If you have ever gone to Bali in Indonesia, they greet you saying, ‘Om Swasti Astu’. This is an ancient Sanskrit term which means may you enjoy the heaven and may you be established in yourself. Being established in yourself is real heaven. Not only physical healthy but also mental, emotional and spiritual well-being.
Today the World Health Organization has recognized the role of spirituality as that which bring you a sense of satisfaction, wellness, connectivity, and confidence in whatever you do.
Internal beauty reflects outer beauty
Beauty has several dimensions – one is external beauty and one is internal beauty. Inner beauty reflects on the outer beauty. You look at any child from anywhere in the world, there is subtle beauty in them. They don’t need cosmetics, their very spirit exhibits beauty. That beauty indicates the state of mind, and the state of one’s mind definitely corresponds to the skin as well.
The skin of a baby is very different and its mind is also very different. So, the mind and the skin are very connected. In one of the scriptures in this country called Vigyan Bhairav – take your attention beneath your skin, and here you will find the spirit being so alive. This is a meditation technique – to feel that underneath the skin is all hollow and empty. It is taking the attention to the self to find the inner beauty.
Beauty that comes from the innocence, commitment, sincerity and clarity of mind is unparalleled. You look at Mahatma Gandhi’s picture when he was young, and look at his picture when he was old, you would definitely agree that his old age pictures were much more beautiful. Same with many people – when they grow older, when they have accomplished something in the life, the sense of accomplishment brings a certain sense of beauty, and radiates its inner energy which is attractive to everybody.
Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder
Another dimension of beauty is that which is at the level of feelings. There is a saying in India ‘Beauty lies in the eyes of beholder’.
When you see something beautiful, there is a wow that rises inside of you, a feeling that takes over your being. This sudden sense of wow stops all the thoughts constraints and brings centeredness. This feeling of beauty is so essential to live a normal life and healthy life. Someone who does not appreciate and understand beauty or experience beauty in their life will be lacking some endocrine functions, and will have some deficiency. The perception of beauty creates within us an upliftment and a sense of elation in our spirit.
Same is with the pursuit of truth: When you are truthful, or when you want to pursue a path, or when you are in the spirit of enquiry or into some research – a certain sense of clarity, pride and centeredness dawns into you. I think we also feel some oxytocin in our system – a sense of truth and beauty creates oxytocin in our body.
As doctors, this is something which is in your DNA. Any patient that comes to you feels the benevolence in you. And you take pride in being benevolent because you are helping someone get over their problems and feel more confident – you are making their life better. So, the sense of benevolence, truth, beauty – these are all synonymous.
What causes someone not appreciate beauty is stress.
What is it that makes a person not appreciate beauty – have you thought about it? You can be in a very beautiful surrounding but if your mind is pre-occupied, or you are stressed, or you are tired then you cannot experience beauty. So here, life-work balance is essential and we need to learn techniques to get rid of stress. However beautiful one may be, if they are stressed, they will still not radiate their beauty; they will not look beautiful. A worried, troubled person cannot exuberate beauty. So, it is absolutely essential to attend to the state of mind, to your emotions and to the state of your consciousness.
Meditation can eliminate stress and bring out the beauty in you
Lord Buddha said something very beautiful. He said that the mind is like a river, you cannot put your foot twice in it. Mind is flowing, you should let the mind flow. If you stop then it rots. So, what does it mean? It means that the mind has to align with body and the breath.
Every night we go to sleep and we wake up energized and rejuvenated because during sleep the mind, body and breath come together into one rhythm eliminating the stress of the day. But there is another way of resting which is much more superior than natural sleep – and it is called meditation.
In meditation, you are relaxing consciously. The conscious meditation or conscious rest or restful alertness is a state which in a short period of time removes stress out of our system. It brings clarity to the mind, make our skin glow and our heart glow as well.
In this country from ages, yoga is practiced as a routine. For decades, people thought that yoga is for the older generation, or it is for people who live their lives on the banks of Ganges or in Himalayas. They used to think yoga is not for common man. That misconception has gone and people are adapting yoga and meditation and seeing the benefits of meditation and yoga, and the goodness it brings to their daily life.
To rejuvenate our spirit, to be able to appreciate beauty, to be able to be benevolent and to be able to live with a sense of happiness, all that we need to do is to balance out our work life, and take some time out to go deeper into meditation.
Medicine alone is not enough to cure an illness, you need the right attitude and the right attitude comes with clarity in mind. In short, I will say, clarity in mind, purity in heart, and spontaneity and sincerity in action can make oneself better, the society better and the world a better place to live in.
Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji
