The TAO of Living in Balance and Harmony
The
mind needs balance and harmony both to control the body and to seek guidance
from the soul, which supervises the mind.
Balance
and harmony in the soul is alignment and connection for self-healing of the
body.
Alignment and realignment
The
body, the mind, and the soul work together as a system of life energy for
healing. The free flow or stagnation of this life-giving energy is dependent on
the balance and harmony of the body, the mind, and the soul at each and every moment.
It is this moment-to-moment alignment in the body, the mind, and the soul, as
well as their alignment with one another, that creates your unique state of self-healing
and self-help, which is a miracle in itself.
What is
your current state of self-healing and self-help?
If you
are living your life as if nothing is a miracle, most probably your body, mind,
and soul are in misalignment with one another. You might feel your body is not
healing, your mind is strangled with sadness and doomed to despair, and you life
has little or no meaning, without a goal or purpose. On the other hand, if your
current state of being is one of joy, hope, and purpose, you are living as if
everything is a miracle because your body, mind, and soul are not only inter-connected,
but also in perfect balance and harmony with one another.
Alignment
or realignment is inter-connection of the body, the mind, and the soul to
achieve balance and harmony for self-healing and self-help.
The miracle of self-healing is manifested in the spiritual wisdom
of the soul that guides and inspires the mind, which controls the body
living in the physical world.
Connection and reconnection
According
to entropy, one of the laws of physics, anything left to itself will ultimately
disintegrate, and fall apart.
According
to John Donne, the famous English poet, “no man is an island, and every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the
main.”
Essentially,
everything in the universe is somehow and somewhat connected, just as man is
connected with one another in a subtle way. The miracle of this connection is
to provide balance and harmony to guarantee their existence and co-existence, that
is, their alignment with one another.
Focusing on others rather than just on yourself illuminates your soul to
see its necessity to express your empathy, generosity, gratitude, and
loving-kindness to others. But the challenge not to do that is as great as your
innate desire to seek spirituality. Therefore, simplicity in living may enhance
your spirituality and increase your strength to overcome the challenge to seek
spiritual wisdom.
With spiritual wisdom, you may believe in the miracle of self-healing. You
will then see that all happenings in your life are somehow “connected”
for an unfathomable and unimaginable purpose, and that you can turn any bad
situation into an opportunity for self-healing and self-help. Believe in the
miracle that you are connected with everyone you meet in your life, and that everyone
can be either your teacher or your student. In other words, there is much for
you to learn from any circumstance, as well as from one another. This is the
miracle of alignment and connection.
The
TAO
According
to the TAO, not living in balance and harmony is not living for life:
“When
there is abundance, there is lacking.
When
there is craving, there is discontentment.
Striving
for power to control and influence
every
aspect of our lives
is
the source of our suffering.
Obsessed
with getting and keeping,
many
of us never really live before we die.
Following
the Way,
we
must learn to let go.”
(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 75)
Letting go is adapting and adjusting
any imbalance and disharmony in your everyday life and living:
“Following the Way is like bending a
bow:
one end is pulled up;
the other end is pulled down.
Excess and deficiency are balanced.
According to wisdom of the Way:
we reduce when there is excess;
we increase when there is
deficiency.
Balance is thus created.
According to common wisdom:
we increase excess and deplete
deficiency.
Imbalance is thus created.”
(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 77)
But,
given that there are too many attachments in life, letting go is not easy and
it requires profound human wisdom:
“Stilling our thoughts,
our needs become few.
Following our thoughts,
our distractions become more,
and thus living in chaos.
Enlightenment is our true nature.
Meditation helps us find the origin,
and thus ending our suffering.”
(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 52)
Attachments
to the world are only distractions that lead to detours, causing imbalance and
disharmony along the journey:
“The Way is easy,
yet people prefer distracting
detours.
Beware when things are out of
balance.
Remain centered within the Creator.
Distractions are many,
in the form of riches and luxuries.
They allure us from
the Way.”
(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 53)
No-stress living is the way to attaining balance and
harmony:
“So, we no longer
argue with those who are cynical.
We stop looking for
their approval.
We cease taking
offense at their unbelief.
We just sow the seeds
along the Way,
letting the Creator
reap the harvest.
To be loved or
rejected,
to gain or to lose,
to be approved or
disapproved,
no longer matters to
us,
when we know who we
are
and who the Creator
is.”
(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 56)
According
to the TAO, living in balance and harmony is all about “spontaneity" which
is the understanding of the nature of all things.
According
to the TAO, spontaneity is “doing without over-doing”—which essentially means
“doing without consciously anticipating the outcome.”
In
the universe, there is an all-controlling force that monitors everything. You
breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. You eat and you eliminate. You
grow, mature, and die. Spontaneity is the natural built-in mechanism in each
living organism. Spontaneity creates balance and harmony, expressed in the Yin
and the Yang (the female and the male). Spontaneity is the ultimate understanding
of the natural cycle of all things that are beyond human control: what goes up
must also come down; success is followed by failure; life forever begets death:
“The Creator creates one.
One creates two.
Two creates three.
Three creates a myriad
of things.
All have their original unity
in the duality of the Yin and the Yang,
the opposite life forces that
harmonize.
We experience this harmonious
process
in the rising and falling of our
breaths.
People naturally avoid loss and seek
gain.
But with all things along the Way,
there is no need to pick and choose.
There is no gain without loss.
There is no abundance without lack.
We do not know how and when
one gives way to the other.
So, we just remain in the center of
things,
trusting the Creator, instead of
ourselves.
This is the essence of the Way.”
(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 42)
With spontaneity, we become babies again, living in
perfect balance and harmony with everyone and everything:
“If we are in harmony
with the Creator,
we are like newborn
babies,
in natural harmony
with all.
Our bones are soft,
and our muscles are weak,
but our grip is strong
and powerful.
Not knowing about sex,
we manifest sexual
arousal.
Crying all day long,
we lose not our voice.
With constancy and
harmony,
we accomplish all
daily tasks
without growing tired.
In natural harmony
with the Creator,
we let all things come
and go,
exerting no effort,
showing no desire,
and expecting no
result.
Natural harmony is
experienced
only in the present
moment,
when we see the
natural laws of the Creator.”
(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 55)
According to
the TAO, living in the present moment is living in balance and harmony:
“We act without
over-action.
We manage without
interference.
We enjoy without
attachment.
Effrontery is just
an opportunity for
loving-kindness.
Great accomplishments
are only
a combination of small
steps.
Difficult tasks are no
more than
a series of easy
steps.
Therefore, we focus on
the present moment,
doing what needs to be
done,
without straining and
stressing.
To end our suffering,
we focus on the
present moment,
instead of our
expected result.
So, we follow the
natural laws of things.”
(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 63)
Most importantly,
spontaneity shows us the wisdom of the impermanence
of all things—that is,
nothing lasts despite all human efforts to make them continue:
“Strong
winds come and go.
So
do torrential rains.
Even
heaven and earth cannot make them last forever.”
(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 23)
Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
