The Sacred, the Beautiful, and the Magical

There is something magical and beautiful about clouds resting around the tops of mountains. It is this beautiful display of earth reaching up to its highest point, and the heavens reaching down to touch the earth. It seems like a scene that would be part of any number of fantasy stories, and here it is, right outside my window, greeting me with beauty.

I was in the temple yesterday, thinking about the sacred things that go on there, and how they go beyond what I would consider magical, and they are truly sacred and special. I've been thinking about magic a lot, as it is a recurring theme in fantasy, and I am drawn towards fantasy for writing, in world creation, and things like that, but not to flashy magic. I guess my perspective is that the kind of magic I would want to write about would all be a matter of perspective, that our world is magical to those who have a different view.

These mountains, the clouds around them, their beautiful is magical and mystical to me. It is the same thing when I find beauty where I do not expect it. I think the most compelling kind of beauty is not the one that is striven for, and created just for that purpose, it is when something else is happening, and it is beautiful beyond the purpose. The mountains are there doing their own thing. The clouds are coming to bring rain and do their own thing. Their union is not planned so that I can look up and see the beauty. It is the same thing with seeing beauty in relationships. Relationships between others or even with myself involved, do not exist so I can admire their beauty. They go on for their own reasons, but there is something so undeniably beautiful that just shines through sometimes.

It makes me think of the concept of shri in yoga, to shine through your pose. The intent of the pose is not beauty. It is work, it is a connection with your body, to help it, to make it feel good, but then when you add shri, there is something beautiful about it.

The magic in this world is not our electronics. It is not our cars, or even our ability to split atoms. I mean, sure, these things are the flashy kind of magic, with instantaneous results, like a light switch. But the true magic of this world is the beauty that comes through things and people fulfilling their purposes in life.

But those things get to be so magical that they almost cross a threshold into the realm of sacred. There are so many magical, sacred, beautiful moments to be experienced in this world. I love finding them.