The Path to Perfection

by Kevin B. Burk, author of The Relationship Handbook: How to Understand and Improve Every Relationship in Your Life.

I’ve been thinking about Universal Laws quite a lot lately. As we learn to appreciate and make use of the Universal Laws, we begin to reclaim the truth that each of us is infinitely powerful and capable of creating and manifesting anything that we can imagine. If you’d like to know more about this and learn the fundamentals of manifesting absolutely anything in your life that you have ever desired, then go see The Secret, a new metaphysical documentary in the What the Bleep Do We Know? vein, but without the distracting side plots. You can learn more (and purchase a DVD) online at http://www.TheSecret.tv (and yes, it’s a strange domain, but “.tv” is correct).

The Secret explores the Universal Law of Attraction in great depth, and with great clarity and simplicity. I think it’s one of the finest prosperity instruction manuals (or videos) that I’ve ever come across. The Secret demonstrates that whatever we want, we can manifest in our lives.

And lately, that, for me, has been the rub, because of late, I don’t seem to want anything.

I should clarify here that the “want” required to activate the Universal Laws is an intense, passionate, and above all, emotional experience. Manifestation of this type requires active participation, visualization, and, to be completely effective, emotional and sensory hooks that combine to activate the Universal Laws so that they respond by attracting the object of our desire into our lives.

I’m just not in that space in my life right now.

Don’t get me wrong: I would love, for example, a new car. My current car is safe, reliable transportation and that’s the most I can say about it. If someone offered me the keys to a new car, my “Thank you so much,” would be left, cartoon-like, hanging in the air where I was standing, highlighted against the exhaust fumes of the car which would be barely visible as it disappeared over the horizon. I would absolutely appreciate a new car, and also know that at some point, I’ll create one. I also know that I’m perfectly capable of creating one now, except that I don’t want it enough to do the emotional work. The idea is there, but there’s no juice behind it for me.

The same goes for a romantic relationship. I’m open to creating one; more than that, I’ve actually been feeling like I’ll be attracting one in the not-too-distant future, and I look forward to that. But I don’t want it enough to create it now.

The fact is that each and every one of us has the power to create and manifest our perfect life. Whatever you truly want, whatever you truly desire, is yours if you only claim it. I know that I can create my perfect home, my perfect car, my perfect life partner, my perfect everything simply by invoking the Universal Laws. The path to perfection is clearly marked, and both simple and easy to follow. And yet, I have absolutely no interest in following this particular path right now.

This is not to say that I won’t wake up tomorrow and decide it’s time to manifest that new car: I might. (My current car doesn’t have air conditioning, and if we have another heat wave, I may find that I’ve got enough emotional juice to pick the path of manifestation and create that new car.) The path of perfection through manifestation is always available to everyone. It’s just not the path that I’m currently exploring.

I believe that there is a secret behind the secret revealed in The Secret. The Secret describes how to follow the path of perfection through manifestation, as does every other book or lecture on abundance and prosperity that I’ve ever encountered. These are valuable tools—they may in fact be the most precious and important skills that we can ever master. But the secret behind The Secret is that the path of manifestation is not the only path to perfection.

The path of manifestation is also not always the shortest path to perfection. And for me, at least, I’m discovering that in order to be able to walk the path of manifestation and make conscious use of the Universal Law of Attraction, I first have to walk the other, secret path to perfection: the path of acceptance.

In Buddhist lore, there are many stories of a monk named Nasrudin. In one story, Nasrudin is eating a simple meal of chick peas and bread, while his neighbor is dining on a sumptuous feast provided by the Emperor. The neighbor tells Nasrudin, “If you would learn to flatter the emperor, you wouldn’t have to eat chick peas and bread.” Nasrudin replies, “If you would learn to enjoy chick peas and bread, you wouldn’t have to flatter the emperor.”

Sometimes the shortest path to perfection is manifestation, creating and attracting the things that we desire in order to experience life as perfect. Other times, the shortest path to perfection is acceptance, recognizing that everything that is is already prefect, and releasing all beliefs and judgments that deny this Truth.

For me, this path, this approach has been the central theme of my spiritual process of late. I’m very clear that in order for me to walk the path of manifestation, I first have to master the path of acceptance, because the path of acceptance is where I can heal the beliefs that interfere with and obstruct my way when I attempt to walk the path of manifestation.

I don’t affirm abundance in my life, because when I used to affirm abundance, what I was really affirming (and creating) was lack. My belief in abundance was a belief in lack. I wanted abundance because I wanted more than enough so that I would have enough now, and enough left over to help me through the lack that I knew would inevitably follow. Rev. Guy Williams made me aware of this distinction several years ago, and it’s one of many ideas he’s shared for which I’m eternally and massively grateful.

I want to be clear that “abundance” does not translate to “lack” for everyone, although if you habitually affirm abundance in your life and only experience continued lack I invite you to explore this idea for yourself. For the majority of people, “abundance” is “abundance” and it’s a perfectly good and powerful truth to affirm.

Instead of “abundance” I affirm and know “sufficiency” in my life. I always have enough, and all I ever need is enough. When I first started to play with this concept, my ego threw up some interesting and quite silly beliefs. My first reaction was that “Enough isn’t enough for me! I can’t survive with enough. I need more than enough to actually feel like I have enough.”

I dismantled this belief with logic: enough is, by definition enough. All we ever need is enough. Enough is all we can ever make use of at any given time. Sufficient is sufficient. My fear, of course, was that while I may have enough in this moment, that I might not have enough in the next moment. This belief is healed by knowing the truth that Spirit is my Source; the Universe supports and nourishes me and provides for me in every moment so that I always have enough. The only thing that tells me otherwise is my false belief in lack, and when I release this belief, I experience the truth that I am completely, utterly, continuously and effortlessly supported by the Universe.

This process is ongoing for me, although over the past two years, my trust in the Truth has deepened. However, the process continues for me and each time I step into lack consciousness, I choose to question it, and I’ve yet to come up with any situation, any moment in my life when I did not have everything that I needed for that specific moment in time. All evidence of lack I my life was based on future predictions and speculation: in this moment, I don’t have what I think I will need for tomorrow. But the truth always is that in the present moment, I have enough, and that when tomorrow arrives, I always have enough then, too.

“Enough” is such a crucial affirmation for me because my core wound is the “Not _____ Enough” belief. As long as I believe that I’m not _____ enough (or simply not enough), affirming abundance will never create prosperity for me because no matter how much abundance I experience, it will never be enough to fill in the hole. The experience that I have enough is what helps me to experience the Truth that I am enough.

As long as I believed on some level that I am not _____ enough, I was limiting the amount of good, of abundance, of prosperity, of wealth that I could experience in my life. I’ve recently discovered (and released) some ancillary beliefs that all success and prosperity in my life had to come through my own, personal effort and hard work in order to justify its presence in my life. These beliefs, all of which stem from the core not _____ enough wound, are what continuously blocked my way when I attempted to follow the path of perfection through manifestation. I couldn’t manifest the new car, the new house, the huge bank balance because I didn’t believe that I actually deserved them, and I certainly hadn’t worked long enough or hard enough to justify having them when so many other people in the world have so much less.

Needless to say, I’m very pleased to have become aware of these beliefs, because I’ve now owned them, and made the choice to replace them with new, more supportive beliefs such as “I am enough,” “Prosperity and wealth flow to me easily and effortlessly,” and my new mantra, “There is good for me in the world, and I ought to have it.” (Thanks to Emma Curtis Hopkins for that one!).

As much progress as I’ve made in healing my core beliefs, I’ve realized lately that I’m not quite finished, which is why I’m walking the path of perfection through acceptance. I am wanting to anchor in the belief and experience of not only acceptance but appreciation for my life—and the perfection of my life—exactly as it is now. I’ve recently experienced a shift, and living in sufficiency (and within my means) no longer feels constrained to me. Now, when I know that I truly have enough, my heart opens and I experience joy. I’m actually getting excited about having enough. I’m enjoying that I have enough, and I know that the reason for this is that a much greater part of me now knows and expresses the truth that I am enough.

One of the consequences of this experience is that I don’t actually want anything right now. Why would I want anything? I have everything I need in my life. That’s what sufficiency means. Of course, I’m also healing another false belief about “enough” and “sufficiency”—I’m experiencing the truth that “enough” is neither static nor limiting. Knowing and appreciating that I always have enough in no way prevents me from being able to accept and appreciate more. Quite the contrary, in fact. The more I appreciate what I have, the more I attract into my life. As I embrace my sufficiency, my sufficiency grows.

I know that at some point, my sufficiency will include a brand new car, a new home, and a truly fulfilling romantic relationship. However, I also accept that I’m not yet ready to want these things with any passion or power because right now, if I wanted something that I don’t have, it would feel to me like I’m affirming that I’m not enough, that I won’t be enough until I have that new car, that new home or that new romantic partner.

It’s not that my perfect life doesn’t include a new car, a new home and a new love of my life; it’s just that right now, I’d rather know and experience that my life is already perfect. When those things arrive (and they will), life will continue to be perfect. But those things aren’t what made my life perfect.

When I’ve truly integrated this experience, then I’ll be free to walk the path of perfection through manifestation with ease, and more importantly, with great success. The shift will be that when I want something and choose to manifest it, I’m simply claming more of the good that exists for me in the world, and I’m doing so from a place of sufficiency and support. And I know that eventually, I’ll reach the point where the two paths merge, and I effortlessly attract and manifest increasing amounts of good in my life because that is the true perfection of the Universe.

Kevin B. Burk is the author of The Relationship Handbook: How to Understand and Improve Every Relationship in Your Life. Visit http://www.EveryRelationship.com for a FREE Report on creating Amazing Relationships.

©2006 Kevin B. Burk, all rights reserved. If you would like to reprint this article in your publication, web page, or eZine (which you may do for free!), click here for details.

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