What Is Beauty?
© 2004
>> What is beauty ? ( Is it equilibrium plus harmony ?) <<
:) I recommend that question as a good meditation or series of meditations. To aid your meditations, here are my thoughts. :)
I'm sure you're familiar with the saying, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." This saying holds a lot of wisdom. There are two distinct levels of truth to it.
On the surface it means that Beauty is an *interaction* between the perceiver and the perceived. In other words, Beauty is slightly different for each person. What I find Beautiful, you might not and vise versa. This level of Beauty is emotional and has to do with personal preference and experience. A shape, for example strikes *you* as Beautiful because its form pleases you at an emotional level. Thus the Beautiful form *affects* you, touches you at an emotional level, lifts your spirits and incites an emotional response of appreciation, happiness, etc., all of which trigger physiological changes This is what I mean by an interaction between perceiver and perceived.
At this level, Beauty depends more upon the perceiver's likes and dislikes than upon the perceived thing itself, in so far as universal qualities like equilibrium or harmony are concerned.
The deeper level of meaning in the statement, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder", is revealed through consideration of Paul Case's Trestleboard statement for #6 (Tiphareth, which means 'Beauty' in Hebrew): "In all things, great and small, I see the Beauty of the divine expression."
Here, Beauty is described as a divine *expression*. This is the *essential meaning* which each thing *expresses* through its form (its thing-ness). When directly perceived *through* a form, essential meaning has the same affect upon the perceiver as does the mundane perception of Beauty. The direct perception of essential meaning touches you at *every* level -- it uplifts your thoughts and emotions and stimulates the response of appreciation, happiness, etc. Even though it requires emotional detachment, the *direct* perception of essential meaning is not mere passive observation -- it is an *experience* and you become at one with that quanta of essential meaning.
Yet it is up to the perceiver to *directly* perceive essential meaning and in that sense, the power to perceive the Beauty that is expressed through *all* things, lies "in the eye of the beholder."
When we perceive something (and this doesn't have to be a concrete, physical thing -- it can also be an idea, an emotion, sensation, etc.) which we feel *at an emotional level* is Beautiful, we feel that way because the essential meaning that the form expresses, comes in a form through which we *personally* can more readily perceive it. The reason is because the *personal* filters of perception that we see things through at the mundane level, are in greater harmony with *that particular* form and we can therefore harmonize with the essential meaning that form expresses. To *our* eyes, the form harmonizes with its essential meaning and we can therefore perceive that essential meaning more clearly. [Sorry if that's unclear -- it's hard for me to put in words at the moment.]
Ordinarily, we do *not* see the Beauty of the divine expression (i.e., its essential meaning) in *all* things, great and small. But when we do *directly* perceive essential meaning in *all* things, we discover that the forms of *all* things harmonize with their essential meaning. In other words, Beauty is, quite literally, all around us and all within us. All we need do is see it. :)
>> In what is it useful to eat, inhale, drink, breath, beauty ? How is it manifested / concretized within us, and outside of us in everyday life, when we work whit it ? ( In your "Rawn's pore breathing beauty" exercise, you wrote : You can, in fact, continuously inhale and exhale the Beautified universe and create a resonant relationship between yourself and your surroundings. It is also possible, using this technique, to effect the temporal bubble that surrounds your consciousness. In essence, this Beautifies the immediate future and disperses any "resistance" in your path.) <<
At the mundane level, when we perceive something that we *feel* is Beautiful, it means that we are perceiving *more* of its essential meaning (its divine expression) than we would perceive in a thing we *feel* to be ugly. Essential meaning nourishes us (this is the Divine Water principle of All-Love) and one way in which we receive that nourishment is through mental, astral and emotional *perception*. In most of our perceptions, the essential meaning is minimized by our *personal* filters of perception, but when we perceive Beauty, we perceive a greater quantity of this nourishing essential meaning or divine expression. We are affected by this perception to a greater degree than we are by the perception of an "ugly" thing. Thus the mundane perception of Beauty is especially nourishing.
When we *intentionally* imbibe essential meaning from the cup of Beauty, this effect is magnified still further because it is an intentional and conscious action. We focus upon it and upon the *feelings* its perception generates within us and therefore extend its effect upon us and increase our nourishment. And just like in Bardon's magical breathing, we can consciously *inhale* that Beautiful essential meaning. This is what I mean by "breathing it in".
*All* perception of essential meaning nourishes us mentally, astrally and physically. Which is to say that *all* perception nourishes us -- each use of our mental, astral and physical senses nourishes us. By 'well nourished', I mean that we are in harmony with life and with self. In other words, we more clearly express our *own* essential meaning. The question then becomes one of how *well* nourished are we? ;-)
If all we do is perceive *unintentionally* and *without focus* then we have an essential meaning diet equivalent to eating at MacDonald's for every meal. If we surround ourselves in Beauty and perceive it all the time then we are reasonably well nourished. If we add to that the factor of intentional and prolonged inhalation of the Beauty we perceive, then we are very well nourished indeed! :)
We can quantify it thus:
1) Mundane, un-intentional perception. Barely sustains body, soul and spirit.
2) Mundane, un-intentional perception of Beauty. Briefly stimulates body, soul and spirit.
3) Mundane, *intentional* perception of Beauty. Briefly nourishes body, soul and spirit and has a temporary harmonizing effect.
4) Intentional inhalation of Beauty. Nourishes body, soul and spirit and has a prolonged harmonizing effect.
5) Direct perception of essential meaning through external things. Deeply nourishes body, soul and spirit and briefly transforms them.
6) Direct perception of one's own essential meaning (and that of *all* things, great and small). Permanently transforms body, soul and spirit.
>> Does it make attaining the magical equilibrium easier ? Is it good for health ? Personality transformation ? <<
Yes. Any perception of essential meaning changes the perceiver to some degree. It makes them more or different than what they were before the perception. The greater the clarity (i.e., directness) of that perception, the greater the perceiver will be affected by the essential meaning and consequently, the change within them will be greater. The *direct* perception of essential meaning, immediately and strongly transforms the perceiver. Since essential meaning is the *divine expression*, the transformation that the perceiver undergoes directly benefits their own evolution and growth.
This is most especially true when one is able to perceive their *own* essential meaning. Which is to say, the moment in which one *experiences* their own essential meaning in all its Beauty. I say that because to directly perceive essential meaning is to *experience* it and to *be* it.
One thing that I think I only hinted at in my "Inhalation of Beauty" is that Beauty (and any essential meaning, for that matter) can be accumulated, just like the Vital Energy, the Elements, Fluids, Lights, etc.. For example, through magical inhalation of Beauty, you can retain the Beauty during each exhale and in that way build up an accumulation of Beauty. You can cause it to become radiant and thus affect your surroundings. Furthermore, you can project such an accumulation and fill an external object with it. In short, you can work with essential meaning in exactly the same way as Bardon instructed regarding Vital Energy, Elements, Fluids, Lights and so on.
This, of course is the subject of my next book and the magic pertaining to the Emperor. :)
At any rate, I hope my rambling has provided you with fruit for your meditations. :)
My best to you,
:) Rawn Clark
21 April 2004