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ISSN: 1539-431X November 8, 2006 Morning in the Mountains
 What
is RSS?
Have you ever been completely captivated by a beautiful setting -- maybe a blood-red sunset on the seashore, freshly scented air after a soft summer rain, or a moonlit morning in the mountains? John Cali This past Sunday morning I awakened just before dawn. The nearly full moon was hovering over the rugged Absaroka Mountains to the west. On the eastern horizon the sun, an orange-gold globe, was peeping over the foothills, bathing the summits of the western mountains in an otherworldly glow. Puffy white clouds raced across the deep blue sky, pushed by a warm wind blowing out of the west. Suddenly the whole valley around me was alive with a golden-amber light. Everything was glowing, transformed as if we'd moved into another dimension. Even Daisy Mae, my neighbor's big beautiful mule, halted her grazing and was uncharacteristically quiet. She just stood there gazing eastward as the sun rose higher and higher. It was as if she was transformed too. I stood there amazed -- how much beauty there is in our world! We don't even have to look for it. It's all around us. No matter where we live -- in the city, at the seashore, or in the mountains. But I still see many folks around me blind to the beauty, intently focused instead on all the world's problems, and their own. Here's Chief Joseph. Chief Joseph Beauty, as John said, is all around you. And within you -- and within all that is. You've heard it said "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." And that is absolutely true. But in our view, that doesn't mean the beauty exists only in the eye of the beholder. As we see it, it means the beholder has a gift for seeing the beauty -- the best -- in the world, in him/herself. In all beings. We once defined love as the choice to see the divinity in all beings. Not just human beings, but all beings, whether you consider them "conscious" or not. All things -- all that is -- have a consciousness. Even if you consider them inanimate -- like a rock or a mountain. All things -- all beings -- all that is -- are part of God, Goddess, Great Spirit. You are all one -- and one with us in our shared divine connection. And so, if we are all God or Goddess, then we are all beautiful. The first step in shifting your consciousness to a higher level is to simply acknowledge there is beauty in all that is. Maybe you don't see the beauty now. But it is there. If you will but look for that beauty all around you, knowing in your heart it is there, you will find your life becoming more joyful and peaceful. Look for the beauty everywhere -- in the obvious places, as in the sunrise, the sunset, the mountains, the sea. But also get used to looking for it in unexpected places. Look for it everywhere. Look for it in every thing, in every human, in every other being. And, most of all, look for it in yourself. For when you can clearly see -- and appreciate and love -- the beauty you are, then you will be inundated by the beauty all around you. It's always been there. You just haven't noticed.
This article was originally published here.
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John can be reached by email here
or through their website Copyright © 2006 by John Cali. All rights reserved. *************************************************************************
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