Personal Mastery

In teaching others, I help a student embrace various practices. How to work and touch the six aspects of life more completely. A central practice is working with one's breath. Breath exercises touch upon each aspect of life equally so it's a fundamental teaching.

I watch a student struggle with trying to get the perfect breath. In the struggle a student actually strays in the practice from the goal. Instead of trying to make the moment of breath perfect. I teach a student to embrace the struggle as being acceptable. In doing so, the moment becomes something you can truly feel. This in reflection gives the student a measure, they can truly feel.

So the lesson becomes: If you were perfect then you would feel no change in your life, you wouldn't be "personally and uniquely" alive....As the Moslems would say: "Its for God to be perfect"...

Even Masters have bad breath days...
(sorry for the pun but it works in a strange way)
it's required for perspective of living.

People expect and think that the goal is perfection... it's not... you should desire for being good at something and to embrace various little imperfections... that end up actually being defining characteristics of your soul.

The little bits of imperfection we each have
are elements of chaos
that give each person individuality and distinction!

Now here is a true secret:

As a Master you learn not to be perfect but imperfect with style :)

I have spent far more time in my life learning how to embrace flaws over trying to be the best.

The reason this is a secret because it's so opposite of what Americans are taught and believe. Arab craftsmen will always include a small flaw in any art they produce for this very reason. Taoist craftsmen, accept a work of art as it happens rather than refining it to be "perfect".

You can share this secret with everyone but many people will actually get pissed off at you for trying to share it... Since often times a person can take this statement personally or as an affront to their chase of trying to be perfect.

Many secrets are like this.

(Well in reality no secrets truly exist,
humans create secrets to make life more fun in the game of living)

Go figure.

Peace