If you saw a newly-born baby, do you think you would say, “That baby is so pretty!” Most likely not.

If you saw an 85-year old woman, do you think that you would say, “That is a pretty woman.”? Again, most likely not.

You would probably say that the baby is beautiful. This is because the beauty comes from your recognition of the aliveness of the baby, the lack of ego, the lack of thought or judgement. The beauty comes from the baby’s innate presence.

You might say that the older woman is “a beautiful person”. When you see the old woman, you see someone whose ego identity based on their physical looks (or strength, their job, all of the external things), have fallen away, allowing their true nature, their presence, to shine through.

When you say someone is pretty, you are talking about their external appearance, which will eventually go away. “Pretty” always leaves, and that scares people who strongly identify with being called pretty. They know that, one day, they won’t be pretty any more. What will they be then?

The words “pretty” and “beautiful” can some times cause confusion, as words are apt to do. Sometimes we call a woman beautiful we what we really mean is that she is very pretty. We really don’t know anything about them, other than that they are famous for some reason.

When I use the word “beautiful” to describe someone, it has much more to do with the vibration I get from them. If I feel their honesty, consciousness, kindness, generosity, thankfullness, I think that they are beautiful.

At its essence, “pretty” is a judgment. It is one side of coin. The other side is “ugly”. 

Pretty is a judgement by the ego.
Beauty is a state of being

 Pretty needs time
Beauty is always complete

 Pretty is outside.
Beauty is within.