I have a friend in Australia who recently wrote to me that she couldn’t imagine me feeling nervous or lacking confidence after reviewing my accomplishments. It was very sweet of her to project such perfection on to me; I just wish that it were true! I’m afraid that no one who knows me personally would accuse me of being an enlightened master!
What I do know, however, is that I am growing. I am quicker to forgive, to love, and very slow to judge. I am always trying to chip away at the excess external personality layer stuff—which is not the truth about me. The truth about me, as with all of us, is the God within.
Michelangelo said that the Pieta was inside the marble, he just had to chip away at the excess. When people talk about Jesus being a combination of the human and the divine, it seems he was operating from the divine perfection, rather than the human personality.
I once worked in a residential treatment facility where there was a little girl who had a mad crush on a little boy. She affirmed everyday, “He loves me, he doesn’t know it, but he loves me!” While this seemed to be a positive perception, as her psychotherapist, I was concern about her being emotionally hurt. She had had many losses and I felt protective of her. The little boy in question was completely unaccustomed to outpourings of unconditional love and he would often say cruel things about her behind her back. Later, he began to tolerate her and she continued to love him. I felt his tolerating of her affection to be a healthy step in his learning to love and trust again. She was able to see him as he truly was—a beautiful person and child of God. Her recognition of his perfection was a powerful force.
We may want to try an exercise that I always find amazingly transforming. Think of others and send them love—this is the practice of Namaste (the God in me salutes the God in you). It can be especially powerful when we utilize it with those who irritate us. When you are around others, silently give each person a Namaste blessing. This is transformative way to embrace our own perfection as well.
