Finding balance

photo by Nory San Juan

What day is it?, my travel companion from the Philippines asked.

"I don't know", I answered back.

We're currently in Mount Abu, India often called Madhuban, the land of milk and honey for our annual two week retreat.  Here, everything works like clockwork and everyone's immersed in spiritual study and yoga. (Even the elevator guy has a huge logbook for notes from the daily meditation class.)  

On top of the mountain, we are far away from the demands of work and home.  Deadlines and responsibilities are forgotten and sometimes even the day.

On my way here, I sense that this trip is about finding my balance.  It is so easy for me to push myself to the extreme and then after I use up all my energy, I'd feel so tired that I can't do anything else but rest.  This swinging from one end to the other has to stop.  I need to get to my center.

Being around yogis who are also working on themselves is very conducive.

In the car on our way up to the mountain, we were joined by two meditation students from London.  The conversation turned towards being stable.  Our companion shared, "In this world, there's duality, positive and negative, good and bad. Our goal is to be in the the neutral and not be pulled by any of these two.  Understand and accept that things happen as they should and that people are exactly where they are in their journey."

I think stability comes from the awareness that I am a zero- the one in the middle of the number line.  I don't need anything or anyone to prove my worth.  No one can hurt me or take anything from me.  And, I do not need to comment on how people live their lives or be concerned with the trivialities in the world.  I need to simply stay in the center of the number line and remember that I am a zero.

Now, if I can practice this have to practice over and over again, I think I can find balance.


P.S.  If you want to learn more about finding balance and stress-free living, you are cordially invited to a free program this Wednesday, 6.30-8.30pm at Brahma Kumaris Meditation, Makati, Philippines.  Didi Sudesh, director of the BK meditation centers in Germany & Europe will give a lecture on "Innate Powers for a Worry-Free Life". RSVP 890-7906 or 0927-2808363.