It is not possible to achieve significant personality development without realizing the power that aesthetics have to accelerate or hinder our growth. This principle is understood by all truly successful people.

How do people develop their personality?

It is through the control of natural forces. Nature was made so that man could conquer it. In what ever sphere of life, people succeed by controlling nature. Nature is both internal and external.

Externally we have created clothing, shelter, plumbing, transportation, internet, societies, trade, and more. As you are reading this article, the computer you use is a result of man’s conquest of external nature.

Internally we control thoughts, emotions, fears, desires, impulses, judgments, lust, greed, and so on. The more a person controls these natural forces, the more powerful he or she is. These are raw energies to be harnessed, and directed wherever we wish.

External and internal are actually arbitrary delineations. Where does thought stop and matter begin? No one can say. That is because they are not fundamentally different. One is only a grosser form of a substance, and one is only a more subtle form of that same substance. Nevertheless, considering external and internal methods of control is a very useful framework.

Who is more powerful? A person who controls external nature or internal nature?

That depends on what you deem as power.

What is power?

Power is that which helps one achieve one’s highest goal. If something helps you achieve perfect happiness, then you possess power. The more happiness you can bring, the more powerful you are.

Power over both external and internal forces is helpful for happiness. However, only internal power is both necessary and sufficient.

How does a person get internal power?

If I say to you “Be happy”, but at the same time keep poking you with a sharp stick, it gets kind of distracting! It is not strictly necessary to remove the external difficulty to be happy, but it is almost the case. So in order to get control of internal forces, be diligent in getting control over external forces. In order to determine which external forces are most helpful or harmful, try to get control over internal forces, and the specific external forces that impede your internal efforts will become more obvious.

How can I get power over external forces?

By the manipulation and arrangement of aesthetics.

What are aesthetics?

Aesthetics are the sum total of all sensory stimuli, environmental factors, choices, and circumstances that we outwardly saturate ourselves with. Life is art, and should be lived as art. By manipulating aesthetics we make our life artful. The secrets of this practice form a science.

Aren’t science and art separate disciplines?

No. Science is that which leads to prediction. Art is that which is pleasing. One knows what will be pleasing by prediction. So art is the fruition of science. Science exists for the sake of art. Art exists for the sake of joy. Joy exists for its own sake.

What is the Power of Aesthetics?

It is that discipline by which one consciously arranges aesthetics to induce mental concentration. It is through concentration that a person gains power over internal forces and uncovers happiness.

Everything we do affects our mental state. So take care to optimize your environment. Remove harmful factors and encourage helpful factors. This artful living must raise the mind above physical existence. Cultivate things that raise the mind. Helpful externals take us by the hand and gently lead us inward.

Aesthetics are the vessel in which a meaning is carried. The form is not the meaning. But it indicates the meaning. Words, for example, are aesthetics. Words themselves are not meaningful, but they indicate meaning. Form cannot be separated from meaning. So if you want to manifest a certain meaning in your life, surround your self and saturate your thoughts with the aesthetics (forms) that are best fit for conveying that meaning. Take all the external help you can get.

Related Articles:

• Concentration Brings Happiness (Why People Think They Can Actually Sing)
• Living Scientifically
• How to Tell Your Own Future
• Judging By Potential
• Remember Death
• Perception and God
• Bhartrihari’s Verses on Renunciation
• Fearlessness
• Natural Medicine

Thanks!