…Balance

About a day after I wrote the last entry on “balance” I ran across some words of wisdom written in the book titled, “Medicine Woman,” By Lynn V. Andrews. It is not a coincidence that I often get reinforcements from the outside world when I am battling with inside thoughts.  IF you keep your eyes and ears open, all the holes will be filled with grace.  It just may take a lifetime, but that is why we are ALIVE.  The mystery is always growing within us and pulling us towards Truth.

(this excerpt is taken at a point in the story where Agnes, a Native American Medicine Woman, is sharing her wisdom with Lynn, a white woman who is searching…)

“If it is meat you are hunting, you must never waste any of it - not even the bones.  Hunted meat has a spirit.  It has a big spirit that will make you strong.  The sweet meat of the slave animals holds no responsibility to you.  It tastes sweet, but it makes you fat and indolent.  You have to be balanced in the physical world and balanced in the spiritual world. Then those two balances have to again be balanced…You can see a people by what they eat.”

Balance

Balance is a word that is overused and misused. I see balance as a moving meditation towards a non-static center. For example, if you are going to balance your day, you would try to even out the amount of work with the amount of leisure. If you were to balance your diet you would even out your fruits with your grains. If you are trying to practice balancing on one foot, you may stand in a tree pose. This is all balance, and yet it is really scratching the surface of where actual balance comes from. Go into the mind and you will have to balance your thoughts with your breath to stand steady in tree pose. In a conversation with a friend you will need to balance your opinion with open and active listening. If you want to balance your time, finances, sports, or hobbies…start by becoming aware of your inner imbalances. Some people say,”I am trying to be more balanced, I am trying to be centered.” This is a set-up that we will automatically fail at; due to the inaccuracy of the statement. Because center is not a fixed point, and it is a moving place at our core (or earth’s core/God) we can not be it, and stay fixed. Therefore, we have to broaden our impression of “center” to be a non-fixed, free from form, space that revolves around our higher consciousness. Balance happens when we use awareness (the idea pointing to center, which is itself) to make decisions. When trying to find balance, keep going backwards. Keep going until you get somewhere in your heart, or in your breath that seems to feel imbalanced.

See where your heart is closed. (when past experiences affect your happiness today, when eating unconsciously ignores the unnecessary suffering to animals, when carrying an opinion to the point that you believe you are right, when you don’t look people in the eye…)

See where your breath stops. (becomes short, voice turns to a yell)

Practice being OPEN, and letting GO.

Balance in nature is balance in ourselves.

No end, just more

There is no end

If you look beyond

Space

There is just more

Space

If you look beyond life

There is just more

Life

If you look beyond time

You will find

More space

More life

If you look beyond love

There is just more

Love

If you look beyond the end

There is just more

Beginning