6 Princlipes of Transcendent Beauty

It seems to be hard-wired into our genes to want to be attractive and beautiful. The cosmetic industry knows it, and so do cosmetic surgeons–and their profits continue to pour in. But there are secrets to an ageless and infinite beauty that is within reach of all of us, without makeup, chemical peels, botox, or the surgeon’s knife.
These six principles of transcendent beauty are worth being passed along to your friends: they are real keepers. Read them here:
1. You must feel beautiful before you can look beautiful.
As the old saying goes, “There is no cosmetic for beauty like happiness.” When we connect with our inner beauty (which we can do with meditation), we connect with an ageless, infinite, and divine beauty that exists within all of us.
2. Get past the ordeal by mirror.
We need to get past the compulsion that drives us to root out our tiny imperfections and then feel guilt and shame when we see our reflections as inadequate. We need to get rid of negative feelings that cloud our vision of ourselves and instead begin to see ourselves the way our loved ones see us. And it also wouldn’t hurt to get rid of all our magnifying mirrors, which magnify “flaws”, and instead use lighting that enhances our reflections when we look into our non-magnifying mirrors!
3. Take responsibility for your own happiness.
Think of your inner self as a lighthouse standing steady with a constant beam despite the buffeting of the surrounding ocean. How powerful it is to envision your inner self as a sanctum protected from the vagaries of the outer world! It can also be empowering to analyze our situation, choose to be happy despite the aspects you can’t control, and take positive steps to change what you can control.
4. Live in the present.
One of the often overlooked ways to recognize the beauty within you is to concentrate on living in the present and to avoid basing your actions and feelings on thought and memories of the past. If you can become aware of this tendency, even for just for brief moments during your life, you’ll come to understand that others’ reactions to you are the result of what you project. If you want to elicit positive reactions from those around you, you need to express positive emotions and perform affirmative acts. From the beauty viewpoint, living in the present means accepting yourself as you are while not denying yourself as you were or might be.
5. Surround yourself with beauty.
Surrounding yourself with beauty–both tangible and intangible–is a time-honored technique for nurturing your soul. Keep living plants and animals in your home. Clothe yourself in beautiful garments–or, rather, garments that make you feel beautiful. Keep company with people who elevate you rather than bring you down–people who love you and show their love. Whether you believe in fortunes or fate, your life is yours to shape. And the most important and positive decision you can make is to bring beauty into your life.
6. Do at least one thing a day that inspires you.
We draw oxygen from the air we breathe, but we draw life from our passions. Keep your passions at the center of your days, whatever they may be–music, sports, cooking, reading, or writing. Whatever feeds your soul and makes it sing.

Adapted from Face Value, by Hema Sundaram (Rodale Press, 2003).