What is Beauty?
What is beauty?
Answers may vary
But one thing is certain
Nothing will be plain or mundane!
(Portrait of a Beauty, Sao Ohn Nyunt)
One answers beauty is that pleases the eye
It’s fairness that evokes pleasures in the mind
It’s something that’s pretty and sublime
Some may say beauty is just skin deep and defined.
( Supreme Beauty Daw Aung San Suu Kyi on
Burmese New Year Day)
For other, beauty is more than that
It means cleanliness and neatness
It involves discipline, order and success
Whatever is done methodically is beauty in fact!
(General Aung San, Father of Tatmadaw, President of Anti-Fascist
Organisation later AFPFL and Deputy Chairman, PM equivalent
of the Post-war Burma Cabinet; a Beauty as a Politician)
Apart from persons, inanimate things also have beauty
It's because it has aesthetics in architectural grace and geometry
It has strength, serenity, perfect ratios and artistry
We could find it in the Taj Mahal, Parthenon and Shwedagon Cedi.
(The Great Shwedagon Pagoda showing Serene Beauty)
So, to be a beautiful person involves many attributes:
His face must be good looking or smooth
His body must be clean, fragrant and healthy
His mind must be clear, conscientious and kindly
His behaviour must be mellow, unobtrusive and friendly
He must be working diligently and dutifully
He must contribute to the welfare of the community
He must endear the environment and keeps it lively.
(Abraham Lincoln, A President of the People,
For the People, and Elected by the People; a People's Beauty)
Venerable Zawtika says sunrise is pretty
Scenic spots are healthy and a beauty
Green grass and fragrant flowers are pretty
Fresh air and sunshine are energizing and healthy
He says a pleasant peaceful atmosphere is good for humanity.
( Massive Graceful Great Lions Guarding the Entrance to Mandalay Hill,
An Inspiring Beauty)
He says the Gautama Buddha is all round beauty
He had body, mind and spirit blemish-free and healthy
Seeing a person in such mode is peaceful and pleasing
It’s because he has no hatred, no greed and non-aggression
But, loving kindness, charity and generosity meant to all beings!
(Mahamuni Statute showing Eternal Buddha's Beauty)
U Zawtika quotes,' a thing of Beauty is a Joy for Ever"
I have heard it so many times over the years
John Keats was a romantic poet prominent in all eras
He composed an immortal poem on beauty as follows, hear:
(John Keats, 1795-1821, Poet and Practitioner of Medicine)
“ A thing of beauty is a joy for ever”.
A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
(Grave of John Keats in Rome where He Died)
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
(Statue of John Keats Opened At Guy's Hospital,London
in 2007 Where he Trained as a Surgeon)
Of all the unhealthy and o'er-darkn'd ways
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
With the green world they live in; and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
'Gainst the hot season; the mid-forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead;
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink.
John Keats
Dr Maung Maung Nyo
22.12.2008
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