True Perfection

True perfection is not the perfecting of your actions, the purifying of the body/mind, and not the attainment of any special state. True perfection is already here, it is the ground on which all of your actions, perfect and imperfect, take place. It is the very nature of your Self. The perfect nature of Self is not some fancy way of talking about the grandiose enlightened being that seems to hide somewhere inside us that you feel you must find. Instead, it is the whole consciousness that we overlook moment after moment when we set out in search of this perfect Self. Really, let that sink in. When you are no longer seeking to discover this enlightened Self, what is your essential nature?
The real aim of our search is passed up every time we search. Ironic. That's what makes the direct teachings that you find in Zen and Advaita so powerful, as they stop you right where you are, don't allow any wiggle room, and place right into direct contact with what has been overlooked. It's like being at home, trying to figure out how to get home, getting in your car and driving around looking for home.... all along you were there. One of the things that is immediately obvious when you see this is, "Oh yeah! I was here all along" and "Why was I looking all over for this?"
Maybe what that search does is it finally brings us to that Dharma Point, that Reality Moment, where we give up looking and we just Are. We just rest. The work is over there's no more to do or see or learn and what becomes very clear is that all that worked amounted to very little. Of course it gave great experiences and wonderful lessons, but it never brought llasting peace. Lasting peace is who you are, it is what is always here.

Q: If it's already here, why don't I know it or feel it.

Precisely because you've set out to find this Truth in your knowledge and in your feelings, or experiences is the manner in which you have overlooked yourSelf. We aren't capable of knowing or feeling Presence, because to know it or feel it is to objectify and therefore limit it. We have great experiences where we know that we have touched Presence, but it is right away imprinted as a memory, feeling, etc. Truly, Presence is what made the memory, the feeling, the experience possible. It is Grace that touched our experience. Discovering that Grace is here now, in this moment, is the only lasting realization. This means that every ache, pain, and annoyance as well as every bliss, joy, and ecstasy have been infused with Grace, with Presence. Experience it for yourself.
The expereience of your Self reveals the perfection of your Self.