Cosmetics is very popular in the world of commerce. It is usually placed in a very important location of the store. To many people, cosmetics is a necessity because some degree of makeup is always needed. Its purpose is to make a person look better, prettier, appearing more confident, or attractive.

“To make a person look better, or prettier…” Behind this statement is dissatisfaction. There are two components to this dissatisfaction: dissatisfied and hope. To be dissatisfied is to wonder why we are always so unfulfilled towards ourselves, and may be we should not be like this. To be hopeful is to believe that we ought not be in the present condition. We ought to be better than this; perhaps younger, prettier; more attractive, and more wealthier.

It is always because we are dissatisfied with the past that we became hopeful for the future. Regardless whether you are dissatisfied with the past or hopeful for the future, have you ever wondered why you are like this? What is the reason?

Let’s take a look at the different phases of life: the innocence of childhood, the carefree-ness of youth, the glory of the middle age, and the experiences or sophistication of the old. All these phases are fine, beautiful and poetic. However, the beauty and the poetry are but life’s “now-ness” in a flickering moment.

It does not matter whether you are dissatisfied with the past or hopeful for the future, both have missed the present moment of existence. You are also missing life’s innocence, freedom, glory and wisdom. Missing life is dis-loving life. You dis-love life because you do not understand life. You do not understand life because you do not understand yourself.

The reason we put on makeups is to attract other people’s attention. Why do we want to do that? —To show our importance. The basis of wanting to appear important is that we are not important at all. It is because we are not important, that we want to appear important. If we are already important, there is no need to show it. Along with this trend of thoughts, living is inseparable from breathing. Yet breathing does not have to demonstrate its importance. Life cannot be set apart from our true nature; and our true nature does not reveal its importance. Mountain does not boast about its height, the ocean does not boast about its depth, these are all facts. Facts need not to be revealed throgh special effeorts. What is revealed is usually unnecessary and false. Why do we fall into this? It is because we do not understand ourselves! We do not understand ourselves because we do not know ourselves.

Hoping to attract other people’s attention seems to be the life’s purpose for many people. In other words, you are living for somebody else. You are living according to other people’s judgments, viewpoints, and attentions. For example, you may buy certain color of clothing because your husband likes it. You may have a certain hairstyle because your wife likes it. In summary, our daily lives and our habits are often not based on life’s necessities but other people’s reactions. Therefore, scientists are not so important to us, and very few people pay attention to them. In contrast, actors and athletes are very important because many people watch them. We become this way because we do not understand life’s purposes. Why is it so? It is because we do not understand ourselves.

When we crave for other people’s attention, we put on the makeups. The nature of making-up is to disguise oneself; the nature of hoping is to beg. “Pay attention to me! It is very important to me!” We think that through this, life now seems more meaningful and we experience the happiness of recognition.

Begging for recognition and attention is the act of a beggar. It is a loss of life’s dignity. The attention that you receive through begging and makeups will not bring true happiness. Because this happiness relies on outside sources. People may choose not to recognize you at any moment; and their attitudes can be changed and unreliable. Because recognition can be built, it can also be destroyed. Because the attention was earned by the makeups, it can be erased and is never lasting.

The reason why you are willing to beg for other people’s attention, even at the risk of losing dignity, is that you do not understand yourself. In other words, you do not know yourself.

Whenever we pay attention to our appearance, we have discovered “dissatisfaction.” There is a large gap between what we hope to be and what we really are. We do not understand that “Life is moving forward!” Meaning moving closer to death, moving toward life’s deterioration. But our understanding of life is stagnant and lacking. This gap is inevitable. All this resulted from not understanding ourselves.

Whatever you are dissatisfied with in the past is what you hope for in the future.

No matter how you are displeased with your body, when you are near death, those dissatisfactions would become wonderful wishes to hold on to. Even when you are losing your limbs from an operation, being fed by oxygen, and body full of tubes; you still do not want to give up life. Think about it: You have so much dissatisfaction with your health, your life and yourself, how regrettable can you be now! That is why people say that it is only after losing youth and health that you really start to appreciate their value.

At the moment when you should appreciate life, you have no appreciation.
At the moment when you should celebrate life, you are dissatisfied.
When your life is strong; regardless how great you feel, you are full of cynicism.
When you life is nearing the end, no matter how painful you feel, you still want to hold on and not letting go.

The reason why we have so much contradiction is that we do not understand ourselves.

Putting on makeups can make a person prettier, but not truthful. Less makeups is better than more makeups. It’s closer to the truth. Truth is beauty.

In reality, it is more beautiful to be relaxed. To be relaxed is to be beautiful.
In relaxation, it is more beautiful to be natural. To be natural is to be beautiful.
In naturalness, it is more beautiful to be harmonious. To be harmonious is to be beautiful.
In harmony, it is more beautiful to be serene. To be serene is to be beautiful.

The beauty of serenity comes from your understanding of yourself. Understanding yourself is the greatest beauty.

A person who understands himself has composed appearance, gentle words and a heart emanating wonderful scent of tranquility.
A person who understands himself is full of confidence, exhibiting life’s dignity.
A person who understands himself is graceful with his movements, beautiful in his appearance, and adorned by all.
A person who understands himself is free from pain, karma, and distress.
A person who understands himself has boundless virtues and good fortunes.

However, most unfortunately, very few people understand themselves.

Regardless of your level of understanding of yourself, if you want to elevate and improve, you cannot do without mirrors, and without observing yourself more clearly. No matter what kind of environment you are in, you need mirrors. The better your environment, the more, better mirrors you have. For every person who wants to understand himself better, he must use mirrors. The athletes need mirrors when they train. The dancers also need mirrors, and so do the martial artists.

However, the effects of the mirrors are limited in understanding yourself. You cannot understand yourself deeper because you can only see the surface. The superficial understandings will serve you sometimes, but cannot change you. It cannot free you from pain, to be liberated, or to be enlightened.

Also, when you hear your own voice from a recorder for the first time, you will feel that it is not your voice. Furthermore, you would not like that voice. Perhaps other people really like your voice, but you don’t. You are used to hearing the voice that you thought is your true voice. But that voice is a composition of sound arriving at the same time at your ears from inside your body and outside, and thus not your true voice.

Here we can see two problems: 1) The voice we hear is not our real voice; 2) We do not understand and we do not like our real voice. The same thing happens when you see yourself on recorded video. You also do not like your image and your movements.

From different levels, we can see how we really do not understand ourselves. What we have understood and recognized as ourselves, are so unreal. We are such strangers to ourselves, so distant to true understanding. We can also see how we dislike ourselves, even afraid of ourselves. Everyone in the world seems to love himself, but nobody understands himself. We dislike ourselves so much that we don’t even want to look at ourselves, and be in touch with ourselves. Therefore, the self that we love is not our true self, but an illusion.

Those who do not understand themselves seem to love and protect themselves in such false manner. That love is false love, and that protection is protecting false self. If we are protecting the false self, then you are hurting the true self. We have really mistreated ourselves; and at the same time, mistreated others.

In the course of false love, the false self has countless incomprehensible responsibilities. Why is this so? It is because we do not understand ourselves. Why do we not understand ourselves? It is because we have a false understanding.