--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This sense of perfection has a built-in…" description: "\"This sense of perfection has a built-in contradiction, one that Ram Dass once captured very succinctly by a statement he had heard from his Himalayan g..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ee/stanislav-grof-7540_contradiction_this-sense-of-perfection-has-a-built-in_1511863.png" --- # This sense of perfection has a built-in contradiction, one… ![“This sense of perfection has a built-in contradiction, one that Ram Dass once captured very succinctly by a statement he had heard from his Himalayan guru: "The world is absolutely perfect, including your own dissatisfaction with it, and everything you are trying to do to change it.” quote by Stanislav Grof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ee/stanislav-grof-7540_contradiction_this-sense-of-perfection-has-a-built-in_1511863.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ee/stanislav-grof-7540_contradiction_this-sense-of-perfection-has-a-built-in_1511863.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ee/stanislav-grof-7540_contradiction_this-sense-of-perfection-has-a-built-in_1511863.png) > “This sense of perfection has a built-in contradiction, one that Ram Dass once captured very succinctly by a statement he had heard from his Himalayan guru: "The world is absolutely perfect, including your own dissatisfaction with it, and everything you are trying to do to change it.” [Stanislav Grof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislav-grof/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote highlights the paradox that the world is perfect while we feel dissatisfied and try to change it, exposing a tension between acceptance and striving. **In simple terms:** World is perfect yet we feel unhappy and try to fix it. Key Takeaway Recognize the paradox and explore inner acceptance. Themes paradox acceptance change psychology spirituality Mood contemplative reflective Type philosophical spiritual psychological When to use this quote - therapy sessions - personal growth - meditation - creative work - conflict resolution Key Concepts nondualism cognitive dissonance mindfulness Questions to Reflect On - How does recognizing perfection affect your desire to improve? - Can acceptance coexist with constructive action? A Different Perspective The statement may overlook systemic issues that truly need change. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Built Contradiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/built-contradiction-2879802/) [Contradiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contradiction/) [Dissatisfaction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dissatisfaction/) [Guru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/guru/) [Heard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heard/) [Himalayan Guru](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/himalayan-guru-5567633/) [Perfect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfect/) [Perfection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perfection/) [Ram Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ram-das/) [Ram Dass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ram-dass/) [Rams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rams/) [Sense Perfection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sense-perfection-2201449/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Why'd he name Ram Dass that? 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In the front lobby there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brittainy-c-cherry/when-i-was-at-the-rehab-clinic-in-iowa-they-had-these-quotes-in-every/) [Brittainy C. Cherry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brittainy-c-cherry/) > [“But as Ram Dass once said, you know, if you think you’re enlightened, go spend a weekend with your parents.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-stein/but-as-ram-dass-once-said-you-know-if-you-think-you-re-enlightened-go/) [Jean Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-stein/) > [“Ram Dass, who described himself as a Hin-Jew, said that ultimately we’re all just walking each other home. I love that. I try to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/ram-dass-who-described-himself-as-a-hin-jew-said-that-ultimately-we/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“As Baba Ram Dass (his ‘spiritual name’), Richard Alpert explained human attachment as a ‘clue that there’s work to be done’ – meaning that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonella-gambotto-burke/as-baba-ram-dass-his-spiritual-name-richard-alpert-explained-human/) [Antonella Gambotto-Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonella-gambotto-burke/) > [I think there's something so funny about Ram Dass. I was lucky enough to sit across from him at dinner once, and I got…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pete-holmes/i-think-there-s-something-so-funny-about-ram-dass-i-was-lucky-enough/) [Pete Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pete-holmes/) > [A few years ago we said, 'Hail Guru Ram Das and heal the world.' It looked like a joke at that time. Heal with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/a-few-years-ago-we-said-hail-guru-ram-das-and-heal-the-world-it/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) > [Hail Guru Ram Das and heal the world. It is His problem to heal. Your problem is to insert Him into it. You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/hail-guru-ram-das-and-heal-the-world-it-is-his-problem-to-heal-your/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) > [Freedom comes when you see the built-in contradiction of trying to manipulate something that is going right to begin with… Stop trying to steer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/freedom-comes-when-you-see-the-built-in-contradiction-of-trying-to/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [I think I would have written five times as much as I've written if I didn't have this terrible sense of perfection.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/truman-capote/i-think-i-would-have-written-five-times-as-much-as-i-ve-written-if-i/) [Truman Capote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/truman-capote/) ## More by Stanislav Grof > [I believe it is essential for our planetary future to develop tools that can change the consciousness which has created the crisis that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislav-grof/i-believe-it-is-essential-for-our-planetary-future-to-develop-tools/) [Stanislav Grof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislav-grof/) > [“The key experiential approach I now use to induce non-ordinary states of consciousness and gain access to the unconscious and superconscious psyche is Holotropic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislav-grof/the-key-experiential-approach-i-now-use-to-induce-non-ordinary-states/) [Stanislav Grof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislav-grof/) > [The motif of death plays an important role the human psyche in connection with archetypal and karmic material.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislav-grof/the-motif-of-death-plays-an-important-role-the-human-psyche-in/) [Stanislav Grof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislav-grof/) > [Many instances exist of small children who seem to remember and describe their previous life in another body, another place, and with other people.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislav-grof/many-instances-exist-of-small-children-who-seem-to-remember-and/) [Stanislav Grof](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislav-grof/) > [LSD was not a pharmacological agent generating exotic experiences by its interaction with the neurophysiological processes in the brain. 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It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/courage-is-almost-a-contradiction-in-terms-it-means-a-strong-desire/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It is also plausible that those movements with the greatest inner contradiction and between profession and practice - that is to say with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/it-is-also-plausible-that-those-movements-with-the-greatest-inner/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [Contradictions in human character are one of its most consistent notes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-spark/contradictions-in-human-character-are-one-of-its-most-consistent-notes/) [Muriel Spark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-spark/) > [“The tiny features below, taken together with the gentle mass of Montblanc towering above them, the Vanoise glacier almost invisible in the shimmering distance,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-g-sebald-2/the-tiny-features-below-taken-together-with-the-gentle-mass-of/) [W.G. Sebald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-g-sebald-2/) > [I’m a skeptic not because I do not want to believe, but because I want to know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-shermer/i-m-a-skeptic-not-because-i-do-not-want-to-believe-but-because-i-want/) [Michael Shermer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-shermer/) > [There are evidently limits to the achievements of science; and there are irresolvable contradictions both between prosperity and virtue, and between happiness and ''the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/reinhold-niebuhr/there-are-evidently-limits-to-the-achievements-of-science-and-there/) [Reinhold Niebuhr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/reinhold-niebuhr/) > [To exist (in mathematics), said Henri Poincaré, is to be free from contradiction. But mere existence does not guarantee survival. 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