[Takuin Minamoto]

Here's my concept of beautiful. Something beautiful seems to "inspire." Be it music, nature, people, truth, art. It seems to evoke a feeling of inspiration or reverence or aw. The intensity of this feeling seems to very according to the "amount" of beauty that is perceived.

Is that clear? Is that correct?

I got it. Quite right. I know what you mean by the intensity, and that is where I was stuck, in that superficial perception of beauty. Kind of the "see only the outside" type of looking, i.e., he/she is hot, he/she is not. This car is cool, but that one is just weird looking. Those things persisted. Whenever I saw a Scion, I used to think they had just a terrible design. I would think, why the heck would anyone want to drive such an un-aerodynamic car? But now, when I see one, there is great beauty there, because I do not see the thing with my thoughts; just with the physical eyes. And besides, machines are marvelous, aren't they? Just imagine, someone knows how to build something like that. Their knowledge and skill becomes a physical reality. Quite amazing.

I am still not sure if I would buy one though

Yes, but then we have to consider how to define "write" and "wrong," where in reality there is only perfection. Perfection doesnt seem to mean everything is "good." How do you determine what is chosen as "write' or "wrong?" Does this not come from our conditioning?

Perfection is reality, you are quite right. I mean, in reality, you find perfection. When one is in the moment, the question of right and wrong disappears. There is only (and how can I say this) whatever physical sensations happen to be there. I don't quite have the words yet. That is one reason I write my blog. I want to know the words to use. It is difficult for me to express, even though it is here.

No problem! Please explain the difference?

I use the word idea to mean a formulated thought. Not necessarily, "My name is Takuin," but more like, "Since the highway is jammed, let's take the next exit and sneak around on a back road."

That last sentence could be prefaced with, "I have an idea!"

An ideal, however, is a standard we try to attain or live up to, even though it doesn't match reality. Think about it; if our ideals matched reality, we would not need the ideal. We wouldn't even think about it. We only notice the ideal when we are in conflict with reality.

It can get really touchy here. Someone might say that we need an ideal to attain any goal. I don't see that as true, although I understand what they mean. If someone wants to lose weight, they might visualize their ideal body. But that is not how I am using the word.

Damn that Samuel Johnson!!

What does it matter? I'm finding value in our conversation.

Same here.