Quiet Perfection

When one strives to cultivate perfect character and virtue in their lives on a moment-to-moment basis without seeking recognition or reward for their efforts, one is practicing what I call Quiet Perfection.  Few people understand and fewer still will ever attempt it.  Some think they understand and call it religion.  This is not merely religion.  This is nothing less than an individual search for direct mystical contact with The Truth.

We will talk about realizations, but what does it mean to realize?  To realize means to make real in your experience.  It is a level of understanding that exceeds belief and surpasses knowledge.  It comes from direct contact with The Source.   

Are you familiar with the statement perception is reality?  What this means is that the things that happen to you in life are not your reality.  What you think about those things, how you perceive and then judge them, is your reality.  This applies to things that happen to you and around you.  It applies to the people you know and meet.  It applies to everything in your life.  The judgments we make about the things that happen and the people we know determine our reality.  If something happens and you judge it and then label it as bad, then it is bad in your reality.  If you judge it and then label it as good, then it is good in your reality.

Did you know that all the unhappiness you’ve ever experienced in your life has been caused by the same thing?  Your desire for things to be other than they are.  Did you know that every time you’ve ever been angry with someone it was because you had an expectation of them (perhaps unrealistic, or worse, uncommunicated) that they didn’t meet?

What happens when we learn to stop judging and labeling?  What happens when we let go of our expectations? If perception is reality, you can change your reality simply by changing your perception.  

To practice Quiet Perfection is to learn a new way to perceive and process information.  Technically, it’s not new.  It’ll be new to you, but it is actually the way it was always supposed to be.  In fact, it’s not new to you, either.  You already know everything I’m going to tell you, you’ve just covered it all up or forgotten it.  All you have to do is either uncover it or remember it.

What are the characteristics (or principles) that make up Quiet Perfection?  What are we trying to cultivate?  The basics are compassion, humility, generosity, patience and forgiveness.  We hope to make real in our experience the Truth of the Oneness of Being.  We work towards complete selflessness.  The bottom line is the Universe is already perfect, both the way it is and the way it isn’t.  All we need to do is see the truth of that statement and then live it.  Just because the goal may be impossible (or is it?), doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try.

Quiet Perfection is not just to be studied or learned.  It is to be practiced.  Meditation is the driving range and putting green of life.  It is where we practice.  But the good players know that the most valuable lessons are learned on the course.  We practice there, too.

So how do we practice Quiet Perfection?  We meditate.  We contemplate.  We pray.  We learn how to breathe and we learn how to pay attention.  Then we forget what we’ve learned so we can remember what we’ve forgotten.  We read the words of the wise ones who’ve preceded us and shown us the way.  We preach with our lives, not just our words.  Is it simple?  Yes.  Is it easy?  It can be, but that is up to you.

   Step 1 – Repent

   Step 2 – Be Still

   Step 3 – Express Loving Kindness

   Step 4 – Have Faith

There is nothing revolutionary about this.  It is not new.  This is the exact same thing that all the enlightened teachers have always said.  It is quite simple, but not necessarily easy.

   Step 1 – Repent

Repentance as I use it means a willingness to change your mind.  About everything.  It is a desire to drop all of your opinions and beliefs and become completely open to new and different ideas.  It is the admittance that you are wrong about a lot of things, if not everything.  This includes both your actions and your thoughts.  It in no way implies guilt or shame of any kind.  You are already forgiven. A man, a perfect man, The Perfect Man, sacrificed His life for your forgiveness. Not only did He accept this horrifying death willingly, He actually chose it, and then caused it!

For you!

For your salvation!

For your right and ability to know the Truth as he knew, taught , and demonstrated it!

You must simply accept the fact that the way you think is not the way our Creator thinks, and that in order to find happiness you must learn to think like the Creator.  The Creator that resides within you. The Creator you already are!

There is Nothing to be afraid of. There is Nothing to fear. Consciousness, Spirit, Your Essence is immortal. This is already true. You just need to change your perspective in order to realize it.

   Step 2 – Be Still

Learning to be still is by far the most difficult thing a human will ever attempt to do.  It is the single greatest adventure we will ever experience.  It can be likened to a battle.  Spirit vs. Ego.  God vs. Satan.  Light vs. Dark.  Jesus said He came carrying a sword.  This battle is what His sword is for.  It is a fight without violence and the sword is Love, with Love defined as unconditional acceptance of What Is.

Stillness tills the soil in which the seed of Spirit will awaken and grow.  Your ego will recognize that Spirit’s growth equals ego’s death.  It will fight, if you let it.

The stillness we are looking for is one of Body, Mind and Spirit.  It can be accomplished in many ways, but the most direct is through meditation and prayer.  I recommend a form of mindfulness meditation beginning on the breath with awareness spreading to the entire being.  Mindful, not repetitive, reciting of inspirational or holy passages or prayers is also very beneficial.  The Lord’s Prayer and The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi are excellent.  One should attempt to sit silently in this manner for 10 to 20 minutes per day.

Shinzen Young has a formula I’d like to share with you.  He claims that

ORDINARY EXPERIENCE + MINDFULNESS + EQUANIMITY = INSIGHT & PURIFICATION. 

It is in meditation where we learn how to be truly aware (mindful) and we learn the true meaning of equanimity.  You can perhaps understand the meanings of the words without meditating, but you will never gain direct knowledge of (or experience the power behind) them.  When you’ve experienced this power, and you apply it to ordinary experience, it will lead to insight and purification.  Insight is direct knowledge of the deeper workings of God and The Universe.  Purification is the cleansing that comes with the realization that each and every one of us is holy and divine.  In fact, we are all the same thing.  As Dr. Edward Taub says, “We are each as connected to God as the sun’s rays are connected to the sun.”  A Buddhist might say that, although there are many waves, they are all made of the same water.  Here are some other realizations you may make:

 
I don’t want to go into great detail here because it isn’t necessary.  All you’ll ever need to know already exists within you.  It is programmed into the DNA in every cell and molecule in your body.  It is part of the collective human psyche.  We don’t learn anything new in stillness.  We simply remember.  If you search deeply enough, you will see the Truth of these words. 

Here I must offer a word of caution.  This is the work of a physical lifetime.  Do not expect results right away.  In fact, one of the deeper insights is that it is best not to expect results at all.  Doing it because it is what we are supposed to do should be your sole motivation.  There can be no disappointment when there is no expectation.  There can be no failure when there is no goal.

   Step 3 – Express Loving Kindness

So what happens when you comprehend The Oneness of Being.  We express loving kindness.  All you have to do is be yourself.  Let the knowledge and power you have come in contact with flow effortlessly out of you.

We will use meditation and prayer to cultivate qualities of compassion, generosity, humility, forgiveness and patience, and we will demonstrate these qualities in our day-to-day, moment-to moment lives.  To some it may appear as if we are simple minded or childlike.  Good!  That is, in fact, exactly how we are supposed to be. 

 -  Compassion is the ability to see things from a point of view other than your own.  To be compassionate means you attempt to see the truth in what others are saying.  It is the ability to accept another’s opinion without defending your own.  Compassion is the desire to understand how someone else feels as opposed to the desire to have your feelings understood.  We should be compassionate toward everyone and everything.  (You may not see how this will benefit you right away, but it will)  Being compassionate towards complete strangers is one of the most purifying things there is.

-  Generosity is sometimes misunderstood.  It is a what’s mine is yours attitude and so much more.  It involves the realization that there is really nothing you can “possess” or “own.”  With this understanding it becomes easier to give things away.  The best form of generosity, however, doesn’t involve material or physical things.  It does not involve money or cars or jewelry.  These things are O.K. if you have the financial resources to be generous in this way, but there is another, even more cleansing way to be generous.  I call it being generous with kind thoughts.  After sitting in meditation for some time, we begin to realize just how judgmental we are.  We have a tendency to compare everything against our own standards and beliefs.  This leads to judgmental thoughts and eventually negative actions or emotions.  When we abandon comparative thinking, we can replace it with kind, accepting thoughts.  These thoughts lead to positive actions and emotions.  Best of all, kind thoughts are absolutely free and there is no end to the supply of them.  Learn to think kind thoughts about everyone and everything.  Simply wish others happiness.  Kind actions will follow.

- Humility is to do your absolute one hundred percent best at all times without hope or expectation of recognition or reward.  To be humble is to draw no attention to your self.  No credit can be taken from one who claims no credit.  Humble people don’t argue for to argue is to attempt to prove another wrong.  Humble people cling very loosely to their opinions and don’t feel the need to share them unless the audience is interested.  They have no desire to force their opinions on any one else.

- Forgiving means allowing people to make mistakes and not hold it against them.  It is to not get angry when someone inconveniences you.  Forgiving means not to seek revenge, no matter how large the perceived harm.  It means to not hold grudges.  Forgiving means assuming that people can and will change, perhaps because of your example. 

- Patience comes with the understanding that time is an illusion.  It allows us to slow down.  To consciously slow down, in all aspects of our lives, is one of the biggest stress reducers there is.  I mean slowing down the pace at which we walk, talk, think, eat, read, drive, work, etc.  Slowing down allows us to be mindful.  It fosters a sense of calm peace deep within us.  What do I mean by time is an illusion?  There is neither a beginning nor and end to it.  There is only eternity.  Time is just man’s way of measuring spots along eternity.  It is a great measuring tool, but the reality is there is only right now unfolding moment by moment.  Ask yourself this question, “What time was it when anything ever happened to you in the past?”  The answer is now.  “What time will it be when anything happens to you in the future?”  The answer is now.  “What time was it before humans existed?”  It was Now.  Start living in the now.  If not now, when?  This understanding of Now, strangely enough, breeds patience.  Since Now lasts forever, there is no need to hurry.

Expressing loving kindness is selflessness.  It is loving thine enemies.  It is loving thy neighbor as thyself.  It is doing unto others as you would have them do unto you.  It is the effortless expression of unconditional acceptance of everyone and everything.  It is the end of ego and the end of suffering.

   Step 4 – Have Faith

 
I know what your thinking.  If I begin to express these qualities, people will walk all over me.  Wrong.  Have faith. 

When you begin to express loving kindness you will be going with the flow of nature.  Your life will begin to flow smoothly along.  Your Father knows your needs and it is his good pleasure to give them to you.  The Holy Spirit will go before you and make the crooked places straight.  The Universe is exactly the way it is supposed to be.  It is perfect both the way it is and the way it isn’t.  When you get in the flow you will see how effortless life can be.  Your life will naturally simplify.  Your health will improve.  You will have more energy.  You will be a better spouse and a better parent.  A better boss and a better employee.  You will become a fully evolved human, an enlightened spirit, a sage, a saint.  But no one else can do it for you.  These words only point in a direction.  You must explore this for yourself to find the truth.  There is a lot of help available, but only you can sit down and be still.  Only you can change your thoughts. Only you can fully realize your potential.  Never forget, every step we take on this Earth has a meaning and a purpose.  

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