April 2026: Practice Perfection
वस्तुसाम्ये चित्तभेदात्तयोर्विभक्तः पन्थाः ॥ १५॥
YS 4.15 vastu sāmye citta-bhedāt-tayor vibhaktaḥ panthāḥ
Each individual person perceives the same object in a different way, according to their own state of mind and projections. Everything is empty from its own side and appears according to how you see it.
-
Do you want to improve the world?
I don't think it can be done.
The world is sacred.
It can't be improved.
If you tamper with it, you'll ruin it.
If you treat it like an object, you'll lose it.
There is a time for being ahead,
a time for being behind;
a time for being in motion,
a time for being at rest;
a time for being vigorous,
a time for being exhausted;
a time for being safe,
a time for being in danger.
The Master sees things as they are,
without trying to control them.
She lets them go their own way,
and resides at the center of the circle.
Tao Te Ching ch.29
“Ram Dass, don’t you see? It’s all perfect.” - Maharaj Neem Karoli Baba
Breakage and imperfection are synonyms for real beauty. Keeping something pristine and protected can be synonymous with anguish. In the Japanese art of Kintsugi, the pieces of a cherished broken ceramic object are sealed back together using gold or platinum, creating something new, often more unique, with a story to tell. This is a story of nothing being lost—work with what you’ve got, see only perfection, and don’t miss the miracle of this present moment.
Lao Tzu, in the Tao Te Ching, says that if we see a world of imperfection and tamper with it, trying to fix it—we ruin it. Our role in creating joy lies solely in our perception. The practice is seeing perfection. This doesn’t mean we don’t have problems or that they don’t exist—but we no longer push against them. Perfection means most things are not really problems after all, and if we do encounter a real problem, a creative solution is also there. We can delight in its unfolding instead of being traumatized by its existence.
Years back, I was traumatized by my ruptured discs in my lumbar spine. I didn’t want it. It limited me. If I was walking, it was painful—even with a cane. I fought against it. Then the drugs stopped working, and I stopped working—and paying rent. I moved back in with my dad, which only increased my suffering. Nothing worked. I went down, down, down into a miserable, worthless state of confusion—“a time for being exhausted.” All solutions had been exhausted—save surgery—which was unanimously recommended. For some unknown reason, I vehemently refused. Now, I know that if I had gotten the surgery, I probably would not have become a yoga teacher.
Perfection had my back trauma bring me to the edge—to the end—nowhere to go. No choice but surrender. Rare we go there on our own. And only there, was the space to listen and learn that my back didn’t need to change—my perception did. Yoga was, is, and continually will be the gold or platinum that creates new, evolving and unique versions of me.
Master Patanjali, in the Yoga Sutra, says we fill the world with our chitta—our state and content of mind. In other words, our projections. This is the concept of emptiness: the world is truly a blank space, and we fill it—create it—with what our minds project. That is why you are the most important person in the world—because you create it with your projections.
You could say the way we practice at Satsang refurbishes our projectors. Taking refuge in the breath/body/machinery of vinyasa asana. We clean our lenses, lubricate the gears, secure the wiring, and elevate the content of our film-mind toward perfection. And then play in the unfolding drama - as Joseph Campbell teaches, the hero/heroine in our Soul’s journey.
I’m not perfect. You’re not perfect. It’s all perfect—even when it’s not. There is literally no shitty situation that is not bringing us to something better. Unless you think there is - then it doesn't matter what I say. Such, is the power of your projections.
Acceptance does not necessarily mean approval. You don’t have to like it to accept it. Acceptance aligns with transformation. Acceptance is the dissolution of denial - that something should not exist. Acceptance is a state of sweet, fearless freedom—no matter what our internal or external conditions may be.
In Yoga we dwell,
Jeffrey
April 2026