“A thing of beauty is a joy forever:

Its loveliness increases; it will never

Pass into nothingness; but still will keep

A bower quiet for us, and a sleep” excerpt from Keat’s poem below.

Do you see yourself as a “diamond in the rough”?  And what does the Confucius quote mean to you?

You Are Beautiful – Christina Aguilera

 Beauties in the Eye of the Beholder (Darfur)

Scenes of Sri Lanka Piano Meditation (4:19)

BREAKING IT DOWN –

“To avoid falling
into confusion over
the names these defects
should be called, let’s take
a universally recognized list
of major human failings – the
Seven Deadly Sins of pride,
greed, lust, anger, glut-
tony, envy, and sloth.”
(12 & 12, p. 48)

THE BEAUTY OF OUR AUTHENTIC SELF –

“No matter how
many days or how
many years we have
been clean, we are still
human and subject to de-
fects and failings. An inven-
tory allows us to look at
our basic nature with its
flaws and its strengths
… and where they may
have gone astray.”
(It Works, How &
Why, p. 28)

“Better a dia-
mond with a flaw
than a pebble without.”

– Confucius (551 BC – 479 BC) Chinese philosopher

A Thing of Beauty

by John Keats

A thing of beauty is a joy forever:

Its lovliness increases; it will never

Pass into nothingness; but still will keep

A bower quiet for us, and a sleep

Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing

A flowery band to bind us to the earth,

Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth

Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,

Of all the unhealthy and o’er-darkn’d ways

Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,

Some shape of beauty moves away the pall

From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,

Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon

For simple sheep; and such are daffodils

With the green world they live in; and clear rills

That for themselves a cooling covert make

‘Gainst the hot season; the mid-forest brake,

Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:

And such too is the grandeur of the dooms

We have imagined for the mighty dead;

An endless fountain of immortal drink,

Pouring unto us from the heaven’s brink.

The Impermanence of Beauty :

What Buddha said… : One should first establish oneself in what is proper and then teach others. A wise man should be beyond all reproach.

What Buddha said… : This body is built up with bones which are covered with flesh and blood. Within it dwell decay and death, pride and jealousy.

RUPANANDA was quite an attractive and graceful woman who was always surrounded by admirers. She never ceased to feel very lonely, however, because all those dear to her—mother, brother, and even husband—had all entered the Order. Missing her family badly, she went to visit them often and heard them speak of the Buddha in such a way that she longed to go and pay him homage too.  But when she learned that the Buddha often talked about the impermanence of the body, she was afraid that he might disparage her for her beauty, and so hesitated to do so. In the end, however, she decided that no matter what the Buddha might say to her, she would go and see him anyway.

As soon as the Buddha saw Rupananda, he realized that she was someone very attached to her beauty. To teach her a lesson, he caused a vision of a ravishing young lady to appear before her. When Rupananda saw the young lady, she could not help but remark how extremely beautiful she was and exclaimed to herself, “My goodness, next to her I must look like an old crow!”

Then before Rupananda could realize …

what was happening, the beautiful young lady started to age and slowly deteriorate before her very eyes until she finally lay sick and helpless on the floor, rolling in her own excrement. Then she died, and Rupananda saw her corpse going through the different stages of decay, oozing pus and other foul liquids, and finally crawling with maggots.

Witnessing this rapid succession of images, Rupananda realized that there was a continuous process of change and decay in the body. “In the same way,” she thought, “like this young girl who has grown old, died, and decayed before my very eyes, I, too, will grow old and decay one day.” With that realization, the attachment that Rupananda had for her body diminished and she came to perceive its true nature. She then became a nun, and under the guidance of the Buddha, eventually attained arahatship (a “perfected person” having attained nirvana).  http://www.english-for-students.com/the-impermanence-of-beauty.html