I sense that in a lot of ways, my role in life has been to maintain
balance. This philosophy of balance and the tension that holds
balance in place seems to apply to everything I see around me.
Whether it's recreation, religion, spirituality, medicine,
relationships, sex, earth-love or what have you - the dangers
of going too far one way and completely abandoning the art
of balance show through in the merits of one's life. The one
who chooses balance will always have the taunt or pull to go
strongly to one side and stay there. Does this mean that in
being balanced, one must always be impartial? I don't think so.
I think you can still exude balance in your lifestyle and in your
projections when you allow yourself to go too far one way
from time to time...as long as you come back to the point of
balance.
Yes - the verbiage I'm using seems quite general and vague.
That is because it applies. In the realm of metaphysics,
balance is seen in the relationship between Law and Chaos.
Law is, due to its nature, over-powering and controlling
while Chaos is untameable and unmanageable and the
ultimate opposite of Law. What came first, though - Chaos
or Law?
In philosophy, the concept of moral balance exists in endless
forms. A prime example of this is within the golden mean -
a middle ground that has virtue 'being between the extreme
and the lacking'. Balance was also a pillar concept for the
Pythagoreans who intertwined moral excellence with
mathematical perfection. Confucian teachings and Buddhist
teachings also refer heavily to balance as a key concept...
but what does it mean to really balance?
To think back to the days of pre-pubescence, one can recall
visions of the first visit to a balance beam. Not much to
look at, these long steel beams usually were a foot off the
ground and had a few support rods along the shaft to keep
the beam from tipping. To step out on that beam was a
horrific feeling. I can remember being at Leslie Park
Public School and trying one out at a young age. I recall the
notion of the unknown...and the knowing that having fallen
before, it would hurt if I slipped off the side. My feet did
not fail me, though, and with every sideways step, I made
my way across pretending that there was a dragon on
one side and a moat of fire on the other. To fall off either
side and give in to gravity would have hurt but it would
have been easy.
Balance is the hard road. It is what I strive for. It is what
I believe in.
