Page 141 - Extinguishment of self, in search of dhamma

What do we decorate? We cannot decorate our face only; we need to decorate both our body and our mind. “Bountiful merits; beautiful moral conducts (sila); gracious concentration”. Beauty resides in our mind. A serene person appears gracious, with concentration. A person who is composed—his/her manners and actions will appear gracious. This is how we make it beautiful. Therefore, after we beautify our physical body, then we beautify our mind to be gracious. Whoever sees us will feel that we are admirable; that we emit positive vibes. We practice dhamma, dhamma makes us serene; dhamma makes us happy, comfortable, free. But, that freedom is regulated by serenity.
How do we make ourselves well-organized? Simply add some serenity. Have some serenity then some gentleness; have some serenity in gentleness. Within our serenity, there is gentleness to support. These can go together. It is not that we cannot be gentle if we are serene. Serenity that is gentle is a softness that is serene. If our softness and gentleness are serene, then there is stability within itself. There is happiness, there is order. But, if there is only softness, that is not good. Having softness and gentleness with serenity will look good. Will have the ambiance of happiness to support. Whoever sees this will feel good—that is we have the ambiance of loving-kindness (metta) within ourselves. We can decorate—when we wake up, decorate our face, make our face look good.
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