Korea Journal of Buddhist StudiesISSN:1598-0642(Print)불교학연구회

The present paper is a soteriological approach to Buddhist Aesthetics as described in the Pāli Canon (Pālitripiṭaka) and its commentaries (aṭṭhakathā). Some scholars are of the opinion that Theravāda Buddhism, being pessimistic and ascetic in outlook, is devoid of any kind of aesthetic appreciation and has very little to do with Aesthetics. And it is commonly believed that the Buddha and the arahants never perceived nor appreciated beauty. Although this view may at first appear to be very convincing, this is in fact far from the truth and is no more than a mistaken generalization. The Noble Ones (ariya-puggala) who purged themselves of sensual pleasures (kāma-rāga) appreciated beauty for its own sake and derived joy unsullied by sensuous associations and self-projected ideas. There are numerous episodes in the Pāli Canon and its commentaries which reveal aesthetic admiration in men of high spiritual attainment. Although the Buddha warned that aesthetics could turn into sensualism or epicureanism if we had attachment or sensual desire for the beautiful objects (subha-nimitta), he regarded that cultivating aesthetic appreciation unsullied by sensuous associations and self-projected ideas is essential for making perfect humans and attaining Nibbāna. The Buddha on several occasions directed the attention of his disciples to beauty in order to communicate religious truths and as a medium ennobling aesthetic appreciation in them. His disciples also ennobled their aesthetic appreciation into religious emotion (saṃvega) by having ‘wise attention (yonisomanasikāra)’ when they contacted beautiful objects. In this connection, TheravādaAbhidhamma emphasizes that every effort should be made in order to develop wholesome javana in the noetic process (vīthi-citta). In Buddhist Aesthetics, aesthetics is not for its own sake. Only if it becomes an incentive for those who aspire to Nibbāna, then it obtains its true vitality and soteriological significance. Therefore, we can safely say that Buddhist Aesthetics is equivalent to an exploration of the ideal state where truth, goodness and beauty join together, which is Nibbāna.