DEFINITION: Beauty is a characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure or satisfaction.
Emphasis on outer beauty is sign of fear of Atonement, an attempt to surround your hate in a lovely frame.
“The emphasis on beautiful structures is a sign of the fear of Atonement, and an unwillingness to reach the altar itself. The real beauty of the temple cannot be seen with the physical eye. Spiritual sight, on the other hand, cannot see the structure at all because it is perfect vision. It can, however, see the altar with perfect clarity.” (T-2.III.1)
“Save it [the body] for show, as bait to catch another fish, to house your specialness in better style, or weave a frame of loveliness around your hate, and you condemn it to decay and death.” (T-24.VII.4)
Real beauty is inner beauty, the beauty of a loving nature.
This beauty is equally present in everyone, in their true nature.
This loving nature in everyone is goodness carried to such an extreme that it becomes holiness.
We have eyes to look on this beauty. They are called the eyes of Christ. Also called the spiritual eye in the early dictation.
We have all had glimpses of this inner beauty
“No one in this distracted world but has seen some glimpses of the other world about him.” (T-13.VII.6)
Inner beauty compared to outer
• Inner beauty can be seen everywhere; outer beauty is rare
• Inner beauty is real content, real substance; outer beauty is mere form, which may be backed up by content and may not—may be a deception
• Really seeing inner beauty is an overwhelming experience; seeing outer beauty is merely quite pleasant
Our brother is beautiful. Seeing this beauty is the Course’s main focus when it comes to beauty.
“Behold your Friend, the Christ Who stands beside you. How holy and how beautiful He is! You thought He sinned because you cast the veil of sin upon Him to hide His loveliness.” (T-19.IV(D).14)
“And in Christ’s vision is his loveliness reflected in a form so holy and so beautiful that you could scarce refrain from kneeling at his feet.” (W-pI.161.9)
When people have experiences of vision, they frequently feature the word “beauty.”
“Unbelievably beautiful”
I saw the light an instant longer, during which I loved everyone on the train with that same incredible intensity. Everyone there was unbelievably beautiful and incredibly dear. Then the light faded and the old picture of dirt and ugliness returned. The contrast was truly shocking. It took me several minutes to regain a semblance of composure. –Helen Schucman
“Overwhelming beauty”
I passed a disheveled, dirty, street person who, I believe, had been drinking or was drunk. I wanted to see him differently and so, quite mechanically because I really didn’t think it would happen, I thought, “Give me your blessing, holy Son of God,” and was shocked to find myself bursting into tears because of his overwhelming beauty that I suddenly became aware of beyond his appearance. –Ron Zeiler
“Stunningly beautiful”
It started when I was in a grocery store. I was looking at the items on the shelf and a woman walked past. I was shocked by her beauty. Very intense. At first I thought it was just her. But then the next person I saw was also stunningly beautiful to me. Then I felt the waves of love wash over us. Then I look around the corner of the isle and it’s not just these two people—it’s everyone….The “beautiful people” experiences probably came and went for months or so. –Liz Teska
“Exceedingly beautiful”
The buildings were decrepit and ugly, the ground covered with boards, rags, and debris. Suddenly every object in my field of vision took on a curious and intense kind of existence of its own; that is, everything appeared to have an “inside” — to exist as I existed, having inwardness, a kind of individual life, and every object, seen under this aspect, appeared exceedingly beautiful….All things seemed to glow with a light that came from within them.
I experienced a complete certainty that at that moment I saw things as they really were, and I was filled with grief at the realization of the real situation of human beings, living continuously in the midst of all this without being aware of it. –N.M.
The Course tries to capture the intensity of the experience of this inner beauty with a series of ecstatic sentences.
“How holy and how beautiful He is!” (T-19.IV(D).14)
“How beautiful his sinlessness will be when you perceive it!” (T-25.V.5)
“Think of the loveliness that you will see, who walk with Him! And think how beautiful will you and your brother look to the other!” (T-22.IV.4)
“Let us today behold each other in the sight of Christ. How beautiful we are! How holy and how loving!” (W-pII.313.2)
“What loveliness we look upon today!” (W-pI.291.1)
Seeing the real beauty in our brother is such an overwhelming experience that it far exceeds any beauty we have seen through ordinary perception, and produces far more happiness in us than any conventional experience.
“Can you imagine how beautiful those you forgive will look to you? In no fantasy have you ever seen anything so lovely. Nothing you see here, sleeping or waking, comes near to such loveliness. And nothing will you value like unto this, nor hold so dear. Nothing that you remember that made your heart sing with joy has ever brought you even a little part of the happiness this sight will bring you. For you will see the Son of God.” (T-17.II.1)
We can see this beauty everywhere we look, if our spiritual eyes are open.
“It [the table] has something to show you; something beautiful and clean and of infinite value, full of happiness and hope.” (W-pI.28.5)
“You have no conception of the limits you have placed on your perception, and no idea of all the loveliness that you could see.” (T-15.IX.6)
The more we get in touch with this inner beauty, the more its light will shine through the ordinary images we see, making “plain” and even “ugly” things seem suddenly beautiful.
“Loveliness can light your images, and so transform them that you will love them, even though they were made of hate. For you will not be making them alone.” (W-pI.23.4)
Each spot His reason touches grows alive with beauty, and what seemed ugly in the darkness of your lack of reason is suddenly released to loveliness. …The smallest leaf becomes a thing of wonder, and a blade of grass a sign of God’s perfection.” (T-17.II.5-6)
We can get in touch with this beauty by looking with our physical eyes for “the spark of beauty”—the expressions of love in this world.
“If you send them forth, they will see only the blameless and the beautiful, the gentle and the kind….The world will be transformed before your sight, cleansed of all guilt and softly brushed with beauty.” (T-19.IV(A).14, 15)
“To forgive is merely to remember only the loving thoughts you gave in the past, and those that were given you….In these loving thoughts is the spark of beauty hidden in the ugliness of the unholy relationship where hatred is remembered; yet there to come alive as the relationship is given to Him Who gives it life and beauty.” (T-17.III.1, 5)
“Let Him uncover the hidden spark of beauty in your relationships, and show it to you. Its loveliness will so attract you that you will be unwilling ever to lose the sight of it again. And you will let this spark transform the relationship so you can see it more and more.” (T-17.III.6)
We are beautiful, just like everyone else.
“Yet you could not have seen reality, for the reality of your mind is the loveliest of God’s creations.” (T-12.VII.10)
“I thank the Father for your loveliness, and for the many gifts that you will let me offer to the Kingdom in honor of its wholeness that is of God.” (T-13.X.13)
We see our own beauty when we see greet each brother as a long-lost family member whose beauty we are eager to look on.
“Brother, come and let me look on you. Your loveliness reflects my own. Your sinlessness is mine. You stand forgiven, and I stand with you.” (W-pII.247.1)
This takes off on a familiar scene in which an older person greets for the first time (or the first time in a long time) a young girl who is part of the family:
Queen: Oh, look! Her eyes are like yours, and her mouth is just like mine; she is really our lost daughter. Oh my girl, come and let me look at you.
Claire: Mom?! Dad?! Are you really my parents? (from the play The Lost Princess”)
[She] found herself face to face with a tall, handsome man, who rose to greet her. His waving hair was touched with gray, his brown eyes were merry. “So this is little Rose,” he said, “will you come and let me look at you? Why, who made the dainty wreath for you?” He offered not one, but both his hands to her, and with a happy cry, she laid her little hands in his. (from the book Princess Polly’s Playmates”)
Exercise in greeting our beautiful brother
Choose someone as the focus of this exercise, ideally someone you tend to have a neutral or even negative reaction to. Hold that person in mind and say:
Brother, come and let me look on you. [as if meeting a beautiful new family member for the first time]
Your loveliness reflects my own. [the beauty you see in him is yours]
Your sinlessness is mine. [it is the beauty of sinlessness; that too is yours]
You stand forgiven, and I stand with you. [he stands shining with forgiveness, and you stand with him, joined in the beauty of innocence.]
[Please note: ACIM passages quoted in this article reference the Foundation for Inner Peace (FIP) Edition.]
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