HI

How To Maintain A Balance In Life

Balance is necessary to live a contented yet fulfilled lives. Hence Ricky Lankford said, “Balance The Ultimate Goal.” Even happiness is intimately connected with balance. If the balance is lost happiness too is lost. Thomas Merton rightly put it: “Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance and order and rhythm and harmony.”

People in general lack this quality. Wallace D. Wattles said, “The calm and balanced mind is the strong and great mind; the hurried and agitated mind is the weak one.” Great minds have balance.

Instead of having a great and broad mind, most people are contracted into a small mind of “me and mine.” This explains why most people are unbalanced. You think you have only one life that is so uncertain. You need to compete, struggle, fight, etc. In the process, when something pleasant happens you rejoice greatly, and when something unpleasant happens you grieve. Ups and downs are the constant features of life.

Unbalanced lives are due to limited views of the world and life.

There are many limited views of the world that raise many questions. For example:

1) The very first verse of the Bible (Genesis 1:1) says: ‘In the beginning, God created heavens and earth’ (which raises the question: What was before that beginning?); This world will end followed by the Last Judgment in which some will be given eternal life in heaven and others would eternally be condemned into a fiery hell (which raises the question: Is it really proportionate justice?).

2) Advaita says: ‘In the beginning, souls remained merged in God. Then they took births to purify themselves only to be merged back to God’ (this raises the question: Why did souls that were merged in God require purification?)

3) Theory of Evolution says: ‘In the beginning, there was a Big Bang’ which ultimately caused everything including all forms of life on earth (this raises a question: What was before that beginning?)

All limited views are like a still photo from an infinite motion picture.

In a limited view, it is likely that one would feel—‘life is limited, often short-lived and I would accumulate to the maximum I can before the time is due,’ which means self-importance. In self-importance, one feels everything strongly. If his desire is not fulfilled, he feels anger; if his desires are fulfilled, then he feels greed and attachment. Thus limited view is the breeding ground for vices such as anger, greed, and attachment which further reinforces one’s ego; and the cycle of vices continues.

It is obvious that there is always something preceding to something which means there cannot be a beginning for anything. Only an eternally existing universe can answer the question of why the universe exists rather than not. If the universe had a beginning in some past it presents the possibility that the universe need not have existed. If there is a beginning, it means before the universe’s so-called beginning, there was nothing, it means that nothingness is possible. If nothingness was possible, such a state of affairs would only continue forever, with a universe not coming into being.

Interestingly, according to Brahma Kumaris teaching life is like an infinite motion picture, and history is an endless cycle of Drama (of around 5000 years duration). In such an unlimited view, one sees his position realistically, as one flowing along with many factors and forces most of which are beyond one’s control. In this unlimited view, there is no basis for anyone to feel self-important, but one easily feels his part is too small to measure. In such instrument-mentality, if one’s desire is not fulfilled, he feels no anger (but joy remains); if his desires are fulfilled, then he feels no greed and no attachment (but peace and love remain).

Thus unlimited view is the breeding ground for virtues. Balance rules his life when he goes through all types of dualities. This is what spirituality means.

Photo by Shiva Smyth from Pexels