The biggest defeating hindrance is the very idea of achieving perfection. Since the world around us is a dynamic entity, we cannot aim to achieve a static state. Hence, perfection should be a dynamic state. In other words, one should live perfectly in all walks of life / tasks / fields, etc. One should literally breathe perfection! That is the only way to achieve it...
Lets take a simple example. I bit my tongue the other day, and was badly in pain for 2 days. But after that the pain subsided. However, there was a nagging feeling sometimes, and I decided to go to the doctor. He told me that the wound had worsened, as I had not taken any medication. When I told him the reason for not coming - the pain receding, he told me that the body adapts to anything. If one part pains repeatedly, the nerve will send the same signals faithfully, but the brain will learn to suppress them from the conscious mind. Hence, one feels the nagging only when idle.
In the same manner, the world & we are continuously adapting to the ongoing events, leading to change in situation at any given moment of time. Hence, the definition of perfection is also changing with every moment. The change could be either in the course or higher or lower levels of achievement. But of all things: it can never be static!
So, when we decide to be perfect, we are actually assigning ourselves to a lifelong task. For this very reason if we try to extract happiness from one act, we lose it over some time as the world has changed and the situation has changed. Our past achievement does not hold any value in the new order of things!
So, if the reason for perfection is to be happy: our rishi-munis were right in professing detachment, the only way to stay away from the dynamics of the world, and set one's own order of things. If the reason is achievement, you are doomed to a life of struggle!!! Its not so bad! Some people enjoy struggle!!!!
Whenever I finish a post to my satisfaction, Muffazza's words come ringing at the back of my head: what is the essence of this post? Is there a conclusion?
So my two cents worth: perfection is about trying the best of one's ability at every step of life, either that or nothing!
I'm sure Jun's gonna butcher this one!!!!!!
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3 comments:
hmmm, hmmm......
i totally agree with you that the concept of perfection is largely misunderstood by ppl as a "goal" instead of "a way of life" as a saying goes..
its incredible how much our surrounding language, creates myths, and affects our intelligence and values. (stuff like assuming that perfection = quality = achievement = happiness. )
our so called pursuit of happiness by our so called state of perfection) is just another urban legend bubble thats just waiting to burst.
b.t.w. would like to comment on your last line regarding perfection and giving ur best
incidently :
it always irks me when i hear ppl say "i gave it my best shot" ----
when i was in my early 20s i had always wanted to shake these ppl up and shout "WELL SON, UR BEST ISNT GOOD ENOUGH!!! NOW FORGET WHAT UR LIMITS ARE AND ACHIEVE WHAT IS NECESSARY, NOT WHAT'S POSSIBLE...TRY HARDER (i especiall had this problem as NASA-Sec"... )
As Pirsig himself puts it, better, in ZAMM - the word isnt 'best' but 'better'
im adding two quotes from divergent sources, that you might like
"Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way ;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day. "
-A Psalm of Life(Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
and of course Master Lee
""If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them."
-Bruce Lee
hope u like them
jun
profound as ever! & yes, with my eyes now opened i agree my last statement is misplaced. Maybe it should read:
"Perfection is about pushing one's best ability to the next level at every moment in life...."
those quotes are quite apt...
Mufaazaa's two cents on the post:
I encountered an interesting situation a couple of days back. My boss and I'd a meeting that lasted for the better part of two hours and we were reviewing a proposal. In course of that discussion, I observed two things about him. He was brilliant in his analysis, and his attention to details left a lot to be desired. On recounting the experience with my dad, he gave me some food-for-thought. He said, in every organization, there are two kinds of profiles. The perfectionists and the achievers. You see, the graph of effort vs. achievement is linear upto 75-85% of the endeavor; In the last 15-25%, the law of diminishing marginal returns applies, with the same unit of achievement requiring manifolds of effort than it did earlier. Now, the entrepreneur/achiever takes that call - at what stage does he stop after this last 15-25% has started. In the analogy for my boss, his analysis had achieved 80% of the job, and he was willing to trade - off the remaining 15% so as to entrust his time to something that gave him higher returns. Hence, in my opinion, the issue should not be whether one achieves perfection or not. It should be an analysis of the correlation between the efforts and the returns for the efforts.
Lovely post!!!!
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