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The beauty that remains

rainbow-wharfedale

Over Christmas I saw quite a few beautiful rainbows. Their short-lived transience makes the thrill even greater.

However as a photographer, I was caught between living the moment and trying to capture on film. The momentary arrival of a rainbow can come with a tinge of sadness that everything soon passes on earth. Part of you wants to hold onto the rainbow’s beauty before it slips away.

The world is in a constant state of flux. Everything is fleeting – nothing lasts. The rainbow exemplifies this birth and death – all within a few minutes. It lifts our spirits, but then is gone.

***

The sweet rainbow comes and goes,
But its beauty remains.

The dear sun comes and goes,
But its duty remains.

The faithful day comes and goes,
But its sound remains.

The restful night comes and goes,
But its silence remains.

Sri Chinmoy
– Wings of Light, part 11, WL-529

In this poem, Sri Chinmoy reminds us of the beauty which is everlasting. It echoes the immortal words of John Keats.

“A thing of beauty is a joy forever”

We love the outer rainbow, not just for its unique light, but because it also – consciously or unconsciously – reminds us of the soul’s world and the inner beauty.

In the poem, Sri Chinmoy suggests we should not mourn the fading of the outer light because its Source is eternal. The outer beauty is a just reminder to seek the inner light.

Photo top: Tejvan (Wharfedale, Yorkshire, 25th December, 2016)

The Hour Came

flower

The Hour Came

The hour came.
I was not ready.
God descended,
Smiled
And
Departed.
The hour came again.
I was not ready.
God ascended,
Pushed
And
Barked.
The hour came not.
I was ready.
God slept.
I cried.
Ignorance sang.
Satan danced.

By: Sri Chinmoy

From: Here is the Place and

Prayer – Henry David Thoreau

 

Prayer

Great God, I ask for no meaner pelf
Than that I may not disappoint myself,
That in my action I may soar as high
As I can now discern with this clear eye.

And next in value, which thy kindness lends,
That I may greatly disappoint my friends,
Howe’er they think or hope that it may be,
They may not dream how thou’st distinguished me.

That my weak hand may equal my firm faith
And my life practice what my tongue saith
That my low conduct may not show
Nor my relenting lines
That I thy purpose did not know
Or overrated thy designs.

By: Henry David Thoreau

Photo from: Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries

 

Because I Could Not Stop For Death

 

Because I could not stop for Death

by: Emily Dickinson

 

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labour, and my leisure too,
For his civility.

We passed the school where children played,
Their lessons scarcely done;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.

We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.

Since then ’tis centuries; but each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses’ heads
Were toward eternity.

 

By: Emily Dickinson.

Photo by Unmesh Swanson Sri Chinmoy Centre Galleries

 

Photos Bodghaya

Bodhgaya where the Lord Buddha attained enlightenment.

Gaya is located at a distance of 105 km from Patna in the state of Bihar. Buddha Gaya is located 7 miles south of Gaya and is one of the well visited Buddhist pilgrimage centers of the Indian subcontinent.

"The Bodhi tree under which the Buddha attained enlightenment is considered to be the among the oldest and the most venerated tree in the world. This tree is said to be a descendant of the original tree, a branch of which was transplanted at Anuradhapura in Sri Lanka during the period of Emperor Ashoka the great. It is believed that Emperor Ashoka’s Guru Upagupta led him to various holy sites in the Buddhist tradition, including this tree at Gaya. "