The Eyes of the Beholder: A Monk's Wisdom on True Beauty

The Eyes of the Beholder: A Monk's Wisdom on True Beauty

A young woman once approached a monk with a timeless question: "What is beauty?"

The monk gently picked up a withered, dry flower and said, "This is beauty." Then he lifted a fresh, blooming one and said, "This is also beautiful."

He pointed to an ant labouring to carry a crumb of food. "That ant," he said, "is beautiful."

Puzzled, the woman interrupted. "Are you saying that everything you see is beautiful?"

The monk smiled warmly. "I see beauty because I am beautiful. Whatever I behold, I behold with beauty. Beauty resides in the eyes of the beholder—and it is I who defines it."

"But what about beauty products and beauticians?" she pressed. "People spend so much time and money trying to become beautiful."

The monk’s smile deepened. "That is a beautiful business, born from a beautiful need. Yet it is an act of ignorance to believe that a cream or a treatment can bestow what is already within. Humanity chases the idea of looking beautiful, comparing one face to another, judging and ranking. But in the end, when life departs, we are all merely a body. No one calls it a 'beautiful corpse,' even when it is dressed in flowers and touched with powder."

He leaned forward, his voice soft but firm. "Instead of focusing on how you look, focus on cultivating a strong mind and a heart that is caring. Do that, and you become like a beautiful garden—one that naturally attracts bees and butterflies, whose very existence sustains life. In essence, a good person creates a good environment and spreads goodness to others."

"Remember," he concluded, "we need not worry about creating a 'beautiful world.' Nature will handle that in her own time. Our task is to build a peaceful world. And that, in truth, is more beautiful than any beauty you could ever imagine.

M.L. Narendra Kumar

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