The Beauty of Nature

SHAMMI PARANJAPE





Life is not as ordinary as it seems. You just have to look around you to feel the magic.A Chinese proverb says, “The miracle is not to fly in the air, or to walk on water, but to walk on earth.“ Every so-called ordinary day is suffused with the extraordinary; we just don't take notice. “It is God who moves the dew to drop, the lotus to bloom, the butterfly to flit and the Sun to rise. That is all the power, all the wisdom, all the love, all the miracle that ever was, is, and will be,“ says Sathya Sai Baba.Nothing should be taken for granted, least of all Nature's bounty , because Nature is the very crucible of life. All that sustains life on earth -sunlight, air, food and water -come from Nature. Real wealth is not in coins and currency but in our natural resources that are so necessary for our very sustenance. So, the more we stay in tune with Nature and its rhythms, the more we stay tuned to ourselves.
Appreciation of the beauty of God's creation nourishes our inner spirit because Nature is a reflection of God and revering Nature is to revere the Creator. It was the belief that God is sarva-vyaapi and resides in every atom of creation that impelled our ancients to worship Nature and its five elements.
The galleria of Nature is meant to acquaint us with God's glory and lead us on to the Supreme artist behind it all. This can be done by seeking from Nature the marvellous inspiration for infusing truth, beauty and goodness -satyam, shivam, sundaram -in our lives and, so, sanctifying ourselves.