Love Transforms: Beauty and the Beast

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by Joseph Dispenza and Dr. Beverly Nelson

The ageless children's story Beauty and the Beast is one of the finest parables we have about the transforming qualities of love -- and about one of life's most important lessons: things are not always what they seem.

Briefly, you'll remember, a lovely young woman tries to save her father from certain doom by agreeing to live for a time in a palace ruled over by a Beast. At first she is revolted by his appearance, but then gradually, as she comes to know him and feel his tremendous caring attention, she begins to fall in love with him. At last, when the Beast proposes marriage to Beauty, she joyfully accepts -- and the Beast is changed back into the handsome prince he always was.

The tale had been told and re-told many times before Madame Gabrielle-Susanne Barbot published it in France as La belle et la Bête in 1740. Since then, the story has been part of our cultural legacy and has appeared in some form down through the centuries. Perhaps the most memorable rendering of it is the 1946 French film written and directed by the artist Jean Cocteau, starring the strikingly beautiful Josette Day as Belle and the classically handsome Jean Marais as Bete. In the film, the Beast's enchanted palace comes alive in marvelous ways to help win Beauty's love.

From Beauty's Perspective

From Beauty's perspective, the fairy tale's moral is that we cannot judge something or someone on the basis of looks alone, because appearances can be deceiving. Beauty had assumed that the Beast was, well, beastly -- an animal and not a man, even though he is dressed in princely garments and lives in a palace. At the moment of truth, however, when she declares her love for him, the veil is lifted and the Beast reveals himself to Beauty: things are not always what they appear to be.

From the Beast's Perspective

From the point of view of the Beast, the moral is that if we truly love, we can transform everything around us, even the fundamental perceptions of the people closest to us. Love conquers all, love changes all, love makes all things possible.

Love, in fact, can transform us out of our beastly nature, which is to say our basest animal level, into the spiritualized human beings we really are. The reward of our loving effort is union with all the parts of ourselves. In the end, we are transported, as beauty and her prince were, into the heavenly realms of bliss.

Choosing Beauty

Just as Beauty was able, through love, to see her prince behind the veil of the Beast, we also can chose to see the people and things in our lives through the transforming prism of love. The key word here is 'chose' -- when confronted with daily situations, we have a choice...we can decide how we will act and react in the face of everything that comes into our experience.

Here are some lessons from Beauty and the Beast about choosing truth over appearances -- and love over fear.

1. Avoid judging. Virtually all spiritual literature warns us against judging people and conditions. The reason is that when we judge someone or something, we immediately put them in a kind of prison of our opinion -- a prison which they cannot get out of and which we cannot get into. If you think of a person as a thief, for instance, the person is labeled forever -- and your judgment actually can make that person act like a thief. Stay away from judgment: it limits perception and keeps you in fear.
2. See the beauty. Beauty is all around us, everywhere and at all times. But it is up to us to actually see and appreciate beauty. Many people go through life choosing to regard their reality as ugly and unsatisfying. They look at the half-full glass and see it as half-empty. When all of life is seen only as an opportunity to confirm the human experience as a vale of tears and troubles, then it certainly becomes that! See life for the beautiful journey it truly is, and watch miracles happen.
3. Stop complaining. Complaining is another form of judging. When you complain, you are automatically saying that people and situations are imperfect, defective, and even ugly. Try to head off a complaint by taking a second to question and reconsider your initial response. Even a brief moment will give you the chance to see things in a different way. A complaint is a comment that comes from a willful ego. Life will go much smoother if you trade a complaint for a compliment.
4. Move beyond the appearance. Things are not always what they seem. In fact, things are almost always different from how they appear to the eyes and how they sound to the ears. If you will find the truth about people and things, move beyond appearances -- entertain exactly the opposite of what you are seeing and hearing. The truth, like the prince, lies behind the wall of the physical senses, in a place where only the heart can discern.
5. Choose love. When given the choice between fear and love, choose love every time. If the culture is presenting you with fearful visions, you can personally dispel them by deciding to leave fear behind and go toward love. In this way, by raising your own consciousness into a loving place, you are lifting all of Consciousness with you. This is how wars are stopped or prevented -- and how people and situations in 'terminal' conditions are healed unconditionally.

The lessons of The Beauty and the Beast are everywhere in this enchanting fairy tale. We encourage you to surround yourself this month with the energy of its transformative teachings: love transforms everything, elevates everything, and reveals your life as the truly beautiful experience it is.

Recommended Reading

Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast This much-loved retelling of the classic French tale Beauty and the Beast elicits the familiar magical charm, but is more believable and complex than the traditional story. In this version, Beauty is not as beautiful as her older sisters, who are both lovely and kind. Here, in fact, Beauty has no confidence in her appearance but takes pride in her own intelligence, her love of learning and books, and her talent in riding. She is the most competent of the three sisters, which proves essential when they are forced to retire to the country because of their father's financial ruin. The plot follows that of the renowned legend: Beauty selflessly agrees to inhabit the Beast's castle to spare her father's life. Beauty's gradual acceptance of the Beast and the couple's deepening trust and affection are amplified in novel form. Robin McKinley's writing has the flavor of another century, and Beauty heightens the authenticity as a reliable and competent narrator.

Beauty by the Book: Seeing Yourself as God Sees You From celebrated Hollywood starlets to the covers of Cosmo, our society seems obsessed with beauty. Actress and Main Floor host Nancy Stafford (best known for her starring role as Michelle Thomas on Matlock) digs below our culture's fixation on outward appearance to show you that true beauty is more than skin-deep. "Every woman has beauty," says Stafford, "but not everyone sees it. I want you to see it." In Beauty by the Book she bares her heart to readers, laying out the Scriptures, promises, and truths women need to know to find their true value. Her liberating reflections will help you see yourself as God sees you-worthy, lovable, and beautiful.