Beauty, Karma, Physical and Inner

[becomethepath]

It was said that Buddha was a beautiful person. But what defines beauty. What is beauty? Of course, we all know what inner beauty is, someone who is compassionate, loving, kind, generous have this glow about them. The smile on their face brings you at ease, and their selflessness makes you humble and thankful. That's inner beauty.

 

But what makes a person beautiful physically? Why are some people born ugly, why are some people born beautiful but have a crappy personality? Why are some people born ugly but have a beautiful personality? Is this an illusion we created in our mind? I'm sure everyone is attracted to a person who is beautiful on the outside without knowing them. Like seeing a beautiful woman across the street, you're attracted to her but you don't know her personality.

 

What makes a person beautiful physically?

Men: Eyes, cut and lean body, strong jaw

Women: Eyes, jaw, long hair and body

 

What does a strong jaw signify? Why are women attracted to men with strong jaws? Is symmetry what makes a person beautiful? What about skin color? A lot of people prefer light skinned people.

 

Is this karma? A person born beautiful? A person born ugly? Wouldn't monks be the sexiest looking people ever? If being unselfish, kind, loving makes a person beautiful the next life time, wouldn't monks be super beautiful? Wouldn't the dalai llama be really handsome?

Edited July 20, 2013 by becomethepath

[thetaoiseasy]

...

Edited March 24, 2014 by thetaoiseasy

[Chang]

I suspect that any answer to your question would simply be arbitrary.

 

It is however worth dwelling on the fact that whilst we are born with certain physical characteristics we do make our own face (and body) as we grow older.

[nine tailed fox]

it could be because of karma, dont know

 

but you can certainly change your appearance using your mind literally

 

mind is above everything and it has power over everything which is below it

 

 

btw i also have one question along this line

 

as we know "AS WITHIN SO WITHOUT"

 

so if someone is beautiful inside, shouldnt it reflect outside on his physical appearance and make him physically beautiful too ?

 

maybe beauty means harmony but if harmony is beauty than all the enlightened person should have model like face because their inner structure is in complete harmony and beauty

 

this actually relate to my other question, explain "as within so without "

Edited July 20, 2013 by nine tailed fox

[Gerard]

Here's a detailed explanation given by Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw.

 

Depending on the difference in Karma appears the difference in the individual features of beings as beautiful and ugly, high-born or low born, well-built or deformed.

 

To be more specific, I have seen humans that were devas in their immediately preceding life and their physical beauty was striking.

 

 

 

 

Humans that had an animal life (or in any of the lower realms) or humans that spend most of their lives looking down on others because of their own favorable traits are reborn with less physically attractive features as they still carry the karma/effect of that life.

 

 

 

Never ever look down on anyone for their physical traits or favour the beautiful for that very reason, it is not a skilled and moral action let alone for a meditator, and something we should remind of ourselves all the time as humans are quick to judge others based on their beauty and material possessions.

 

 

 

 

 

[Colonel Goji]

Would a monk who was sexy feel blessed or cursed? Would their physical beauty not be a potential cause for attachment to the stinking skin bag that we refer to as our bodies? A false combination of the five elements combined in such an alluring way that one would be at risk of being ensared in an endless cycle of births and deaths on the burning wheel we call samsara?

 

I myself am still very much attached to appearances. An attachment to physical beauty is one of the hardest attachments to let go, at least for me personally. But I try to see the inner beauty of people I encounter in my daily life, trying not to judge a book by its' cover so to speak.

 

'When I say you’re Beautiful
I’m not just speaking in the idiom of mirrors
I’m speaking of your unseen precious core
shaped by fire and ice and centuries of mountain streams

I’m speaking of the ever-present seasons of your being
the scented buds of spring that draw the bees
the petals that shower radiance your fruitfulness
your graceful yield to winter silence

The beauty that I greet in you is like a candle flame
in currents of dim air or like a falcon rising on a thermal
or it is the steadfastness of dawn
rising to delight our sleeping world

I’m speaking of what’s seen with inner eyes
of what will slip the handcuffs of our best poetic words
I’m speaking both the language of the mirrors
and the language of the heart to say You are a Beauty.'

 

Poem by Rashid, ‘Beyond the Veil of Appearances’