Truth vs. Beauty

[Guest guest]

There

may sometimes be arguments about whether "truth" and "beauty" are

compatible terms. One would willingly agree to express the truth, one

might say, but since truth is not always beautiful -- indeed, it is

frequently rather startling and unpleasant -- how is one to express

truth and beauty at the same time?

by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

Prabhupada

 

In reply, we may inform all concerned that "truth"

and "beauty" are compatible terms. Indeed, we may emphatically assert

that the actual truth, which is absolute, is always beautiful. The truth

is so beautiful that it attracts everyone, including the truth itself.

Truth is so beautiful that many sages, saints, and devotees have left

everything for the sake of truth. Mahatma Gandhi, an idol of the modern

world, dedicated his life to experimenting with truth, and all his

activities were aimed toward truth only.

Why only Mahatma Gandhi? Every one of us has the

urge to search for truth alone, for the truth is not only beautiful but

also all-powerful, all-resourceful, all-famous, all-renounced, and

all-knowledgeable.

Unfortunately, people have no information of the

actual truth. Indeed, 99.9 percent of men in all walks of life are

pursuing untruth only, in the name of truth. We are actually attracted

by the beauty of truth, but since time immemorial we have been

habituated to love of untruth appearing like truth. Therefore, to the

mundaner "truth" and "beauty" are incompatible terms. The mundane truth

and beauty may be explained as follows.

Once a man who was very powerful and strongly

built but whose character was very doubtful fell in love with a

beautiful girl. The girl was not only beautiful in appearance but also

saintly in character, and as such she did not like the man's advances.

The man, however, was insistent because of his lustful desires, and

therefore the girl requested him to wait only seven days, and she set a

time after that when he could meet her. The man agreed, and with high

expectations he began waiting for the appointed time.

The saintly girl, however, in order to manifest

the real beauty of absolute truth, adopted a method very instructive.

She took very strong doses of laxatives and purgatives, and for seven

days she continually passed loose stool and vomited all that she ate.

Moreover, she stored all the loose stool and vomit in suitable pots. As

a result of the purgatives, the so-called beautiful girl became lean and

thin like a skeleton, her complexion turned blackish, and her beautiful

eyes sank into the sockets of her skull. Thus at the appointed hour she

waited anxiously to receive the eager man.

The man appeared on the scene well dressed and

well behaved and asked the ugly girl he found waiting there about the

beautiful girl he was to meet. The man could not recognize the girl he

saw as the same beautiful girl for whom he was asking; indeed, although

she repeatedly asserted her identity, because of her pitiable condition

he was unable to recognize her.

At last the girl told the powerful man that she

had separated the ingredients of her beauty and stored them in pots. She

also told him that he could enjoy those juices of beauty. When the

mundane poetic man asked to see these juices of beauty, he was directed

to the store of loose stool and liquid vomit, which were emanating an

unbearably bad smell. Thus the whole story of the beauty-liquid was

disclosed to him. Finally, by the grace of the saintly girl, this man of

low character was able to distinguish between the shadow and the

substance, and thus he came to his senses.

This man's position was similar to the position

of every one of us who is attracted by false, material beauty. The girl

mentioned above had a beautifully developed material body in accordance

with the desires of her mind, but in fact she was apart from that

temporary material body and mind. She was in fact a spiritual spark, and

so also was the lover who was attracted by her false skin.

Mundane intellectuals and aesthetics, however,

are deluded by the outward beauty and attraction of the relative truth

and are unaware of the spiritual spark, which is both truth and beauty

at the same time. The spiritual spark is so beautiful that when it

leaves the so-called beautiful body, which in fact is full of stool and

vomit, no one wants to touch that body, even if it is decorated with a

costly costume.

We are all pursuing a false, relative truth,

which is incompatible with real beauty. The actual truth, however, is

permanently beautiful, retaining the same standard of beauty for

innumerable years. That spiritual spark is indestructible. The beauty of

the outer skin can be destroyed in only a few hours merely by a dose of

a strong purgative, but the beauty of truth is indestructible and always

the same. Unfortunately, mundane artists and intellectuals are ignorant

of this beautiful spark of spirit. They are also ignorant of the whole

fire which is the source of these spiritual sparks, and they are

ignorant of the relationships between the sparks and the fire, which

take the form of transcendental pastimes. When those pastimes are

displayed here by the grace of the Almighty, foolish people who cannot

see beyond their senses confuse those pastimes of truth and beauty with

the manifestations of loose stool and vomit described above. Thus in

despair they ask how truth and beauty can be accommodated at the same

time.

Mundaners do not know that the whole spiritual

entity is the beautiful person who attracts everything. They are unaware

that He is the prime substance, the prime source and fountainhead of

everything that be. The infinitesimal spiritual sparks, being parts and

parcels of that whole spirit, are qualitatively the same in beauty and

eternity. The only difference is that the whole is eternally the whole

and the parts are eternally the parts. Both of them, however, are the

ultimate truth, ultimate beauty, ultimate knowledge, ultimate energy,

ultimate renunciation, and ultimate opulence.

Although written by the

greatest mundane poet or intellectual, any literature which does not

describe the ultimate truth and beauty is but a store of loose stool and

vomit of the relative truth. Real literature is that which describes the

ultimate truth and beauty of the Absolute.

[Guest guest]

This is really worth taking the time to read!!

Bhavesh

 

 

 

 

 

There

may sometimes be arguments about whether "truth" and "beauty" are

compatible terms. One would willingly agree to express the truth, one

might say, but since truth is not always beautiful -- indeed, it is

frequently rather startling and unpleasant -- how is one to express

truth and beauty at the same time?

by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami

Prabhupada

 

In reply, we may inform all concerned that "truth"

and "beauty" are compatible terms. Indeed, we may emphatically assert

that the actual truth, which is absolute, is always beautiful. The truth

is so beautiful that it attracts everyone, including the truth itself.

Truth is so beautiful that many sages, saints, and devotees have left

everything for the sake of truth. Mahatma Gandhi, an idol of the modern

world, dedicated his life to experimenting with truth, and all his

activities were aimed toward truth only.

Why only Mahatma Gandhi? Every one of us has the

urge to search for truth alone, for the truth is not only beautiful but

also all-powerful, all-resourceful, all-famous, all-renounced, and

all-knowledgeable.

Unfortunately, people have no information of the

actual truth. Indeed, 99.9 percent of men in all walks of life are

pursuing untruth only, in the name of truth. We are actually attracted

by the beauty of truth, but since time immemorial we have been

habituated to love of untruth appearing like truth. Therefore, to the

mundaner "truth" and "beauty" are incompatible terms. The mundane truth

and beauty may be explained as follows.

Once a man who was very powerful and strongly

built but whose character was very doubtful fell in love with a

beautiful girl. The girl was not only beautiful in appearance but also

saintly in character, and as such she did not like the man's advances.

The man, however, was insistent because of his lustful desires, and

therefore the girl requested him to wait only seven days, and she set a

time after that when he could meet her. The man agreed, and with high

expectations he began waiting for the appointed time.

The saintly girl, however, in order to manifest

the real beauty of absolute truth, adopted a method very instructive.

She took very strong doses of laxatives and purgatives, and for seven

days she continually passed loose stool and vomited all that she ate.

Moreover, she stored all the loose stool and vomit in suitable pots. As

a result of the purgatives, the so-called beautiful girl became lean and

thin like a skeleton, her complexion turned blackish, and her beautiful

eyes sank into the sockets of her skull. Thus at the appointed hour she

waited anxiously to receive the eager man.

The man appeared on the scene well dressed and

well behaved and asked the ugly girl he found waiting there about the

beautiful girl he was to meet. The man could not recognize the girl he

saw as the same beautiful girl for whom he was asking; indeed, although

she repeatedly asserted her identity, because of her pitiable condition

he was unable to recognize her.

At last the girl told the powerful man that she

had separated the ingredients of her beauty and stored them in pots. She

also told him that he could enjoy those juices of beauty. When the

mundane poetic man asked to see these juices of beauty, he was directed

to the store of loose stool and liquid vomit, which were emanating an

unbearably bad smell. Thus the whole story of the beauty-liquid was

disclosed to him. Finally, by the grace of the saintly girl, this man of

low character was able to distinguish between the shadow and the

substance, and thus he came to his senses.

This man's position was similar to the position

of every one of us who is attracted by false, material beauty. The girl

mentioned above had a beautifully developed material body in accordance

with the desires of her mind, but in fact she was apart from that

temporary material body and mind. She was in fact a spiritual spark, and

so also was the lover who was attracted by her false skin.

Mundane intellectuals and aesthetics, however,

are deluded by the outward beauty and attraction of the relative truth

and are unaware of the spiritual spark, which is both truth and beauty

at the same time. The spiritual spark is so beautiful that when it

leaves the so-called beautiful body, which in fact is full of stool and

vomit, no one wants to touch that body, even if it is decorated with a

costly costume.

We are all pursuing a false, relative truth,

which is incompatible with real beauty. The actual truth, however, is

permanently beautiful, retaining the same standard of beauty for

innumerable years. That spiritual spark is indestructible. The beauty of

the outer skin can be destroyed in only a few hours merely by a dose of

a strong purgative, but the beauty of truth is indestructible and always

the same. Unfortunately, mundane artists and intellectuals are ignorant

of this beautiful spark of spirit. They are also ignorant of the whole

fire which is the source of these spiritual sparks, and they are

ignorant of the relationships between the sparks and the fire, which

take the form of transcendental pastimes. When those pastimes are

displayed here by the grace of the Almighty, foolish people who cannot

see beyond their senses confuse those pastimes of truth and beauty with

the manifestations of loose stool and vomit described above. Thus in

despair they ask how truth and beauty can be accommodated at the same

time.

Mundaners do not know that the whole spiritual

entity is the beautiful person who attracts everything. They are unaware

that He is the prime substance, the prime source and fountainhead of

everything that be. The infinitesimal spiritual sparks, being parts and

parcels of that whole spirit, are qualitatively the same in beauty and

eternity. The only difference is that the whole is eternally the whole

and the parts are eternally the parts. Both of them, however, are the

ultimate truth, ultimate beauty, ultimate knowledge, ultimate energy,

ultimate renunciation, and ultimate opulence.

Although written by the

greatest mundane poet or intellectual, any literature which does not

describe the ultimate truth and beauty is but a store of loose stool and

vomit of the relative truth. Real literature is that which describes the

ultimate truth and beauty of the Absolute.