Dear Julia:

I am wondering what your thoughts are regarding our spirits/souls in relation to perfection. I often hear in New Age circles that we are "perfect" as we are, and there is no need to change. Instead, we need to accept who we are. If this is so, why did we come to the physical dimension? It's seems we are involved in some form of "perfecting" ourselves here. Why would we need to perfect ourselves if we are already perfect in spirit? I have also heard that we are here just for a new experience, like life is just a game. Your thoughts?
- Brian

Dear Brian:

As with so many spiritual truths, as I see it, the answer is basically "both." It's both true that we are already perfect, and true that we must continue to learn and grow. The Universe is not static; it is ever evolving and refining itself.

Perhaps it would help us to rise above our tendency to view "perfection" as a static or ultimate state. Just as the very nature of life is to change, the nature of perfection is ever evolving as well. Thus we can be perfect now and still grow into greater perfection.

Life in the physical is dualistic by nature. Everything and everyone can be seen as either perfect or imperfect if you really think about it. Take your best friends. I'm sure at times they have seemed really annoying, selfish, ignorant, etc. At other times, I'm sure they've seemed perfectly wonderful, loving and divine.

Everyone on earth has both a spirit and an ego. The physical world of outer experience is the realm of the ego. It is a relative domain. Here some things are lighter and others are darker; some are smoother and some are bumpier; some are seen to be wiser and some more foolish. This is the realm of lessons, actions, and striving to improve.

The spiritual realm of inner experience is the realm of the higher self. It is not relative, but absolute. Here there is only unity. This is the realm of "being" and what we might call perfection.

The perspective of the spirit is objective; the perspective of the ego is subjective. Each one of us is both wonderfully unique and at the same time at a deep spiritual level just like everyone else. Each one of us has personal preferences and issues, and at the same time, universal human challenges and weaknesses. The "truth" of the moment simply depends upon the perspective it is viewed from.

I know this sounds like a lot of abstract mumbo-jumbo, but your question is a very deep, philosophical mystery. I don't know the absolute answer and I doubt anyone does, for the ultimate nature of the Universe is transcendental. What I can do is offer you a metaphor, which is how Spirit tries to help us understand things that are so deep they're impossible for our minds to fully grasp.

Let's say we've been given a beautiful house. This is our soul. It is brand new and perfect in every way. We then move into it, and along with all our furniture and other possessions, day by day, we begin to acquire things. Some of it is wonderful, and some of it is definitely not worth the price we pay for it. Further, much comes to us from our friends and relatives, who don't always choose for us what we really want or need.

We also hold onto stuff we've already used, and garbage builds up. Junk mail arrives by the truckload and accumulates on countertops. Stuff (including relationships) we once needed or enjoyed gets broken or obsolete. This stuff is taking up space but serving no good function. The more we live here, the messier things tend to get.

If we're on top of our spiritual game, we are ever clearing all that old stuff, releasing what we no longer use, repairing things that have been broken, acquiring new things as needed, improving on things as desired, and perhaps expanding the space as our needs grow and change. The better we are at this, the smoother and more fulfilling our life journeys tend to be. Beneath all the stuff we do or fail to do that mucks things up, the house itself is still divine. If we were to clear everything out of it and repair everything that has happened to it while our lower selves were in charge, it would be as perfect as it ever was.

Alternatively, let's look at this matter of perfection by observing your average five-year-old. Is the child not already perfect in a spiritual sense? Just look at the sparkle in his eyes, the beauty of his sweet face, his openness to life and acceptance of whatever comes his way. In this world, we can't just let him wander in the streets or do nothing buy play all day for years on end - we send him to school so that he may learn and grow in the knowledge and skills he'll need to thrive.

We're like that child. We are already perfect when all we're doing is flowing through the Universe on a cloud of easy bliss. Part of our divine perfection, however, is a natural inclination to expand and grow just as the Universe does. Thus incarnation in the physical is all about creating something new and stretching ourselves into new dimensions.

Where I think we tend to get a bit lost is when we start putting 'shoulds' on these lessons. We do not HAVE to learn and grow. We are not less perfect for coasting and basking in our underlying perfection. If, however, we resist the winds of change, the current of the ever expanding Universe, we experience pain. Standing up against strong winds is difficult, where running with the wind at our backs is easy. We are thus motivated by our life experiences to continue to learn and grow, to expand and evolve, for resisting this natural process of evolution is difficult and painful.

There is not some divine being judging us as adequate or inadequate and rewarding or punishing us. We create our own realities via natural spiritual law. If we desire blessings, we must strive for knowledge of natural spiritual law and work in harmony with that. Whether we thrive or suffer is entirely up to us.

Ironically, the most powerful thing we can do in order to align with the creative power to manifest what we desire is to recognize ourselves as powerful creators who are already worthy of fulfillment. Given the condemning, judgmental, guilt-inducing influence of many religions, parents and teachers, this is no small task for most of us.

So in summary, at a spiritual level, the level at which we are all connected, we are already perfect. As we move through the physical world, however, we often lose touch with this divine aspect of our natures. Via our many adventures in the physical world in both this life and prior incarnations, we accumulate all sorts of energies, issues, fears, wounds, misunderstandings and false beliefs that must be resolved, clarified, healed and shed in order for our inner perfection to shine through. So while we are already perfect, at the same time, we have so much to do!

I thank heavens for that. I'm not ready or desirous of entering a state of eternal peace and bliss yet. I personally prefer the wild ride of life - as does every one of you reading this, and for that matter, every one of us on this planet - otherwise you wouldn't be here with me. We have incarnated because life is an exciting challenge full of contrast. Every day is new and different. Every moment is new and different. Everything is ever changing and evolving - just like we are.

- Julia

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