Buddhism, Beauty and Virtue

Abstract

Despite many negative remarks in the Pali canon on the enjoyment of physical beauty, several commentators maintain that Buddhism exhorts its followers to appreciate beauty. They emphasize, however, that the beauty in question is ‘inner’ or ‘moral’ beauty. The commentators do not explain, however, why the relevant ‘inner’ qualities, such as equanimity or compassion, should be described as beautiful. This chapter suggests that there is, nevertheless, a compelling reason for this description. It argues that ‘outer’ or bodily beauty, like that of the Buddha, is an expression of virtue, and that it is natural that the term ‘beautiful’ is then applied to the virtues of which the bodily beauty is an expression. The physical beauty of somebody – a monk, for example – plays an important role, it is then argued, in ‘attracting the heart’ to the virtues manifested in his or her demeanour, gestures and movements. The chapter concludes by extending this ‘virtue-centric’ account of beauty to works of art. It is essential, here, to recognize the emphasis in Buddhist aesthetics on the grace and beauty of the bodily practices – those of calligraphers and potters, say – that are required for the production of art works. It is precisely the sense that certain works give us of the beauty of the artist’s practice that confers beauty on the works themselves.