Question: Why do weightlifters look ugly?

Sri Chinmoy: Beauty and ugliness depend on the eye of the viewer. Who is ugly, who is beautiful, God alone knows. If you do not see any beauty in the outer physique of weightlifters or bodybuilders or wrestlers, what can they do? In their own way, they are giving joy to countless numbers of people.

There are many people who will appreciate the beauty and fragrance of a garden. That is one kind of beauty. The beauty you see in the garden is attracting you; that is why you are spending time there. So beauty itself is a form of power. It has a power aspect. Beauty itself is strength.

Again, when you are watching weightlifting or wrestling or some other activity that people are doing on the physical level, it is power that draws the attention of the audience. This is not destructive power, far from it. There are many kinds of power that will not destroy; they will only inspire, inspire. When someone does weightlifting, he is inspiring others to be strong — physically strong, mentally strong and psychically strong.

So joy can come to us through beauty and it can come to us through power. This beauty and power have the same Source. Again, from the beauty you can enter into the power, and from the power you can enter into the beauty. They go together. Inner beauty and inner power always go together.