by Patanga Cordeiro

Inspired by the writings of Sri Chinmoy and John Keats.

A thing of beauty is a joy forever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness.
- John Keats, from “Endymion”

Such is the beauty of poetry. By sharing his mantra, the poet innately puts the question to us at the same time. What is beauty?

If we start with a basic question like “what is  a thing of beauty”, the poet replies “it is a joy forever”. But, what then can give us this perennial bliss?

The beauty of the body? It eventually fails us and decays into dust with age. So its beauty is transient and cannot give us “a joy forever”.

The thrill of our emotions? They too are ever shifting. This moment we like. Next moment we don´t. Today euphory, tomorrow depression.

The brilliance of our minds? However high and lustrous it may be at a particular time, one day it is with us and then, the next day, brilliance is nowhere. Today I may be able to plan everything in my life. However, tomorrow all my plans may go down the drain with an inimaginable turn of events.

The oneness of our hearts? Our heart´s oneness gives us long lasting satisfaction. Once we no longer feel divided from fellow runners striving towards eternity’s Goal, we can claim all and achieve everything on the strength of our oneness-hearts. But the heart itself will at times accept insecurity as its guest.

The star-climbing wings of our soul? The soul is the eternal guest and host, the Destination as well as the Way. It is the very Source of bliss. That All can never cease to exist and is, therefore, a true joy forever.

“Beauty is truth, truth beauty.” - John Keats

What is meditation and how does it relate to beauty? Meditation is the beauty divine of the soul in the process of its manifestation.

Here the unparalelled poet in Sri Chinmoy far transcends anything I could ever dream of glimpsing with my mind’s eye:

Immortality

I feel in all my limbs His boundless Grace;
Within my heart the Truth of life shines white.
The secret heights of God my soul now climbs;
No dole, no sombre pang, no death in my sight.

No mortal days and nights can shake my calm;
A Light above sustains my secret soul.
All doubts with grief are banished from my deeps,
My eyes of light perceive my cherished Goal.

Though in the world, I am above its woe;
I dwell in an ocean of supreme release.
My mind, a core of the One's unmeasured thoughts;
The star-vast welkin hugs my Spirit's peace.

My eternal days are found in speeding time;
I play upon His Flute of rhapsody.
Impossible deeds no more impossible seem;
In birth-chains now shines Immortality.

Sri Chinmoy, My Flute, Agni Press, 1972

For many more writings on the topic of beauty, please refer to “A Galaxy of Beauty’s Stars”