124 Two seriously meant questions A few days ago, a friend asked me over the telephone: “How can I become perfect? And how can I get closer to God?” She asked this in all seriousness. The reason for both of these questions is probably: Her life is presently very difficult for her, so difficult that the wish to die arises within her again and again, but she would not like to have to be born again. We had to interrupt our conversation and leave the answer for later. This gave me time to think about it. I could well imagine why she had asked this question about perfection. She must have contemplated in her despair that: If I reach perfection, I will not have to go through such a miserable, difficult life on Earth again. “How do I gain perfection?” What answer can I give her? What answer would you give to such a question? I contemplated this. This question actually concerns all of us, even if we are presently not experiencing such a serious crisis as my friend. I mean: If we want to reach perfection, we would actually have to start with our thoughts. Because everything else depends on our thoughts: What we say, what we do or omit to do and also our feelings somewhere down the track. The way we deal with ourself and with our fellow men also depends on it. Thoughts come first and feelings follow later. This is a really important theme. An example: When I start with myself - I sometimes catch myself wondering about other people. And if I am honest, I have to say: I am very quick to evaluate or sometimes even assess and criticise others. Such thoughts can linger completely uncontrolled for some time whilst I look after my household. Why do I do this? Do I really imagine that I know this or the other better? Such nonsense! Such thoughts are nothing but mental environmental pollution!
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