In our modern society, even people who are retired have a lot of demands on their time. To find time to seek God we have to simplify our lives; there is no way around it. So much time is wasted in the endless pursuit of “newer and better” material possessions. What is the result of our culture’s obsession with material acquisitions? The Buddha put it very succinctly: “Those who have cows have care of cows.” So, take time today or sometime this week to do an analysis of your life: How much time do you put into
caring for all the unnecessary “necessities”-the “toys” that the media and advertisements have made you believe you can’t live without? And, see where you can MAKE time for spiritual practice. I recommend no less than an hour a day – and the Dalai Lama once said, if it is too hard to find an hour, you need two!
In addition to a specific time set aside for prayer and meditation, find ways to bring God into your life every day as much as possible. At the monastery we were reminded by bells five times a day to pay attention to God. I thought I could take that practice home by using the telephone – mine rings at least 5 times a day! We can use that continual reminder to bring our minds back to God, and this will go a long way towards helping us keep our inner balance.
Ultimately, the secret of balance is to put God first. Paramahansaji Yogananda reminds us, “giving God a second place is giving God no place.” Yet how often do we indeed give God second place, third place, fourth place, eighth place, tenth place, because we feel everything else is more pressing. It’s a flaw in our human nature. We continually delude ourselves that “No, I have to do this; I can’t afford to miss that”-and so we end up putting off our spiritual practice, or forgoing it completely. We have
to discipline ourselves to overcome that. Schedule your life; plan a balanced routine of meditation so that you’re getting a set amount every day, and then follow it. Should you fail on occasion, just try again. Persevere. When you make the determination, “I will do it, no matter what,” you will see a wonderful change come into your life. Drs even have proven that blood pressure and other bodily functions come into balance when we spend time daily in prayer.
How much time do you spend during a month in silence? Do you give yourself at least one day a month to focus on your spiritual life? How many of you take at least a week at least once a year for a retreat – to focus on your spiritual connection?
If we say that God is number one and that our spiritual lives are our first priority, how well do our schedules show it?
How many of us remember the scriptural commandment: “Keep holy the Sabbath.” I don’t mean just to be able to mouth it – but, remember to practice it. What happens to you when you hear me say, at least one day a week should be given to spiritual pursuit? I believe that as we “remember the Sabbath”, we will find that are leading a much more balanced and healthy life-physically, mentally, and spiritually.
Suppose we are giving one day to committed spiritual practice. What about the other six? When we speak of Balance as a spiritual quality, we are also speaking of living life on Purpose – as I said earlier, having time to do everything that is important to you. Check out how you spend your life. Are you truly living and spending time on what is important to you? For example, When did you take your last vacation? Does your work consume more of your time than you’d like?
Are you seeing signs of burnout? When was the last time you took time to play? Making time for hobbies you enjoy-is a necessary component of spiritual and psychological balance. You will get much more accomplished in your work and in your spiritual life, and you will be healthier physically-if you remember this
