Thoughts on Beauty

It's been a while since I've actually posted anything on here, so I decided to take an excerpt from my real life journal.

This entry stems from the fact that many of us are influenced by what we see. However, the way we perceive things is not always the way objects truly exist.

We may think to ourselves, "He has the perfect body," or, "Her skin is flawless."

The truth is, in the physical sense, nothing is ever perfect or imperfect. Each and every living being is beautiful in its own unique way.

My goal is to begin to recognize the beauty that exists within all beings and objects.

I believe we set ourselves up for this way of thinking--the duality of beauty; "this is beautiful, and this is not as beautiful."

We may define one object as being beautiful, and when being compared to a similar yet different object, we automatically declare one superior over the other.

In actuality, the fact that we perceive these objects as being different results in an illusion that prevents us from seeing the true beauty existing in all things.

For there is no inherent existence. All things arise from another, dependently existing on all objects and beings within the universe.

Here's a way you can practice seeing the beauty in all things:

Take a piece of paper. Look at the paper. Is white? Does it have lines on it? Is it a certain color?

What else do you see?

Maybe you'll begin to see a tree from which the paper was made. Deeper and you may be able to see an entire forest. Even deeper and you'll begin to see energy from the sun giving life to the tree from which the paper came. Therefore, in essence, you are holding the energy of the sun in your hands when you hold that piece of paper. To me...this is beautiful.

Practice.

Can you see clouds in the paper?

Can you see the entire universe?

What do you see when you look in the mirror?