Venerables & Friends,
In AN4.49 we read about four perversions of perception, thought and view:
1- Taking impermanence as permanent.
2- Taking suffering as happiness.
3- Taking not self as self.
4- Taking ugliness as beauty.
If the first three perversions correlate with the tilakkhaṇas, the fourth leaves us with something the Buddha remained silent about. People would universally agree that taking ugliness as beauty is indeed a perversion (by definition).
What is left out is the relationship between beauty and symmetry. Just take the view of a man or a woman who has one eye bigger than the other and the impression “ugly” would jump into ones mind. Same thing can be said about other organs. Imperfect symmetry is something to be remedied and fixed in the world. In the field of aesthetics, lack of symmetry is remedied through using cosmetics and make ups. In the field of medicine, it warrants more radical interventions especially if it begins to affect functionality.
Developing the perception of the unattractive is a genuine Buddhist practice and its link to the sexual act is made clear. However, its link to symmetry per se is not mentioned - unless the sexual act and symmetry are one and the same thing. In the world, the term “pervert” is commonly used to associate someone with sexual desire with the dirtiness of the genitalia. This is usually remedied by a purifying ritual where marriage adds respectability to the perversion. When people are invited to wedding party, the perverted view is brought into daylight and even celebrated - hence purified. For single people, the term pervert is to dissuade them from engaging in the sexual act and find symmetry in less perverted pursuits, be it aesthetics or spirituality.
This raises the question: is finding beauty in symmetry is necessarily a perversion of view from a Buddhist perspective?
As an aside, i noticed that “symmetry” and “cemetery” are phonologically similar in the English language but grammatically different. Does that mean that for the purposes of attaining the deathless, one has to stop associating all symmetries with beauty? or to only avoid the sexual act?
Grateful for your contributions.
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Subha generally referred to purity or virtue, which Indian culture considered to be naturally attractive to people when they perceive it. I suppose that’s generally true of human beings. We usually like to see a good person unless we are suffering from this particular type of inverted view, in which bad traits are praised as good ones. In Indian thought after the concept of karma and rebirth was accepted, being physically attractive was assumed to imply a person was a good person who had been virtuous in previous lives. And the gods in heaven are described as being ever more pure, virtuous, and beautiful as one ascends higher. I would say virtue was strongly associated with attractiveness on a karmic level.
The four inverted views occur in quite a range of Buddhist literature. There’s a chapter devoted to them in the Mahayana Parinirvana Sutra, just to give a sense of the range of texts that discuss them. Kumarajiva’s Commentary on the Prajnaparamita mentions them in a couple places, as well. The Chinese translation of the term being translated as “perversion” was 顛倒, which lit. means “inversion” or “falling down.” The interpretations seem to focus on the contemplation of the body as being impure. Kumarajiva says that in the four abodes of mindfulness the body is contemplated as impure, feelings as painful, mind as impermanent, and things (dharmas) as selfless. The four inversions, then, would be to mistake these four things as being the opposite in nature.
English “perversion” is not a bad translation of the Pali original on its face (if we look it up in a dictionary), but the sexual connotations are very strong in modern usage. That isn’t the case in the Pali original that I know of. This is one of the difficulties of reading translations - modern words don’t always match the original in their vernacular usage even though they do in a dictionary. We end up with connotations that exist only in English sometimes. Not that Buddhists didn’t consider sex as asubha. I get the impression that in Indian culture there was a feeling that sexual maturity as an exit from a more pure or innocent phase of life, which is echoed in traditional Christian teachings, too.
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Thank you for your elaboration. In AN7.49, asubhasaññā is the first of seven perceptions to be developed and cultivated - linking it to sexual intercourse. Listing them as the fourth perversion in AN4.49 indicate that they influence how the tilakkhaṇas are understood and perceived. If seeing beauty in the ugly leads to perceiving the tilakkhaṇas as “memory”, then the people in India are blameless in interpreting what appears to be fortunate coincidences as a result of virtues in previous lives. AN4.49 also speaks of Mara’s yoke, which is unclear if it has anything to do with the modern concept of symmetry.
The above brings us to the centrality of sexuality in explaining human behavior and intentions in the modern context and how the ancients thought about it. In MN22, the monk Ariṭṭha was harshly reprimanded by the Buddha. The limit of the acts that constitutes obstruction can be anything between sexual intercourse or finding pleasure in sensual experience. The former is remedied by celibacy and the later is remedied by guarding the senses. This makes one wonder if Ariṭṭha was guilty of misrepresenting the Buddha or by expressing unwarranted certainty. Same thing can be said about Sati in MN38.
I do not know much about Mahayana, but from the very little i know, transcending all dualities is a popular expression in Mahayanist thought. While the body as rupakaya has obvious symmetries, not all dualities consists of symmetries. For example, i can pair up bees and tyres without conveying symmetry. Apart from its role in aesthetics and tastes (rasa) the pairing should trigger metaphysical dimension in order to be considered symmetrical. It can be either harmonious or in conflict, but in has to be goal oriented.
I guess the western focus on empiricism and science have changed the way humans are perceived. Humans become an extension and more refined versions of animals. This evolutionary perspective made sexuality central to explaining the human psyche, behavior and intentions. Sexual liberation became an ingenious way to make sex less central. By doing so, other behaviors and intentions are no longer a subset of sexual desire and the more the purifying rituals associated with sex is removed, the less neurotic humans would become. As to whether this solution have succeeded is debatable.
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Symmetry is just a way to unify forms, allowing us to use one name for multiple forms. So symmetry belongs to form and the escape from form is the formless.
Beauty/ugliness is a type of symmetry. They reflect each other as perceived forms. The escape from form is the formless.
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Agreed. In relation to forms, the relevance of symmetry as per my readings of the teachings seems to go through stages:
1- As to the beauty associated with the body, the 31 body parts remind us that this beauty is skin thin.
2- The nine stages of decay present us with “another shore” that cannot be described as amata (deathless), and yet, the decaying process follow a predicable trajectory as with the unification process. In that context, the unification process can be observed as arising, vanishing and persisting while changing.
3- While the formless presents an escape from form, the Buddha’s teachings cannot be heard without form. As hearing precedes scrutinizing, this allows for lies to manifest and function in the world. One can hear a lie, believe it, and act on it as if it were true. It also allows for a negative (such as avijjā) to function as a cause that can only be remedied by seeking true knowledge and/or truth.
In terms of politics and governance, the above manifest as associating predictability with safety. Allowing governments and armies to monopolize the use the of force provides a sense of safety to mortals who prefer to die on their deathbeds than being murdered by outlaws. This makes governing quite prestigious and coveted by an opposition that uses “fault finding” to replace them. As for the formation of new nation-states or seeking independence, using asymmetrical tactics is considered a fair game.
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