Rose Quartz in the Garden (pt. 1): Balance

I go through periods of intense spiritual study and long periods of down time when I did little, if any, spiritual work at all. I used to beat myself up about this, telling myself that I was a faker, a dilenttant, that it was just another symptom of my inability to stay focused for very long.

That was a lie. Or at least it was that destructive voice we all have in western culture, that constantly tells us that we know nothing, that our observations and experience in life mean nothing, that only experts are to be trusted with any kind of thought, opinion or knowledge. Now, having said that, when it comes to things I don't know, I will listen to the experts, especially on matters that are based on concrete fact and not necessarily on faith or intuition. If it confirms that faith or intuition, all the better. But there is another kind of knowledge, the kind of knowledge we all have, a knowledge that is dismissed and vilified by Western thought as being unrelieable and therefore false. This is the knowledge of the heart, the knowing and sensing on subtle levels that are almost impossible to pin down. The knowledge of the Spirit, that we were born knowing how to connect, based on instinct and intuition, the quiet voices of the Universe that whisper in our hearts. That knowledge is just as valid, but because we are taught to distrust it, vilify it, mock it, few of us have learned to hear it, much less follow it as completely as we should.

Does that mean that science is invalid? That personal truths should outweigh concrete fact? That we should replace concrete fact, change them even, because we dislike them or their implications? No. That would be as living out of balance as ignoring that inner voice of the heart. And that's the point, really. Balance. As humans we tend to go from exteme to extreme with little thought that sometimes things are more grey, then black and white. History is a long tale of thought and backlash, back to thought, leaving chaos and bloodshed in its wake. Very little done in any kind of society is completely new. We repeat ourselves like a broken record, failing to look at History and the warnings its story contains. Like a broken record, over and over and over again. Isn't that a sign that what we are doing isn't working?

Is the present chaos created by religious fanatics proof enough that replacing concrete fact with personal truth to the exclusion of all other data is equally dangerous and destructive?

Balance.

If you take your cues from Nature, you will notice two things: diversity and balance are both widely prevalent. There is not just one kind of tree, one kind of stone, only one flower. How boring life would be if there was! There's not just one kind of horse or one kind of big cat or even one kind of human being. Life can only thrive in diversity, and it coexists in a delicate balance. The cat kills the mouse, the mouse breeds hundreds of babies in order to ensure that at least one survives. If the cat is killed, the mouse quickly overwhelms the system and widespread destruction occurs. Balance. It takes male and female to create life. Without one, the other cannot reproduce. Whether it is a plant, insect, animal or human, it takes both to ensure survival.

Differences are to be celebrated. Diversity is to be striven for. A balance of contrasting energies produces harmony and ensures growth. It is sameness that brings Chaos. It is sameness that prevents growth and the only thing that does grow is dead. Is that what we really want?

Personal truths should never be imposed on another under any circumstance. Discuss them, debate them, go to town but never, ever force them on someone else. It is up to each person to decide whether or not someone else's personal truth has any application to his or herself. We each of us have our own path to follow and while having companions on that path is nice, ultimately, we all have to walk it alone.

As for my spiritual downtimes, I realized that I needed those times to integrate the energies and knowledge I learned into my subconsious. Let it worm it's way into my heart to be accepted or rejected as I deemed fit. If I had to do that consciously, I would have no time to deal with what we call "real life". The Universe knows what it's doing, it's time we all recognize that, including myself.