Perfection

Scriptures describe the virtues of a person who is one with the Absolute, who is firmly established in truth, who is without sin or bondage to worldly corruption, and who exhibits the fullness of sanctifying grace. He or she may be called a saint, a sage, a Buddha, or a divine man.

This state of perfection is not beyond our reach; it is a goal to be attained if we only make the effort. Gandhi once said, “Life is an aspiration. Its mission is to strive for perfection, which is self-realization.

The ideal must not be lowered because of our weaknesses or imperfections.” The passages in this section describe the excellent qualities of a person who has attained the state of perfection.

Three characteristics of perfection in particular stand out: the first is mind-body unity. The saint has dominion over him or herself, having overcome selfish desires and been purified of any feelings of lust, greed, or other cravings.

As a result, he only wishes to do what is right, in accord with God’s will and the dictates of conscience. In Saint Augustine’s words, he can “love God and do what you will.”

Second, perfection is a state of unity with God. God is the pattern and model for the highest human aspirations. Thus, the saint participates in God’s own perfection and comes to embody God’s attributes—absoluteness, unchangeability, compassion, righteousness, etc.

Third, perfection means to embody God’s true love. Love or compassion is the core of God’s being, as expressed in His untiring efforts to save sinful people.

Therefore, a man or woman of perfection delights in the well-being of others and selflessly works for their benefit. Saintly love has no partiality, regards no one as an enemy, but always repays evil with good. (See also Chapter 13: True Love.)

A novice asked the Buddha, “What is goodness and what is greatness?” The Buddha replied, “To follow the Way and hold to what is true is good. When the will is in conformity with the Way, that is greatness.”
Sutra of Forty-two Sections 15 (Buddhism)

None of you truly believes until his inclination is in accordance with what I have brought. Forty Hadith of an-Nawawi 41 (Islam)

One who is rich in enlightenment will not indulge in any sinful action, since his conscience is guided by the intellect fully illumined with Truth. Acarangasutra 1.174 (Jainism)

Whose minds are well perfected in the Factors of Enlightenment, who, without clinging, delight in the giving up of grasping, they, the corruption-free, shining ones, have attained Nibbana even in this world. Dhammapada 89 (Buddhism)

He whose senses are subdued, like steeds well-trained by a charioteer, he whose pride is destroyed and is free from the corruptions— such a steadfast one even the gods hold dear. Like the earth, a balanced and well-disciplined person resents not… He is like a pool, unsullied by mud; to such a balanced one, life’s wanderings do not arise. Calm is his mind, calm is his speech, calm is his action, who, rightly knowing, is wholly freed [from defilements], perfectly peaceful and equipoised.

The man who is not credulous but truly understands the Uncreated (Nibbana), who has cut off the links, who has put an end to occasion [of good and evil], who has eschewed all desires, he indeed is a supreme man. Dhammapada 94-97 (Buddhism)

Arjuna: Tell me of those who live established in wisdom, ever aware of the Self, O Krishna. How do they talk? How sit? How to move about? Lord Krishna: They live in wisdom who see themselves in all and all in them, who have renounced every selfish desire and sense craving tormenting the heart. Neither agitated by grief nor hankering after pleasure, they live free from lust and fear and anger. Established in meditation, they are truly wise. Fettered no more by selfish attachments, they are neither elated by good fortune nor depressed by bad. Such are the seers. Even as a tortoise draws in its limbs, the wise can draw in their senses at will. Aspirants abstain from sense pleasures, but they still crave them. These cravings all disappear when they see the highest goal. Even of those who tread the path, the stormy senses can sweep off the mind. They live in wisdom who subdue their senses and keep their minds ever absorbed in Me.
Bhagavad-Gita 2.54-61 (Hinduism)

Abu Huraira reported God’s Messenger as saying, “The believers whose faith is most perfect are those who have the best character.”
Hadith of Abu Dawud and Darimi (Islam)

The monk who has destroyed the cankers, lived the life, done what was to be done, laid down the burden, won the goal, burst the bonds of becoming, and is freed by the fullness of gnosis, cannot transgress nine standards: a monk in whom the cankers are destroyed cannot deliberately take the life of any living thing; cannot, with intention to steal, take what is not given; cannot indulge in carnal intercourse; cannot intentionally tell a lie; cannot enjoy pleasures from memories as of yore when a householder; a monk in whom the cankers are destroyed cannot go astray through desire; cannot go astray through hate; cannot go astray through delusion; cannot go astray through fear. Anguttara Nikaya 4.370 (Buddhism)

He who has achieved it cannot either be drawn into friendship or repelled, cannot be benefited, cannot be harmed, cannot either be raised or humbled, And for that reason is highest of all creatures under heaven.
Tao Te Ching 56 (Taoism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
“Before you desire to have dominion over the universe, you should first have dominion over yourself.” This is the first article in the life of faith. To attain self-perfection, you should have dominion over yourself.

In other words, you should reach the state of self-mastery, controlling your body, with no conflict or opposition between your mind and body.
(37:122, December 23, 1970)

The structure of a human being consists of dual aspects: mind and body. The mind relates to the vertical standard, while the body relates to the horizontal standard.

Had human beings attained God’s ideal standard at the beginning, always receiving God’s love, then whenever the bell of God’s love would ring in their vertical mind, their bodies on the earth plane would resonate with it and feel everything.

Whenever the mind-like spirit self resonated vertically with true love, the body on the horizontal plane would naturally respond. When you strike an “A” on a tuning fork, it sends waves of a certain frequency through space, and when they match the frequency of another object, that object sends its waves back. This is called resonance.

Likewise, there is resonance between the mind and the body at the frequency of love. When love strikes the mind or spirit self, the body responds. Had human beings not fallen, it would have been this way. By what standard would resonance occur? The resonant frequency has to be true love. (177:216, May 20, 1988)

When your mind and body become one, God will be with you. This is a fundamental principle. Why would God be with you at that point? Because that is where love is. Love begins when the mind and body become one. For love to flow, subject and object are necessary.

Therefore, God is with the person who has established mind-body unity. Then his or her body becomes God’s temple. What sort of place is God’s temple? It is a place of Sabbath rest. In what can God rest? Love.

God’s temple is the place to rest in the love of God. The highest human aspiration is to abide in the place of love—the world of the heart. It is like a fountain: there is no end to love, no matter how much pours out. Why does love have no end? Because God dwells there. (91:78, January 30, 1977)

God is like pure gold; there is nothing false about God. What should we do to be united with God? We should not be false people. That means our mind and body should be united, just as God’s [internal nature and external form are united]. That is the meaning of Matthew 5:48: “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (91:321, March 1, 1977)

Each member of the family first needs to perfect his or her individual character. This requires removing the fallen nature, which has been passed down through the generations since the Human Fall.

In other words, each person must be victorious in the struggle between the mind and the body. Then the world of harmony will bear fruit in that individual’s perfected character—a state of one heart, one mind, and one thought.

Fallen nature, which causes jealousy, envy, greed, hatred and all other evils, will never again take root in a person who has achieved that state. (March 23, 2004)

The purpose of religion is to cultivate people of character who live by the laws of the world of the heart and all the principles of the cosmos, and thereby govern the emotions of life. (6:349, May 24, 1959)

Unless you can perfectly love yourself, you cannot perfectly love God.
(22:97-98, January 26, 1969)

You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5.48 No one born of God commits sin; for God’s nature abides in him, and he cannot sin because he is born of God. 1 John 3.9

Sincerity [Absolute Truth] is the Way of Heaven; the attainment of Sincerity is the Way of man. He who possesses Sincerity achieves what is right without effort, understands without thinking, and naturally and easily is centered on the Way. He is a sage. Doctrine of the Mean 20.18 (Confucianism)

Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if you shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and love God with all your might, mind, and strength, then is His grace sufficient for you, that by His grace you may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God you are perfect in Christ, you can in no way deny the power of God. Book of Mormon, Moroni 10.32-33 (Latter-day Saints)

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit. Jeremiah 17.7-8

The Master is a tree of contentment and forbearance; Righteousness its flower, enlightenment the fruit. This tree by joy in God keeps ever fresh and green; By practice of meditation is it ripened. With joy in the Lord is it consumed, By such as dispense the supreme charity of selfless action.
Adi Granth, Var Majh, M.1, p. 147 (Sikhism)

By fullness of leadership, the Wise Lord shall grant powerful communion Of perfection and Immortality, of Right, Dominion, and Good Thought— To him who is a sworn friend; to him by spirit and by actions! Clear are these to the man of insight, as to a knowing one by mind. He upholds good Dominion and Right by words and by actions. He, O Lord of Wisdom, shall be Thy most helping associate! Avesta, Yasna 31.21-22 (Zoroastrianism)

Lao Tan said, “I was letting my mind wander in the beginning of things.” “What does this mean?” asked Confucius. Lao Tan said, “It means to attain Perfect Beauty and wander in Perfect Happiness. He who attains Perfect Beauty and wanders in Perfect Happiness may be called the Perfect Man.” Chuang Tzu 21 (Taoism)

The Supreme Soul (Paramatman) is free from birth, old age and death; he is supreme, pure and devoid of the eight karmas; he possesses infinite knowledge, intuition, bliss and potency; he is indivisible, indestructible and inexhaustible. He transcends the senses and is supreme; he is free from obstructions, merit, demerit and rebirth; he is eternal, steady and independent.
Kundakunda, Niyamasara 176-77 (Jainism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Jesus taught his disciples, “You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matt. 5.48)

According to the Principle of Creation, a person who has realized the purpose of creation does not sin, because he is in full harmony with God and possesses a divine nature. Concerning the purpose of creation, such a person is perfect as Heavenly Father is perfect.

Jesus gave this teaching to his disciples with the hope that they could be restored as people who had realized the purpose of creation and become citizens of the Kingdom…

What will people be like once they have been restored as those who have realized the purpose of creation and become perfect as Heavenly Father is perfect? Such people are fully attuned to God and experience God’s heart within their innermost self. They possess a divine nature and live their life with God, inseparable from Him. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Messiah 1.1)

For a person to realize his or her true nature, he or she must have a relationship with God, the cause of everything—life and death, fortune and misfortune. Without a relationship with God, a true pattern cannot be formed within the self. To become true,14 we must be centered upon God.

People can realize their true selves only when God has established the foundation to lead them and reign over all aspects of their lives… God is the origin of everything true. Only in God can we become true. Should God leave us, we cannot remain true.

There then comes into existence something untrue—the origin of evil. People cannot comprehend their true nature by themselves. Fallen people are in no position to judge whether they are true; rather the truth of our being should determine us. Therefore, we should always be obedient to our true self. We should prize it and follow it. (24:315, September 14, 1969)

We can truly say that we know God only when we experience the reality of His existence in our daily life through our five senses. That is, we should know His real being through experience.

Then we will naturally be able to sense what God’s will is from moment to moment, and we will be able to act in accordance with His will in every matter. In that state of perfection, even though we sometimes may feel an urge to sin, we cannot do it.

Then, God will be able to take on the physical form of human beings who are equipped with the character and qualities of the lords of creation. Thus, we will enable the incorporeal God to exercise dominion over all things on earth—the corporeal world—as well as over the spirit world.

This is why the highest priority and most important element in human life is to know God with certainty… Once we come to know God with certainty, and know not just the concept of the spirit world but also its reality, our life can move forward as smoothly as a car on an expressway.

Just as the car reaches its destination safely as long as the driver follows the rules of the road, keeps his hands on the steering wheel, and doesn’t fall asleep, so too we only need to live in line with the direction from our conscience, which is given by Heaven. This is where our mind and body become one. This is where the flower of human perfection blooms and bears fruit. (May 1, 2004)

What is a true human being? Playing with God, resting with God, sleeping with God, and living with God: whoever wishes to do all these with God is the supreme, true human being. God is looking for such true human beings.

By the same token, we human beings are searching for what is true, and for a true world. A world where everyone lives with God is a world of true love and true happiness. (60:284, August 18, 1972)

You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you salute only your brethren, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. Matthew 5.43-48

God says, “Resemble me; just as I repay good for evil so do you also repay good for evil.” Exodus Rabbah 26.2 (Judaism)

Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God;
for God is love… God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 1 John 4.7-8, 16

That devotee who looks upon friend and foe with equal regard, who is not buoyed up by praise nor cast down by blame, alike in heat and cold, pleasure and pain, free from selfish attachments, the same in honor and dishonor, quiet, ever full, in harmony everywhere, firm in faith—such a one is dear to me.
Bhagavad-Gita 12.18-19 (Hinduism)

The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such there is no law.
Galatians 5.23

Be universal in your love. You will see the universe to be the picture of your own being. Complete and total perfection will come about only when we feel that our perfection is not perfection as long as the rest of humanity remains imperfect. If we call ourselves children of God, then others are also children of God.

If we do not share with them what little we have, then what right we have to call them our brothers? They may be traveling a few miles behind us, or they may be fast asleep. But they must reach the Goal before perfection can dawn on earth. Sri Chinmoy (Hinduism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Love is the standard for perfect character. Character is perfected through the infinite and absolute love of God. (33:79, August 9, 1970)

To pioneer this path, Jesus emphasized love as never before in history. He taught that we must overcome every difficult situation with patience. He stressed that we must be more faithful to God’s Will than sinners are committed to doing evil.

These are the fundamental points of what Christians call the nine fruits of the Spirit. From a life of love arises joy, happiness, and peace. From patience arises mercy and goodness.

From a life of faithfulness arises humility and gentleness. Jesus emphasized the love of heaven, the patience of heaven, and the faithfulness of heaven to remove the evil elements from human beings dwelling in the fallen world.

Through this practical philosophy, we can be elevated to the heavenly way of life. Nevertheless, does Christ’s love exist in your hearts today? (2:345, August 4, 1957)

What makes God true? God likes both good and bad people on earth. Don’t even condemned criminals cry out, “Oh God, have mercy on me! I love you!” just before their execution?

Why would a condemned man pledge to God with a good and sincere heart, hoping for a new start? Why does he yearn to grasp God fully, trust Him, try to be with Him, and share with Him his feelings and difficulties more than he would with his parents or brothers and sisters?

It is because God is true. A true person, then, loves not only those whom he likes, but also the enemies who are trying to kill him. He should be a person whom we can trust fully, with whom we want to share all our problems, and through whom we can wish for everything. Is a person who hates someone a true person or a false person? He is a false person.

Then, are most people in this world true people or false people? They are false people. To be a true person, you must be true in all dimensions. If your members love the people who love me and hate the people who hate me, are you good members or bad members? You are bad members.

Therefore, I am teaching you to love those who hate you. If you love them, sooner or later, they will come to like you. If you return good three times for every time someone does you wrong, eventually that person will bow his head. Try it yourself and see if I am right or not. Everyone has a conscience.
(39:302-04, January 16, 1971)

Is God’s love so deeply rooted in your minds that you cannot pull out, no matter how hard you try? Can you say, “I am completely bound by God’s love; I cannot do whatever my body wants to do.

Since God’s love is rooted so deeply in my body, I cannot live any way I like. I cannot live without centering on God’s love. When I eat, I eat with God’s love. Whatever I do, both my mind and body are centered on God’s love.” Is it that way for you? (140:24-25, February 1, 1986)