Buddhist
Concept of Asthetic or Beauty
Aesthetic is very important as far as personality because every
person have two aspects of his personality: Intellect and Emotion. If one has no aesthetic, he can become a
very selfish person. In regard to this, there are two main qualities':
Aesthetic and Compassion.
In Sakkapañha
Sutta, there was a deity named Pancasikha. He was facing a problem of love
because he loved very much a beautiful deity lady. One day, he composed the loved
song mentioning about the Buddha, the Dhamma, the Sangha, the Arahants and
love. One of places in his song, “appako vata me
santo, kāmo vellitakesiyā, anekabhāvo samuppādādi, arahanteva dakkhinā”
:
when we offer some food to the Arahant, our merit increases to the higher
level, when I see the waving hair, my desire of love increases in my mind.
Although this supra-mundane and mundane mixed in his song, the Buddha did not
deny and criticize because mundane contacts with supra-mundane and
supra-mundane contacts with Aranhantship.
Similarly, in Dhammapada, the Buddha took the prince Nanda to the heaven and
asked if he wanted to get Janapadakalyānī or these dancers. Nanda says, “I want
to get one of them”. “If so, you have to strive hard in the practice of the
Dhamma” said the Buddha. When Nanda attained Arahantship, he told the Buddha
that he did not want to get these dancers. Here, the Buddha also used aesthetic
concept to encourage Nanda.
In Mahāsamaya
Sutta is concerned with the aesthetic concept. In this Sutta, the Buddha
addressed the monks and asked them, “Please see the Devas, they are shining,
retinue and how they are shining, etc, but the monks cannot see them. So, they
had to meditate to see them. Then, they can see little by little. This is
aesthetic concept used by the Buddha in order to encourage the monks to develop
divine power.
In Ātānātiya-Sutta, the four celestial
kings came to the Buddha and asked permission to teach the bhikkhus the
Ātānātiya verses. The Buddha gave his consent by remaining silent. Then, the
Buddha advised his disciples to teach Ātānātiya verses and master them and
remember them. Here, the Buddha used aesthetic concept to encourage his
disciples.
In the Dhammapada, the Buddha
decorates so many sermon with aesthetic aspect like that; ‘Yathāpi bhamaro puppham, vann gandha
mahethayan, paleti rasamādāya, evam gāme munī care- As
a bee without harming the flower, its colour or scent, flies away collecting
only the honey, even so should the sage wander in the village’. They appreciate
this sermon because of using aesthetic concept.
In the Therīgāthā,
there are many stories concerned with this title. For example, Therī Vimalā
says; I was by mind beauty. I had great fame. I was very young. Then I thought
that I am the most beautiful lady in the world, etc. Here she used
aesthetic concept to attract to her.)
So, aesthetic concept is very useful in
our life. If we neglect it, we do not need to get aesthetic idea. That is not a
good way. We have to use it properly. That is why, in these Suttas, the Buddha
used it.
