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Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Beauty

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I remember reading a story once about a man who was exploring some caves by the seashore. In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls. It was like someone had rolled up some clay and left them out in the sun to bake. They didn't look like much, but they intrigued the man so he took the bag out of the cave with him. As he strolled along the beach, to pass the time, he would throw the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could throw. He thought little about it until he dropped one of the balls and it cracked open on a rock. Inside was a beautiful, precious stone. Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls. Each contained a similar treasure. He found thousands of rupees worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left. Then it struck him. He had been on the beach a long time. He had thrown maybe 50 or 60 of the clay balls with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves. Instead of thousands of rupees in treasure, he could have had tens of thousands, but he just threw it all away.

You know sometimes, it's like that with people. We look at someone, maybe even ourselves, and we see the external clay vessel. It doesn't look like much from the outside. It isn't always beautiful or sparkling so we discount it; we see that person as less important than someone more beautiful or stylish or well known or wealthy. But we have not taken the time to find the treasure hidden inside that person. There is a treasure hidden in every one of us. We are wonderfully made. Not just our physical bodies, our spiritual selves, which are sometimes hidden from others by the "earthen vessel." But if you take the time to get to know that person, and if you ask the Spirit to show you that person the way He sees them, then the brilliant gem begins to shine forth. The glory of a relationship is not the outstretched hand, nor the kindly smile, nor the joy of companionship; it is the spiritual inspiration that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him. This trust cannot be achieved through external appearances. The belief, one have in the inner spirit/character earns good relationships.

Outwardly appearances/beauty are many times deceptive. It is not always correct to make judgment about anything by its exterior appearance. One cant find the real worth of any one just by seeing his external appearances. Not all who looks decent outside are decent inside too. One should be judged only by their characters and not by their outward appearance. In real life situation, many crooks, by their outward attitude and behavior, make themselves appear to be gentlemen and noble people. That is why there is a famous proverb saying “All that glitters is not gold”. So in every walk of life, one should always remember that outward appearances/beauty may not always be the truth and act accordingly.

With Love,

Shruti-Logo

Image Courtesy : Google Images

60 comments:

kaka said...

excellent article shruti....really thought provoking post....:)

Anonymous said...

i agree with this. there are pearls in every one of us. there are few who see just that clay shell and throw away, some see us even more closely and then break us open to find the pearl!

like the saying, dont judge a book by the cover, ain't it? :)

liked this post. very thoughtful and thought provoking! nicely done!

Shruti said...

@Kaka
Again you are first! Seems you are completely back with a bang!
Thanks :)

Shruti said...

@Leo
Thanks A lot leo! Yes, appearances are deceptive and our own eyes can trick us! But the inner self/character decides the person!

Anonymous said...

aww shucks! i tht i was first. ;)
missed by a whisker! :D

Shruti said...

@Leo
3minute difference! Kaka always write the first comment in almost all of my post! You are a nightbirdie?!

Anonymous said...

i'm awake till half past 12, bloghopping! :D so guess u could say that! :)

Neha said...

pretty neat write up...u summed up the moral very nicely...keep it up girl...tc :)

Pinpaks said...

I read a book recently shruti - its by Paulo Coelho. Its called fairy tales for kids and parents (or something close to that) but its actually a collection of his columns. Very thought provoking stories.

This story of yours and the wonderful way you have elucidated its relevance to real life reminds me so much of that book. You should read it if you ever find it.

Shruti said...

@Leo
Blog hopping eh?! That's how you found mine eh?!
Good!

Shruti said...

@Neha
Thanks a ton girlie :)

Pinpaks said...

http://feedbooks.com/book/3888 - you can find more about it here. Searched it just for you. :) hope you like it.

Shruti said...

@Ro
Yeah even i heard of this book! Seriously am searching this in all libraries.. But when i utter Paulo Coelho Am getting only, 'THE ALCHEMIST'

Thank u so much!

Shruti said...

@Ro
you searched it just for me? *beaming*
Am speechless...
Thanks girl :)
Will surely get it :)

Pinpaks said...

my pleasure :) Glad to have been of help..

Shruti said...

@Ro
You are making me speechless yet again!
Am really really glad that you liked this post :)

Mahesh Aadhya Kalal said...

@ Shruti,

I have been facing the bias and prejudice towards the physical appearances since my childhood and i can really empathize how practically things differ in the world than the writings in my every day encounters with this evolving society. I am habituated now.

Shruti said...

@mahesh
Yes,
the society is so sick! But appearances are deceptive. There was discrimination's everywhere! A pitiable incident happened today! That made me write this article! Seriously I have never felt so much in my life than today! My friend and her dreams were totally shattered, because of appearance! :(
But still, as you say, we are habituated!

Anonymous said...

Hey girl.. head straight to my blog quick.. we want you to read my latest post fast :) I want your comments on this :D We all want your comments :D

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

An excellent write, most thought provoking and as always a pleasure to read.

Yvonne.

Anonymous said...

Hey girlie..you writing beautiful stories with moral in them.. loved this article.. I had written an article about the same thing here.

Anonymous said...

yeah, dropped in from Yellow Tulip's space. your profile pic sort of attracted me there :D

and your words kept me interested here. :)

Unknown said...

Lovely shruti :) really nice!!

Anonymous said...

what a piece shruDi,
I am really thinking of giving u a new appellation...

Anonymous said...

Excellent post!

Day by day, ur writing is becoming cho chweet and mature too...

Many times, we ppl tend to judge a person by his appearance... But external beauty is illusory and it just provoke us to make a wrong judgement...

When I was reading this post, a dialogue of similar meaning from'Anbe Sivam' crept into my mind...

Mustaf said...

I know it's wrong & that we shd always people after properly knowing him/her. But think how many people do you meet everyday and you make some impression out of few of them.

I guess the problem is not making an impression without properly knowing a person because most of the time, we dont have the time, but to do remember that our impressions shd not be our final impression that when we take a decision based on that impression we shd always keep in mind how much we know that person.

lostworld said...

I'm wondering what provoked you to write about this.

Agree with all you have to say. Pt is, most ppl know appearances are deceiving yet they fall prey & make wrong judgements.

BK Chowla, said...

Shruti,well said.How I wish people see the reality,rather than inside-outside.

Shilpa Garg said...

Pretty thought provoking post!!

Good interpretation from the story too!! :)

HaRy!! said...

ooo yenga patti intha kathai soli irukanga...looong back...quite agree...outward experiences can easily decieve ..!

Amit Kumar Singh said...

Thought provoking Post..Shruti..:)
I too agree that looks are deceptive...But unfortunately looks matters in most cases, I have seen people discriminating others on such issues in every domain of life....
I would just say it is due to our prejudiced and conditioned mind....
Cheers!!

Chetan Maheshwari said...

hehe
you impressed me with the spiritual relationship that you mentioned
keep smiling!

Shruti said...

@Avada
Visited and had lots of fun :)

Shruti said...

@Yvonne
Thanks lady :)

Shruti said...

@Avada
Thanks a lot girl and saw ur post too...beauty v/s brain!

Shruti said...

@Leo
Wow! Am flattered! Thanks :)

Shruti said...

@MM
Thanks re :)

Shruti said...

@RSV
Am waiting to hear your new appellation :)

Shruti said...

@Bala
Thanks da :)
Cho chweet ah?!?! Its all cos of ur blessings!
Judging person by their appearance is surely wrong! Anbe sivam is a a good example for this!

Shruti said...

@Mustaf
You are not gonna get into relationships with all those who pass by you! Only with certain people you are gonna be der :)
so that's what i meant!

Shruti said...

@Rohitha
Know what?! My friend's life was turned upside down for the same reason :(

Shruti said...

@Chowla Ji
Its very true, wish we have people like that !

Shruti said...

@Shilpa
Thanks a ton lady!

Shruti said...

@Hary
Very true na? Though we think it as a story how many inward meaning they possess!

Unknown said...

nice story shruthi..... good one...

Shruti said...

@Amit
Yes, true...many fall as a prey to these looks! But we all will understand these concepts more by experience!

Shruti said...

@Chetan
Really glad that you liked that story!

Shruti said...

@Shankz Thanks da!

Bharathi said...

I loved the story. Nice message. (with all the philosophical stuff that you publish now, I am wondering if we can give a title 'madam socrates' what say :-)

Anonymous said...

one who looks like a hero isnt a hero and one who looks like a villain isnt a villain!
character matters!
the first para story is really thought provoking!

Shruti said...

@Bharathi
Hey its because of the retrospection which I did after reading ur posts!!

Madam Socrates ah!? :~P

Shruti said...

@Srivatsan
Thathuvam thathuvam :P
But what u said is right!Thanks a lot!

gils said...

hmm..neenag soliruakrathu romba vaasthavamaana vaarthai..aana u think it can be applied 100%??

Shruti said...

@Gils
why do u think it cant be applied 100%

gils said...

therila..i find it difficult at times to follow this truly...after erring only i realise it..

Shruti said...

@Gils
To err is human, to forgive is divine!

gils said...

enga appearence vachu form agarathu thaana mukkavasi impressions..apdi elarum intha mathiri yosika arambichita fashion industrye buss aagidatha

Shruti said...

@Gils
Fashion industry is a profession re! But in relationships, this can't be accounted! Character matters! If anyone ask u whether U wanna be handsome or a brainy what will u reply?!

The Aspirant said...

dis is a great post.......telling d ppl d fact dat most of us r forgetting dese daz.......

well written...

Shruti said...

@TA
:-)
Thank u!

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