Balance

What is humanity striving for? Billions around the world are after many things in their life. Some are looking for fame. Some for financial prosperity and material things. Some for self-development. Some for relationships, love, and pleasure. Others for peace, freedom, and independence. Some for simply survival. And the list goes on.

We travel the world and jump from place to place in search of happiness. Some resort to religion, while others to many types of differing escapes that bring temporary fulfillment. We continuously dwell on what could have been and hope for a better future.

What is the missing link? Why have we gone astray from our inherent nature of being in harmony with life and Nature's flow?

Many situations that happen to us are beyond our control. These situations become our life circumstance. The moment we begin to place blame on these circumstances is the moment we begin to lean astray of the truth. What we are failing to realize is that whatever happens to us 'out there' is only a reflection of our inner struggle. When we begin shifting our perspective towards the outside situation from, 'why did this happen to me?', to 'what is this situation trying to tell me?', we start to realize that all situations and circumstances happen for the evolution of our consciousness.

The ongoing struggle for control over life has kept us from experiencing the livingness residing inside of us and inside all beings. We have forgotten what it means to simply be. Any happiness achieved resulting from an outside event will only be temporary.

So, what is it that lasts, even amidst all life's chaos? Answering this question on a theoretical level will never bring about transformation. But we will be able to find the answer within ourselves when we learn to start becoming more conscious and aware of the most basic aspects of our life functions: our breath, our senses, and our ability to truly listen.

Listening is not limited to communication but is rather boundless. We miss listening to the day-to-day happenings of life. We miss listening to nature, to the blowing wind, the chirping birds, the waves from the seas. Many occurences that happen around us which create sound may be heard without us even being aware that they are there. Unlike hearing, listening does not solely rely on our sense organ: in this case, our ears. Listening rather comes from a much deeper level of our being. Ludwig van Beethoven is a famous composer who can be used as an example underlying this truth. Although he began to lose his sense of hearing well into his 20s, eventually becoming totally deaf, he continued on to compose music for the next 30 years or so until his eventual early death. How was he able to do it without the ability to hear sound? I suppose his intense passion for music gifted him the ability to be able to listen to each sweet note that he was composing from deep within himself.

So this brings us back to our initial question. What is humanity striving for? What is it that humanity is lacking? What is it that is so essential in our life that we are constantly missing?

Day to day, the answer is slowly revealing itself to me. Of course, that answer may vary from person to person based on how they resonate with their own experience. But from my perspective, what we are really lacking is passion. Passion in what we do. Passion in what we share and give, and also in what we humbly receive. Passion in prayer. Passion in the simple, most basic things. Passion in each passing moment regardless of the outer struggles. Passion in life.

I am finding that the more balance I achieve within myself through my daily meditation and sadhana, which I learned in Tiruvannamalai, India, the more balance I find in my outer life as well. And in turn, my passion and gratitude for life has become more intense. I am learning that leading an increasingly balanced life is essential to our well-being on all the mental, physical, and spiritual levels. This includes balance in the quality of our food and in the way we eat. Balance in our physical and mental activities. Balance in our work routine. Balance in our day to day interactions with our fellow living beings and nature. Nature, with all it's chaos, is always in perfect balance. The more inner balance we find within ourselves, the more we will be buzzing with passion, and this in turn will naturally reflect outwardly too.

I must admit, however, that my words need to become more experiential, but I am so grateful for having just a small taste of the intensity of the Siddhas' practices and teachings. I feel like I'm on a journey of planting a seed. This seed grows so subtly and gradually, and although from one day to another the changes might not be so noticeable, if we take care of the seed and water it daily, we will eventually see it grow into a beautiful tree that bears fruit to give to the world.

It is a beautiful, bittersweet journey.