When we look at a painting, we may see various nuances and many different parts.
We may see the blue colours, or the pink; we may see the petals of a flowers or the gentle brushstrokes with which Monet created the flow of water. We may see form, shapes, and movements – lines of lines creating other lines like the lines of on our palms, or the paths of life. We may see perhaps even the history, culture, or historical context. And if we tuned in a bit more sensitively, we may see the emotions, intentions, the heart and song of soul behind the painting.
All these are different ways of seeing. Each purposeful, and each needed, and each only through our own view. For a painting is only a window – it is the glass, not the ocean.
And here we are, with a painting, and all its many different parts. To see them all together, the colours, the forms, the emotions, the history, the hands and the brushtrokes, and each little petal, and then be able to perceive an additional layer of meaning to it all, this is transcendence.
Transcendence is a word that holds within itself a world that goes beyond analysis, beyond our world of emphasis on the logic, rationale, the judgments and the measurements. It is a deeper meaning that lies beyond the lines and measurements; and it’s not necessarily concerned with judgments or right versus wrong, it encompasses everything, seeing all sides and using them as additional perspectives and layers and opportunities for wisdom to eventually see a bigger picture, a bigger perspective.
I often tell a story: Twelve monks sat around a giant elephant, and each monk was to describe what they saw. One saw the ankle, the other the trunk, the other a gray colour because of the way the light shined and reflected, while another saw a brown part of an unknown animal. Who was right?
Transcendence is an understanding that there could be an elephant, and that each perspective may enrich us, as it may give us something we haven’t yet seen – or at the very least, a humility that we’ll never know it all as human beings, with our conditioned human minds and limited understanding.
In a world that often praises and rewards grandiose individualism, materialism and selfishness, touching the transcendent can be a humbling experience. But when we do touch it, even if only for a moment, it deepens us in meaning, and in love, and we can experience ourselves through life in much richer and present ways.
In simple terms, transcendence is the ability to perceive the additional layers of the meaning of it all; to see beyond the veils, to touch that which holds us all even without hands. It is an expansion of perception and a way of fully seeing the world; it’s a seeing beyond the surface level towards the deeper connections that are at play. It’s a seeing of the whole and not just the individual parts.
The benefit of touching transcendence is that you now have the opportunity to see the deeper reality and the interconnection of all things. And this holds you. It holds you because you now realize that you’re not just merely a part, but you are a part of that whole deeper reality. This allows for a deeper and more meaningful interaction with life, in a much more intentional and present way, as we become more fully aware of the greater arch of our life and its connection with the larger whole.
When we see, even if only a glimpse of the deeper reality, we get to touch that which is beyond us, and all of life becomes deeper, richer, more meaningful. God is an inner experience, just like love is an inner experience also.
The world of transcendence is the world spiritually guided people live in. And if you call to mind the people in your life who have truly embodied what it means to be human, and humane, you’d probably find out that they spend most of their time in the world of transcendence.
These are the people who walk a kindness and patience of rhythm, with deep respect, appreciation, humility and reverence for life and other people. They are the people who love, truly love, and stay present with you, listening to you, being beside you, laughing with you and being your shoulder of support when you need it or feeling your tears when you cry. They are the people who aren’t judgmental, who are merely present and supportive and listening.
They are people who are able to understand the higher spiritual purpose of the senses – that touch isn’t just touch of fabric, it is how we touch the life and hearts of others. They are the people who understand this life is a gift, for it gives us hands with which to hold another’s hands, lips with which to speak love and kindness, ears with which to hear the laughter of our loved ones.
They are the people who know our talents and gifts are not our belonging – they are meant to be shared with others, danced for others. And we cook, we dance for others; and when we write a book, we dance it for others.
Through such dance of our unique song of soul, we inspire others to dance in their own unique creative expression also; and then we all dance together. And as we all dance together, new shades emerge, brushes along the canvas, and the sun light too pours in, and the moonlight too pours in, and the winds and waters too marry, to reveal new nuances, which all together create a most beautiful painting.
They are the people who understand deeply the interconnection and interdependence of all in this life. They know that if they take too much water from someone else’s hands just for themselves, eventually all land will dry and they too will be affected. They know we all are part of one necklace of life, a string of pearls held together – and within each pearl is the reflection of the other; and in each pearl is the other and is everything else.
They are the people to know that we are here to embody love – to become its hands, its speech, its movement. They are the ones who know love is not like air, it is like bread – it is meant to be made and remade, each morning, each day, made anew.
These are the people who pay great attention to the simple beauty of life, while doing all their work with dedication and clear focus. They are people of certain quietness, not interested in the noise of social media; a certain quietness of wisdom in their subtle gestures and words.
These are the people who have the curiously shy aura of the real artists – the artists of life, of love, the mystics who enter all with a beginner’s mind. These are the people who have warm hearts, loving hearts, open palms with which they give and hold; and we raise each other, and we lift each other up because we know – it is only ever love.
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Cover art is Water Lilies (1914-1917) by Claude Monet, Asah Group Sanso Museum, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
