The Completing Discourses of the 25-Year Revelation – Table of Contents
The Search for Perfection
June 27, 1995
On June 20 and June 21 Beloved Adi Da Gave the two-evening Discourse, “The Dual Sensitivity That Leads You to Me” (published in The Free Daist, Second Quarter, 1995). During this Discourse, He summarized the Divine Awakening Process in His Company, which, He affirmed, begins with the humblest recognition of the limitations and suffering inherent in conditional life.
By late June, devotees were astounded by the profundity of the effect Beloved Adi Das Discourses were having on them. They felt that something about the search for conditional fulfillment had been broken, and they were actively “considering” the implications of life and practice from the standpoint of transcending, rather than seeking to fulfill, the tendencies of the body-mind. Still, the egos search for conditional perfection is persistent, and Beloved Adi Da forcefully addressed this tendency (and the underlying philosophy that governs it) in a series of gatherings at the end of June. His summary remarks on this matter came on the night of June 27, during a gathering that took place under unusual circumstances.
While Beloved Adi Da gathered with a small group of devotees in His Bedroom at Aham Da Asmi Sthan, the remaining residents and retreatants huddled around two phone rooms-one at Do Me Some Good (at Da Avatara Chakra) and the other in the Qaravi Communications office. Questions to Beloved Adi Da and His responses to devotees were relayed over the phone via a spokesperson. Following is an excerpt from that night.
DEVOTEE: Beloved ,in the last few days, You have Instructed us Gracefully about our uninspected presumptions that Spiritual advancement and Realization have to do with some kind of perfection or perfectibility. And that paints a false idea of what the Way of the Heart is truly about. This perfection seems as pervasive and addictive as the presumption of the victim-consciousness. What is the right understanding of this root-motive toward perfection that would correct our practice of the Way of the Heart?
ADI DA SAMRAJ: The essential basis for the search for perfection of the body-mind or conditional existence is egoic identification with the body-mind and conditional existence. That is essentially what it is about clearly. Bound to the body-mind and to conditional existence you want it to turn out to be perfect, be a condition of eternity and Happiness altogether. So when you “consider” or otherwise practice the religious life you do so to begin with on an egoic basis. And therefore you imagine that the process must involve some progressive and then ultimate perfection of the conditions to which you are bound.
The Way of the Heart is founded on a fundamental criticism and understanding of egoity itself; and therefore of all the searches associated with egoity. If there is that understanding, then the search for perfection goes along with the identification with egoity itself-disappears along with it.
But ways that are based on egoity rather than the direct transcendence of it, still continue to idealize conditional existence in one form or another. And so their approach to religious life is associated with an impulse to transform conditional existence along idealized lines. So in those rather conventional or ego-based ways various kinds of developmental or evolutionary results are sought-such as immortality of the body or passage to higher or idealized planes of conditional existence or the development of unique powers of one kind or another and so on. These then become the specific goals of the various forms of evolutionary or ego-based sadhana.
And this is so both in the domain of exoteric religion and esoteric religion. So in the exoteric domain there is the pursuit of some idealized heaven-like plane after death. Or as in the Christian tradition, what is looked for is some grand ultimate event, in which all the dead are brought back to life and judged. And those who are judged to be righteous or deserving are then immortalized. And the entire world is immortalized and so on. In the esoteric domain, the ends I just described a few moments ago are the typical ones.
DEVOTEE: Beloved when You speak of immortality-for example from the Christian point of view that life is immortal . .
ADI DA SAMRAJ: Well I just described two forms of immortality. In the Christian view, it is a matter of universal resurrection, immortalizing of conditional existence as a totality. In esoteric traditions (in the Taoist tradition for example) there is the pursuit of individual physical immortality. There are recent examples of this kind of idealism. Sri Aurobindo is an example of that in the twentieth century.
In the traditions, one or even several kinds of conditional goals is or are regarded to be equivalent to Realization Itself, or otherwise necessarily associated with Realization. In the Way of the Heart there is no conditional goal whatsoever. The Way of the Heart is about direct transcendence of egoity. And this becomes ultimate or most perfect transcendence of egoity in the seventh stage of life. So no conditional goal of any kind is proposed to be Ultimate Realization or indicated to be necessarily associated with Realization in the Way of the Heart.
DEVOTEE: Relative to the urge to perfection, it seems like it is at the very core of the self-contraction, where the perceived dilemma of existence is approached or is seen as a problem. And from there it is the basic approach of Alpha and Omega, and both see the dilemma of existence as it manifests. This imperfection of phenomenal existence is epitomized in the stark fact of death. And both Alpha and Omega proceed from that dilemma of imperfection trying to perfect their problem, each in a unique way.
ADI DA SAMRAJ: Or otherwise to pursue some condition or other that is presumed to be perfection on the basis of the problem. And that goal then becomes the ideal toward which the search is directed.
This is not only done in the religious life, it is done in other aspects of life more ordinary and therefore not specifically religious. Wherever there is seeking, there is the idealization of some sort of goal, some sort of condition. In ordinary emotional-sexual terms, then, people pursue the perfect “other” and the perfect relationship with that “other”. And then they also dream of its externalization somehow, through reunion after death and so on. Or some people these days, for instance, might have themselves cryogenically frozen so they can be scientifically resurrected at some future date and be joined again in this world. So that is an example of the same kind of pursuit that is otherwise projected in the religious context.
In the realm of the arts, there is the pursuit of beauty as a kind of perfection-pursuit of some kind of perfection in the artwork itself. People pursue immortality of a kind through fame, or through their children – a kind of reproductive immortality or eternity and so on.
DEVOTEE: This search for perfection, Beloved, as You just indicated, is manifest in all realms of life. And it seems like people are capable of stopping short in their search for perfection instead of going all the way to the extremes of either Alpha or Omega. You get caught up in a specific aspect. Like, for example, what You just mentioned relative to the perfection of emotional-sexual relationships, or social relationships. I have a question relative to the urge to perfection altogether. Earlier on, I mentioned the matter of the perceived dilemma, and proceeding either toward the Alpha or Omega course. It seems to me that this urge to perfection is at least partially based on an intuition of a perfect reality in which everything is manifested. And that intuition is then confused with the Real Perfection of the Divine Reality, rather than of the phenomenal appearances.
ADI DA SAMRAJ: Yes, so what about it? Of course, there is a basic intuition of the Divine Reality, because this appearance is only an apparent modification of It. But when there is self-contraction, the Knowledge of the Realization of the True Divine (and Inherently Perfect) Condition is lost, in itself. And then it gets mixed up with all of the phenomenal associations of the egoic personality. The search then takes place as a process directed toward phenomenal conditions-especially toward phenomenal conditions that are idealized as the Ultimate Goal.
But those idealized conditions are not Perfect. They are only presumed to be in the idealistic mind. In general, they are not real potential conditions. They are just imagined potential conditions. So they are never attained, but always just sought. And until there is true understanding and the real process of transcending the ego, these illusions or imagined goals, and the searches that pursue them, continue.
Another possibility is that they may be despaired of. And then the search sort of still lies there in a sulk, depressed and frustrated, but still without any great understanding. So most of seeking becomes associated with immediately realizable goals, immediate satisfaction, or the satisfaction that can be realized relatively short-term-like ice cream, or sex, and so on. And that is sort of another kind of illusion-temporary satisfaction indulged in as if it is some sort of great attainment. And then it gets repeated over and over again, and ceases to satisfy. And in any case, it does not last.
DEVOTEE: Beloved, You just spoke about the search for perfection, and also the despair of it, and also the matter of instant gratification that most people resort to. But there is always a time-lag between the perceived incompleteness and the search for completeness. . .
ADI DA SAMRAJ: You mean the attainment?
DEVOTEE: Yes, the attainment.
ADI DA SAMRAJ: Mm-hm.
DEVOTEE: Whereas, in the seventh stage Realization, the time-lag is totally obviated. That is one of the principal mistakes that we make-that we are always seeking for perfection of that moment and that is always delayed.
ADI DA SAMRAJ: Well, the search is always into time, or space-time. It goes beyond the present moment because the present moment is the moment in which self-contraction and dissatisfaction are experienced. When there is the Realization of That Which is Inherently Perfect, then there is no self-contraction and no dissatisfaction in the present-so to speak “present”, because it is not a matter of finding perfection in the present as a moment of time. Time itself is transcended, and space.
DEVOTEE: Thank You very much, Beloved.
ADI DA SAMRAJ: Another kind of misunderstanding that you all express from time to time, is relative to the seventh stage of life itself. You sometimes think of the seventh stage of life as a return to conditional existence, and entrance into a conditional process. And you think of that conditional process in terms of the four demonstration stages of the seventh stage of life-Divine Transfiguration, Divine Transformation, Divine Indifference, and Divine Translation. You think of this as a kind of phenomenal (or conditional) process that comes about as a result of a return to conditional existence.
Now I have had to correct you on this point numerous times. I have a feeling you still do not quite understand Me. When there is fullest entrance into the second stage of the “Perfect Practice”, there is never again any return to conditional existence. In other words, in the transition to the third stage of the “Perfect Practice”, or the seventh stage of life, there is no return to conditional existence. Instead, there is Most Perfect identification with the Divine Self-Condition. The last gesture of egoity, or that which is a sign of sadhana based on egoity, or the search to escape egoity – however it may be described – that last sign, which is the strategic exclusion of conditional existence, is transcended.
But this does not mean that Consciousness returns to conditional existence via Amrita Nadi. Consciousness does not, once again, identify with attention and then all of the proceeding faculties of the body-mind then become re-attached to conditional existence. That is not what happens. It does not happen at all. Consciousness does not return. It abides as Itself, Inherently and Most Perfectly.
So what appears to be in association with conditional existence, in the case of a seventh stage Realizer, is just a perception or a presumption from the point of view of others who are yet bound to conditional existence, who exist in the knot of egoity, identified with attention, the body-mind, and the play of conditional existence. For the seventh stage Realizer, it is not so. Consciousness Abides, Self-Existing and Self-Radiant, as It Is . That is the seventh stage Realization.
The seventh stage Demonstration then, is not based on a return to conditional existence. It is a Demonstration based on Inherent Identification with the Divine Self-Condition, and perpetual Abiding as such. It is perpetual Samadhi, unbroken Samadhi, not held in place by any condition whatsoever.
There is the paradox, then, of Divine Recognition in the seventh stage of life, as compared to the sixth stage of life in the Way of the Heart. The Process of Identification with the Ultimate Self-Condition is expressed through Divine Recognition. Whereas, in the sixth stage case, it is expressed through relinquishment of conditional existence, exclusion of it in a process of more and more profound identification with the Ultimate Self-Condition. In both cases however, fundamentally, there is simply identification with the Ultimate Self-Condition. In the sixth stage case, it is done through the mechanism of apparent exclusion of conditional existence. And in the seventh stage case, it is done through the process of Divine Recognition of merely apparent condition, existence.
There is nothing to be transcended in the seventh stage case, nothing to be excluded. And in fact, there is no “event”, except for That of the Divine Self-Condition Itself. The things arising are merely an appearance in the seventh stage case. And even to say that is not quite correct. Truly, from the “Point of View” of the seventh stage Realization, there is no “thing” that arises. To say that conditions apparently arise is a paradox, or a paradoxical statement, because even though, in some paradoxical sense, that may be said to be true, in the instant of the apparent arising, whatever arises is Inherently Recognized to be nothing but the Divine Self-Condition Itself. Therefore, only the Divine Self-Condition is Realized in the seventh stage of life. And Divine Recognition is the demonstration of that.
The only Realization, and the only “experience”, so to speak, in the seventh stage of life, is the Divine Self-Condition, Self-Existing and Self-Radiant. There is no “thing” that arises apart from that, or over against it. There is just that.
So, yes, there is this apparent Demonstration of the four epochs of the seventh stage of life. But it is merely an appearance and a paradox. Truly, there is nothing but Samadhi. And therefore, in truth, there is not the slightest difference between Divine Translation and any of the three epochs that precede it. So the seventh stage Awakening is the Awakening to the Eternal, Unconditional, and Unconditioned Samadhi, or Divine Self-Realization.
So even your understanding or your presumption about the seventh stage of life tends to be conditioned by egoity and the identification with conditional existence. This is so until the actual Realization of the seventh stage of life, which is nothing but the Realization of Divine Samadhi.
So just as you, prior to Most Perfect Realization, tend to seek, and tend to project yourself toward, conditional goals, your interpretations of the seventh stage of life are likewise conditioned or subject to misinterpretation or misunderstanding. The correct view is the one I just described to you. That is the correct view of the seventh stage of life.
Just so, the correct view of the entire process of the Way is different from the view of it made by the ego and the ego-mind in its identification with conditional existence. So you often tend to make errors, then, in your interpretation (or understanding, even) of the process in the stages previous to the seventh. So I have helped you to correct some of these errors in discussions in recent days, and in fact, for all these twenty-three years.
And among those errors is the tendency to associate any transition in this Way with the achievement of some kind of conditional state or goal-called “Perfect” or “advanced” or whatever. You tend to presume transitions must be associated with certain idealized conditions or states-including various behavioral signs and so on. Whereas none of the transitions are correctly so characterized. The transitions are events in the process of the transcendence of egoity. And, therefore, they are about more and more profound advances in the process of transcending the ego and entering into identification with the Divine Self-Condition.
Now, it is certainly appropriate to examine conditions, or what people do and so on, in the process of evaluating them relative to transitions. But it is not a matter of looking for ideal conditions, or states of perfection, or perfect fulfillment of behavioral norms and so forth. The principal judgement is always relative to the core of the practice and signs of the core becoming or being more profound. Anything that can be conditionally observed or that is of a conditional nature, can be taken into account and often must be – but not because some perfection is expected, but simply because the reality of that core does express itself in the life of the individual. And that must be observed as a way of becoming serious or taking seriously the fact that the transformations at the core are actually taking place, or have actually taken place. But that is far different than looking for some perfect conditional achievement.
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