The original meaning of the word “perfect” was “thorough”. I take that to mean complete in our effort to be all we can be. The perfection of self-as-thorough may include components that come as a surprise – not fitting in the picture of some preformed idea we have about how a “spiritual (or ‘good’) self” should look. How many of us have strived for how long to live a life of spiritual depth? And how often has that caused us to feel despair at our lack of perfection in our efforts?
What I’ve noticed is that when I greet each thing in me against which I hold dislike or even abhorrence with a willingness to see what is being asked of me, I deepen into a sense of greater comfort and acceptance. Not just of me – but of life. We are, after all, but representations of Life. It could be that the “Original Sin” is but the unique flaw that set us on earth, which as (per Nepo) the Tibetans believe is “the mark where the bareness of being first kissed us, placing us in the world”. In other words, it is our so-called imperfections that define our reason or purpose for being here.
Sometimes we close off against Life based on the accumulated years of abuse and pain. Fearing more pain, we don’t trust Life itself. And why should we, when in the face of true innocence and vulnerability we have been harmed?
Until we come to the recognition that to open a bit is for our own good. Not as a statement of foolhardy “trust” in “all will be well”, but as a means whereby we can get a breath of fresh air. Bad things will happen. As well as good – by our estimation and judgment (because it is, after all, we who determine and define such delineations). But still, to be as open as we can under exactly these – our circumstances – is the best stance we can take for our own well-being, irrespective of how Life is playing Itself out.
We humans do damage on earth – by thought and deed – and we are the instruments for healing. And it turns out the main healing really is within the self. Each place that hurts is an invitation to pause and invite the kindness of Life in to be present in its opening to wisdom – right there.
It is the ultimate discipline, facing into with gentle heart, that which we dread or loathe within ourselves. Inviting the Divine Spark into these areas for willing transformation into their best selves requires our apt attention. It is through us that the pains of the earth – often there by our doing in the first place – are healed.