From Beauty to Absolute Beauty | Plato, Krishna and the Rāsa Dance
5/12/202657 min
Most people think of God simply as a witness or facilitator of their own romantic affairs. The Bhaktivedanta tradition reveals that the conjugal love experienced by human beings is a mere reflection of a spiritual reality in which the same love exists in an absolute, pristine state. So we don't need to turn away from beauty and love in this world. We just need to see the source and origin behind it. Raghunath and Kaustubha explore Plato's ladder of beauty alongside the bhakti path — and find they are pointing in the same direction. Every spark of beauty in this wo...
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First 90 secondsRaghunath· Host0:00
When you fall in love, you think it's about one person.
Kaustubha Das· Host0:03
Yes.
Raghunath· Host0:03
Your attention gets focused on the beauty you see in that form. That's all I can think about. Her, her- Shapely shape ... her shapely, the shapely shape of her shape. [laughs] [laughs] In, in a lot of spiritual tea- teachings, especially the impersonal ones, they say, "Turn away from that form." Right? Because we, we get that. The form is illusion. Here we go again.
Kaustubha Das· Host0:29
Okay.
Raghunath· Host0:29
I'm getting attracted to a form. So a lot of the mystical teachings in Christianity, in Islam, they're all impersonal. C- Yes ... because they say that form you're looking for, that's an illusion.
Kaustubha Das· Host0:41
It comes and goes- It co- ... and then you suffer.
Raghunath· Host0:43
Yeah. Whether it's Shakespeare or, you know, these Sufis, they're, it's the same idea. The form is not the thing. But Plato is, i- is saying s- you know, start right here. Start with just appreciating the beauty you see in one person, right?
Kaustubha Das· Host0:59
Mm-hmm.
Raghunath· Host0:59
And use it as the first step in understanding beauty in a deeper level, because the beauty you see in the person you love, it's coming from a same source as the beauty in nature.
Kaustubha Das· Host1:13
Yes.
Raghunath· Host1:14
The beauty in music.
Kaustubha Das· Host1:15
Yes.
Raghunath· Host1:16
Or anywhere you find beauty in this world. And this is exactly what Krishna says in the 10th chapter of the Gita. What's that verse? K- "Know all opulent, beautiful, glorious creation"- Oh, yeah.
Kaustubha Das· Host1:26
Yeah ...
Raghunath· Host1:26
"spring from a spark of my splendor."
Kaustubha Das· Host1:28
The beauty.
Raghunath· Host1:29
It's all- Yam