Perfection and transcendence

Perfection and transcendence

Perfection in the mental plane has its own form and shape and combination. But if it is in the psychic world and the heart's world, then perfection entirely depends on the soul's ever-illumining, ever-increasing, ever-fulfilling and ever-transcending oneness with the Absolute Supreme.

If we want perfection in the mind or for the mind, then there is a fixed goal. If we can arrive at a particular place on the mental plane, then we feel that we have reached our goal. But if perfection is a finished product, then there is no joy in it. In the heart we feel our identification with the Source. The heart will not be satisfied with anything that is finite. If we do not see or feel the perfection that is in the soul's world, then definitely our idea of perfection will be a finished product before our mental vision. But real perfection is an ever-progressing reality.

A child grows slowly and steadily. At first he cannot even crawl. Then there comes a time when he can crawl and, while crawling, he feels that he can achieve perfection. After some time he starts walking and finally he runs fast, faster, fastest. This is his progress. In the spiritual life, the day we start meditating, even if we meditate only for a fleeting second, I tell you, that day is the beginning of our progress. Our achievement at that time is our sense of perfection. Each time we come one more step out of ignorance and a new vision dawns before us, it is perfection. Anything that lifts up our consciousness is our perfection. Perfection is continuous progress, higher achievement and deeper fulfilment.

We are trying to be in the Infinite, with the Infinite and for the Infinite. Right now we are earth-bound, but we don't want to remain bound; we want to become free. How can we do it? Little by little we have to enter into Infinity itself. When we enter into Infinity, we feel that the Supreme Himself is also progressing. If we say that God is everything, God is infinite, these are just mental terms. With these terms we are only confining ourselves. But if we say that He is always transcending Himself, then we can't bind Him and we can't bind ourselves. If He is always going beyond, beyond, then how can we bind Him? We pray to God because we feel that we are bound and He is not bound. We have one dollar of spiritual wealth and He has billions of dollars, and even that is constantly increasing. Gradually we are trying to increase our limited capacity, but in His case we can't even count His Wealth because it is constantly increasing.

Perfection is continuous progress in the inner life and the outer life. A kindergarten student will consider his perfection to be a Master's degree or a Ph.D. He knows how much more he has to learn before he grows up. But he doesn't give up. He continues to study. If the highest degree is his idea of perfection, then he has to aspire always for more illumining, more fulfilling knowledge. When his inner hunger is constant, then only he feels that he is really getting the message of perfection. His ultimate goal is to complete the university course; right now that is his idea of perfection. But finally, when he completes his university course, he sees how much more he has to learn. Then where is his perfection? His previous perfection is now only the beginning of a new dawn, a new life.

When we compose some beautiful music, we feel that it is perfection. But if we meditate, we see that we can add something to it or go far beyond it. The difficulty is that the human mind always finds it difficult to continue. It doesn't have enough perseverance to go beyond, beyond, beyond its present achievement. It has achieved something and it knows that the world will appreciate it. When we create something, a kind of satisfaction comes from the outer world. If we get human satisfaction, then we don't want to go beyond our achievement because we look around and see that nobody else has come near it. But if it is divine satisfaction, we don't take it as success or glory; we take it as a divine experience. If we get divine satisfaction, then there is an inner urge to go beyond.