The Illusion called beauty

"A young woman in her teens or prime is very attractive..."
“Is the same young woman in her teens or prime, 'DEAD' attractive?"

Go to a morgue and have a look at the corpse of a young lady.

Some people feel dizzy when they see such a corpse.
Some others feel nausea & throw up.
Some others feel disoriented and mentally unwell.

Is she attractive? Isn't the sight of a DEAD body harrowing to the human emotions?

You have a question to now ask your mind as you stare at the dead woman - “O mind, the woman is the same, her body is the same and her age is the same, do you want to 'enjoy' her? Do you want to 'enjoy' her 'right now'? At the present? Not 40 years down the line but now...

The same mind will turn coward and rush you out of the morgue. This is the credibility of the so called ‘intelligent mind’. How undependable and untrustworthy it is, this thing called the mind. Isn’t it a cheat of the first order? Is there anything more fickle and altering than the mind? The wise man hence keeps the ‘Manas’ (mind) snubbed under the feet of ‘Vichara’ (inquiry) and ‘Viveka’ (wisdom). The fool lets the mind roam as it pleases.

It is said in the scriptures:

| मनह एव मनुश्यणाम बन्ध मोक्ष कारणयोहो ||

“Manaha eva manushyanaam bandha moksha kaaranayoho”  
 - “It is the mind which is the cause of bondage (to the world through Maya) when turned outwards, and it is the same mind which is the means to ’moksha’ (liberation) when turned inwards.”

Hence this mind is to beld under the control of wisdom and directed towards God if sorrow is to be avoided & liberation desired.

What is the difference in the woman before death and after death? There is only one very simple difference. The Atman (soul) has left the body. Earlier, it resided in the very same body. But it has left now. The ‘woman’ is now no longer a ‘woman’ to the ‘smart and reasoning’ mind. The ‘woman’ has become a ‘corpse’.

So what then was the source of beauty and appeal earlier? It was the presence of the ‘Atman’ (pure soul) no doubt, for that is the only difference between earlier and now. Everything else is the same. The woman is the same, the body is the same and her age is the same.

The ‘Atman’ (pure soul) who is none other than the ‘Brahman’ (Almighty Lord), who has no death, no birth, who is beyond all decay and the source of all creation, was the source of the beauty. For a few years, when a woman is in her prime, the Atman shines a fraction of his immense beauty and power into the body of the woman (so as attract the male, cause marriage, create a family and produce offspring). As soon as this purpose is served, the Atman starts withdrawing his power. This is why even the most beautiful woman starts to lose her charm and allure further to bearing a child. A woman who has borne a child does not posses the feminity she had earlier. That magic is receeding very fast. By the time she reaches mid-life, the woman has lost all the beauty she had as a teenager. She appears lackluster and drab, like a length of sugarcane from which all juice has been extracted. This is because the Atman has withdrawn the power of 'Maya'. The purpose of ‘Maya’ (of aiding procreation) has been served. There is no further need for the illusion called beauty. Upon death, the body is in its true, real form. The truth of the body is evident without any facade. It is then nothing more than a rotting bag of filth and refuse. Nobody wants to associate with it anymore. Even the very close relatives who claimed true love as regards the woman now want to dispose ‘it’ off speedily. They cover their noses when they reluctantly stand beside it in fear.

As long as the Atman resided in the body, and in her prime, the woman derived her beauty. As soon as the Atman left the place, there is no longer any ‘woman’. There is only a corpse. It will decompose, rot and putrefy in a very short time and become extremely revolting to the senses. One cannot stay even as further as 50 feet from such a decomposing corpse. The ‘woman’ without the Atman becomes so unbearable. Only vermin, maggots and worms will feed on such a body. This is what the ignorant man feeds on when he ‘enjoys’ a woman through the sexual act for recreation and wastes his most precious’ Veerya’ (semen). Isn’t the ‘Maya’ (illusion) of the Lord very powerful and very cunning? It makes fools out of the so called ‘Intelligent and sophisticated men’ in a fraction of a second. Even very wise men with very high IQ’s do many stupid things while pursuing this bag of filth with a covering of false beauty. That is why the Upanishads call ‘Maya’ as ‘Anirvachaneeya’ – ‘That which makes the non-existent appear existent’. Only the grace of God and attainment of ‘Gnyana’ (knowledge of the Atman through self-realization) can ward away ‘Maya’. The beauty of the world and woman is nothing but ‘Maya’. Let the mind always remember this.

The same applies to the pleasure derived from the five senses (eyes-sight, nose-smell, tongue-taste, ears-sound and skin-touch). These do not produce lasting happiness and are again the cause of bondage. They lead to ’Avidya‘(ignorance) and enslave man into suffering. Addiction to any of these ultimately ends in pain. Hence the need for ‘Indriya Nigraha’ (restraint of the senses). With progress in true Brahmacharya, the senses will come into control in course of time

If one really wants to ‘enjoy’ beauty, then it is the beauty of the ‘Atman’ and not the body which is to be enjoyed, for it was the Atman which rendered the body beautiful. This formless, colorless, shapeless and all pervading Atman who occupies the entire universe, it is HIS beauty which is to be enjoyed. He who is none other than the great Almighty ‘Parabrahman’, who is called the ‘Atman’ when he resides within the limited body. HIS beauty should be enjoyed through ‘Samadhi’ (super-consciousness) and ‘Kaivalya’ (self-realization), for we are no different than HIM. THIS is our real, default state, one of ‘Paramananda’ (highest bliss). This is the correct reason why one should practice Yoga and Brahmacharya for self-realization and realize the limitations of the impermanent, physical beauty of the world and its objects .

For all those who are interested in ‘enjoyment’ of the highest order, enjoyment of the beauty of the ‘Atman’ fractionally/temporarily seen in a woman, self-realization is the answer. One cannot enjoy even one percent of this bliss through sexuality. It is less than a percent in recreational sex, and brings with it weakness, disease, decay, depression and much karma. It binds man to this body and cancels ‘Mukti’ (liberation). But through self-realization, it is permanently enjoyed to eternity in totality. The realized soul is in a continuous stream of such unending bliss, that a sexual orgasm appears tasteless and like filth. And this is a very poor example to describe ‘Brahmananda’ (Bliss of the Brahman) which comes while in ‘Samadhi’ and all the time after ‘Kaivalya’ (self-realization), for this bliss of the Lord is ‘Achinthya’ (unimaginable), ‘Avarnaneeya’ (indescribable) and ‘Avyakta’ (beyond words and beyond manifestation).

“O Lord Parabrahman, salutations to you, who is the origin of this Universe and all pervading. Who occupies this entire universe in totality extending to infinity. Let us serve your Lotus feet forever, constantly in your thought, with the resultant bliss for food”.

ॐ तत् सत्
(That Supreme being is the absolute truth)