THE QUEST FOR

beauty

Serge Nicolai

W

ho is not after beauty?

What is real beauty?

And why are we looking for it?

Beauty gives pleasure to our senses, be it a beautiful

landscape, a beautiful face, a beautiful artifact, or a

beautiful piece of music.

One may argue that as a community or a civilization frees

itself from the struggle to cater to its basic needs of food,

clothing and shelter, there is more effort and resources

given to fulfilling this search for beauty.

A poet said, “A thing of beauty is a joy forever.”

But is it?

Experience shows us that the possession of one thing

never satisfies us and, as soon as we get it, we embark

upon the next pursuit, ad infinitum. So what are we

really after?

I would say that we are attracted to beauty because it

reminds us of a lost harmony, of a subtle balance of forms.

We would not recognize it outside if it were not already

imprinted in us.

We are really looking for our own lost beauty, a beauty

not of this world, a light that alone makes everything

resplendent.

When we find it, whether in a child, a sage, or a pure

person, we stand in awe. Something from another

dimension beckons us. For a moment we are transported

out of this mundane existence. And that is what we are

looking for in this pursuit.

Alas, this self-forgetfulness doesn’t last and we are back

where we were. What is the solution?

The only way is to turn our pursuit inwards, turn our

efforts to our own making, so that we cultivate inner

beauty. As this grows, our dependence for outer beauty

will diminish.

Finally, sages say that a time comes when the beauty

unfolding inside is an unceasing wonder, making one

forget everything else.

That, this mystery, is what we are all really yearning for.

July 2019 21