You often speak of the Truth as resonating with the body/mind in the form of beauty, intelligence, humor, and happiness. But doesn’t that preclude the Truth resonating as ugliness, stupidity, and misery, potentially leading to a misunderstanding, such as, if I am “happy”, I understand the truth, whereas if I am “miserable”, I don’t understand the truth; if I witness “beauty” I see the Truth in it, whereas if I witness “ugliness” I don’t?
Beauty, intelligence, humor, and happiness cannot be found in objects, gross or subtle. They are “divine” qualities that belong exclusively to the Self. “Beautiful”, “intelligent”, “funny”, “happy” are adjectives that apply to objects which by design point towards these divine qualities. There are objects which don’t point by design towards the divine realm. These objects can be rightfully called “not beautiful”, “not intelligent”, etc.
Let’s assume we are in the space in orbit around a distant star. There are other celestial bodies in orbit, some closer to this star, others further out in space. If our attention is caught by a planet located in the close vicinity of this star, it will be likely, easy and natural for us to notice the star, because the angular distance between this planet and the star will be small. We can say that such a planet “points” to the star or “reveals” the star, just as the presence of Venus (also called “the Morning Star”) often precedes and announces the rising sun.
By contrast, if our attention is directed towards a distant planet, it will in most cases shine against the background of deep space, revealing only its darkness. However both of these planets, the one that reveals the sun and the one that conceals it, shine by reflecting the light of the star. In this metaphor the star corresponds to the Self, the revealing celestial body to a “beautiful object”, and the concealing body to a “not beautiful” object. It can be noticed that both bodies reveal the presence of the star by the light that emanates from them, just as any object, beautiful or ugly, reveals the presence of consciousness through its mere being perceived.
The Self “resonates” as beauty because beauty is the direct light the Self, just as the light of the rising sun “resonates” around the Morning Star. The “ugliness” of an object is simply the absence of this “resonance” around it. Therefore it cannot be said that the Self “resonates” as ugliness.
It follows that if I am happy, it means that I am looking in the direction of the Self and experiencing its light, this experience being that which we usually call happiness. If I am unhappy, it means that I am looking away from the Self.
Love,
Francis
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