“When you first spoke to us,” said the second disciple, “you said that we should develop ourselves into perfect beings so we could have a perfect life: ‘It is by the perfection of ourselves that life is made perfect, it will never come from the world outside because the world outside will always be imperfect.’”

“Yes,” said The Enlightened One.

“But since then you have been saying that we cannot really go to the next level, we can only simulate it, because we will always have our human nature. What does perfection mean then in the light of this limitation?”

“Yes, that is what I have been saying,” replied The Enlightened One. “If you recall, when I first told you about perfection I also said: ‘Perfection does not mean being a perfect human, it means going beyond human life and human ways. It is fulfilling Evolution and moving to the next stage. Seek this and you will live as perfect a life as anyone born as a human can.’ As you can see, I have always been saying the same thing to you.

“Perfection means seeking to go beyond human life and human ways; it doesn’t necessarily mean finding that all the time or being able to truly move to the next stage in Evolution. It is all about seeking.

“If you seek sincerely and truly make the effort then you will have reached ‘perfection’ already, in as much as this is all that we can really do. The person who sincerely seeks the next stage is perfect, they have earned the right to think of themselves that way, because this is so much more than could ever have been expected from our human nature. They have become conscious, and they have every right to feel proud of that remarkable achievement.”

“Yes, I forgot that you said that at the beginning. You have always been saying the same thing, Enlightened One,” said the second disciple. “So, consciousness is the true measure of perfection. If we have become conscious then we are as perfect as we are ever going to be. I see.”

“As long as you are conscious then you are experiencing perfection,” said The Enlightened One, “but when you slip back into unconsciousness, or lesser states of consciousness, as you will do, then you are no longer experiencing perfection at those times.”

“Isn’t there some way we could maintain full consciousness at all times?” asked the disciple.

“Unfortunately not,” replied The Enlightened One. “Well, as far as I know. Maybe someone could do it but I don’t know who that would be. In the meantime the best we can do is to keep applying the three techniques so we keep moving ourselves back into full consciousness as much as we can.”

“I will try my best to learn how to do that so I can experience perfection, as best as we can achieve it as creatures born as human beings,” said the second disciple.

“Very commendable,” said The Enlightened One. “I wish you every success with that. Just keep returning to the three techniques and you should be fine.”

“Thank you, Enlightened One,” said the disciple.