Notes on Life and Learning Lessons Chapter 5

On Looking at

Beautiful Women

A good friend once discussed with me a frank issue.

“Let me ask you a straight question,” he said. “As you are now becoming more and more concerned with right and wrong, do you not at times look at beautiful women? At their faces and sexy bodies??”

I smiled. I was amused by his frankness and at our man’s talk. “Thank you for your candidness,” I replied. “When I see a beautiful woman, I cannot help but take a second look. You see, there are two ways of looking at a woman. One is to look at her with a lustful eye. Another is to look at her with a respectful and appreciative eye. Good artists have respectful and appreciative eyes. When they paint the faces and bodies of women, they see beauty in their symmetry, in their curves, in their proportions. They see the beauty in womanhood. Men with a lustful eye can never understand this.

“To develop an artist’s eye, which is actually looking at life with the eyes of the Soul, try to see other beautiful things and other creatures around you – the many interesting shapes of clouds, the bright colors and changing hues of sunrise and sunset, the various shapes, colors, texture, and smells of beautiful flowers, mountains, valleys, lakes, rivers, seas and great oceans, trees, birds, insects…the beauty of Mother Nature. Have you ever noticed the symmetry in the lines of a leaf? Have you ever noticed that some leaves are heart-shaped?

“Try to deepen your insight by thinking about the Great Hand that created such beauty and wonder. Such insight can lead you into knowing more about the Great Artist who made all these wonderful things and creatures. Such knowledge will help you to gradually see the beauty in the faces and bodies of women.

“If you have a lot of goodness in your heart, you will appreciate the beauty of trees for what they are. If your life is predominantly focused on getting more and more money, power and pleasures for the flesh, you will see the color of money in the trees you cut down….you will ravage the beauty of Mother Nature in the same way you ravage the beauty of women.

“There is also beauty in relationships between people who are genuinely concerned about each other’s physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual growth. There is beauty about people who have much respect, trust, care, and love for each other. The good parents’ deep concern for their children’s growth, the warm handshake of a true friend and the sincere offer of assistance when you need it most, the promise of a loved one that no matter what, you can count on him/her, or young men and women who work abroad and sacrifice so much to help their families, carry in themselves beauty that more than meets the eye.

“Remember how your mother cared for you when you were still a baby and a young child. Such is a beautiful moment in your life. Your mother is a woman. To develop an appreciative and a respectful eye is difficult but it is the right thing to aspire for. To have a lustful eye is so easy but it is the wrong thing to follow.

“I guess the somewhat surprised look on your face means that you find my answer quite different. Indeed, my friend, what is right is totally different from what is wrong. And the more you see the difference, the wiser you become.”