Perfectionism
Jeroen
Luminous beings are we, not this crude matterNetherlands Veteran
It strikes me that much of what we do is driven by a kind of perfectionism, and not accepting the world the way it is. I was talking to my stepfather yesterday, he is 83 and he was talking about how much of a mess the British government is making of Brexit. The way he said it made me realise that his underlying motivation was actually that what he wanted was something different. Now this isn’t something he could do anything about, but still he was spending his time and energy reading the bbc website and papers in order to follow what was going on.
We do this in a lot of cases. We get wound up about things that somehow we attach to in our minds. It can be an idea, or some ideal, and in fact, the world often carries on regardless of what we think. Sometimes our perfectionism is about something personal, like health or fitness. But still it is not seeing things clearly.
Comments
Yes, I think the world is messy and grey. The world exists on a continuum, rather than a binary and things are relative and contextual rather than absolute. I think this is what the doctrine of emptiness and interdependence points to.
Whosoever sees the Dependent Origination sees the Dharma
Whosoever sees the Dharma sees Dependent Origination
I blame it all on the five aggregates and their partners in crime, the six sense doors...I wouldn't trust them as far as I can throw them
The other problem as I see it, is that people identify with what they don't like. It was Tim Minchin in a recent talk, that opened my eyes to this. We personify ourselves by the things that irk us... as he described, He realised he was doing this when somebody asked him what kind of music he liked and he replied, negatively, that he doesn't listen to radio, because he doesn't think good songs are being written... then again, someone else, asked what their favourite cuisine was, replying with, "I can't stand this habit of putting balsamic vinegar on everything... " or me, being asked my favourite breed of dog, revealing that those that slobber actually turn my stomach...
We identify with the negative and thus present ourselves in a negative light. If we were instead to focus on what we find to be good about something, it might make us in turn, more detached and more pleasant, focusing on the positive....
Ah ha!
Defined and identifying by the Ideal. I'll join.
The Four Noble Perfections
Which leads to the 8 Fold Wonders
... Thanks Buddha. Nice try.
Perfection is overrated.
In traditional Japanese pottery, the "perfect" put or cup or plate bears a small imperfection. It is perfect because it is imperfect. Accepting that none of us is or can be perfect is itself all the perfection we need - only then will we advance.
Being imperfect myself, I do not require perfection from others. Thus life is much more fun.
Peace to all
I've caught myself in this often. It's good to pick our battles, so to speak because otherwise we fight endlessly or on the other extreme, lose any sense of wonder and inspiration.
On the other hand, we also have the tendency to romanticize our ideas of perfection, putting it out of reach by saying things like "nobody is perfect".
By trying to define perfection, we make it exclusive which screws with us because not only does everybody have unique abilities and perspectives, we have differing ideas on what it is to be perfect.
The way the mundane world goes is perfection and even through limited awareness, beings like us can catch a glimpse of what that is like from time to time.
Interdependence, non-self, causation... we all have something we can all benefit from even if only for another viewpoint. If this was nourished and every person born was able to live up to our full potential, holy smokes.
We all apparently have the potential to be Buddhas but if we all woke up completely right this very moment, I don't think we would see from the same set of eyes. I do think we would see our true nature as being cooperative however and would flourish along with this and any other planet we find hospitable.
@Lionduck, from where I sit you couldn't be imperfect if you tried.
about perfection.do right , feel right.the basis of training in our buddha dharma.it develops a sense of right instinct or appropiate action where we know this is right for us .
dharma takes work,initually.with milage it become integrated in you.in dao-zen,the phraise,he or she is. with you.
perhaps less ideal,and be more real. find true in you.