The Boy Who Saw the Light.
Beauty
Like a sun that sets on the horizon, it lights up the sky in various colors. As if the sky is on fire. And no one, no one, can take his eyes away from watching the sunset. This is how Gilly felt when beauty touched his heart.
From his place on top of the hill, Gilly watched the flowing river. He was amazed and overwhelmed. “How is it possible”? he asked, “how is it possible? that this big river was not long ago a few drops of water, and now here it is, a big river that is flowing, to the right and my left. Running wide and deep through the forest.”
As he was admiring, and at the same time, being overwhelmed by the river. He noticed an ample light far, far away, on the horizon. “What is that”? He asked himself. “It was not there earlier. I did not see it before. I see a big light, but I can’t see the source, where the light is coming from.”
Now the light on the horizon caught his attention. He looked down to the river and looked up to the light on the horizon. He looked down and looked up. He looked down and up. His attention towards the big light on the horizon is slowly becoming his main attraction. Unexpected and without giving too much of a thought and consideration, he declared. “I must go and see how and where this beautiful and colorful light is coming from. But I am trapped here on this side of the river, realizing the obstacle he is facing.
Gilly went down to the river, saying to himself, “there must be a way to cross the river.” He stayed at the edge of the flowing river, enjoying the quiet and the colorful reflections of the trees and the blue sky in the water.
I love the river, he said, but his mind was already wandering towards the light on the horizon. I still must cross the river. He realized the hurdle standing in his way.
Now that the river’s flow is calmer, with no waves, with no white rapids, and with no waterfalls, Gilly could see that several big rocks were visible above the water somewhere in the middle of the river. “If I could jump to the first rock,” he doubtfully said, then it would be easy to reach the other rocks too. But the first stone is far, “But I have to do it,” he declared, “if I want to see the beautiful light and the source it comes from, I must take a risk,” he forcefully proclaimed. “I must take a risk. It is my final decision. I am taking the risk.
Now his attention was all about crossing the river and about planning the run and the jump. Now the river he admired so much became his worst enemy, and the first rock, the other bank of the river, and the beautiful light on the horizon became his best friends.
Now all that consumed his being was the jump and the light far away.
He went up and down from the river to the hilltop and from the hilltop to the river, planning the best path for his run, counting how many steps he would have to take and how long should they be. He chose a rock on the edge of the river that he thought would give him a big lift. Second, by second and step by step, he could see the run forming in his mind. He could almost see his footsteps on the ground. He could see each step he was about to take. From the jumping start on top of the hill, going down all along down the hill, he will take the rock from the river’s edge. He could see how his body is becoming rounded, like a ball. Cutting through the air and landing on the first stone in the middle of the river, and how he reaches the other riverbank. The more he visualized the jump, the more confidant he became. When every step was counted and seen in his mind, he finally had a reason to be optimistic; he believed that he would soon step on the other riverbank.
Gilly went up the hill for the last time, clearing from the chosen path all the little stones and some tiny rocks and removed all the debris along the way. For the last time, he repeated to himself each point, each step, everything along the route. Gilly was happy. He finally had a plan for success.
He stood on the top of the hill, behind the line he marked on the ground, his left foot was in front, and his right foot was waiting to perform the first jump from behind the line. He took the walking stick and put it under his right armpit. “We can make it,” he said, “we will make it,” he firmly ensured to the stick and himself.
His body was ready, and his eyes were on target. He was like an engine running strong, waiting to shift into a higher gear. He was like a bullet waiting to be shot, in the barrel of a gun. He was like an arrow waiting to be released. His muscles were like strings in a violin, willing and ready to carry out the jump. His eyes his mind and his body were all at now at that moment in time, nothing around him was valid. He was mentally connecting to the path, with the first stone in the river, and looking to the horizon repeatedly. Then when his heart was all courage, “we will make it,” he said, “we will make it.”
He jumped from behind the line, like a cannonball, it took only a concise while, and he was in the air. He was curled, like a ball. His body was now cutting through the air like a cannon shell. Only to open his legs when he was about to land on the first big rock.
When he landed on the big first rock, he did not stop there. He used the momentum and jumped back into the air as strong and as high as possible. He jumped so high. He reached beyond and above the tree canopies. A feeling of lightness took over his body. He felt he could fly in the air as if gravity had no power over him. He jumped and rolled up and down from side to side, like a feather floating in the air. He screamed with sounds that have nothing to do with words and laughed wildly and loudly, of happiness that came from some were deep in his spirit. Joy was taking over his body.
One time he screamed and laughed so enthusiastically, he forgot to hold on to the walking stick, he began to fall towards the ground, but the walking stick followed him, and picked him up, and brought him back high above the trees. Now both, Gilly and the walking stick played above the trees flowing in the air like little lives in the wind, like the furry ball of the dandelion flower seed. Once Gilly willingly throws the stick away, knowing that he will fall towards the ground, and knowing that the walking stick will come to his rescue.
He was so happy. He forgot everything around him. The light on the horizon. The other bank of the river. He did not care for much at all. He was a happy boy who wanted to enjoy these exceptional moments.
“I have a sense of freedom he said to himself. I can feel, I can think, I can allow my body to be open, to accept, and to feel delightful joy. To feel kindness, feel thoughtfulness, and feel as if I was taken over by something that I can not explain. Something bigger, something that is connected to me and in me. Something that allowed my body and my spirit to become one with nature and with beauty.”
When Gilly had enough played around, he finally landed on the other river bank as his feet touched the ground softly. He realized that he did not carry the stick. He realized that the stick was the one who carried him. He realized that the stick was the one that planted in him the feelings of joy, the feelings of freedom and thoughtfulness. He took the stick from under his armpit and brought it close and in front of him. “Without you,” he said, “without you, we would not be on this bank of the river. Thank you,” he continued, “thank you for carrying me, thank you for the laughter, and the joy.”
Happily, Gilly accepted the realization that from now, they are inseparable, that from now and on, they are one. He once again put the stick under his armpit. He gently, soft, and with care, held on to it. He lifted his head and looked to the horizon. The beautiful colorful light was still there, it looked now brighter and even stronger than before, yet he still could not see the light source. “There is a big hill in front of the light,” Gilly said. “If we will climb that hill,” he said to himself, “we might see the light and the source of the light too.”
While the feelings of joy still held on to Gilly’s body, as laughter’s sounds were still ringing in his ears, another sound took over the air. It was a sound of a giant bronze bell hanging down from a big strong tree. He stepped to look at the ringing bell. But, the ball in the bell didn’t move, yet the sound that came from the bell was pure and beautiful, he got closer to it, he wanted to meet the new acquaintance, and like always, trying to feel and touch it, and becoming friendly and emotionally more intimate to it. He stood on his tows and could hardly touch the bell. He felt the ringing bell’s vibration and felt the vibration crossing to his body and flowing through it.
He reached with his hand again “nice to meet you, my new friend. It is nice to see you, I love you,” he said to the bell.
Gilly didn’t understand what a bell is doing in the middle of the forest. And why it was ringing when there is no one around. But he loved the bell anyhow.
Gilly did not stay long with his new friend, the light on the horizon was calling him, and his mind won’t let him waste any time. As if it was saying to him, don’t stop moving on. Every second count. As if it is luring him to the unknown. As if there is nothing more important to do at that moment.
Gilly saw from the top of the hill a crater surrounded like a crown by hills and mountains. A river of light was gushing out from every mountain top around the crater, flowing down to the valley, towards a low hill in the crater’s canter. It was not flowing like water. It was a river made of small energy bubbles marching down from the surrounding hills to the crater’s canter. Changing colors as they move along in one line like soldiers in a parade is not too close to each other, not too far from one another, moving forward yet moving from side to side.
Then on the bottom of the crater, the energy bubbles changing direction and climbing up the small hill in the middle of the crater. Then when reaching the very top, they disappear into the top of the hill, only for renewal and rejuvenation, and coming out once again from the mountain surrounding the crater, in an unstoppable cycle in which more and more rivers of light are created, and Constantly multiply, more beautiful, and more colorful. Till the whole crater and the mountain surrounding the crater were covered with uncountable rivers of bubbly energy.
Gilly was speechless and amazed “it is so beautiful.” His heart was pounding as the beauty was touching his spirit. He did not think that anything can be as beautiful as the lightened-up crater in front of his eyes. But he could not even imagine what was about to happen. Suddenly, as if from nowhere, music was playing. It was a sound by an orchestra of hundreds of instruments, but there were no instruments and no orchestra there to be seen. It was only one note that sounded gentle, kind, and sweet, but it was strong enough to be heard all over the crater and beyond.
As the last wave of the sound was still wandering over the hills around the crater, the energy bubbles, as if by an order or by design, now changed direction. Now the bubbles no longer disappeared into the crater’s canter for rejuvenation. Now some of the energy bubbles created a circle around the top of the hill in the middle of the crater. Every time a circle has created, another ring began to form. It did not take long till the hill’s whole top was covered with c of bubbly energy. Then they jumped to another level to create a second layer, and so it went on and on, circle after circle, layer after layer, becoming a bit smaller than the one before. Finally, a shape of a very high cone, all created by energy bubbles, was standing tall and strong. Each bubble had its own space but created this fantastic, overwhelming cone, with a large base on the bottom and a pointy point on the top that reached high to the sky.
Once again, was heard the orchestra’s sound. This time it was two different notes. This time they were a little longer, a little more robust, and a little louder and traveled further and faster all over the crater. As if announcing a change that is about to come.
Gilly was all anticipation; his eyes were wide open, his body was tens and drown towards the hill in the canter of the crater, surrendering to the beauty that was unfolding in front of his eyes.
Gilly did not have time to guess, nor did he want to think, what might come next. He hardly had time to take in the gorgeousness of what had happened so far. As the sound of music was still climbing and hugging the mountains around the crater and beyond. Suddenly, energy bubbles began to jump from the pointy tip of the cone, and one by one, the bubbles joined to create a small circle around the pointed tip, every time the bubbles completed a circle, it was larger and broader than the one before. One after another, creating a sky of colorful bubbles flickering with beautiful and unstoppable shining colors, it did not take long for the whole sky above the crater to be covered from the cone’s pointy tip hills surrounding the crater with a dome of light and colors.
When the first layer was dune, the bubbles jumped to create a new level, another layer of bubbles, till it looked like a vast umbrella, or a stunning gorgeous mushroom, or a spectacular dome, flickering and lighting up the sky with beauty unimaginable.
When the mushroom umbrella was finally co0vering the sky above the crater, it was high and spread further away from the mountains surrounding the crater and beyond. It was a wonder of creation, a structure was standing, yet nothing held onto anything, no bubble touched another, yet together they were strong and unbreakable. Gilly looked at the mushroom dome in the sky. He had no words to say. He was stunned and amazed by the beauty. Gilly did not have the time to absorb, understand, or think about what was unfolding. He didn’t want it to end. He wanted to be there and watch beauty a little longer, love it, and befriend it.
But then the orchestra played again. It was a three-note sound. This time it reached further and was much louder. This time it was like a rumble that touched every plant, every tree, every bush, and every flower, grabbing everything around and shaking it to its core. As if this third not of the orchestra was announcing, here is coming the main event. This was precisely the thought that crossed Gilly’s mind. He was not ready for anything at all yet was prepared for everything simultaneously; He could not believe that anything could be more beautiful and more impressive than the dome in the sky. He was all anticipation. His eyes were wide open. His heart was hard beating, and His body was in alert. He expected something extraordinary, something boisterous, something bombastic, something that will be against the rules, something he could not imagine.
But then, as gentle, as kind, as soft, as calm, and as loving as possible, a gentle shower of bubbles began to fall, like delicate feathers swinging in the air, like flakes of snow slowly coming down from the sky, flickering in magnificent colors. As they washed Gilly’s body and came down to the ground, the bubbles divide once again into three small bubbles, and they rushed in a hurry to join the many rivers that continued to flow towards the top of the hill, in the canter of the crater.
First, Gilly tried to catch one of the bubbles, he felt the velvety, silky surface, but he could not hold one in his hand. Somehow they slipped out of his hand as if it was saying, no, no Gilly, we love you, but you can’t have or hold us, he tried a few times more, but he could not hold onto a bubble, so he gave up, on having or owning one, and excepting that these bubbles could touch him, but he can not have or hold any one of them.
Gilly opened himself up, to breath, to absorb, and to enjoy every moment, as it was coming, and as it presents itself to him. Gilly was all in awe, mesmerized and amazed by the beauty of beauty.
Gilly stood on his feet high and tall, but it felt to him as if he was endlessly tall. He was fully clothed, but to him, it felt as if he was unclothed. He could feel each bubble touching his body and leaving a mark on his soul. His eyes were closed, but he could see each one of the bubbles as they came down, touching, gliding, and washing his body with purity and timeless beauty, splashing in an array of colors when they touched the ground.
At that moment, every cell in his body was affected by endless beauty. Every cell in his body was singing praises for beauty. Every cell in his body was holding on to these beautiful feelings, not lathing them split away.
His spirit was there and everywhere. His heart constantly in a state of prayer for beauty, kindness, and love. He felt the blessings of hope, of beauty. He felt purified and whole. At these moments, His body was not his. At this moment, his body was an instrument of love.
He surrendered to the bubbly shower as if he was becoming one of them. He felt his spirit malting away and uniting and becoming an energy bubble too. He felt as if he left his body and stepped into a place that was no were, where he is becoming, a velvety and silky spirit.
Beauty is everywhere.
Beauty is everything.
Beauty is in everything.
There is an art in beauty.
There is amazement in beauty.
There is a connection in beauty.
There is a surprise in beauty.
There is a mystery in beauty.
There is a desire in beauty.
There is magic in beauty.
There is astonishment in beauty.
There is a longing in beauty.
There are humility and humanity in beauty.
If you want to find it,
You have to look for it.
If you believe it, then it is.
If you want it, it will become.
If you seek it, then it is all yours.
