smiling stranger proclaims as he walks by, “Beautiful day, isn’t it?” No doubt, you nod and smile back.
No one questions our common experience of the beauty of nature. Although some might prefer rain to sunshine, or snowy winters instead of hot summers, the environment touches everyone. Only someone in a bad mood would grumble at the sight of a beautiful flower or a sunset. What makes nature universally beautiful?
Surrounded by a Mirror
Imagine yourself shopping for new clothes. You stand in a dressing room surrounded by mirrors (a frightful thought for some of us), and you’ve found the perfect outfit. It fits as if it was tailored for you, and it’s comfortable. It complements your build and best features. A warm pleasant feeling evokes a smile and there is no doubt that you will buy these clothes.
That good feeling stays with you as you purchase the clothes and think about when you’re going to wear them. You might even be excited enough to tell a friend about it. Like sharing a smile in acknowledgment of a beautiful day.
Seeing Your Own Goodness
Although personal tastes may vary, everyone enjoys beauty, comfort, and something that reflects the best part of who they are. In that sense, the natural environment is like a mirror, and we feel it’s a beautiful day because our best attributes are reflected. What are we seeing?
Nature is an example of the harmony of opposites. Concave and convex, light and dark, high and low, plus and minus working at the most basic level up to the most complex – human beings. Nature also shows us order, that there is a hierarchy of how things work: primary and secondary, left and right, back and front, elder and younger, dominant and recessive, leader and follower, internal and external, and so on. All of these pairings form relationships which manifest in billions of ways – and you see the result.
You are part of the natural world and it is part of you. When you look at the majesty of a mountian, hear the song of a bird, feel the wind, appreciate a sunset or smell a rose, you are experiencing your own truth, beauty and goodness.
The Mystery of Nature
Mother Nature is always speaking. She speaks in a language understood within the peaceful mind of the sincere observer. Leopards, cobras, monkeys, rivers and trees; they all served as my teachers when I lived as a wanderer in the Himalayan foothills. – Radhanath Swami
Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence. – Hal Borland
The sea is everything. It covers seven tenths of the terrestrial globe. Its breath is pure and healthy. It is an immense desert, where man is never lonely, for he feels life stirring on all sides. – Jules Verne
Science cannot solve the ultimate mystery of nature. And that is because, in the last analysis, we ourselves are a part of the mystery that we are trying to solve. – Max Planck
God is good, and nature reflects that. Truth, love and goodness are evident in the beauty of the natural world. Human beings are individual truth bodies filled with the potential of unlimited unconditional love. When we are awestruck by the beauty of nature we experience God and our own true self.
HAPPY DAY OF ALL THINGS!
