The Search for Perfection

 

 

 

 

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.