Guiding Thought
What is beauty of mind? What is beauty of heart? What is beauty of soul? What is beauty of emotion? How are these the same? Or are they different? Are they enacted, or expressed similarly, or differently? How do I discern the nuances of difference between beauty of mind-heart-soul-emotion? Is there a difference, or does all unite in Beauty, as it does in Love or Oneness?
Reflection / Contemplation
This incarnation business is an interesting focus of my thoughts today. A common phrase floating around spiritual circles these days is, “We are spiritual beings having a human experience”. I know that I am working my way out of the dualistic cultural and spiritual underpinnings which state that spirit holds a higher place than matter.
I am trying to figure out how a memory from a college theology course in Patristics (the early Fathers of the Church in Western Christendom, and in this course the first several hundred years) arose out of my contemplation on today’s guiding thoughts. I had never before seriously considered the theory of reincarnation and here in this class I learned that it was a commonly held belief in the early days of the church, but got nixed at one of the big gatherings of the hierarchy as they were establishing doctrine.
This one and you’re done business on this planet just doesn’t cut it for me. Thankfully, my experience of breaking with doctrine was not only developmentally appropriate, it confirmed that I don’t have to believe everything I am told. It set me on a course to question authority and do my own research so that I can have an intelligent conversation about any hot topic, including doctrine. It also helps to have a debating nature, and I can thank my family of origin for this.
The folks, who really know me, know how much I live in my head and how much time I actually spend there. How ironic it is that I am a body worker and have been so for over 25 years. My insights as to why and how I landed in this field have evolved over time, and will continue to do so. For the moment, I think it is my playground for resolving this matter/spirit dilemma which stems from my upbringing and living in a culture that has not fully owned its incarnation. The implications of this reach far and wide. Beauty of body, mind, and heart are incarnational – of the here and now.
Yesterday’s musings of how a Beauty experiment could be mapped were answered by my daughter. There are studies of brain mapping in the body related to Beauty, but not in the way I had imagined. As we talked, she was telling me exactly where in the brain, visual and auditory stimuli get stored. There are some brain studies related to when someone is told they are beautiful, and others where people identify beauty in faces.
That is not quite what I was getting at. There does not seem to be one neural pathway of or for Beauty. It is just another way to confirm what I intuitively know, is that Beauty of body, mind, and heart are separate realities, and yet contained in the whole of my being.
Beauty of Soul is what transcends the here and now. As spiritual beings, we are having a human experience, and one that I hope is beautiful.
Guest Contributor Lita Artis
Journey of Beauty is now available as a free book.
You no longer need to wait for the Guiding Thoughts to be posted here daily–you may move at your own pace. This link will take you to the document in Dropbox; you may download it from there.
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Here is the schedule:
Apr 18 Preliminary day Introduction: Why A Journey of Beauty (02.10.0)
Apr 19 Preliminary day Commitment and Dedication (02.10.00)
Apr 20 – 29 Days 01-10 Round One (02.10.01-10)
Apr 30 – May 9 Days 11-20 Round Two (02.10.11-20)
May 10 – 19 Days 21-30 Round Three (02.10.21-30)
May 20 – 29 Days 31-40 Round Four (02.10.31-40)
May 30 – June 8 Reflection days Gently care, de-fuse, and write one day of reflection on the Journey (02.10.41)
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