Why I Named My Blog “Balanced Spirituality”

Trees symbolize perfect harmony and balance between heaven and earth

When I decided to start a blog, one of the very first questions I had to ask myself was “So, what do I call it?” I wanted to write about spirituality, so I knew that had to be in there. But for me, it’s not enough to just ask what do I want. As an empath, my guiding questions are more like, “What does the world need?” or “What would bring about the greatest benefit, happiness and harmony for the greatest number of people?” (More on empathy later.) When I thought about the greatest challenges in my life, as well as many of the pressing questions I’d been asked, or the various types of suffering I’d witnessed, I realized that many pressing issues involved the idea of “balance.” I felt that many problems we face as seekers, as citizens, and as a world have to do with a serious lack of balance.

For me, enjoying “worldly life” has never been enough, but neither is “being spiritual.” “Selfless service” is not enough, and neither is absorption in the higher Self. Meditating alone in a cave is not enough, and neither is engaging in activism for global causes. Fifteen years ago, I remember telling a budding Vedic astrologer that all I wanted to do was meditate and worship God, and asking whether this was likely to happen. He replied that my spiritual longing was definitely reflected in my chart, but that there was a reason I was “here in a physical body in America.” He made an interesting comment about how Mars and Saturn would teach me about working in the world and “being useful.” So that was my first hint that I would be forced to confront my opposite tendencies and somehow reconcile them.

Over the past few years, I have felt called to create a life of balance, one that allows me to seek enlightenment while also doing something for the planet. A life in which I seek to serve others without losing my health and my sanity. In which I meditate and purify my subtle body but also take care of my physical body and mental balance. In which I listen to both my heart and my head, and in which I balance faith and tradition with my God-given reason and intelligence.

Two years ago, before I had the idea to start this blog, I came to a point of crisis in which I felt completely drained, like I’d been sucked dry. I felt  no joy, no motivation, no devotion, no desire to do much of anything. Basically, I felt dead inside. It was one of those long, dark nights of the soul that many people will experience on the spiritual path. As I took steps to try to resurrect myself, I began piecing together my new philosophy on how to live this life I’ve chosen to live in twenty-first century America. This philosophy can be summed up as, “In all things, seek balance.” Yes, I know this is not new! Like all little bits of wisdom, this has been around a long time. But sometimes we have to make wisdom our own by coming to it through our own travails. And sometimes we have to rebirth wisdom for the current age. When I talk about balance, I am referring to what the Buddha called “The Middle Way.” So what are some of the key issues that come up in trying to seek balance?

Caring for the body/mind versus cleansing the consciousness

I’ve seen so many people focus on meditation or selfless service while ignoring their physical and mental health. Of course, this is the main trap I fell into, which caused me to sink into my dark night of despair. Folks, we need to bring the body onto the path. The body is a necessary tool for enlightenment, a sacred temple for the divine consciousness that resides within. It should not be glorified, but neither should it be abused or neglected. In the Vedic tradition, it is said that “Deho devalayaha,” which means that “This body is the abode of the gods, or divine energies.” We take care of a temple because of the sacred presence within it. We don’t worship the building itself. In the same way, we can take care of the body, not for the body’s sake, but because we are honoring the Divinity within and acknowledging the great gift of a life on Earth. In many Eastern traditions, it’s believed that true spiritual growth and enlightenment are only possible while in a physical body.

Of course, there are people in the world who focus overly on the body without caring about their behavior or their spiritual issues, but those people are not likely to find my blog and read it! So I’m talking to those of you who know all about the blockages in your chakras, but you haven’t given much thought to what kind of diet you’re eating. Or you haven’t sweated while exercising in years. (I was a member of this club for 15 years!) Or maybe you routinely deprive yourself of a healthy amount of sleep and relaxation. Or…you get the idea.

Seeking personal happiness versus serving the happiness of others

I believe that the spiritual path is just not complete if we don’t consider the needs and wishes of other beings. If we are engaging in spirituality for our own happiness or our own enlightenment alone, that doesn’t seem complete. Maybe there are others out there who feel perfectly content with such a thing, but it just doesn’t sit right with me. On the other hand, some people push themselves to the brink of exhaustion by completely ignoring their own needs. I’m not just talking about spiritual seekers engaging in some service project here. There are millions of exhausted mothers, harried social workers, and burned-out non-profit employees experiencing compassion fatigue. It happens everywhere, not just in ashrams or churches. I strongly believe that we need to take care of ourselves, so that we can be healthy and strong enough to take care of others. As they say on the airplanes, put your own mask on first, then take care of your kid.

And for me, unhappiness is not a spiritual virtue, it’s a sign that something’s very, very wrong. There may be times when suffering is a necessary purification, or it teaches some important lessons. Suffering has its place on the spiritual path. But I also feel some people have a tendency to seek out suffering or glorify it in some way, as if they feel they can only be truly spiritual if they are suffering the life of a martyr in some way. All I can say is, It’s okay to have fun, and it doesn’t make you any less spiritual. Joy is an important energy that feeds your spirit. I feel we are all being called to seek genuine bliss, which comes from within, and embody the vibration of joy on our planet. It’s time to leave the martyr’s path.

Cultivating the inner garden versus tending the outer garden

We are here to cultivate the World Garden of Mother Earth

The subtle centers known as chakras are often compared to lotuses, and my teacher, Amma, often likes to say that the most beautiful garden in the world is inside, in the form of our own fully blossomed lotus chakras. But she also says that our Mother Earth is meant to be like a beautiful garden, filled with beautiful flowers and the divine fragrance of peace, love and truth. In our zest to cleanse the chakras and cultivate our Inner Garden, I don’t think we should forget about the World Garden. As Amma would say, Mother Nature has given us so much, and we need to give something back. We have complete freedom in choosing how we want to give back. We might cook in a soup kitchen, or clean up a park, or do clerical work as a volunteer, or we might simply smile warmly at everyone we see.

It’s never a good idea to seek God as some distant and transcendent reality, while ignoring the divinity manifested in the world around us. When we engage in the world with love and compassion, we inspire and energize our inner search for truth and wisdom. As Amma so beautifully expressed, “Service purifies the mind and prepares it for the descent of divine light.”

When we balance everyone’s needs, we create “win-win” opportunities

For me, true balance is not a “zero-sum game,” in which someone wins and someone else loses. True balance may involve some compromises here and there, but it is really about creating win-win situations. For example, a vegetarian or mostly vegetarian diet allows us to achieve a “win” for our physical and subtle bodies, for animals, for natural habitats, for starving people, and for the climate. So this is a “win-win-win-win-win-win”! Balanced spirituality can serve as a unifying thread for a complete life filled with truth, joy, harmony, abundance and spiritual growth. Balanced spirituality reflects the truth that everything is interconnected. Our own deeply felt peace and joy spirals outward, touching the hearts of all. Our commitment to justice and dharma inspires others to strive for justice. Our meditation purifies not only our inner sky, but the outer atmosphere as well.  Balanced spirituality allows us to participate fully in the sacred dance of oneness that takes place on the stage of duality.

So, as we move forward on the spiritual path, let us balance the search for enlightenment with giving back to Mother Earth, chakra cleansing with healthy diet and exercise, serving others with healthy self-concern, concern for things of the spirit with the state of the environment. Putting into proper balance all of our own needs as well as the needs of other people, animals, plants, and Mother Earth, let us all support each other in seeking peace, harmony, joy and abundance for all beings.

Sarvastaratu durgani sarvo bhadrani pasyatu
Sarvah kamanavapnotu sarvah sarvatra nandatu

May all beings pass over their difficulties, and may they perceive auspiciousness everywhere. May all beings attain their wishes, and may all beings everywhere be joyful!