We owe the linkage of the words Truth And Beauty to the poet John Keats. He closes his “Ode on a Grecian Urn” with the lines:
'Beauty is truth, Truth Beauty,—
that is all Ye know on earth,
and all ye need to know.'
I do not propose to analyze the poem. I tend to make texts my own and encourage others to do the same. Words are gifts. It is enough to say that Triadic Philosophy accepts what Keats contends. Without beauty, truth is barren. When we can see both truth and beauty in anything we win. Without truth, beauty is the less. This speaks volumes today.
Both beauty and truth are devalued when their unity is sundered.
Words
Triadic aesthetics is where action emerges from considering a sign (intention) and submitting it to the values central to progress. The values are tolerance, helpfulness, and democracy. Action is words (expressions) and deeds (acts). The distinction between words and deeds is unnecessary. The old saying about words not hurting is false. We need to accept the crucial power of words. Acrimonious conflicts arise from words, statements, expressions, messages, and tweets. Triadic aesthetics seeks truth and beauty in all expressions. It’s a difficult but necessary evolution.
Deeds
What is a deed that’s true and beautiful at the same time?
Enabling someone to vote. Freeing someone from captivity. Helping someone learn. Deeds can be self-administered. Beauty and truth achieve grace in movement and speech. Self-respect and self-education are beautiful and true -- so is conscious consideration of what will be good. Deeds that need doing in the world are beyond naming.
The most true and beautiful are directed to where hurt and harm are most intense. All progress that aims at truth and beauty is cause for celebration.
A new normal
If we saw a spread of the intention to speak and act with truth and beauty, it would be a new normal. We would see the key to progress not as gaining the power to force our will, we'd see it as convincing more and more to give up binary thinking and embrace triadic ways.
Embracing triadic ways is simply agreeing with yourself to take time on a daily basis. It is giving and receiving forgiveness, It is considering things to achieve. Consideration allows values to meet intentions. It moves thought towards what will be true and beautiful.
This is not something to be trumpeted around. It’s is a summons to a quiet inner revolution, done slowly and surely. It is not achieving perfection overnight. It is getting on the right track and learning its incredible rewards.
