Hold the Balance

Omraam said in "Golden Rules for Everyday Life," that "You have to develop both the spiritual and the material aspects of your lives, to be in the world while, at the same time, living a heavenly life... You are still at the stage where, when you engage in spiritual activities, you let your material affairs go to pieces and, when you take care of your material affairs, you neglect your spiritual life. But you must have both."

All the great masters and saints echo Omraam. Saint Teresa of Avila said, "Our Lord admonished us to be in the world but not of the world. But how are we to do that? I think the key lies in the Beatitudes, the characteristics of those who our Lord said were blessed (look for "The Be Attitudes" in near future). Gurdjieff advised doing some practical work to make a living while engaging in spiritual practice at the same time.

Yes, life is a balancing and juggling act. We have to juggle work, family, church, friend, and self concerns while maintaining our balance between the material (left side) and spiritual (right side). If we spend too much time in prayer, meditation, and other spiritual practices, we neglect our material affairs and they suffer. This will then affect out spiritual life.

The story is told, by Idrias Shah I believe, of an idealistic young man who desired too much to become enlightened. He goes to a guru and says, "I'll do whatever it takes. Teach me how to be enlightened." The guru takes him under his wing and gives his student a multitude of spiritual practices that keep him busy 24/7. After a month, the student is dead because the guru neglected to tell him to eat and sleep. The story is a bit extreme, but it gets its point across.

With most people, though, the opposite is the case. They spend too much time and energy working to gain money and status but starve their souls. Jesus said, "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" We live as though we'll never die or as though we can take our money and possessions with us. But while materialism should never be our focus, we should not ignore material concerns.

Thus, moderation is the key. A balance must be struck between the material and spiritual. As Tielhard de Chardin said, "We are spiritual beings having a physical experience." We are like jugglers on a tightrope. If we can maintain our balance, we can make progress and reach the opposite side safely. But if we lean too much to the left or right, we will fall. We may have a safety net of family and friends we can fall back on, but eventually we will have to learn to walk the tightrope without a safety net.