look for the beauty in all

On this beautiful spring day where the warm sun is shining, the birds are chirping and the buds are peaking out of their shells, it’s easy to appreciate the beauty that’s happening around us. But what about the other days: when things don’t go as planned, everything takes longer than expected or you have an altercation that rocks your world. These are the days where we must pause and really search to find the beauty in our lives. It’s there,….it is always there…we might just be so caught up in the story reeling in our mind, which in turn is playing with our emotions, that we forget to stop, breathe and drink in the goodness. My reminder to search for beauty everywhere is inspired by the Hindu goddess, Lakshmi. 

Lakshmi is the goddess of abundance, passion, beauty, wealth, health and love. She is visible in our daily life whenever our attention is observing these qualities. But if we are moving too quickly or are not expressing gratitude for the beauty in life, Lakshmi in all of her goodness, will disappear. Here’s one of my favorite stories about her.

There is once a wise old sage who lives the life of a hermit. He gives support to those around him, lives a simple life and sees the beauty in everything. Lakshmi decides to bless him by presenting him with a beautiful jasmine garland which she places around his neck. The sage is so delighted that he has received this gift that he becomes even more generous, more helpful and shares this light with everyone that he encounters. As time goes on, the garland becomes warn and disheveled, yet the sage continues to wear it with pride, for he sees in it the Lakshmi beauty that hasn’t faded since the day it was placed upon him.

 One day Indra, the king of gods, is riding his elephant in a procession through town and the sage decides to present to Indra his most valuable possession, the garland from Lakshmi. The sage manages to stop the procession, get Indra’s attention and offers the garland, which represents pure auspiciousness and prosperity, to Indra. Indra sees a ratty old garland that is dirty and barely has any flowers left. He tosses the garland off to the side as one would with a passing thought. In this one slight action, unknowingly, Indra has disrespected Lakshmi and all that her energy stands for. The sky becomes overcast, the flowers droop, the fruit trees stop growing and people stop taking care of each other. The rulers raise taxes mercilessly and people stopped helping each other. This is what happens when the power of auspiciousness leaves our world. 

As the world is becoming a miserable place, the gods decide they must take action to turn things around and bring the world back into balance. They work together to revive Lakshmi who has buried herself in the vast milky ocean of consciousness, the cosmic sea of love and intelligence. Working together, all of the gods begin to churn the ocean, dredging up all that is ugly and undesirable. After the dark energies are brought to the surface and released, slowly Lakshmi in all of her beauty begins to reappear.  The memory of love is reborn, the sun and moon shine brighter and people are once again filled with generosity. Everyone realizes that when we fail to appreciate all that we have and show our gratitude for even the smallest things in life, life becomes stagnant and dull.

Please take a few moments today (and every day!) to appreciate the beauty in your life. Especially on those days when you really have to dig deep. And remember to take care of each other.