Perfection in Creation

Perfection in creation


We are born perfect. The home we are born in, the date, time and even the physical appearance are not determined by us or our parents. All these factors are pre-determined because our contribution to humanity happens best from there on. Given a choice, every person would want to be born in a palace with all material comforts and happiness. No one would want to be born on the street and have a life of poverty and misery.

I would like to narrate how a rebellious person transformed into powerful leader. His grandmother died upon the birth her son and his grandfather sadly blamed his son for the death of his wife. He denied his son love and affection. The son grew up into a strong and successful businessman, with incompleteness in his heart. He never knew how to express love freely because he was not comfortable with expression of love. This had a ripple effect on the next generation – the leader perceived his father’s distant behavior as his own inadequacy and grew into a rebel. Later in life, an understanding of the dynamics of his family relationships made him aware of the impact in his life. Today he supports hundreds of people with his compassion and courage to re-discover and love themselves.

Essentially, you can either live your entire life on the foundation of “Why Me” or confront the loop and seek to change that pattern. Was being born to an unexpressive father his fault? Did he choose to be born there? Of course, not! The stronger the grip of fears, the more difficult we make it for ourselves to receive or give love. We are too scared to receive. Once again our fear of rejection or our fear of getting disappointed prevents us from giving openly.

Our actions are a reflection of our desires to obtain the love of another person. We are able to express and love freely when we feel safe and secure or rather when there are no fears. Fears grip our life and create barriers. We live our entire life surrounded by fears and that is the highest energy that we absorb. There is fear of not looking pretty or handsome, fear of not being accepted (ie rejection) in society, fear of not being accepted by our own parents, fear of looking like a fool, fear of losing money, fear of discrimination, fear of health and above all fear of death.

Fear is as much a reality as is love. We live through our fears and miss out on the potential love in our life. We express fear by being judgmental in our day to day inter-action. Our fears make us perceive ourselves as imperfect. We attempt to create perfection in ourselves by either looking more beautiful or over-working ourselves. We equate physical beauty and hard work as expressions of perfections. Nature is perfect as it is. You cannot change the way you were created. What you can change is the way you think about yourself.

When we see imperfections in ourselves, we only look at the imperfections of another for solace. It helps us love ourselves better. We spend our life trying to change what we cannot, till we discover and accept the perfection in our creation.

We are not imperfect. It’s our perception of “Self” that makes us appear as imperfect. Our surroundings create the myth of imperfection and we continuously strive towards perfection. It’s a perfect design of God to make mankind work hard to invent technology, write literary jewels, paint masterpieces, play melodious music, cook delicious food and so on. All these creations enrich our life. We are own critique and admirer. Self criticism makes us achieve or resign in life and self admiration makes us confident or arrogant. It’s a challenge to maintain the balance between achievement and confidence sans arrogance. Similarly, resignation and cynicism lead to inaction or under-utilization of potential.

For example, a parent who has lived a life of financial struggle suffocates himself with the fear of failure and often pressurizes his child with the deep desire to overcome that imperfection. Consequently, the child is unable to discover his true medium of expression and lives his life only fulfilling his parents’ expectations. His self discovery remains incomplete despite the parents’ best intentions. The deepest desire to discover oneself is often suppressed by the desire to fulfill the expectations of the world rather than design a life of freedom.

We get obsessively attached to our own concept of perfection and the balance in life gets tipped. We then look for ways and means to correct that balance. That perfect child is now perceived as an imperfect adult. We need to re-discover that perfection. Our sufferings are reminders of our true purpose of life. We evolve with each experience. Freely sharing and giving happiness to those who see themselves as less perfect, is the least we can do.

Life is surrounded by dualities. Life and death. Sunrise and sunset. Grasslands and deserts. Oceans and land. Rain and drought. Similarly, there are dualities in day to day life. Rich and poor. Old and young. Happy and sad. Tears and smiles. Ignorance and knowledge. Fear and love are two such similar aspects. Our fear makes us seek out knowledge and grow. Love makes us help others grow and love ourselves. We see them yet we do not understand the significance of these dualities. The biggest gift that we can give to anyone is the confidence to embrace their fears. Knowledge is the best form of contribution and it gives people the strength to love themselves.

How do we overcome fear and embrace love? Courage!! It takes tremendous courage to be live according to principles such as honesty and justice. The fear of isolation and being denied by society weakens the mind to succumb. It requires discipline to walk on the path of Truth and although we often deter from the path, we have the power to re-create and walk stronger.

Courage is the tool that supports us to discover ourselves. Mahatma Gandhi was an epitome of courage. It was his courage, the leadership that gave access to people to discover their right to live independently. “I want freedom for the full expression of my personality.” ~~ Mahatma Gandhi. It was that awareness and acceptance of Self that gave him the courage to express freely. Mahatma Gandhi was neither tall, nor handsome, nor did he come from a rich or influential family. “To find Truth completely is to realize oneself and one's destiny, i.e., to become perfect. I am painfully conscious of my imperfections, and therein lies all the strength I posses, because it is a rare thing for a man to know his own limitations.”

Our life is surrounded by material temptations. There are many luxury brands that sell expensive clothes, shoes, jewelry, pens, and artifacts. Brands like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Tiffany, Mont Blanc etc command a cache’ value in the market. The products sell at a premium because these brands acquire a distinction in society through their consistency in quality, marketing and branding techniques.

The level of importance given to such possessions, at times, takes away the pleasure of consumption. Women often want their husbands to buy expensive things for them as an affirmation of love. They confuse gifts with love to the extent that their happiness becomes dependent upon them. Men are expected to woo women with expensive gifts rather than with acts of love. A simple hug which says “I understand your pain” is far more powerful than a 10 carat diamond ring. Whereas, there are many who would say, why can’t I get both?

There is no end to greed. Greed does not satisfy the deeper need for affection and love. I am not saying that there is anything wrong in wearing a diamond ring. The issue of greed versus need arises when that diamond ring becomes more important than the person who gave it you.

The gifts or type of celebration on an anniversary or birthday or child birth become more important than the reason for the celebration. The success of an event takes precedence over the significance of the event. It becomes a socially competitive game. People develop fears of not looking appropriate in society. One-up-manship compels some to buy new clothes for every dinner party, new venue and menu for every occasion and party organizers to perfect the ambience. Fears of non-acceptance overwhelm many people. The desire to “fit in” weakens the mind and causes people to build their life on others’ whims rather than on personal beliefs.

Mahatma Gandhi said, “That voice within tells me, ‘You’ have to stand against the whole world although you may have to stand alone. You have to stare in the face the whole world although the world may look at you with blood-shot eyes. Do not fear. Trust the little voice residing within your heart."