Beauty. One of the four temptations, and also one of the five desires (ngũ dục). (The five desires are wanting beauty, wanting wealth, wanting fame, wanting food, and wanting rest.) How many tarnished examples exist due to being obsessed with beauty. It itself has caused the collapse of states, the overturning of ethics and morality, and many people have been sunk into the deep pit of sin by it. The ancients once said:
‘Sắc bất ba đào dị nịch nhân’
(Beauty, though not a storm, easily engulfs people).
In Tỉnh Thế Ngộ Chơn it is also taught:
‘Sắc tác hậu tự tiền thế đại, Tán tinh hao khí, khổ linh hồn.’
(Female beauty, although used to continue the lineage of previous generations, also scatters the essence, exhausts vital energy, and ruins the soul).
« Back to Glossary Index