One in all

All in one –

If only this is realized

No more worry about your not being perfect.

– Seng – ts’an

What we speak becomes the house we live in. – Hafiz

What is right, what is wrong, and who decides? It’s easy to get endlessly caught up in dividing what’s acceptable from what’s not. But what this first quote hints at is that what’s closer to the truth is everything is equal. Perfection doesn’t exist because it never has been, and never will be, real. I talk about perfection all the time because the idea of it casts a shadow over our culture and in turn haunts us in our daily lives. We compare ourselves against others and always seem to come up short. There is a feeling that nothing is ever enough, otherwise why would we be endlessly dissatisfied even when we have everything we need? Where’s the hole? Why is more than enough never enough?

As Gertrude Stein said, there’s no there there. The insides are missing. We can’t buy our way there, we can’t wish, hope, or think our way there either. We have to want it, feel it, and work at it That illusive feeling is the light that guides us deeper. As you can well imagine this is not easy work. We need quiet in order to feel what’s going on inside and that is a rare commodity in the fast-paced culture we live in where we are always bored no matter how much we are doing. And then what we find there can be terrifying. Often when we get quiet enough to hear what wants to be said we find the things we’ve been carefully trying to avoid all these years. But that fragile inner feeling and flailing voice asks everything from us and in return lets us grasp a deeper truth that has the potential to shake us awake. A truth that often doesn’t fit in with our ego and it’s endless desires and comparisons.

On top of all this what’s right for you is not necessarily right for me, or the person standing next to us. Even though we’re all in it together there is no one right way or path, there is the path we’re on and the work we do to get to what’s next, but this is far from a textbook solution. It’s far more complicated than that. But we can get there, deeper understanding is achievable, letting go of an idealized perfection and owning the imperfection of who we actually are can happen. It’s up to each of us to see through the illusion of what we should or shouldn’t do and honor what’s in our heart. Speaking that truth is the everyday work of living an authentic life.

This beautiful and not so mysterious quote I found from Hafiz says simply the truth of how to get there. When it comes down to it, it’s what we say and what we do that shows who we are and where we’re at, and it can be the compass to lead us where we want to go. The more we live our life the way that makes sense to us, that resonates deep down, the more we brush up against the mystery. What do we let into our life, what do we keep out? These define who we are and what we will become. First we have to hear what we are saying, feel what we are really feeling. Look at what we choose to do, how does it help or punish us? These become the walls we live within.

At the center of living our truth there is no perfection, there is no right or wrong. There is living what is true for us, what matters to us, what helps create a more authentic life. That is seeing through the illusion. That is living life where all is one. Our thoughts and actions only take us so far, to where the words fail. They bring us to the door we need to walk through. They bring us back home to ourselves at long last.

Let perfection go, what’s waiting is far more exciting.

kb