“Perfection” is, in this writer’s opinion, probably one of the least understood words in the english language. We throw it into sentences like it is something we are familiar with, something that is common place and occurs on a day to day basis. But it is very hard to truly understand the word “perfection,” and the impact it has on our lives and our spirits. This post is my attempt to share with you my thoughts on Perfection and how it pertains to our spirits.
There are at least two kinds of perfection. The first kind is the kind that we are perhaps most familiar with: perfection suited only for a specific purpose or cause — or “perfection” used as an adjective. This type of perfection is best characterized by the flawless and masterful completion of whatever purpose or cause it was devoted to. For example: a carpenter cutting boards of wood with exact measurements so that they fit together with out flaw. This kind has some impact on us; we all desire it in what we love to do and be, but we always fall short of this goal. In my opinion, the reason we succumb to imperfection in causes or purposes is that by tailoring perfection to a specific cause or goal, we limit the natural inclinations of perfection.
The second kind of perfection is harder to understand, but much more valuable. This kind of perfection is more of a noun than an adjective. We can describe this as the state of being perfect, or the state of perfection. Other synonymic phrases for it would include: the epitome of existence, or a state of being absolutely flawless. Since the state of being absolutely flawless is logically inconsistent with the state of being flawed by whatever purpose one has, this type of perfection cannot exist with a specific cause or goal that has been predetermined for it. Instead, this type of perfection only exists as the predeterminer and definer of it’s own purposes, since it would have only perfect purposes. I hope this is beginning to sound familiar to you — after all, you are the definer of your own purpose — at least to a large degree. This is perfection as suited to itself.
With being perfect comes a few things that we may or may not be used to here on earth. Freedom and Power. Perfection as suited to a purpose only does what it is designed to do. But, perfection as suited to itself does only what it’s perfect purposes entail. The real question we should be asking at this point is: what are those purposes? Our first clue about those purposes is that they are both perfect, and decided by that perfection itself. There’s one more clue to help answer this question: this type of perfection gets everything it’s is suited to get. In other words, it gets everything it wants the moment it wants it.
Put your imagination in the perfect shoes of a state absolute flawlessness for a second, and answer a few questions for me. Would you be happy? Would you be conscious, if you were perfect? Would you want friends? Would you want enemies? Would you know and understand everything that can be known? Who would you love?
To help you answer these questions, I’ve prepared what I believe are the perfect responses to all of these questions.
- Would you be happy? Yes, I would be happy because I would choose to be happy.
- Would you be conscious, if you were perfect? Yes, because the only way to feel happiness is to be conscious.
- Would you want friends? Yes, I would want everyone to be my friend. Having only friends makes it very very easy to get everything that you want. This is likely an intrinsic factor in being perfect.
- Would you want enemies? No. Having enemies makes it difficult for you to get what you want.
- Would you know and understand everything that can be known? Absolutely. Conscious beings cannot make informed decisions with out having all knowledge about any particular subject.
- Who would you love? As a perfect being, there would be no reason not to love everyone, and if I do indeed wish all beings to be my friend, then I must have love for them.
Why is all of this information so key to our spiritual lives? It should be clear to you now that the quest for the state of absolute perfection is the true goal of any spiritual pursuit, and the intent behind any enlightened teaching or teacher. We should strive only to be perfect.
This wraps up the first part of my thoughts on perfection. I will discuss this topic more in a later post.
