What is beautiful to you…?? Do you judge things, animals, people, on how they look–on your particular definition of beauty…?? Are you open-minded about beauty, or do you follow the standards of beauty set by your mental conditioning and all of society’s…?? Can you truly be honest with yourself about this…??
In many areas of Tajikistan the unibrow is a sign of extreme beauty; people here believe that the single eyebrow on a girl talks about her chosen destiny and luck. In South Korea, I heard, plastic surgery is the norm, and clinics advertising in appearance correction hung everywhere; so, one of the finest features of the image of Koreans is believed to be the person with the face in the form of heart. Residents of some African and New Guinea parts deliberately cover their bodies with numerous scars–in men this procedure is performed during a rite of initiation (a culture thing), and in women it is believed that the scar tattoos add beauty to them… I am talking about the superficial beauty the eyes see and the ego full of beliefs creates as the norm for people. Have you noticed that all this is following a belief, either a program since childhood in your mind or a belief in a culture that separates people…??
That is why it is not reasonable to judge people on looks. It is not reasonable to allow your passions to fall in “love” with looks. It is not reasonable to fear based on looks. All is a belief! And emptying the mind from beliefs and this programming is what one must do to wake up from the dream of “perfect beauty,” and also from the dream of fear. What about animals–spiders, ants, rats, scorpions, snakes, beetles, etc: these are labeled by people as disgusting and dangerous because of the belief programed in them also. It is all their egos, they already have formed their ignorant ideas and labels of them based on fear and on the popular trend in our stupid society.
“All Black people are bad.” “All immigrants come to take our jobs.” “All white men have it easy.” “All skinny girls are conceited.” “All animals that look ugly are disgusting and dangerous.” And the prejudice and the stupid beliefs go on and on… Realize that beauty has been introduced in you as a program, as a belief; hence you are trapped in this selfish creed, and you make divisions–this is good, this is bad, she is beautiful, she is not, etc. If you meditate, ponder deeply and realize this within yourself, then your mind will expand from its conditioned program and you will discover real beauty beyond what your physical eyes show you. Do not take this lightly; for the world is what it is because there are beliefs of love and beauty–all created by a program, a conditioning…
Life itself is the most natural and divine organism, an ongoing process, something which moves forward and brings rich lessons–from pain and joy–always to learn to experience true love and happiness as unique individuals. And we may say that it is all for the sake of physical experiences to have. The human mind is a whole different creature though, conditioned, full of lust, anger, passions, selfish ideas and concepts, bias views and beliefs; so, we may say the human mind is not natural as life in its purity is. The mind in this state of ignorance is always trying to find answers and fix what is not truly broken–“What is the meaning of life?,” “Who or what is God?,” “What lies for me after I die?,” “How do I become Enlightened?,” “Why are women so delicate and emotional?,” “Why are men so stubborn and violent?,” etc. etc.
And exactly all this pointless questioning makes the mind dull, busy, confused, always going on a loop which feeds the ego and brings more questions, more seeking, more opinions, more concepts, more pointless knowledge. All this conditioning creates an abyss, a distance between life itself or its reality and the reality this mind has built out of its own content; so that now life is not beautiful anymore, because this abyss or distance brings frustration and does not allow you to actually enjoy it purely. While the mind is busy fixing moral dilemmas and philosophies, asking questions and arguing answers, while it is trying to understand the complexities of a relationship, while it is seeking God or a meaning of life, you live in your own little world which prevents you from absolutely seeing the beauty of a simple tree on your yard or celebrating the fact that you are breathing.
And so, because the mind is always trying to fix and find solutions, arguing and trying to be superior, then stress and problems cloud judgement and vanish purity. Now life passes you by while you are drowning in your own egoistical activities. So your mind becomes your experience of life now, and your mind is full of confusion and questions. Is this your experience of life…??… So, perhaps your mind must be stopped and emptied from so much questioning, and believing, and conceptualizing; and from ruling your life, so you get to be free from this mental sickness which only stresses you and distances you from experiencing bliss in your own life.
Life is not as serious and complicated, as ugly and threatening, as the mind makes it to be; but this is the content of our minds making it so, this is the pointless seeking, questioning, doubting, the arguing, etc. etc. You must empty your mind from all this pointless garbage, be free of it and bring new energy into your life, new characters, new moods, more positive views.
- Asa Rodriguez - 