The expression "Satyam Shivam Sundaram" invokes very happy vibrations in most Hindus. This expression is associated with the Vedas (Rig Veda, Rudra worship etc.?) and comes often in discussions of Adi Shankara's works. I read this morning a chapter on Saundarya Lahari - interpretations by the Kanchi Paramacharya. He explains that Devi, the mother goddess, is depicted by Shankara as the ultimate confluence of overflowing love = goodness and physical bodily beauty and that confluence can happen only in godhead. Man connects with everything that is beautiful and good instinctively, and that is because these values seem intrinsic to the loftier ideals of humanity.
I think Plato talked of Truth, Beauty and Goodness as abiding values for the philosophic progress of mankind. I just found a fine lecture by Steiner in 1923 on this theme.
Therefore these values of "Satyam Shivam Sundaram" = "Truth Goodness and Beauty" seem universal aspects of philosophical thought from time immemorial.
Osho has given a series of very beautiful lectures called Satyam Shivam Sundaram. He says that whereas "Sat-Chit-Anand" is a goal to be pursued in meditation, Satyam Shivam Sundaram is the external manifestation of the same ultimate reality that we can connect with in the world of creation.
Precisely. I think all values and philosophies start with me, as the perceiving, thinking, living entity. Without me, there is no Satyam Shivam Sundaram. Just as all conceptions of God, whatever religion and whatever deities we may worship, are only projections of our own philosophical pursuits and values.
Poetry and prayer are rooted in our conception of God or the Ultimate Reality. We can build fantastic treatises and books of prayer to expand this, and expound to others our thinking. That results in cults and religions. That results in beautiful works like Saundarya Lahari.
We can even connect mathematics, geometry, physics, music, art, and everything else in human artistic and scientific endeavour to this basic infrastructure of values of Truth Beauty and Goodness. Fundamentally, it all starts with human consciousness. That is the core principle. So Ramana said, ask yourself, "Who am I"
When I understand universal connectedness of consciousness, I think I have arrived. All the books and songs about "truth, goodness and beauty", and even, let me say it, Raj Kapoor's eponymous film, are entertainment on the way. It is like keeping school children entertained in a picnic with songs, dances and games so they don't get lost in the woods!
Now my own thoughts.
The first, truth, is something absolute, unassailable, undistortable. All pursuit of reality has to be based on truth. Truth is beyond sentiment, beyond preferences, beyond distortions. Of course absolute truth is beyond comprehension. But pursuing truth as a value is something like taking in a pathology report or a school marks card or report card. We may like to see something else, or we can project it into the past or future, but truth is something which is 100% The Present, not memory or wish. It is the basis of any progress. It is a bit like walking. In order to take the next step, I have to deal with the reality of the earth beneath my feet.
The second, goodness, is even more separated from my own preferences. When I see goodness, I have to appreciate it even if it is against me. For example, if I have a need for something selfish or mean, and someone is being good in denying me this, I have to deal with it. In fact if I am very self-centered, I often do not see goodness. I can be childish, churlish, corrupt or mean. I need to pursue the value of goodness by overcoming this. Goodness here is not a quality like fresh or pleasant, don't believe the ads. Goodness is an intrinsic quality of loving and giving. It is in the people, and even in abstract ways in things, like the cool and still water that nourishes the thirsty birds and animals in summer or the early morning sun.
And beauty is about MY preferences and desires! I like a sky-blue colour for my car. I like a nice warm pinkish glow in the cheek of a baby. I like the sparkle of beautiful music, the striking appeal of a well-done dance movement. Beauty is an ideal that exists in the abstract, but lives in my consciousness. That is why the bard said beauty is in the beholder's eye.
Now why this sequence? Because truth is inviolable and cannot be wished away. It is something universal. Goodness is a real, palpable, feel-able thing, for which I have to go beyond my selfishness and ego. Goodness connects me with the rest of humanity and creation. And beauty is a luxury, a value that I will embrace when I become a fuller being, a more developed consciousness. In fact at that level, it makes the three-fold value my personal path to liberation.
Truth goes beyond you and me. Goodness starts with you. Beauty starts with me. But to pursue the trio, my consciousness is the basic pre-condition.
