Mantra

I wanted to say that the beauty within you that shines on my face is the mantra upon which I meditate. Then, I realized that the word "beauty" has no meaning to me, although the concept still holds.

Hmm...I am folding within myself for a moment, letting the layers of daily living slip off like silk overcoats. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve...there, I am now myself without being the physical presence that would have stood in front of you while searching for the meaning of beauty.

The essence of beauty. The essence of you. Two separate entities that intersect. How is it that I know we don't exist as individuals, that there is nothing more than what I see, feel*, taste, smell, hear and touch, yet when I look into your eyes, the intensity of the experience gives me...what? I'm not sure. I'm only human. I'm not a god. But what I believe...

Let's see. I am like every human, only ever able to know what one human experiences, from birth to death. I am on the trail to my death but I have a good long way behind me to show me what a life from birth is all about. The influx of fluids while growing as a parasite inside a woman's body. The give-and-take between my infant self and those caring blobs nearby. The first exchanges of facial expressions, including smiles that excite more input from the distinctive facial features, voices and touches of my primary caregivers, mainly my mother and father. My actions that indicate to my parents my joining with them in the communication methods of my local culture, including words and phrases. Showing my parents my animal locomotion skills like standing and walking. Learning to care for my younger sister, the rival for my parents' attention. Succeeding in social situations outside of home, like kindergarten and primary school. My first guy friends. My first girlfriend. Seeing adults as grown-up kids who didn't know any more than I did, just bigger collections of cultural icons to call upon, oftentimes inadequately prepared to handle a situation.

And now I turn back to you, asking the question, "What is beauty?" Perhaps I should ask, "What is it that I see in another human that calls to mind the word 'beauty'?"

What is a human? I am a human. You are a human. We are both animals, evolutionary products of this local ecosphere we call a planet, who socialize together, understanding each other as more closely related than other types of animals with whom we also socialize. Therefore, the beauty I see is not strictly a human trait.

I saw beauty from the crib. I see beauty now. So what is beauty? Beauty is the belief that nothing separates us, no falsehoods, no tricks, no fear, no insecurity, with all the flaws of being a human animal that makes us uniquely not individuals but part of a living whole. Beauty, as I see it in you, is belief. Belief is whatever makes you you, no matter how foreign or similar to me.

I do not exist but I exist because of you. Without you, I am not me. I am me with you. I am only me because of you. I am you, beauty incarnate. Your beauty completes me, flaws and all. That is what I see when I look into your eyes and listen to your voice.

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*assuming we can sense each other's low-level energy wave output at close distance; if nothing else, we know we can exchange static discharges when we touch or kiss.