Seeing Fully
पूर्णतः देखना हम निर्धन साधु थे जिन्हें भवनों कि आवश्यकता थी । हम भवन निर्माता का खर्च वहन नहीं कर सकते थे - भवन निर्माण कि सामग्री भी बहुत महँगी थी । इसलिए मुझे भवन निर्माण सीखना पड़ा : नीव डालना, गारा बनाना, ईंट रखना, छत डालना, नलसाजी ( plumbing ) करना - सब कुछ । साधु बनने से पहले मै एक सैद्धांतिक भौतिक शास्त्री ( theoretical physicist ) और स्कूल शिक्षक था, जिसे हाथों से काम करने कि आदत नहीं थी । कुछ वर्षों बाद मै भवन निर्माण कि कला में काफी पारंगत हो गया था ।
साधु होने के कारण मेरे पास धीरज और समय कि कमी नहीं थी । मै इस बात का ध्यान रखता था के हर ईंट एकदम सही तरीके से रखी जाय चाहे कितना भी समय लगे । अंततः मैंने अपनी पहली दीवार पूरी करली और पीछे हटकर खड़ा हो गया दीवार कि प्रशंसा करने के लिए । तभी मैंने देखा - ओह हो ! - दो ईंटें मेरे ध्यान से निकल गयी थी । बाकि सभी ईंटें एकदम सीढ़ी रेखा में थी, पर ये दो ईंटें झुकी हुई थी । वो भयानक लग रहे थे । उन दो ईंटों ने पूरी दीवार ख़राब कर दी थी । उसे बर्बाद कर दिया था ।
तब तक, गारा ( cement mortar ) सूख कर जम चुका था इसलिए उन ईंटों को निकालना मुश्किल था, तो मैंने मठाधीश ( abbot ) से पूछा के क्या मै पूरी दीवार गिराकर फिर से शुरू कर सकता हूँ - या उससे भी अच्छा पूरी दीवार उदा देते हैं । मैंने बहुत गड़बड़ कर दी थी और मैं बहुत शर्मिन्दा था । मठाधीश ने कहा नहीं, दीवार रहेगी ।
जब मै हमारे पहले आगंतुकों ( visitors ) को हमारा नया मठ दिखा रहा था, मै उन्हें उस दीवार के पास नहीं ले जाता था । उस दीवार को कोई देखे ये मुझे अच्छा नहीं लगता था । तब, दीवार पूरी होने के कुछ तीन - चार महीनो बाद, मै एक आगंतुक के साथ चल रहा था और उसने वह दीवार देखी ।
" अच्छी दीवार है," उसने सहजता से टिपण्णी कि । " महोदय, " मैंने आश्चार्य से कहा, " क्या आप अपना चश्मा गाड़ी में भूल आए हैं ? क्या आपको दिखाई नहीं देता ? क्या आप उन दो खराब ईंटों को नहीं देख रहे जिन्होंने पूरी दीवार बिगाड़ दी है ? " इसके बाद उन्होंने जो कहा उससे उस दीवार के प्रति, आपने आप के प्रति और जीवन के कई पहलुओं के प्रति मेरा पूरा नज़रिया ही बदल गया ।
उन्होंने कहा, " हाँ, मै उन दो ख़राब ईंटों को देख सकता हूँ । पर मै ९९८ ( 998 ) अच्छी ईंटों को भी देख रहा हूँ । "
- अजहन ब्रह्म
स्व-अन्वेषण के लिए प्रश्न -
आपको कैसे पता चलता है के पूर्णता का प्रयत्न छोड़ कर आगे बढ़ने का समय आ गया है ?
क्या आप एक निजी कहानी हमारे साथ बाँट सकते हैं जब आपको बड़ा चित्र ( bigger picture ) याद करवाया गया हो ?
गुणवत्ता ( quality ) के प्रति अपनी प्रतिबद्धता ( commitment ) से समझौता न करते हुए आप कर्म के फल से कैसे अनासक्त ( detached ) रह सकते हैं ?
SEED QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: How do you know when it is time to move on to the bigger picture, as opposed to continuing to strive for perfection? Can you share a personal story of a time when you were reminded of the bigger picture? How do you develop detachment to the result of your work without compromising on your commitment to its quality?
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57 Past Reflections
On May 20, 2014 Mish wrote :
Many paths .... all leafing home. Many different beliefs. Tolerance
(wrote this after reading lots of comments here re God)
1 reply: Always | Post Your Reply
On May 20, 2014 Amy wrote :
I agree with you, Nisha!
I do not think the church is "seeing fully" in this matter.
One BIG chuck of believers/leaders left the church on this requirement alone.
God bless and correct us in our weakness,
1 reply: Cecilia | Post Your Reply
On May 20, 2014 Nisha wrote :
I have a question in relation to precept 3.
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On Mar 13, 2014 rajnikant wrote :
To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.
- Winston Churchill - Human beings are subject to errors or mistakes.
But we must realize that we committed a mistake.
And so long as we do not realize it, we cannot come out of our mistakes.
3 replies: Cecilia, Conrad, Aj | Post Your Reply
On Mar 12, 2014 ANANTHARAMAN wrote :
Years back we were tying up machinery for brick manufacturing from a Belgian company. We had taken with us some of our handmade bricks, field fired, which in our eyes were bad quality. The Belgian bricks were strong and of standard size while ours was absolutely nonstandard and of low strength. While we were feeling ashamed of our bricks and regretting taking them with us, the Belgian architect was thrilled with the brick samples and remarked that they were like god made, each different from the other, unique in all respects. He also mentioned that strength was not all that important since they will be used as partitions and for pointing for elevation. He was so thrilled with the bricks that he ordered a container load of bricks at a very exorbitant price. like they say beauty in the beholder's eyes and prfection is many times disempowering.
3 replies: Gabriel, Arthur, Cecilia | Post Your Reply
On Mar 11, 2014 rajnikant wrote :
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On Mar 11, 2014 ganoba wrote :
this story is not worth following. what kind of a monk is this guy, holding onto judgments of good-bad for years and trying to hide them from others? The lay visitor seems more enlightened than him. his earlier training as a scientist and the points of view picked up then are still controlling his mind.
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On Mar 11, 2014 Hillary wrote :
1 reply: Jo | Post Your Reply
On Mar 11, 2014 Jagdish P Dave wrote :
2 replies: Kristin, A | Post Your Reply
On Mar 11, 2014 Keshav wrote :
Nothing in this world is perfect.If you believe in GOD,well He/She is Perfect.So why try to be perfect? Let's not strive for perfection in each and everything we do.Imperfection in nature adds to its variety.Imagine human beings cast perfectly in an identical mould physically.What a disaster it would be!No beauty to admire.
5 replies: Annette, Rajnikant, Me, Annette's, Annette's | Post Your Reply
On Mar 11, 2014 Kristin Pedemonti wrote :
We are all of us "perfectly imperfect" at times when I say "Oh that's bad." I am reminded of a Folktale: A farmer buys a new horse, it runs away. The people say, "Oh that's bad." The farmer says, "maybe yes, maybe no." The horse returns with a Stallion. "Oh that's good." Maybe yes, maybe no.The farmer's son rides the Stallion and breaks his leg. "Oh that's bad." say the people. "Maybe yes, maybe no." All the able bodied young men are drafted into the army for war. The farmer's son is left behind because of his broken leg. "Oh that is good." And in this case it was. He healed and was able to help his father on the farm. We never know of the blessings that may be in something we consider "bad." And often we assign meaning to something without seeing the Bigger Picture. Indeed the 998 "good" things we've done. Many cultures purposefully leave flaws in artwork, to illustrate that none of us is Perfect. Thank your for the reminder. HUG
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On Mar 11, 2014 Jyoti wrote :
1 reply: Mish | Post Your Reply
On Mar 11, 2014 Jeff Hutner wrote :
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On Mar 11, 2014 the ancient brain wrote :
Yes, it's called "practice" for a reason!--there is no perfect. There are always thoughts, doubts, and more thoughts and issues of self and dwelling in the past, rather than "re-starting" in the now. There is no perfection and, as it turns out, this is true on a cosmic level, as well. You see, after the Big Bang, all matter (then just gas) was being spread out evenly in all directions as space, time, matter, and gravity were being created. But were it not for the minutest of imperfections in the gas (some very small areas were "thinner" than others) as the universe expanded, gravity would not have had an opportunity to take hold, and bind together the matter into what we know today as our universe. So, in a sense, without imperfection, we would not exist.
2 replies: Rajnikant, A | Post Your Reply
On Mar 11, 2014 Cindy Wilson wrote :
I am a massage therapist and have been practicing for 21 years. Yes, I did say practicing. I have used the results of my clients to determine whether or not I am good at what I do. I have a very busy practice and many people who have been seeing me for years. That alone, one would think would be enough to determine a successful practice. During this 21 years I just now realize and accept that I make up stories around the successes and so called failures to determine my self worth. Just like the brick story above, I focus on the imperfections and not on the areas that I love about myself. I am now letting go of the stories I have been telling myself that always point to the self belief that I am not good enough. I embrace the imperfections and let go of the story telling to confirm beliefs that no longer align with who I am. I soften and show up in the mystery of it all.
2 replies: Arthur, Mish | Post Your Reply
On Mar 11, 2014 Gopal wrote :
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On Mar 10, 2014 Dan wrote :
How then, can you shift from accepting imperfection as real and not a lazy way out?
3 replies: Rajnikant, Gopal, David | Post Your Reply
On Mar 10, 2014 Rajnikant wrote :
What I have learned from Holistic Science is always be positive and even in a negative situation there is positivity. Things happen so one has to learn from it and move on. I am retired now but in my profession there were times where quality of workmanship was missed and we had issues in design and or during construction. Things happened with all the checks and balances in place so first thing you do so to make a plan of recovery without blaming anyone and more on and then do the root cause analysis and implement lessons learned. This helps me in my life tremendously to be calm and serene internally.
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On Mar 8, 2014 david doane wrote :
I believe it's always time to move on to the bigger picture in the sense of keeping a balance between the big picture and the small steps. It's easy to become obsessed with the individual bricks and lose sight of the whole wall -- at least it is for me as I've done it many times. I can identify with the monk in the story. There is a saying that perfection is the enemy of the good. I remind myself of that often to help me keep in mind the big picture. I remind myself to look at what's right, see the 998 good bricks, and not focus on what's wrong. Sometimes those reminders help, but it's a struggle. I develop the detachment by letting myself go and not critiquing, second guessing, censoring each step as I go along, and letting my process flow rather than trying to control every step and the final outcome. My personal mantra of process, not outcome, also helps, and the quality of the final product turns out to be better.
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On Mar 7, 2014 Amy wrote :
26 years ago, I fell in love with "a little stool". It was built by a man, of our church, to be sold at an annual fundraiser for our school. Built out of a knotty piece of oak, this little stool found a home with us.
When I ran into Carl, it's builder, he said the wood he used to build it was scrap. His wife did not think he could use the "scrap" because it had an "unattractive" hole in the very center of the usable length.
When Carl shared this with me, I told him, "I was drawn to the hole". If the wood hadn't had "the hole" I would NOT have purchased it. I am drawn to imperfection.
Imperfection says, "I am real".
3 replies: Annette, Kristin, Annette | Post Your Reply
On Mar 7, 2014 navinsata wrote :
Mother use to tell us look for good things in life you will find it, second part of question how do you develop detachment to the result of work ,lord krishna explains in song of god geetaji on karma yog ,nishkamta[no personal selfish desire to nurture ego plus neg virtues] mahatma gandhijis anasakt yog, sheds light on this subject ,happy journey always love navinchandra
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On Mar 7, 2014 Conrad P Pritscher wrote :
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On Mar 7, 2014 Smita wrote :
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