Photo courtesy Kayla Kingston |
Beauty
especially occurs in the meeting of time with the timeless; the passing
moment framed by what has happened and what is about to occur, the
scattering of the first spring apple blossom, the turning, spiraling
flight of a curled leaf in the falling light; the smoothing of white
sun-filled sheets by careful hands setting them to air on a line, for
the broad expanse of cotton filled by the breeze only for a moment, the
sheets sailing on into dryness, billowing toward a future that is always
beckoning, always just beyond us. Beauty is the harvest of presence.
~ David Whyte, Consolations
The Vijnana Bhairva Tantra, an
ancient Sanskrit text, describes 112 ways to enter into the universal
and transcendental state of consciousness - into presence. One of my favorites
is the wonder and awe I find in the natural world: rainbows, fall colors, sunsets,
snow crystals, a weed poking it's way through cement, ladybugs and flowers. Where ever I look and pay attention, beauty
is there. In yoga, we use our bodies in
the shape of poses to create a bridge to connect us to the beauty that exists
outside as well as inside us. Yoga invites
us to the harvest of presence, here
and now. So much beauty awaits our attention.