Like three sides of a prism, the Good, the Beautiful, and the True refract the white light of consciousness into the entire spectrum of human experience: art, morals, and science; self, culture, and nature; I, We, and It. How odd, then, that many contemporary forms of spirituality seem to only extend Spirit to one or two of these dimensions. This has often been the case with Beauty throughout history, and is even true today. For example, many see it as "anti-spiritual" for a person to care about his or her physical appearance, as though an emphasis upon appearance is vain and superficial—and the real God does not concern Him/Herself with such trivial adornments as physical beauty. But really, what doesn't Spirit touch? And why is Beauty often associated with superficiality? If the mind and the environment around us are not-two, then isn't our very capacity to perceive Beauty a tribute to the perfection of existence?

Art by Diana Calvario