The phrase, "Aesthetic Arrest" was first used by James Joyce in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.

As opposed to the totally boring idea that in meditation, you are supposed to blank your mind, James Joyce proposed a gorgeous idea: when we are in the presence of great beauty, our minds go still. Think about that for a few days. It's a radical and refreshing notion.

I would go further, and propose a sutra, a replacement sutra for the second verse of the Yoga Sutras. It could go something like this:

Attending to the beauty of the rhythms of nature, the mind enters stillness like the ocean at dawn.

Joseph Campbell helped to make the idea known, in his lectures on Joyce: "The aesthetic experience is a simple beholding of the object....you experience a radiance. You are held in aesthetic arrest." This radiance, the perception of beauty, is regarded as a communication of the hidden power behind the world, shining through some physical form..

PastorAIO:
I hasten to add. I don't agree with Joyce in the most part.

plaetton:
The answer is encapsulated in the ancient but common saying that " Beauty is in the eyes of the Beholder ".

This simple truth implies that nothing is intrinsically beautiful on its own, otherwise, we should not be mocking gorrilas as ugly creatures.

We should wonder whether a mother gorilla sees wonderous beauty in the face of her offspring or the same fearsome ugliness that we see.

If beauty was an intrinsic quality, then we should all have the same taste and wonderment on the same objects, equally value the same aesthetic qualities in all things.
But we do not. That tells a lot about where the attributes of beauty are coming from; our minds, our cultures, our conditioning, and of course, our genetic predispositions.

No two people see the exactly hue or color in any object. Each of us sees a slightly different hue when we gaze upon any object.

LordReed:


On this or some other issue?

PastorAIO:


But there is still beauty and there is still wonder. The question becomes not why there is intrinsic beauty in things. but why there is Beauty at all.

plaetton:

But do we really see a qualitative beauty or do we just contemplate it, and then apportion it as we wish?

For example, I think and genuinely feel that my daughter is the most beauriful thing in the universe.
Is she truly so, or is it a biased judgement from my mind?

PastorAIO:


This issue. Mostly that Art will lead to aesthetic arrest. I do not think that the only effect of beauty is Stillness. Nor that it is the function of Art (whatever that is) to effect beauty.

PastorAIO:


I'm trying to shift the focus away from the object of beauty and put it just on the fact of Beauty, regardless of what is considered beautiful.

italo:
Because we and the environment share the same author - God.

God alone is perfect truth, perfect love and perfect beauty.

When we seek perfect truth, love and beauty in his creature (which we cannot find), it is we innately seeking God the perfect one.

E.g why would a man want his partner to never liie to him? Where does he get the idea of a perfectly truthful being?

Where does humanity even get the word "perfect" from...when nothing in the physical world is perfect?

Hiswordxray:
I wonder why my friend davien had to create this tread in religion section. I know he must be looking for religious answers but he end up asking the question in a philosophical way - guess he's too shy to come out boldly and asks for help from religious people.

Do worry davien, I know you are struggling to come to the light but try to be more clear and precise with your questions. You know philosophy can't give you the answer you seek and that his why you posted it here but with the way you present your questions you would end up getting philosophical answers and you would go home with nothing.

It is God your soul cry out for. It time for you to let go of your ideology and unfruitful reasoning. Reason with your heart and you would find the answers you need. Don't be afraid there is no harm in trying.

italo:
Because we and the environment share the same author - God.

davien:
What other section would have fitted, literature?

I would appreciate philosophical answers because it encourages thinking....the "answers" you are pushing abolished any form of rational thought...
I don't understand a thing here...reason with my heart?.."soul"?...."god"?
Those words used to have meaning till I realised it was subjective and unique to everyone(hence has 0 definite meaning), so can you explain them to me?

finofaya:


Can God even experience awe? Being the creator of everything, I don't think he can find anything captivating. If the greatest mind in the universe cannot be awed by anything, you have to wonder whether there is any thing that is truly awe inspiring.

Hiswordxray:

Well, keep fighting it and keep pretending but you would soon get tired.
You know it is God you desire and you would come to him when you are ready.

GooseBaba:
I think we are captivated by nature cause we are nature.. We're one with nature hence our love and hate relationship. Heck..! We as individuals dislike certain things about ourselves.. We are capable of good and not so good.. Nature does the same. It's part of our beauty..

Mama nature i hail ohhh..

plaetton:
^^^
Therefore, I think beauty is better defined as the absence of fear. We see beauty when we are at comfort and ease.
A feared object can hardly ever take on the attributes of beauty.

Hiswordxray:

God find you captivating. To him you are the most captivating thing in the whole universe. God is hopelessly in love with you and He would die for you a thousand times if He has to.
But do you know what pains Him?
You are not experiencing His love. He wants you to allow Him unleash His untamed love on you and it will transform you. You would experience real love and you would hunger no more.

finofaya:


How is it possible for God to be captivated?

Hiswordxray:
I wonder why my friend davien had to create this tread in religion section. I know he must be looking for religious answers but he end up asking the question in a philosophical way - guess he's too shy to come out boldly and asks for help from religious people.

Do worry davien, I know you are struggling to come to the light but try to be more clear and precise with your questions. You know philosophy can't give you the answer you seek and that his why you posted it here but with the way you present your questions you would end up getting philosophical answers and you would go home with nothing.

It is God your soul cry out for. It time for you to let go of your ideology and unfruitful reasoning. Reason with your heart and you would find the answers you need. Don't be afraid there is no harm in trying.

Hiswordxray:

Love made Him captivated.
God is the most emotional being in the whole universe.

Hiswordxray:

Love made Him captivated.
God is the most emotional being in the whole universe.

Hiswordxray:

God find you captivating. To him you are the most captivating thing in the whole universe. God is hopelessly in love with you and He would die for you a thousand times if He has to.
But do you know what pains Him?
You are not experiencing His love. He wants you to allow Him unleash His untamed love on you and it will transform you. You would experience real love and you would hunger no more.