What makes a woman beautiful? (sutra)

Digitalphotopix.com; Crystal Quintero, Ashley Wells, Seth Auberon (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly

Cartoonified Eurocentric "All-American" ideal of beauty fed to us from childhood (WQ)

“Classic” beauty from India: Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, blended actress and former Miss World

  

I'dunno what my fans see in me

There are many beautiful women, but only a select few have something magical that makes them rise above the rest.

What makes a woman beautiful?

 

Perhaps some answers can be found through these relevant quotes* about beauty:

1. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. — Margaret Wolfe Hungerford
 

Sexualizing Wonder Woman

2. Beauty is not real. Beauty only exists in perception.  — Unknown

3. How beautiful you are, now that you love me. — Marlene Dietrich

4. Beauty is all very well at first sight; but who ever looks at it when it has been in the house three days? — George Bernard Shaw

5. Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart. — Khalil Gibran
 

6. It’s beauty that captures your attention; personality which captures your heart. — Anonymous
 
7. The recipe for beauty is to have less illusion and more Soul, to retreat from the belief of pain or pleasure in the body into the unchanging calm and glorious freedom of spiritual harmony. — Mary Baker Eddy
 

"You 'love me for my mind'? You don't think I'm beautiful, do you?! Boohoo!"

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Here are pictures of just a few (of many) women considered to be the most beautiful (by popular opinion): More


The Buddha on BEAUTY
Ariyamagga Sutra: "The Noble Path" or "Path to Nobility/Enlightenment" (AN 4.235) edited by Amber Larson and Dhr. Seven for Wisdom Quarterly based on trans. by Ven. Thanissaro

What do I have to do to get attention?

"Meditators, there are four types of karma that have been directly realized, verified, and made known by me. What are the four?

1. There is karma (action) that is dark with dark results [resultants called vipaka and karmic-fruits called phala].
2. There is karma that is bright with bright results.
3. There is karma that is dark and bright with dark and bright results.
4. There is karma that is neither dark nor bright with neither dark nor bright results that leads to the end of karma [and its results].

Merit (good karma) results in beauty.

1. "And what is karma that is dark with dark results? One forms a harmful bodily FORMATION, forms a harmful verbal formation, forms a harmful mental formation. Having formed a harmful bodily formation, having formed a harmful verbal formation, having formed a harmful mental formation, one is reborn in a harmful world. On being reborn in a harmful world, one is touched by harmful contacts. Touched by harmful contacts, one experiences feelings that are exclusively painful, like those of the beings in the hells (the harshest niraya lokas). This is called karma that is dark with dark result.
 

I need more merit, more good karma.

2. "And what is karma that is bright with bright results? One forms a harmless bodily formation... a harmless verbal formation... a harmless mental formation... One is reborn in a harmless world... There one is touched by harmless contacts... One experiences feelings that are exclusively pleasant, like those of the Beautiful Black Devas. This is called karma that is bright with bright result.
 

The average human beauty today?

3. "And what is karma that is dark and bright with dark and bright results? One forms a bodily formation that is harmful and harmless... a verbal formation that is harmful and harmless... a mental formation that is harmful and harmless... One is reborn in a harmful and harmless world [like the Human Plane, which is not limited to planet earth]... There one is touched by harmful and harmless contacts... One experiences harmful and harmless feelings, pleasure mingled with pain, like those of human beings, some devas, and some beings in the lower realms [such as some the Animal Plane]. This is called karma that is dark and bright with dark and bright result.
 
4. "And what is karma that is neither dark nor bright with neither dark nor bright results, leading to the end of karma [and its results]?

• Right view
• right thought (intention, motivation)
• right speech
• right action
• right livelihood
• right mindfulness
• right concentration (coherence).

"This is called karma that is neither dark nor bright with neither dark nor bright result, leading to the end of karma [and its result].

"These, meditators, are the four types of karma directly realized, verified, and made known by me."

• [The Karma of] The Dog-duty Ascetic (MN 57)

Life in the Human World
Dhr. Seven, Amber Larson (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly based on introduction to the Cakkavatti Sutra: "The Wheel-Turning Ruler" (DN 26) by Ven. Thanissaro (trans.)

If we could go back to the "Garden," an idyllic world early in human history.

What's the average human life like on earth today? Most struggle with dark and bright.

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Science: "Beauty" is related to facial symmetry (Amber Heard).

This sutra consists of a story illustrating the power of skillful karma (meritorious action).

In the distant past, unskillful behavior was unknown among humans. As a result, humans lived for an immensely long time -- 80,000 years -- endowed with great beauty, wealth, pleasure, and strength.

Over time humans began behaving in various unskillful ways. This caused the human lifespan to gradually shorten to where it now stands at 100 years [it was 120 at the Buddha's time and is probably still closer to that, with humans reaching sexual maturity at about 12], with human beauty, wealth, pleasure, and strength decreasing proportionately.

In the future, as virtue (merit, morality, skillful behavior) degenerates further, human life will continue to shorten to the point were the normal lifespan is 10 years, with people reaching sexual maturity at about 5.

"Among those human beings the Ten Courses of Unwholesome Action (AN 10.176) will have entirely disappeared... The word 'skillful' will not exist. So where will there be anyone who does what is skillful? Those who lack the honorable qualities [or career] of mother, father, wandering ascetic, or Brahmin will be the ones who receive homage...

"Fierce hatred will arise, fierce malevolence, fierce rage, and murderous thoughts: mother for child, child for mother, father for child, child for father, brother for sister, sister for brother."

Ultimately, conditions will deteriorate to the point of a "sword-interval," in which swords appear in the hands of human beings and they hunt one another like game.

A few people, however, will take shelter in the wilderness [or places of light in a world gone mad] to escape the carnage. And when the slaughter is over, they will come out of hiding and resolve to take up a life of skillful and virtuous karma again.

With the recovery of virtue, the human lifespan will gradually increase again until it reaches 80,000 years, with people attaining sexual maturity at age 500.

Only three diseases will be known at that time: craving (desire, tanha, lit. "thirst"), lack of food, and old age.

Golden Maitreya, future Buddha

Another buddha -- Metteyya [in Sanskrit Maitreya, which comes from the word "friend," maitri, likely the origin of two more familiar, the famous Western (Roman) religious figures "Mithras" (like Vedic "Mitra" and Proto-Indo-Iranian/Avestan "Mitra") and "Messiah"] -- will gain full enlightenment, supreme awakening which comes with the ability to effectively teach (samma-sam-buddhahood).

Metteyya's monastic community (Sangha), will number in the thousands. The greatest king of that time, King Sankha, will go forth from the home-life into the left-home life [to become a wandering ascetic Buddhist monk] and attain full enlightenment under Metteyya Buddha's guidance.

This story, after chronicling the ups and downs of human wealth, lifespan, and so on, concludes with the following lesson on karma and skillful action:

The Wheel-Turning Universal Monarch

A wheel-turning world ruler (aided by giant 1,000-spoke "wheels" in the sky, UFOs?

 

I'm an ugly duckling, but I have a pretty doll!

..."Meditators, live with yourself as your island, yourself as your guide, with nothing else as your guide. Live with the Dharma as your island, the Dharma as your guide, with nothing else as your guide.

• 1: This may also be translated as: "Live with the Dharma as your light (dipa), the Dharma as your guide, with nothing else as your guide." (WQ)

"And how does one live with oneself as one's island, oneself as one's guide, with nothing else as one's guide, with the Dharma as one's island, the Dharma as one's guide, with nothing else as one's guide?
 

He's handsome. - She's hot. - We're happy!

"A meditator remains aware on the body in and of itself -- ardent, alert, and mindful -- setting aside greed and grief with regard to the world. One remains aware of feelings (sensations) in and of themselves... mind in and of itself... phenomena in and of themselves -- ardent, alert, and mindful -- setting aside greed and grief with regard to the world. This is how one lives with oneself as one's island, oneself as one's guide, with nothing else as one's guide,  with the Dharma as one's island, the Dharma as one's guide, with nothing else as one's guide.

"Wander, meditators, in your appropriate (proper) range, your ancient territory. When you wander in your appropriate range, your ancient territory, you will grow in long life, beauty, pleasure, wealth, and strength.

"And what is [or gives rise to] a meditator's long life?

• 2: Literally, "What is in a monastic's long life?" This appears to be an idiomatic usage. The commentary interprets this idiom as meaning, what causes a monastic's long life, beauty, and so on. From this reading, it explains, for example, that a monastic attracts wealth if one develops the Four Divine Abidings (Brahma Viharas). While this is true, it seems to cheapen the message of this passage.

If only black lives mattered again

"A meditator develops the base of power endowed with coherence (samadhi) founded on zeal and exertion (which are mental formations). One develops the base of power endowed with coherence founded on persistence... founded on intent... One develops the base of power endowed with coherence founded on discrimination (wisdom) and exertion. From the development and pursuit of these Four Bases of Power, one can remain alive for a whole average lifespan (kappa or kalpa, one meaning of which is the normal lifespan rather than the usual translation of the term as "aeon") if one wishes or for the remainder of a full lifespan. This constitutes a meditator's long life.
 

What is beauty for a meditator?

"What constitutes a meditator's beauty? A meditator is virtuous. One dwells restrained in accordance with the Rules of Training Leading to Liberation (patimokkha), consummate in one's behavior and sphere of activity. One trains oneself, having undertaken the training rules, seeing danger in the slightest fault. This constitutes a meditator's beauty.
 
"What constitutes a meditator's pleasure? A meditator -- quite withdrawn (secluded) from sensuality, withdrawn from unskillful mental qualities -- enters and dwells in the first meditative absorption (jhana, dhyana) which is accompanied by rapture (joy, bliss, piti) and pleasure (sukha) born of withdrawal... [and so on for the other three meditative absorptions associated with form]...

"What constitutes a meditator's wealth? A meditator keeps pervading the first direction [the east] -- as well as the second direction, the third, and the fourth -- with thoughts imbued with loving kindness (friendliness, metta).

"So, too, one pervades above, below, and around, everywhere encompassing the world with thoughts of loving kindness grown abundant, expansive, immeasurable, free of hostility, free of any ill will.
 
"One keeps pervading the first direction -- as well as the second, third, and fourth -- with compassion (karuna)... with happiness-in-the-happiness-of-others (mudita)... with equanimity (upekkha) grown abundant, expansive, immeasurable, free of hostility, free of any ill will. This constitutes a meditator's wealth.
 
"And what constitutes a meditator's strength? A meditator, through the ending of the mental taints, enters and remains in the taint-free release and liberation by wisdom, having directly known and realized them for oneself right here and now. This constitutes a meditator's strength.
 
"Meditators, I envision no other single strength so hard to overcome as the strength of Mara.

• 3: This next passage is related to the opening passage of the sutra, in which the Buddha says, "Wander, monastics, in your proper range, your ancient territory. When one wanders in one's proper range, one's ancient territory, Mara gains no opening and Mara gains no foothold. And it is because of adopting skillful things that this merit increases." See SN 47.6-7.

"And the adopting of skillful things is what causes this merit to increase."

• 4: This is the refrain repeated with each stage in the account of how human life will improve in the aftermath of the "sword-interval." Here, merit seems to have the meaning it has in Iti 22: "Fear not acts of merit." This is another way of saying what is blissful, desirable, pleasing, endearing, and charming, namely, acts of merit (good or profitable karma).

This is what the Blessed One said. Gratified, the meditators delighted in the Blessed One's words.

• Three wrong views about karma
• Pumpernickel means "fart goblin" in German