segunda-feira, março 09, 2009

THE ESSENCE OF BEAUTY


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THE ESSENCE OF BEAUTY

P.H John, Kohima
Ever since the dawn of civilization, beauty as a concept essentially forms and lies in the eye of the beholders who may perceive things materially or immaterially through the clarity of thought, across the countries throughout the ages. It is not a make but a growth from within a person- a combination of shape, colour, sound, quality etc. as could be seen in one’s cleanliness, openliness, friendliness, cheerfulness, usefulness, faithfulness and godliness.

Beauty is a virtue caused by an idea; and the beauty of thought is the source of all other beauties as thought produces internal as well as external actions. In other words, a good thought eventually beautifies actions which in turn encourage better thoughts. This thought certainly dispels darkness, misunderstanding, hatred, selfishness, aggressiveness, suspicion, ruthlessness and untrustworthiness but which overwhelmingly brings harmony, mutual interaction, humility, peace and happiness to one’s search on actualization in the philosophy of existentialism.

Beauty, the soul-mate of mankind, inspires for impartiality which is above and beyond neutrality delivering justice of fairness in the process of social dealings. It does not discriminate between the rich and the poor; the high and the low; the strong and the weak; but is placed on equal footing in the matters of right, opportunity, freedom and dignity. It is equally true to ponder, “Everything has its own beauty; but everyone has not seen it”.

The longing for beauty is a characteristic in common to all human beings which has to agree, “Good acts are more important than good principles. Beauty is an inner moral quality making a man cheerful, reflecting and displaying what is in his heart and mind in disseminating the values of life. To John Keats, “A thing of beauty is a joy forever; its loveliness increases, it will never sink into nothingness”.

Beauty is a quality, interested more to make men virtuous. And as a virtue, it is a good idea- the ultimate reality which is the highest knowledge, highest value and supreme existence. It is absolutely free, self existent and perfect. It is the truth and the beautiful. It is the object of the entire universe. It is the source of existence. It is this idea that gives knowledge to the knowers.

However, a right opinion may be based upon wrong basis. Similarly, a right action may be derived from a bad feeling. Therefore, we should try to know as to what is right and what is wrong. This requires rational thinking and reasoning. According to Plato, the famous Greek Philosopher, “the highest good is the aim of the moral action”. It should be an end in itself. Since it is the quality of the soul, it does not depend upon any external power. It is the voice of conscience of man. Keeping this in mind, in our day to day life, we need wisdom which not only makes us understand others, but also to love them.

Although the idea of human good may change according to times and circumstances, an unexamined life is not worth living. A function which is useful today may not only be useless but also be harmful tomorrow. Such in that therefore, some of the old superstitious believes and absolete values which prevent progress may be changed in favour of enlightened ideas. Good does not mean because it gives a man pleasure nor it means because it is true; but it agrees to a general acceptance to be thought and done. Similarly, cultural assimilation is important not because it is new but because it is good.

As beauty is an idea of good, no society can progress without the State. The State aims at producing moral citizens. There is no conflict between the individual and the state in moral life. While the individual is the end of life, the State fulfils his needs and makes him virtuous and happy. Therefore, the State needs to encourage goodness in providing justice to all its citizens.

Without shadows a picture is not complete or wholly beautiful. If there is no negation of good, the good loses its value. In the same way, the so called evil is necessary to the beauty and goodness of the world. And this may be true as we cannot define goodness without having the concept of badness. However, darkness prevails due to the absence of light. That means when good people increase, bad people will disappear. Therefore, we must be good people in order to have good thoughts for good works. But the worst evil for man is to turn away from God.

Although many people who live differently think different, we have a common characteristic- the characteristic of goodness. So whenever we have any inner conflict or external contradiction, we need to exchange our position to see each other’s stand points respectively and thence find out the right thing forgetting our own arguments. In this way, we need to accommodate and appreciate each other. Expecting others to respect oneself without respecting others produces destruct, superiority complex, misunderstanding and opposition. This is an advantage to none, but a hindrance for progress to mankind. Our life is characterized by a mixture of joys sorrows, opportunities and difficulties. We cannot change the events but we can change our approach to events that we must convert the difficulties into opportunities for larger life. This world has so much to give if we can change our attitudes and mindsets towards life- a life of beauty and happiness.

Happiness is the necessary outcome; and love is the source of creativity and immortality, but the highest idea is the love of spiritual beauty. Beginning from the beautiful things and moving step by step to beautiful bodies, beautiful practices, beautiful learning, beautiful works, one may reach the love of perfection of beauty which is the highest idea of beauty in God’s beauty.

In conclusion, beauty as an idea of perfection it should be cherished and appreciated. The Bible says, “In the beginning was the word- the idea, and the word was with God and the word was God”. He is the eternal unmoved mover; pure in form, a substance per excellence, thought-thinking-thought and the controller of the world. We are created in His own image out of the dust and shall return to the dust. Our life on earth is a journey of preparation to meet the Word of beauty- the idea of highest beauty that we can also understand the Word through the realization of the worldly affairs.
FONTE: MorungExpress - Dimapur,Assam,India

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