Wisdom for the Soul - Appearance

APPEARANCE / FORM

The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.
Khemetic Saying
Temt Tchaas: Egyptian Proverbs , Muata Ashaya Ashby, ed.

As the moon is perfect, in spite of its waning and waxing, which do not exist in it, so is Atman ever perfect, in spite of its seeming imperfections.
Mahatma Dattatreya
c. 1100 BCE, Indian Guru
in Vyasa, Shrimad Bhagavata , XI

Outside show is a poor substitute for inner worth.
Aesop
fl. c. 550 BCE, Khemetic (Egyptian) Fabulist

Forms and so forth, which we sense directly,
Exist by general acclaim, though logic disallows them.
They're false, deceiving, like polluted substances
Regarded in the common view as clean.
Shantideva
The Way of the Boddhisattva , Padmakara, tr.

Forms are all conditioned. Cognition is a function of mind, empty silence is the substance of mind. If you fix the mind on anything conditioned, then temperament is in control, so you cannot govern it completely or comprehend it thoroughly.
Lu Tung Pin
798-?, Chinese Chan Master
The Secret of the Golden Flower: The Classic Chinese Book of Life , Thomas Cleary, tr., 1991

The true mind has no form: what has form is ultimately illusory.
Ibid.

Each form you see has its unseen archetype.
If the form is transient, its essence is eternal.
Rumi
1207-1273, Afghani-Turkish Sufi Mystic, Poet
"This Body Is a Rose"
The Pocket Rumi Reader , Kabir Helminski, ed., 2001

Since you have perceived the dust of forms,
perceive the wind that moves them;
since you have perceived the foam,
perceive the ocean of Creative Energy.
Ibid. , "You Are an Eye," Mathnawi VI, 1460

He who seeks God under settled form lays hold of the form, while missing the God concealed in it.
Meister Eckhart
1260-1327, German Dominican Priest, Theologian, Mystic

If you seek the kernel, you must break the shell. And likewise, if you would know the reality of nature, you must destroy the appearance, and the farther you go beyond the appearance, the nearer you will be to the essence.
Eckhart

Peace within makes beauty without.
English Saying

On peut bien se conna�tre soi-m�me mais on ne s'examine point assez pour cela, et on se soucie d'avantage de para�tre tel qu'on doit �tre que d'�tre en effet ce qu'on doit.
We can know ourselves quite well, but for all that we never sufficiently scrutinize ourselves, and we take more pains to appear as we should than to actually be what we should.
Madame de Sable
1599-1678, French Epigrammatist
The Maxims of Madame de Sable , Arthur Chandler, tr.

There is an infinity of modes of conduct which appear ridiculous, the secret reasons of which are wise and sound.
Rochefoucauld
1613-1680, French Moralist, Epigrammatist
Maxims

I have laughed in bitterness and agony of heart, at the contrast between what I seem and what I am!
Nathaniel Hawthorne
1804-1864, American Writer
The Scarlet Letter , 1850

The beauty that addresses itself to the eyes is only the spell of the moment; the eye of the body is not always that of the soul.
George Sand
1804-1876, French Writer, Dramatist
Handsome Lawrence , 1872

Cheerfulness and contentment are great beautifiers and are famous preservers of youthful looks.
Charles Dickens
1812-1870, English Writer

The world is but a show, vain and empty, a mere nothing, bearing the semblance of reality. Set not your affections upon it.
Baha'u'llah'
1817-1892, Iranian Mystic, Founder of the Baha'i Faith
Gleanings , No. 153

Beauty is altogether in the eye of the beholder.
Lew Wallace
1827-1905, American Writer
The Prince of India , 1893

It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.
Leo Tolstoy
1828-1910, Russian Writer, Essayist
The Kreutzer Sonata , 1890

Just as objects seen in our dreams are found, when we awake, to be insubstantial, so our waking perceptions are likewise unreal – a matter of inference only.
Swami Sri Yukteswar
1855-1936, Indian Guru
The Holy Science , 1949

It is only shallow people who do not judge by appearances. The mystery of the world is the visible, not the invisible.
Oscar Wilde
1856-1900, Irish Poet, Dramatist, Critic, Wit
in Susan Sontag, Against Interpretation

Behind all this beauty � there is some spirit hidden of which the painted forms and shapes are but modes of manifestation, and it is with this spirit that I desire to become in harmony.
Wilde
De Profundis and Other Writings , 1987

Love comes in at the eye.
William Butler Yeats
1865-1939, Irish Poet, Dramatist, Writer, 1923 Nobel Laureate
in C. E. Montague, The Right Place

It is the human condition to question one god after another, one appearance after another, or better, one apparition after another, always pursuing the truth of the imagination, which is not the same as the truth of appearance.
Alain Chartier
1868-1951, French Philosopher
The Gods , 1934

Not till the spirit is changed can the form be altered. The form is merely an expression of the spirit within. We may succeed in seemingly altering the form but the alteration will be a mere make-believe if the spirit within remains unalterable.
Mahatma Gandhi
1869-1948, Indian Spiritual Leader
"Non-Violence - The Greatest Force," The Hindu , 1926 November 8

There are some people who state that the exterior, sex, or physique of another person is indifferent to them, that they care only for the communion of mind with mind; but these people need not detain us. There are some statements that no one ever thinks of believing, however often they are made.
G. K. Chesterton
1874-1936, English Writer, Poet, Critic
The Defendant

The seer and the seen are like the rope and the appearance of a serpent therein. Until you get rid of the appearance of a serpent you cannot see that what exists is only the rope.
Ramana Maharshi
1879-1950, Indian Yogi
Ramana Maharshi and the Path of Self-Knowledge , 1954

You can take no credit for beauty at sixteen. But if you are beautiful at sixty, it will be your own soul's doing.
Marie Stopes
1880-1958, English Paleobotanist, Writer

Your clothes conceal much of your beauty, yet they hide not the unbeautiful.
Khalil Gibran
1883-1931, Lebanese Poet, Mystic, Painter
The Prophet , 1923

Do not get caught up with the form and appearance of a challenge. The Art of Peace has no form - it is the study of the spirit.
Morihei Ueshiba
1883-1969, Japanese Martial Artist, Founder of Aikido
The Art of Peace , John Stevens, tr., 1992

Do not try to appear better than you are, nor worse than is really necessary.
Lin Yutang
1895-1976, Chinese Writer, Dramatist, Translator
Looking Beyond

All that shimmers on the surface of the world, all that we call interesting, is the fruit of inebriation and ignorance.
E. M. Cioran
1911-1995, Romanian/French Philosopher, Writer
The Fall Into Time , 1971

Like flying fish over water, most of us observe only the surface of life without grasping what's really happening underneath. This leads to hastily made conclusions.
Vilayat Khan
1916-, Indian/British Sufi Master, Writer
Awakening: A Sufi Experience , 1999

A wave on the ocean has a beginning and an end, a birth and a death. But the wave is empty. The wave is full of water, but it is empty of a separate self. A wave is a form which has been made possible thanks to the existence of wind and water. If a wave only sees its form, with its beginning and end, it will be afraid of birth and death. But if the wave sees that it is water, identifies itself with the water, then it will be emancipated from birth and death. Each wave is born and is going to die, but the water is free from birth and death.
Thich Nhat Hanh
1926-, Vietnamese Buddhist Master, Poet, Writer, Activist
The Heart of Understanding: Commentaries on the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra , 1988

If you're not feeling good about you, what you're wearing outside doesn't mean a thing.
Leontyne Price
1927-, African-American Opera Singer
Interview, Essence , 1975 February

When we look past the color of other people's skin, we're more likely to see that they are a lot like us.
Wally 'Famous' Amos
1937-, African-American Athlete, Entrepreneur
Watermelon Magic , 1996

Attributes that are considered appealing today may be out of style tomorrow � The danger of living in a society that reveres beauty and youth to the nth degree is that people judge others on their ornamental rather than inherent value.
Ibid.

Who you really are never dies, but who you appear to be can't keep up appearances for ever.
Stephen Levine
1937-, American Writer, Counselor
Turning Toward the Mystery , 2002

People do not wish to appear foolish; to avoid the appearance of foolishness, they are willing to remain actually fools.
Alice Walker
1944-, African-American Writer, Poet, Essayist
in Hull, Scott & Smith, All the Women Are White, All the Blacks Are Men, But Some of Us Are Brave

Everything external in life was first internal in thought, so no permanent change can come about merely by attempting to fix or rearrange external conditions. Yet, that's usually what we try to do. When we see the symptoms of something wrong in our lives, we usually try to get rid of the symptoms instead of getting rid of the mental condition that's causing the symptoms. Unfortunately, we tend to look only at the surface of most situations. Why? Because searching for the cause of a situation requires more insight than is obvious at first glance; it takes time and effort to search below surface appearances.
Tae Yun Kim
1946-, Korean Martial Artist, Founder of Jung SuWon
Seven Steps to Inner Power , 1991

Although our package of skin and bones looks very convincing, it is a mask, an illusion, disguising our true self, which has no limitations.
Deepak Chopra
1947-, Indian/American Physician, Writer
Journey Into Healing: Awakening the Wisdom Within You , 1994

Do not judge men by mere appearances; for the light laughter that bubbles on the lip often mantles over the depths of sadness, and the serious look may be the sober veil that covers a divine peace and joy.
- E. H. Chapin

APPEARANCE / FORM

This cross-index may help identify and delineate more closely subjective realities often hard to pin down.

Related states elucidate shades of meaning and amplify nuances of feeling
Syntonic elements foster and enhance well-being
Dystonic factors are contraindicated and should be minimized.

Related States & Conditions

Age/Ageing | Art | Conformity | Death/Dying | Delusion | Differentiation/Division/Separation | Distraction/Diversion, Dreams/Dreaming, Ethics/Morality, Evil, Failure/Error, Fear, Having, Ideas/Opinions, Identity, Imagination, Impermanence, Little, Logos, Manifestation, Meaning, Memory, Mind, Perspective, Polarity/Contrast, Reality, Reciprocity/Reflection, Seeking, Shadow, Simplicity, Vision/Visualization, Wealth, Wonder/Mystery

Syntonic

Appreciation | Attention/Awareness | Balance | Connection/Interbeing/Interdependence | Detachment | Disclosure/Veracity, Enlightenment/Realization/Transcendence, Equanimity, Faith, Focus/Intention, Insight/Instinct/Intuition, Oneness/Unity/Wholeness, Questioning/Doubt, Retreat/Withdrawal, Sensibility/Sensitivity, Sincerity/Authenticity, Value/Worth, Truth

Dystonic