The World's Imperfections Are Our Imperfections

Early in his magnificent account of his experiences in Tibet in the 30s and 40s before the invasion of the Chinese, The Way of the White Clouds, Lama Anagarika Govinda (born Ernst Hoffman in Germany in 1898) recounts his guru's teachings on the essence and foundation of the spiritual path from a Buddhist foundation. I've seen no better summary, and I re-read it often to remind myself what I need to work on. Especially the part about imperfections.

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However, one should never forget that in every living being, bodhicitta is present as a potentiality (I, therefore, rather prefer to call it a "spark" of enlightenment-consciousness than a "thought" of enlightenment, which only arises when this latent spark becomes fully conscious) and that only our own blindness prevents us from recognising this. The greater our imperfections, the more we are inclined to see the faults of others, while those who have gained deeper insight can see through these faults into their essential nature. Therefore the greatest among men were those who recognised the divine qualities in their fellow-beings and were always ready to respect even the lowliest among them.

As long as we regard ourselves superior to others or look down upon the world, we cannot make any real progress. As soon, however, as we understand that we live in exactly that world which we deserve, we shall recognize the faults of others as our own --- though they may appear in different form. It is our own karma that we live in this ``imperfect" world, which in the ultimate sense is our own creation. This is the only attitude which can help us to overcome our difficulties, because it replaces fruitless negation by an impulse towards self-perfection, which not only makes us worthy of a better world but partners in its creation.

The Guru then went on to explain some of the preconditions and preliminary exercises of meditation for bringing about this positive and creative attitude: Unselfish love and compassion towards all living beings was, according to him, the first prerequisite of meditation, as it removed all self-created emotional and intellectual limitations; and in order to gain that attitude one should look upon all beings like a mother looks upon her own children, since there was not a single being in the universe that in the infinity of time had not been closely related to us in one way or the another. In order to be conscious of the preciousness of time one should realise that any moment might be the last of this life and that the opportunity which it offer might not come again easily. Finally he pointed out that what we learned from books about meditation was not comparable with the direct transmission of experience and the spiritual impetus that facing a Guru could give us, if we open ourselves to him in all sincerity.

- From The Way of the White Clouds, by Lama Anagarika Govinda