The Beauty of Life

Beauty is not something that can be defined. Some say it is in the eye (or ear) of the beholder. It is true that the musician or student of music does not depend on technical understanding. It is open to all.

The early riser has the pleasure of seeing the dawn, and the outdoors person will revel in the purity of the first dawn. Perhaps the poet touches something in us that brings unexpected joy. The Zen student will see the beauty of Reality in the sight of a tiny bird on the bare branch of a tree in winter.

The beauty of life can only be grasped by one who comes to grips with the inevitability of death. We cry at the death of a beloved one—understandably—but we are really crying for ourselves. We are deprived of the company of one who has meant much to us. If we attempt to live in that memory, we will never enjoy the beauty of today.

In Japan the plum leaves pierce the springtime snow, and the miracle of it touches our soul. We know the life of the plums and the tree is limited, but the beauty is here now, to be appreciated.

The one who single-mindedly sets his life on making money will seldom be open to enjoying beauty. There is nothing wrong with making money (hopefully to use some of it to help those less fortunate). There are, of course, exceptions to this last statement. When I was in the financial world I had a client, a Dutch doctor whom I greatly admired. He was very skilled in playing the stock market and consistently made money. In his spare time he hired a violinist, a viola player, and a cellist from the Los Angeles symphony to make up a string quartet with him on second violin, and so enjoyed the great beauty of music. He seemed open to all the other beauties of life and was an enjoyable conversationalist in quite a few languages.

It is my belief that we would do well to be grateful for this life. How it progresses will, in the view of the orientalist, depend on the Karma we have made for ourselves, largely through the habit energies (vashanas) we have accumulated. It is said that the purpose of philosophy is to enable us to face death. Then we can enjoy, and be grateful for, this life and the beauty of this life.