Abstract
Just like “heaven” and “hell,” the words “beauty” and “pain” designate polar qualities of human experience. However, both of these qualities are more than what they appear to be at first sight. In addition to their immediate feel, each includes a pointer at an existential dimension of the human condition.
Whereas “beauty is nothing but the promise of happiness” (Stendhal), pain is the herald of dying and death. When we immerse in the experience of beauty, we joyfully abandon our separate individuality and gladly become part of the transcendence to which beauty invites us. In contrast, when pain dominates our experience, we tend to feel overwhelmed by an adversary force that is stronger than we are ourselves, and that threatens to reduce or even destroy our individuality.
