External Vs Internal Beauty and Devotion to God

Is there a God? If so, what is She like?

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dattaswami
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External Vs Internal Beauty and Devotion to God

Post by dattaswami »

https://youtu.be/YzNyRzHFAR0

God is Beautiful

Only God is beautiful and anything related to God is beautiful. Thus among the human beings, the most beautiful is His devotee. Devotion is the beauty since it is related to God. Valmiki said that Hanuman is most beautiful. He named the part of Ramayana relating to Hanuman as Sundarakanda. Hanuman is a monkey. Normally a monkey stands for the climax of ugliness. We mock a person with ugly face calling him as a monkey. Therefore the beauty is not related to the external gross body. The beauty is also not related to the internal subtle body which is made of qualities. The king Bali was famous for his generosity, which is a good quality. He never broke his word given and this is also a very good quality. But Bali was pushed down to the lowermost world by the Lord. Therefore the good qualities like truth; generosity etc. also have no value when they are not associated with devotion. Anything which is not related to God is ugly. Anything which is related to God is only beautiful.

Thus mere social service which exposes the good qualities is of no use without God. It is said in Gita that even a person with bad qualities is great and good if he is a devotee (Apichetsa duracharah). The hunter of animals, supposed to be the highest sinner, was blessed by Lord Shiva for his devotion and he reached the eternal abode of Lord Shiva. Dharmaraja was the embodiment of all good qualities. The Lord asked him to tell a lie in the war. But he refused to tell the lie. He gave importance to the good qualities than the Lord. At the end Dharmaraja went to heaven only. He enjoyed the fruits of his good deeds for sometime. He did not go to the abode of God. Mahabharata says that he went up to heaven only (Swargarohana parvam).

The angel cupid (Manmatha) was having very handsome external gross body but he went against God and all his gross body was turned to formless ash. Hanuman, having ugly face is praised as the most beautiful person in the creation by the sage Valmiki because He was dedicating all His life to the service of God. His God was a human being who did not exhibit any miracle. The required service for Rama was purely personal family work. Hanuman is having several supernatural powers. In these circumstances, even recognizing Rama as God is impossible. But Hanuman recognized with infinite faith and served practically. Therefore Hanuman is the most beautiful person. Lord Shiva is a very powerful energetic form with the third eye. Still the cupid could not recognize Lord Shiva and tried to disturb Him with egoism. The result is that the cupid is not having even a basic form. This concept of beauty should be understood by the present youth. A boy loves a girl or vice-versa based on the form of the external gross body. That love is disappearing when the girl or boy becomes old or deformed by some disease or accident in the life.

Some youngsters are giving importance to the good qualities under the name of internal beauty. The qualities are certainly more valuable than the form of gross body because the quality is more subtle than the form of gross body. The gross body is made of matter whereas quality is made of awareness. Awareness is more subtle than matter. But the good qualities are not having any relation to God. Of course the good qualities should be appreciated than the bad qualities in the context of keeping the balance of society. But by good qualities and good deeds, one can only get the temporary heaven and not the permanent place of God. The gross body and qualities are in the same phase of creation without any reference to God. Suppose in a dream you are presented with a gross object and somebody is presented with a subtle and more valuable object.

Since both are unreal, there is no greatness in the subtle body. Similarly, when the forms of matter and qualities are not having any reference to God, there is no basic reality in them. Only God is the ultimate basic reality. That which is not based on God is unreal and it is meaningless to make any difference between two unreal items. If these are based on God, they become real. The quality of devotion can be more valid than the external appearance of a devotee. Here, both the quality and form are real since they are related to God. Therefore the most beautiful and valuable item is the quality of devotion. You must search for a devotee in selecting your life partner because the sole aim of the human life is only to please the God. The life partner is expected to co-operate with you in your spiritual effort. The selection of life partner should be based on the devotion, which can alone help you in achieving the grace of the Lord in this human life which is the main goal.
alan1000
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Re: External Vs Internal Beauty and Devotion to God

Post by alan1000 »

For the love of God - and I mean that literally - how much longer must we endure this superstitious rubbish? God is simple, God is Love, God is forgiveness. Our task, our challenge from God, is to live a life which is equally simple, loving, and forgiving. Do not be seduced by the complicated, superstitious nonsense of Dattaswami and his like. He is a snare, to entrap you on the byways leading away from the true path as set out by Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, and the Dao.
Walker
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Joined: Thu Nov 05, 2015 12:00 am

Re: External Vs Internal Beauty and Devotion to God

Post by Walker »

alan1000 wrote: Sun Apr 02, 2023 12:24 pm For the love of God - and I mean that literally - how much longer must we endure this superstitious rubbish? God is simple, God is Love, God is forgiveness. Our task, our challenge from God, is to live a life which is equally simple, loving, and forgiving. Do not be seduced by the complicated, superstitious nonsense of Dattaswami and his like. He is a snare, to entrap you on the byways leading away from the true path as set out by Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, and the Dao.
I disagree with your understanding of Dattaswami’s meaning. Dattaswami begins with a premise, and clarifies the premise with this conclusion:

“… the devotion, which can alone help you in achieving the grace of the Lord in this human life which is the main goal.”

Between the premise and the conclusion is rationality presented as principles which are clarified with specific examples.

His conclusion, which above is quoted and underlined for emphasis, is solid, sound, and true. It rises above perceived contradictions that may arise from understandings and disagreements concerning the details in his favoured examples of Hindu mythology and iconography, contradictions caused by changing times and lifestyles.

Dattaswami uses Hindu mythology to exemplify principles he explains because that is a third-party reference source, independent of himself and the reader. Building that frame of reference around the principle is much like using any other third-party source that both writer and reader can independently reference. For example, to illustrate a principle one can source third party stories in books, movies, quotations, legends, clichés, standup comedy routines, music, paintings, memes, and so on.

- Here is another example of the principle that is his conclusion, that does not rely on Hindu mythology.

Great men with huge egos demand devotion in their personal relationships with other folks.

- This is the mirroring of God’s demand for devotion, devotion which is as innate in humans as a duckling devoted to its mama duck.
Walker
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Joined: Thu Nov 05, 2015 12:00 am

Re: External Vs Internal Beauty and Devotion to God

Post by Walker »

dattaswami wrote: Mon Jan 16, 2023 10:20 am
God is Beautiful
Therefore, perceiving one's own beauty is to perceive God in self.
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