Beauty bears within itself every element of happiness, whence its character of peace, plenitude, satisfaction; now beauty is in our very being, we live by its substance. It is the calm, simple and generous stillness of the pool which mirrors the depth of the sky with all its serenity; it is the beauty of the water-lily, of the lotus opening to the light of the sun. It is repose in the center, resignation to Providence, quietude in God.
Being alone — physically alone atop a mountain — reminds me of how seldom one is alone in the sort of urbanized life we live nowadays. As I sat, there was a certain peace which I was able to capture for a moment. This physical aloneness is by no means the same as loneliness — not even close kin to it; for I was not alone. On occasions when I am able to get to a mountain top, the realization of the nature of the "mountain-top experience" returns anew.