Seven Keys to Overcoming the Crisis - Key 5 Seek Perfection

 

Key 5: Seek Perfection

Before seeking anything, we must first define it to avoid confusion and wasted effort. Absolute perfection, as a final and flawless state, does not exist—nothing and no one is perfect, for imbalance and evolution are inherent to the nature of all things. Perfection, in this sense, is merely an imagined goal—a beautiful illusion.

However, there is such a thing as reasonable or attainable perfection. This differs from perfectionism, which is an excess that leads only to vanity or futile effort. On the opposite end lies negligence—the tendency to “let things slide”—a form of apathy and laziness that achieves nothing. Between these extremes lies balance: reasonable perfection.

Hindu philosophy describes the three gunas, or fundamental qualities present in all existence: Tamas, Rajas, and Satwa.

• Tamas represents inertia and negligence—the lowest state of energy and activity, marked by melancholy and passivity.

• Rajas signifies intense activity and drive, even aggressiveness—a state of restless energy and constant motion.

Human beings oscillate between these two forces, like yin and yang. After a period of depression or inertia, we often react with frantic activity or rebellion, throwing ourselves into action—only to return, once exhausted, to the opposite pole of inertia.

Imagine someone overwhelmed with work and stress: coffee after coffee, meeting after meeting, collapsing into bed each night only after taking a sedative, then waking up exhausted and reaching again for stimulants. This person lives in a state of Rajas—driven by perfectionism, chasing success and recognition, striving for a summit that never seems to appear.

Their family suffers, their friends feel neglected—but above all, their soul suffers. Eventually, a crisis comes. They question everything, recognize the futility of their pursuits, and fall into depression and inertia. In a moment of rebellion, they decide to abandon everything—their job, lifestyle, friends, and habits.

But such drastic change is unrealistic and bound to fail, returning them once again to the endless cycle of Rajas and Tamas.

If, instead, they meditate deeply and begin to adjust their life gradually and consciously—seeking harmony between means and ends—they may reach what Hindu philosophy calls Satwa: a state of dynamic, conscious balance. This is the middle way, or reasonable and attainable perfection—far from the extremes of excess and negligence, and distinct from the illusion of static, absolute perfection.

To seek harmonious perfection is possible. The method for achieving it is philosophy—the love of wisdom.