How to become beautiful

There are two kinds of human behaviour: the sincere and the insincere. Sincere behaviour is the result of adherence to principles, while insincere behaviour shows a lack of principle.

Herbert W Armstrong, the founder of Plain Truth, a magazine published in the US, observed in an article that in his long professional life, he had occasion to meet hundreds and thousands of people from different denominations. But he said that if he were asked what the scarcest quality in human beings was, he would say that it was sincerity. Sincerity is the noblest of all human qualities. But very few people would measure up to this high ideal.

Insincere behaviour or unprincipled behaviour is very easy to indulge in. When you are faced with a situation, it doesn’t require much thought to take a spontaneous decision. Without applying your mind, you can follow the advice of the situation. You can easily understand what is in your interest and what is against it. So in following the dictates of the situation, you don’t need any ideal yardstick to guide you. This kind of behaviour is like that of flowing water. The contours of the surface of the earth determine its path. The one who is insincere is always ready to accede to the demands of a given situation.

In comparison sincerity is a difficult option. When you are a sincere person, you cannot afford to go against your conscience or moral norms... It is the difference between the two that makes one a difficult option and the other a very easy option. Sincerity invites you to ponder over the situation, to try to choose the best course of action, even if it is against your desires.

In terms of social requirements, principled behaviour is very important. It makes you predictable to others, who can then anticipate your behaviour before dealing with you. On the other hand, insincerity makes you an unpredictable person. It becomes difficult to understand what kind of attitude you are going to adopt in the future.

Principled behaviour makes you a true human being, while unprincipled behaviour makes you an unpredictable character, one capable of inhuman behaviour.

Unprincipled behaviour can give you some benefits, but these are of a temporary nature. Permanent benefits can be achieved only through principled behaviour. Sincere people are able to receive divine inspiration. Sincerity develops one’s spirituality, while insincerity ruins one’s personality. The insincere person fails to have spiritual experiences in his life.

The greatest drawback of unprincipled behaviour is that it is like a form of psychological suicide. One who opts for the insincere path first kills his conscience, for without suppressing your conscience you cannot be insincere in your behaviour. Conscience is a moral watchdog in your life. It is the finest gift of nature. One who goes against his conscience is making a self-destructive choice. One should keep his conscience alive by listening to his inner voice. One’s inner voice is the voice of conscience.

Going against your conscience is not easy. It is this behaviour that creates what is called tension or stress. If you want to live with a tension free mind, listen to the voice of your conscience and follow it without any reservation.

Sincerity is not a single value. Sincerity combines all good human values. Where there is sincerity, there are all kinds of moral beauty. In contrast, insincerity makes you ugly.



Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You

How to become beautiful

There are two kinds of human behaviour: the sincere and the insincere. Sincere behaviour is the result of adherence to principles, while insincere behaviour shows a lack of principle.

Herbert W Armstrong, the founder of Plain Truth, a magazine published in the US, observed in an article that in his long professional life, he had occasion to meet hundreds and thousands of people from different denominations. But he said that if he were asked what the scarcest quality in human beings was, he would say that it was sincerity. Sincerity is the noblest of all human qualities. But very few people would measure up to this high ideal.

Insincere behaviour or unprincipled behaviour is very easy to indulge in. When you are faced with a situation, it doesn’t require much thought to take a spontaneous decision. Without applying your mind, you can follow the advice of the situation. You can easily understand what is in your interest and what is against it. So in following the dictates of the situation, you don’t need any ideal yardstick to guide you. This kind of behaviour is like that of flowing water. The contours of the surface of the earth determine its path. The one who is insincere is always ready to accede to the demands of a given situation.

In comparison sincerity is a difficult option. When you are a sincere person, you cannot afford to go against your conscience or moral norms... It is the difference between the two that makes one a difficult option and the other a very easy option. Sincerity invites you to ponder over the situation, to try to choose the best course of action, even if it is against your desires.

In terms of social requirements, principled behaviour is very important. It makes you predictable to others, who can then anticipate your behaviour before dealing with you. On the other hand, insincerity makes you an unpredictable person. It becomes difficult to understand what kind of attitude you are going to adopt in the future.

Principled behaviour makes you a true human being, while unprincipled behaviour makes you an unpredictable character, one capable of inhuman behaviour.

Unprincipled behaviour can give you some benefits, but these are of a temporary nature. Permanent benefits can be achieved only through principled behaviour. Sincere people are able to receive divine inspiration. Sincerity develops one’s spirituality, while insincerity ruins one’s personality. The insincere person fails to have spiritual experiences in his life.

The greatest drawback of unprincipled behaviour is that it is like a form of psychological suicide. One who opts for the insincere path first kills his conscience, for without suppressing your conscience you cannot be insincere in your behaviour. Conscience is a moral watchdog in your life. It is the finest gift of nature. One who goes against his conscience is making a self-destructive choice. One should keep his conscience alive by listening to his inner voice. One’s inner voice is the voice of conscience.

Going against your conscience is not easy. It is this behaviour that creates what is called tension or stress. If you want to live with a tension free mind, listen to the voice of your conscience and follow it without any reservation.

Sincerity is not a single value. Sincerity combines all good human values. Where there is sincerity, there are all kinds of moral beauty. In contrast, insincerity makes you ugly.



Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You

Enlightenment Can Make You Beautiful

Enlightenment Can Make You Beautiful


While beauty might well lie in the eye of the beholder, there are certain aspects which do mandate conventional assessment by those engaged in the business of judging who is beautiful. There was a time when beauty was actually graded in terms of millihelens — 1,000 millihelens making one helen, measuring beauty in units of Helen of Troy, believed to be the most beautiful woman ever to have existed. Quite in contrast is the glow and brilliance emanating from deep within and rather than being in the eye of the beholder is a more universally accepted trait more felt than seen.

One such legendary figure whose beauty captivated all is Lord Mahavira. A “samavasarana” traditionally is the palace where every tirthankara delivers his first sermon. Lord Mahavira had his at Pavapuri. A samavasarana is basically a circular structure constructed by gods that consists of linked tiers with surrounding balustrades, in which the audience listens to the tirthankara who is seated in the middle. Incidentally at that very time, Saumil was organising a big yagna nearby, where 11 elite Vedic scholars of the time were to participate. Indrabhuti was the senior most and most erudite amongst them.

Seeing the gods moving their chariots ahead, towards the place of Mahavira’s sermon, peeved Indrabhuti. Being deeply immersed in self-pride and fully confident that his knowledge was infinite and that there was no branch of knowledge or scripture that he hadn’t studied, he wondered if the gods had lost their balance and become bankrupt in their “avadhi gyana” — knowledge of clairvoyance — to drift past the holy place without bowing to him and listening to his discourse.

This little dialogue between two gods: “We have got to hurry to the samavasarana, so as not to miss even a little part of the discourse of the tirthankara” incensed him still further. Unable to resist the temptation to see for himself who the greater omniscient could be, he, too, made his way to the place of the sermon.

Seeing the exuberant personality before his eyes, Indrabhuti’s ego got the first major blow. There, seated under the Ashoka tree, on a golden throne embedded with jewels and covered with three celestial umbrellas he saw Lord Mahavira. Verses describe him to be in a state of serene calmness, with the glow of a full moon and simultaneously of an intellectual dazzling brilliance like that of the midday sun.


Pages are then devoted as to how Indrabhuti started wondering if the personality before him was Brahma, Vishnu or Shiva. Indrabhuti then thought of other gods —Kamadeva, Indra, Kuber, Vidyadhara — but failed to recognise the beautiful person’s identity. The comparison then went on with elements of nature where again it turned out that each had some or the other minor defect — the sea was too salty, the Moon has blemishes, the Sun gets too hot, the Sky is invisible, the clouds are empty at times, but the one before his eyes was devoid of any shortcoming. Though there was not a single ornament on his body he seemed most attractive and handsome. His speech was so powerful and effective that even wild animals had abandoned violence.

Beauty nurtured with diet, cosmetics and exercise pale in comparison with the pristine quietude and sublime equanimity one could experience through contemplating unremittingly on the soul, the ultimate truth of being


Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You

Enlightenment Can Make You Beautiful

Enlightenment Can Make You Beautiful


While beauty might well lie in the eye of the beholder, there are certain aspects which do mandate conventional assessment by those engaged in the business of judging who is beautiful. There was a time when beauty was actually graded in terms of millihelens — 1,000 millihelens making one helen, measuring beauty in units of Helen of Troy, believed to be the most beautiful woman ever to have existed. Quite in contrast is the glow and brilliance emanating from deep within and rather than being in the eye of the beholder is a more universally accepted trait more felt than seen.

One such legendary figure whose beauty captivated all is Lord Mahavira. A “samavasarana” traditionally is the palace where every tirthankara delivers his first sermon. Lord Mahavira had his at Pavapuri. A samavasarana is basically a circular structure constructed by gods that consists of linked tiers with surrounding balustrades, in which the audience listens to the tirthankara who is seated in the middle. Incidentally at that very time, Saumil was organising a big yagna nearby, where 11 elite Vedic scholars of the time were to participate. Indrabhuti was the senior most and most erudite amongst them.

Seeing the gods moving their chariots ahead, towards the place of Mahavira’s sermon, peeved Indrabhuti. Being deeply immersed in self-pride and fully confident that his knowledge was infinite and that there was no branch of knowledge or scripture that he hadn’t studied, he wondered if the gods had lost their balance and become bankrupt in their “avadhi gyana” — knowledge of clairvoyance — to drift past the holy place without bowing to him and listening to his discourse.

This little dialogue between two gods: “We have got to hurry to the samavasarana, so as not to miss even a little part of the discourse of the tirthankara” incensed him still further. Unable to resist the temptation to see for himself who the greater omniscient could be, he, too, made his way to the place of the sermon.

Seeing the exuberant personality before his eyes, Indrabhuti’s ego got the first major blow. There, seated under the Ashoka tree, on a golden throne embedded with jewels and covered with three celestial umbrellas he saw Lord Mahavira. Verses describe him to be in a state of serene calmness, with the glow of a full moon and simultaneously of an intellectual dazzling brilliance like that of the midday sun.


Pages are then devoted as to how Indrabhuti started wondering if the personality before him was Brahma, Vishnu or Shiva. Indrabhuti then thought of other gods —Kamadeva, Indra, Kuber, Vidyadhara — but failed to recognise the beautiful person’s identity. The comparison then went on with elements of nature where again it turned out that each had some or the other minor defect — the sea was too salty, the Moon has blemishes, the Sun gets too hot, the Sky is invisible, the clouds are empty at times, but the one before his eyes was devoid of any shortcoming. Though there was not a single ornament on his body he seemed most attractive and handsome. His speech was so powerful and effective that even wild animals had abandoned violence.

Beauty nurtured with diet, cosmetics and exercise pale in comparison with the pristine quietude and sublime equanimity one could experience through contemplating unremittingly on the soul, the ultimate truth of being


Lovely Thoughts for Lovely People Just Like You