Recently I attended a talk by my friend, colleague, and mentor Ram Dass, who had a stroke in 1997 that impacted his speech. As of this writing, he still spends almost all of his waking moments in a wheelchair, and his lecture lasted approximately 45 minutes. He received a standing ovation at the end, and I personally felt so blessed and blissful by having been in the audience. There are some who might have only seen superficialities—to them, the lecture might have seemed halting and slow because of the stroke, and judged as embarrassing or even intellectually challenging. Much of my dear friend’s time onstage was silent, and it certainly appeared to be awkward in comparison to his earlier speeches, which were always masterful and eloquent. But as I sit here writing, I can only say that because I changed the way I looked at this experience, the entire thing changed for me in a very dramatic way.
While Ram Dass’s words were few, his message was straightforward, laconic, and direct. What might have appeared as unintelligible to others struck me as brilliance masked by circumstance. What could have been viewed as fumbling was articulate and perfect in every way. I heard a great presentation to a loving, receptive crowd that was done largely between long periods of luscious silence. Throughout this lecture, all of the audience members and I 45th Verse remained still and tranquil. As Lao-tzu concludes in this 45th verse of the Tao Te Ching, it “set things in order in [our] universe.”
I can feel the presence of Lao-tzu here this morning as I gaze at the drawing of that beautiful old man sitting on an ox. He seems to be urging me on to tell you how to apply this great wisdom, which comes from living beyond shallowness:
See imperfections as perfect, even if your ego-mind cannot comprehend this.
Become aware of your conditioned responses that lead you to label people, places, and circumstances as less than perfect. See the flawlessness behind the supposed defects. As I watched my children grow up, for instance, there were many times when their challenging behavior at a certain age was really a kind of brilliance. For example, I observed them refusing to eat certain nutritious foods, knowing that they needed to go through these phases in order to reach higher places. An adamant refusal to eat vegetables isn’t stupid or twisted thinking—it was perfect and necessary for them at the time. You can apply this same kind of patient stillness to your world. Inch by inch, we evolve as a people toward a fuller union with the Tao.
One of history’s great mystical thinkers, Meister Eckhart, poetically put it this way several centuries ago:
Every object, every creature, every man, woman and child has a soul and it is the destiny of all,
to see as God sees, to know as God knows,
to feel as God feels, to Be
as God
Is.
Give yourself permission to be perfect, even with
all of your seeming imperfections.
Recognize yourself first and foremost as a creation of God, which is your perfection. It has nothing to do with how you look or any so-called mistakes or failures you may have attracted to yourself, even though these superficialities will continue throughout your entire lifetime in this body. The Source of your material self, the eternal Tao, is flawless, straight, full, and an expression of truth. When those ways that you’ve been taught are imperfect appear and you notice the pain you’re causing yourself by disliking or judging them, call in your Tao-perfect self to tend to the so-called faults. When you surround it with love, the superficial appearance and feeling of being unloved will become tranquil.
The 13th-century mystical poet Rumi sums this up perfectly in this short observation:
You are the truth
from foot to brow. Now,
what else would you like to know?
Do the Tao Now
Make a list of ten things you’ve labeled as imperfect, twisted, or stupid. Then take one at a time and elicit the feeling in your body that’s attached to that item. Allow the sensation to be observed and to be held in your thoughts from a perspective of loving permission. Do this for as long as you’re comfortable, allowing the “Tao now!” to be present. Remember as you do this exercise that the Tao is nonjudgmental and provides equally to all. You can take the sunshine and bask in it, or you can burn yourself to a crisp. The Tao just is, and it doesn’t care!
46th Verse
When the world has the Way,
running horses are retired to till the fields.
When the world lacks the Way,
warhorses are bred in the countryside.
There is no greater loss than losing the Tao,
no greater curse than covetousness,
no greater tragedy than discontentment;
the worst of faults is wanting more—always.
Contentment alone is enough.
Indeed, the bliss of eternity
can be found in your contentment.
Living Peacefully
If you’re
