An Interview With My Masters: What Is Elegance?
From the teachings of Nabir
Nabir was my spiritual teacher and mentor concerning the ways of the world. The things I learned from him, over half a century, have been the foundation for my meaningful, and very successful life.
Here is an introduction to Nabir and his teachings.
In one of his talks, he spoke about the concept of the Taoist Sage, and why some people are wise, and others choose to remain common, or what he called “intentionally ignorant.” He somehow, in his unusual way, linked this idea of wisdom to the distinction between elegance and glamour.
Here is the Q & A session that followed that talk.
Q. From a spiritually oriented perspective, and without judgment, what makes a person “common?”
A. A common thinker, is a person who unconsciously behaves in a simple, and basic manner, that also lacks any thought, or concern for clarity of thought and spiritual intention. Consider that, such a person acts out of general social norms in their daily life, and does so habitually, only changing behaviors to match changes in what appears to be generally superficial trends, or social norms. These individuals are not generally concerned with moral or ethical dilemmas, and seldom examine the meaning of their lives. They question little, and have concern for less. This is an observation, and an assessment, not a judgment.
Q. Don’t you think this concept of ordinary or common, vs. extraordinary can seem rather elitist?
A. Not really. All of us are at times ordinary or extraordinary. The key is to be aware of your strengths and weaknesses, and to then have the intention of being your best.
Q. Is this, so really hard to do?
A. It is becoming ever harder. In modern times people have become famous for doing nothing more, than being famous. Hype, celebrity, the superficial, and popularity often replace talent, skill, wisdom, and excellence.
Q. Speak further about the ordinary vs. the extra-ordinary in 21st century popular culture, and if possible give some examples.
A. An example might be the distinction between glamour and elegance. For me, anyway, glamour is an attempt to be elegant, that fails. It is a vain attempt, at beauty and charisma. Here I say the word vain in all it’s definitions. Glamour is an attempt at influence, through a regenerating thought process, tied to color, texture and form. Glamour is an artificial expression of elements related to beauty and elegance but neither in actuality.
Q. Isn’t there an elitist element to the idea of glamour and elegance?
A. One might say this, yet in actuality, an extraordinary individual of humble means and simple needs, might stille exude glamour and elegance.
Q. Can you explore this distinction a bit further, from a psychological point of view?
A. Consider that glamour is in essence the discordant premeditated merging of oppositional forces. Like some Frankenstein monster created out of different elements, sown together randomly, glamour takes the illusion of exclusivity and wraps it in an illusion of accessibility. Glamour is a seducer. It takes the profound esthetic sensibility that comes from nurturing and expanding the subtler aspects of the “senses” and packages it as fast food labeled “gourmet.” In this environment political astuteness with a good speech-writer passes for diplomatic wisdom, and limited talent repackaged with good PR, hype, and various forms of physical enhancement can pass for extraordinary beauty.
Q. But glamour offers even the simplest of individual the opportunity to become more attractive, wealthier more powerful and more influential?
A. Yes, but at what cost? What is the benefit of being more attractive, wealthier more powerful and more influential if it is only a means to play to the crowd — to get attention. Elegance and beauty are a way of being, they are there whether observed or not. Glamour on the other hand doesn’t exist if it is not observed. Glamour is the ultimate expression of short term gratification manifested as large scale cultural illusion. It does nothing but pacify the desire for having it all without doing anything to get there. Glamour is the physical expression of the concept that “everyone wants to go to heaven but no one wants to die to get there.”
Q. Does glamour offer any benefit to society?
A. We all need to play and for some glamour is just that and nothing more. If the superficial elements of glamour can create a few minutes or hours of play and fun in a day filled with struggles of one type or another than it is probably a good thing. Unfortunately for the ordinary person there is no distinction between glamour and elegance, between the loud and shiny, and the subtle and beautiful.
It is true that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, yet, the beholder who has not developed these subtle sensibilities will likely value life for the glamour, and simple pleasure it creates, rather than the way it serves a larger vision.
If you have a serious interest in this, I suggest you explore the concept of glamour in greater depth, you may wish to explore the book “Glamour a History,” by Stephen Gundle.
Q. Can you give some examples concerning glamour versus elegance?
A. Not concerning people. I am not a professional critic, and I don’t want to seem critical of any one person, and their personal or impersonal style. For me elegance represents a type of beauty that shows unusual simplicity, and effectiveness. Elegance, is frequently used as a standard of tastefulness, particularly in the decorative arts, science, visual design, architecture, literature, and the aesthetics of mathematics. Two examples I can offer you to contemplate upon is th creations of the architect Frank Gehry, the Sculpture Henty Moore, and the graphic wood cut artist M.C. Escher.
Let’s say that glamour is obvious, while elegance offers a subtle hide-seek sensibility that seems to subconsciously elevate our mind, emotions, and spirit.
Q. Do you have any final thoughts on this conversation?
A. Like the elegant person, place, or thing, the extraordinary person expresses excellence not as an expression of intellectual interest or academic curiosity but rather as an expression of genuine need. In the mental, emotional, and spiritual realm, we call this person a “Sage”.
Here is a Medium story on this subject @johnpweiss
Here is one from the archives @LewisCoaches
This story is an excerpt from my Module for making the best choices, from my book and online Course, “Beyond Thought”.
To learn more about studying with me just email me at [email protected]
Author: Lewis Harrison is a Manifestation Coach, and a philanthropy consultant. He is the creator of the Ask Lewis Mentoring Method as well as HAGT — Harrison’s Applied Game Theory. He is the Executive Director of the International Association of Healing Professionals an educational organization that offers programs around the world in Intentional Living. He is also Independent Scholar, with a passion for knowledge, personal development, self-improvement, creativity, innovation, and problem-solving. You can read all of his Medium stories at [email protected].
For a decade, Lewis was the host of a humor-based Q & A talk show on NPR (National Public Radio) affiliated WIOX FM in NY.
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