In one of the Chinese classics you have the story of a student, traveling at night, overcome with a great thirst. He picked up a gourd filled with water and drank with great pleasure. The next morning that refreshment turned into nausea, when he saw that the water container was part of a skeleton.
We know that our thoughts and emotions ,when not controlled, give us much pain, but to actualize this in our lives is a big step. To gain composure, peace and joy in life does not depend on exterior things, but what we have done with them in our interior life. A woman professor at the Catholic University makes us face again the problems of cosmetic surgery in our society, and how this craze for manipulated beauty is hurting both us and the country.
The number of deaths, and the after-effects of this surgery brought to our attention in the news, do little to stop the swarm of men and women frequenting cosmetic hospitals. Her article in the Peace Weekly was an honest, refreshing look at a serious problem we have in Korea.
It starts with harmless cosmetics, dying of the hair, removing skin spots and moves on to cosmetic surgery. There is no interest in seeing why we are alienated from ourselves. Will power, no longer part of whom we are, has little to do with our actions. What is important is the flow in society-- what is in fashion.
Our bodies have become commodities and tools; given to others to package in a way that will be attractive. Standardization of beauty and the art of packaging is what we are becoming adept at, searching for what we are not. The price that one pays for this beautification is not seen; not rarely, we have persons becoming addicted to the process.
The professor gives great blame for the situation to the media. It does little to show the dangers of this surgery, no movement to enlighten the public, complicit in the making our bodies instruments and overly absorbed with packaging.
Both women and men should not stop at the exterior but get in touch with the inner person and see the maturity and beauty that is there; try to know the person in depth: accepting the dignity of all, as they are, is the only way we will get a society that is mature and equal.
The article was another one in the series that have to do with the culture of life. It is an area of life that we often restrict to the most important areas: abortion, euthanasia and the death penalty. However, they all are in some way intertwined with one another. The life of the spirit is what is going to determine how we act, and what we think ; when the inner life is 'a free for all' we will have the problems that torment many in society.
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