Hi. Wanted to know if it is okay for a spiritual seeker to focus on looking good and dressing well along with continuing other spiritual practices. Does looking good serve any spiritual purpose?
—Bharati, India
Dear Bharati,
It depends on your attitude. If you dress beautifully to give beauty to others, to give delight to the world, then it is spiritually a good thing. Swami Kriyananda thanked people when they dressed beautifully with beautiful colors. Beauty is an aspect of God. Beautiful dresses are also an art form.
But if your motivation for dressing beautifully is to attract attention to yourself (meaning to your body) or to appear special, then it is not spiritually helpful. It strengthens the ego. You are not the body. You are not this little ego.
So, as a spiritual seeker: yes, dress beautifully and tastefully, look good, but without any desire to attract men or special attention to yourself. Just give joy, harmony, and beauty to the world. Egoless beauty attracts high vibration.
In Divine Friendship,
Jayadev
