Beauty

Beauty and ugliness in human beings have little to do with outward form.

At its core, ugliness is the idea that the self is significant, that the other exists to satisfy, gratify and serve the self; to meet the self's expectations. A self obsessed with itself is mind-less, unconscious and blind to what surrounds it.  It suffers from an illusion of separation, alienation and  lack. It is ungrateful and selfish.  It is afraid of loss, it has sharp edges and boundaries.  And because of its sharp edges, selfishness and ingratitude, it is repulsive to Existence, it finds itself repelled by Existence, despite any beauty of its outward form.

Beauty is the opposite: it is the mindful, conscious appreciation of and gratitude for the generosity, intricacy and mystery that surrounds the self.  It is a self that knows its reality of interconnectedness, a self that knows it suffers no lack, a self that is aware of its fullness and serves and gives from that fullness.  It is a self that has nothing to lose or to fear, so it is soft, receptive and at ease with Existence.  Existence embraces and loves back such a self.  Existence finds it beautiful.

photo credit: from the internet