Perfection is a myth. Imperfection is reality. Each of us has our own unique flaws. We’re all cracked pots.
J. Krishnamurti Talks with American Students
"Look at it, please do look at it! You have the image of perfection which means that you are imperfect, now why do you want an image at all? You are imperfect aren't you and you want to change this. Why do you want a goal? 'I am imperfect' . What does that mean? I am angry, I am brutal, I am envious, I am frightened. Why do I want a goal, a goal, a perfection? Here is a fact. I am frightened; why can't I save myself from fear? But we want an ideal. Perfection is merely an escape from the imperfect. The imperfect is also an image, as is the perfection. You don't see all this. So to live implies to live withwhat is' and bring about a radical change in what is. And that is not possible if you have a principle, a goal, an image of perfection. That is romanticism, that is not spiritual at all. What is spiritual is to see the fact as it is and change it. If I am violent I become aware of it, know the nature of it, the structure of it, the `why'. And the very seeing of it, instantly is the ending of it."
The First Principle ~ Osho
"...you will start feeling very holy because you have done something great. You have saved a life – somebody was drowning in the ocean and you saved him, and a child was caught in a house on fire and you jumped in and you risked your life. You have done something great – then you will feel very egoistic. The ego is again hell. To feel superior is to be in hell, to feel inferior is to be in hell. To drop all superiority, inferiority and just to be, is to be in heaven. The idea of condemnation is also ego oriented. People have impossible ideals. Just the other night Vishnu came. He writes again and again, “I am not perfect. What should I do? I am imperfect, whatever I do is imperfect.” He is torturing himself because he is imperfect. But who is not imperfect? The very idea,
“I should be perfect,” is very egoistic. The very effort is egoistic. Nobody is perfect. In fact, perfection cannot exist by its very nature. To be perfect means to be dead. There will be no evolution when you are perfect. Then how can you survive? For what? If God is perfect, then God is dead. If God is imperfect, only then is he alive and can be alive. I preach the imperfect God and I preach the imperfect existence, and I preach the beauty of imperfection and the life of imperfection. The very idea, “I have to be perfect,” that “No flaw should be there in my life” is egoistic. And certainly you will find a thousand and one flaws. So on one hand you are on an ego trip which creates trouble, makes you miserable because you are not perfect. And on the other hand the same trip creates condemnation. You want to be superior and you know that you are inferior. Both are aspects of the same coin. You remain in hell. Enjoy your imperfection. Enjoy the way you are."
The Cracked Pot
A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on each end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master’s house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.
For a full two years, this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master’s house. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments, perfect to the end for which it was made. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do.
After two years of what it perceived to be a bitter failure, it spoke to the water bearer one day by the stream. “I am ashamed of myself, and I want to apologize to you”. The bearer asked, “Why? What are you ashamed of?” The Pot replied, “For these past two years I am able to deliver only half of my load because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your master’s house. Because of my flaws, you don’t get full value for your efforts”.
The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion, he said, “As we return to the master’s house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path.” As they went up the hill, the old cracked pot took notice of the sun warming the beautiful wild flowers on the side of the path, and this cheered it somewhat. But at the end of the trail, it still felt bad because it had leaked out half its load, and so again it apologized to the bearer for its failure.
The bearer said to the pot, “Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of your path, but not on the other pot’s side? That’s because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you’ve watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master’s table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house.”
Moral: Each of us has our own unique flaws. We’re all cracked pots. In this world, nothing goes to waste. You may think like the cracked pot that you are inefficient or useless in certain areas of your life, but somehow these flaws can turn out to be a blessing in disguise.