Peacock iridescence in vertical shadows.
Violet blooms spread to noonday sun.
The world's beauty in a swirl of color,
But in the flower's center is bright stillness.

This world is movement.  Its nature is constant change, infinite variation.  Without infinite variation, there would be stasis, for we would reach limits.  But all limits are actually arbitrary.  Life is one endless equation of darkness, brilliance, color, sound, fragrance, and sensation.

The peacock attracts his mate through his plumage; the flower attracts the bee with its color and fragrance.  Beauty is moved to madness, is urged toward more beauty, is lost in the dance of seduction.  We cover around the petals of the flower, drunk in the thrill of color.  Enthralled with the fragrance of some haunting perfume. we are moved to act. to touch, to fill our shallow vessels with the fullness of promised joy.

Yet in the center of the flower, all is stillness.  When the dance of beauty is finished, culmination is at hand.  In life, attractions are endless.  We should do no more than we need to satisfy ourselves.  To plunge further is foolhardy.  We must remember to withdraw and look within.  Lingering on the outside of our souls, there is shimmering beauty and fantastic movement.  It is only when we go to the center of our souls that we are in the eye of the storm, the still-point of existence.  Then all is brightness, energy condensed, unbearably strong and powerful, yet absorbed in supreme quietude.

attraction
365 Tao
Deng Ming-Dao
Daily Meditations

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