Simultaneous Perfection and Imperfection

Paradox is friction... the striking of flint rocks that spark the world into appearance. One paradox is the simultaneity of perfection and imperfection.

"On one side of the paradox, we recognize that everything is perfect just as it is. When the chatter of the mind recedes just a little bit, when the smells, colors, and textures of the world become immediately felt, we recognize the grace running through it all. Even in conflict, or in the midst of what we call suffering, if we are really in touch with the pulse of life itself, we can feel the beauty of it all.
On the other side of the paradox, we realize that everything is continuously evolving. Our human condition, as it is now, is flawed with unconscious habits, addictions, and compulsions."
Arjun Ardagh, Leap Before You Look

Sensing my imperfection helps to keep me humble, real, honest. Sensing my perfection keeps me from despair at the imperfection. When I veer too much into sensing imperfection, there is a neurotic obsession with self-improvement. When I veer too far the other way, there is the shallowness and loneliness of self-congratulation.

"And so it is that we stray and return and stray and return to the middle way, where everything is perfect and imperfect in the same breath."
Ardagh

Another way to language this paradox is that balance and imbalance coexist in the same moment. Paradox gives contour to reality, keeps it from being too flat, too easily summed up in trite cliches. Paradox is a clue that there is something larger than logic. Paradox to me is also something like a sign that the universe has a sense of humor.