“Imperfect” means “capable of falling short of my expectations.” So whether or not something is “perfect” depends entirely on my expectations:
If I expect something to be anything other than what it is, I deem it to be “imperfect.”
And then it is.
Before that, no imperfection.
Prior to my arbitrary expectations, everything is exactly as it is.
Only my story of what “should be” can create any possibility of imperfection.
This is almost impossible for me to accept when I am suffering. Because when I’m suffering, I’m stuck in the tragically confused belief that things should NOT be as they are. It feels like an absurdity to say, “The situation that’s causing my suffering should be that way.” It feels like giving in, like siding with the enemy, like surrendering to evil.
But that’s confusion. I’ve innocently got it backwards.
The situation is not causing my suffering, my story about the situation is. What I’m thinking and believing about the situation is the only cause of my suffering. Ever.
What is, prior to my story, is always happening for me. I just miss it when I pre-determine what “should be” in my thoughts and beliefs. When reality doesn’t measure up to my arbitrary and woefully uninformed standards, I go to war with reality and I always lose. Because reality will never take sides against me, even if I do.
I think I’m at war with evil, but the only “evil” in the world is my expectation that anything should be other than it is. The only evil is my judgment, my desire to play God and pre-determine what should and should not be is what is causing all my trouble. My judgment isn’t a response to a bad situation, my judgment IS the bad situation, the very thing that creates my suffering. No situation can be bad except in my judgment. It’s the only place anything ever IS bad.
And that isn’t “evil,” it’s just innocent confusion.
So what do I do when I am suffering and want to return to peace?
I get quiet and examine what I am thinking and believing. I identify a thought that brings me suffering (i.e. “This shouldn’t be happening!”) and I question it in an open-minded, rigorously honest search for the truth.
Is it true?
Can I absolutely know that it’s true?
How do I react - what happens - when I believe that thought?
Who would I be if I could not have the thought?
Could an opposite thought be as true or truer?
When I am done examining my stressful thoughts (assuming I can do it quietly, honestly, and with an open-mind), I recognize my thinking as the source of all imperfection. When I do, my suffering begins to lift and my world begins to shift,