The Stillness of Perfection

"The stillness of your Self remains unmoved, untouched... and unaware of any condemnation that could need forgiveness." -- A Course in Miracles

"Completely unaffected by the turmoil and the terror of the world, the dreams of birth and death that here are dreamed, the myriad of forms that fear can take; quite undisturbed, the Thought God holds of You remains exactly as it always was. Surrounded by a stillness so complete no sound of battle comes remotely near, it rests in certainty and perfect peace." -- A Course in Miracles

"Neither God nor the perfect Man can be discerned by the material senses." -- Mary Baker Eddy

I almost didn't write this blog today. It is a morning of such quiet busy-ness, such pristine contentment, that nothing arose. And then, as I was putting another load of laundry in to wash, I heard, "The Stillness of Perfection." And here we are.

We tend to think that spiritual silence and stillness have something to do with the physical senses. Nothing could be further from the Truth. As Mary Baker Eddy is fond of saying, there is no place where Truth (Spiritual Being) and matter (the material world of the senses and the belief that there is life and intelligence in the material and mortal), ever meet. How can something ever meet or be touched by nothing? Another way of saying it would be that the Allness of God has never known limitation or change in any form. Perfection and Allness are synonymous when applied to God and our Spiritual Reality.

Perfection is not something to be attained, any more than stillness can be achieved. Perfection is the infinite and continuous state of completeness that is our True Self. Silence, stillness is the omnipresent state of resting in this completeness, the Awareness of Self, limitless in Peace and Joy. Another way of saying this is that although there is a blanket of sleet shining in silence on the world outside my window, I cannot be aware of it and appreciate it unless I look out the window and include this in my perception. As long as my perception is preoccupied with other things, I will not look up and notice it. Once I do see it, I realize it was right here all along, but I simply didn't see it. Your Self is always present, the Ground of Being, Perfect and unchanging in its Stillness and expansive Joy. Not dependent on anyone or anything. Effortlessly YOU.

So what could possibly prevent our knowing of Self, of what is effortlessly True, not just a story like everything else? ACIM tells us that, "The unforgiving mind is torn with doubt, confused about itself and all it sees; afraid and angry, weak and blustering, afraid to go ahead, afraid to stay, afraid to waken or to go to sleep, afraid of every sound, yet more afraid of stillness." The unforgiving mind with its unexamined stories and mental constructs, is the source of all suffering. The Buddha said that desire is the source of all suffering. And every story of unforgiveness has at its heart the desire to be other than we are, or for some person or situation to be other than it is. Always, the wheel of suffering spins on fulfilled or unfulfilled desires. No difference, really.

As ACIM puts it, "Forgiveness is the key to happiness," just as desire is the source of suffering and is always some form of grievance against ourselves or the world, some form of unforgiveness. "Why would you seek an answer other than the answer that will answer everything? Here is the perfect answer, given to imperfect questions, meaningless requests, halfhearted willingness to hear, and less than halfway diligence and partial trust. Here is the answer! Seek for it no more. Would you stand outside while all of Heaven waits for you within? Forgive and be forgiven."

The forgiven world rests safely within you, in the midst of all the busyness that comes and goes within this dream of a world. Your Reality is always safe and sound, within your own heart... in the Stillness of Perfection.

"You Who were created by Love like ItSelf can hold no grievances and know your Self." -- A Course in Miracles