I find myself looking for balance often. I wonder about its existence! As a matter of fact, balance has become a bit of a “four-letter word” in my life. Oh sure, right…it’s real, balance. It’s something that I have felt for all of about 4 minutes. Maybe.
Nayaswami Jyotish talked about balance or unbalance during the Saturday retreat. It was a statement that ultimately had me shaking my head…yes, yes, that is so true!
This world is made to keep you off-balance!
We are all basically Olympiads and this lifetime is like one long performance-routine. Selecting that perfect outfit. Deciding on the correct routine for today, and chalking-up our hands. Will it be the right expression our true self? Wanting to gain those dharma-points from all the judges.
A play of light and shadow.
Yogananda used to take His disciples to the movies. Pointing up to the beams of light pouring out of the projector room, he would comment on how it is all just a play of light and sahdows. Life is just a movie, a performance of sorts. A good reminder.
The spiritual seeker, learns this early on. These lives are just movies, no matter the “routine” we decide upon. We have incarnated to play out our part of past karma—learning the lessons, mitigating karma—and yet, sometimes we strengthen those tendencies that pull us out of balance.
This world was made to pull us out of balance!
No one is really safe from this! Nayaswami Devi pointed out that it is restlessness, caused by the world wanting to unbalance us, that makes the spiritual path of low importance or low priority in our lives!
We have ways of bringing ourselves back into balance. Re-gaining our center. Like when a child-athlete almost trips, wobbles on the beam, misses that ball, and everyone is taking a collective breath, praying they make it. And they rebalance themselves.
In last week’s article of Awesome Tips from Nayaswamis Jyotish and Devi, they gave us a routine that we can work with to make our own. It will strengthen our “muscles” and guide us to stay true to our Self. Our practices are the routine to keep us safe in this lifetime.
We can navigate that skinny beam while it demands the most complicated flips and turns from us at what seems like the worst time. And as any teacher says, “practice makes perfect.” And in this case it’s true. It’s a practice…not a “complete”! We need to keep trying. Keep practicing.
Quoting a friend, Nayaswami Devi mentioned, “There are only two mistakes that we make on the spiritual path, not to start on the path or to stop.”
Yogananda, Jesus and all the saints and avatars have come to guide us, to be our coaches. It might be helpful to remember that they too, “at one point in their evolution sat in the same place that you are in right now.” said Nayaswami Devi. And they kept practicing, and they accomplished that perfect performance, merging with the Divine eternally.
This is in us! We can do this! They will give us their love and support unconditionally. See, when we put a little effort into our spiritual path, we are always getting a “10” from all the Divine!
We are all on the same team, after all.