You don't have to be perfect to be Love. ~ Siraj
I have taught this through my TV programs and on radio. I have taught this through Discourses and during Workshops and Retreats. It is the essence of all my efforts as a spiritual teacher. But no matter what I do…my beloved students just nod their heads in agreement, then go out into the world and do the exact opposite. They truly believe with all of their might that they are here on this earth to perfect the human. To be “better” people and to do those things that appear to make them “good” and stand out from the crowd of human underlings.
Religion has taught the masses that they are sinners due to the ‘ol Adam and Eve issue in the Garden of Eden and, hence, the gullible believe that it is important to be “better” people and to do those things that appear to make them “good” and stand out from the crowd of human underlings. By seeking to be “perfect” and “good,” according to Popes, priests and preachers, we are forgiven for being one of God’s dreadful creations. Such utter fools are we humans.
And so the masses have been convinced to believe that the human can and should be perfected. If you are of this mindset there is nothing I could ever say to reach you. But if you are willing to consider the state of Karma within you and move consciously into your Karma, then something else could be possible.
I am reminded of a joke my Master told many years ago. He was trying to explain the point where ignorance and indifference meet in us and how it creates a lethargy that sets into motion our Karma.
In the southern part of Arkansas, where the natives take life easy, a man and his wife were sitting on the porch when a funeral procession passed the house.
The man was comfortably seated in a chair, which was tilted back on its hind legs against the side of the house, engaged in whittling a piece of wood.
As the procession proceeded he said,” I reckon ‘ol man Simpson’s havin’ about the biggest funeral that’s ever been held around here, Caroline. Would ya like to see it?”
“A purty good-sized one is it, Bud?” queried the wife, making no effort to move from her position, which was facing her husband on the porch in an old rocking chair.
“You betcher!” Bud answered.
“I certainly would like to see it,” said the wife, “It’s a shame I ain’t facin’ that way.”
Our indifference to Love and how we relate to it obscures the authentic experience of Life. ~ Siraj
Most of us are lazy and indifferent; the only thing that moves us is fear. In fear, we find our human identity, which is why we believe that we must be “perfect” to be loved. So we live obsessed by a goal that can never be reached. Living in the coarse energy of the ego, we find ourselves filled with great doubt about who and what we really are. If we are “confident” in who we “believe” we are, we create more illusion…only to discover later in life that we are not the “perfect person” we believed ourselves to be.
So, how do the human and the Divine live with each other? Zen Master, Seung Sahn, once put it this way: “Coming empty-handed, going empty-handed – that is human.” We are NOT here to accumulate perfection through money, society or political stature. We are here to use the human as a way to teach us the value of what is truly valuable!
The process of living “empty-handed” as the Master taught us is to seek no special recognition for anything that we appear to achieve. It is a matter of flowing with our Karma in Loving ways. Most of us are oblivious to this because we are so busy trying to have a “good time” while we are here. And so we miss our life trying to be “perfect” in order to be “loved.”
We will never find a cure for what ails us by succumbing to another sickness. ~ Siraj
People want quick and easy answers to alleviate their fears and, thus, are always seeking some sort of gismo or concoction that will make them “perfect” enough to have what they believe they deserve or desire. Allow me a Zen story that reveals the futility of trying to be perfect in order to be “right.”
A King was learning gardening from a Zen Master. The Master was teaching him and telling him to go on creating a garden in his palace and to make it “total.” After three years he would come to see the garden and if it were total, then he would have passed the examination.
But the king misunderstood the word “total” as many of us would. He thought the word “total” meant perfect. So, he made the garden perfect in accord with the King’s idea of “perfect.” He had thousands of gardeners to work upon it and it was really the most perfect thing that had ever happened in Japan.
After three years the Master came back and the King was very happy and very satisfied with the garden. But the Master looked very serious and sad…and he was not a serious man at all. The King started feeling afraid – was he going to fail? Three years’ effort and the garden was so perfect you could not improve upon it. And the silence of the Master was getting heavier on him.
Finally the King asked, “What is the matter? Why are you not saying a single word? Don’t you like the garden?”
The Master said, “It is too perfect…hence, it gives the feeling of artificialness. In nature nothing is so perfect. It is so perfect that it cannot be improved upon, that is why I am looking so sad. And I told you, “Let it be total,” but you misunderstood me. I don’t see even a single dry, dead leaf in the whole garden! How is it possible?”
The King said, “We have removed all the dead leaves…there were many. Just to receive you we have removed them all!”
The Master said, “Give me a bucket!”
A bucket was given to the Master. He went out of the garden where the leaves had been thrown. He COLLECTED A BUCKETFUL OF DRY LEAVES, came back into the perfect garden and threw them all over the garden. And the wind started playing with the leaves…and the sound and the song of the leaves. He started smiling and said, “Now it is total! It is no longer perfect, hence, it is perfectly natural! Now it looks more authentic. Without these leaves there was no song, it was dead…perfect!”
Yes, “it was dead…perfect” as the Master stated. This is what being “perfect” in order to be “right” in order to be “loved” looks like. It is like a person who is playing the piano – one can read the music accurately and hit the keys perfectly, but there is no music coming out of the instrument because there is no “musical touch” occurring through the fingers of the person playing. Being perfect in the garden is having leaves blowing and dancing in the breeze. A garden is a great mystery, just like music – it is a living energy and cannot be controlled or it comes off as pseudo, dissonant and unnatural.
What lives in the Heart cannot be mimicked or reproduced at will. The Heart is spontaneous and a deep mystery to the rational mind. Thus, it can only be revealed through deep humility.
You and I will never be perfect. ~ Siraj
The human is flawed due to how we have misused our emotions for “pleasure over pain” throughout our lifetime. Once that mechanism was set into play, life as we know it was born – everything became based in “right” over “wrong” and “good” over “bad.” This has done a great deal of damage, causing us to become divided and “goal oriented.” Few people question this, much less challenging the premise in an effort to move beyond it all.
So many live in the futility of trying to “better” themselves by thinking that they are in a “self improvement” lifetime where adoration and “love” are the rewards earned if they achieve some sort of human accomplishment.
Here is the bottom line…YOU ARE LOVE. That is it. Live from this Love and life will respond in kind. For the Love of your life…LET LOVE LIVE YOU.
