Part I

Creation and perfection

If you go deep within, you will see that you don’t have to go to somebody else or talk to somebody else to be misunderstood. You are being misunderstood by yourself. Your own vital — your undivine, obscure, unaspiring vital — misunderstands your own highest aspiration. Whenever you want to do something devotedly and soulfully, do not lose hope because of your vital. Don’t feel that you are not ready or worthy. Don’t feel that you are not sincere enough or serious enough. Whenever you want to do something or say something divine, feel that you are sincere, you are serious, you are devoted, you are soulful.

Each human being is a creator; again, each human being is a critic. If the creator feels that he is perfect, then he is wrong. Or the moment he creates something, if he feels that his creation is perfect, then he is wrong again. But when he creates something, if at that very moment the critic in him comes and throws cold water on it and does not allow him to create further or to go higher or deeper, then that is most deplorable. At that time, the critic in him is infinitely worse than his creation or his achievement can be. You are the creator; you are the critic. But when you create something, you have to feel that the real creation is the Supreme Himself. By criticising the Supreme, you cannot make Him perfect. He is perfect, only He is trying to maintain and offer His perfection in and through you, according to your capacity and your receptivity.

Again, you should not stop doing something or saying something just because the critic in you is wide awake. The moment you do something, in ten different ways this critic will criticise you. If you pay attention to him, then you are doomed. By being afraid of the critic in you, you will never achieve perfection. Again, by continuously doing or saying something without inspiration, without sincere aspiration, you are not going to achieve anything either.

When you create something, you have to know that it is an achievement. But do not take it as perfection. If you expect perfection the moment you create something, then you will be disappointed. Today you do something; tomorrow you will do something else. Hundreds of things you will do, one after another. But there is no guarantee that every day you do something, all of a sudden perfection will dawn. Again, this does not mean that you have to go on, go on, go on indefinitely until you can achieve perfection in one thing. No, perfection will come, but not necessarily at a fixed time. And if you don’t create in action or thought, then what do you have to perfect? First you create something; then only can you think of perfecting it. There is no other way to achieve perfection in life.

When you create something, you have to feel that it is sheer Grace that has created this thing in you and through you. Let us say you have composed a song, or written an article, or said something nice to your fellow human beings. At that time, you have to feel that it is the divine Grace, the Grace or the Compassion of the Supreme, that has acted in and through you. Do not feel that this creation is yours. You have painted or you have played on the piano or you have done something remarkable. If you can give the credit to the Supreme, then the next moment the same Grace will act in and through you again with infinite potentiality and power. If you sincerely feel that your achievement is most perfect according to your own standard and that the Supreme’s Grace has enabled you to do it, then your sincere feeling will touch His Heart. He will say, “My child is satisfied with this, but I know that there is much more to be achieved.” So, when your sincere appreciation enters into the Heart of the Supreme, He will immediately give you more Compassion, more Grace, and this will come to you in the form of capacity. Then, the next time you do something, you will have more perfection. It may not be perfect perfection. But perhaps the third time that you do something, you will have the feeling that right from the beginning it is the Grace, the Compassion of the Supreme, that is acting in and through you and this time it will be perfect perfection. Again, there is no end to your perfection. Perfection is always transcending its previous boundaries.

No matter what your standard is on the path of perfection, each time you do something or achieve something, feel that it is the unconditional Grace of the Supreme that is operating. And always use the term ‘unconditional.’ You feel, “This morning I got up early; that is why I was in a position to have a good meditation.” But how is it that you were able to get up, whereas your friend was still sleeping? In the same apartment someone was still sleeping and snoring, but you got up early to meditate. You have to know that it was because the Grace of the Supreme acted in you and you were able to receive it. The Supreme has given you the inspiration to meditate and after meditating you go and inspire people. It is like a human father and child. The child takes money and then he goes out and buys things. But where does he get the money from? He gets it from his parents. Similarly, where do you get the inspiration for your actions? From the Supreme. Each moment you do something, if you give all credit to the Supreme instead of to yourself, then you become perfect. This is the secret of perfection. For any good action you do, always give credit to the Supreme.

So, start by giving credit to divine Compassion, divine Grace, and then immediately show gratitude. First you create something and then you show gratitude to the Supreme. You will admire your creation just because it is the Supreme Himself who has created it. When somebody else appreciates your creation, or when you offer it to someone, you feel that naturally he ought to show gratitude to you. But I wish to say that this is not so. The moment you create something for someone in the inner world or the outer world, the one who deserves your gratitude, his gratitude and everyone’s gratitude, is the Supreme. There are millions of people all around you who have not been able to create something. How is it that you have done it? It is because Somebody has accepted you as His instrument, His chosen instrument, for an hour or for a day or for a month. The Supreme is the only Doer.