Measures of wholeness, of balance, in four simple words:
Strength. Sanity. Sharpness. Serenity.
Paying attention to body, emotion, mind, and spirit and finding balance with these four, knowing that the experience of feeling in balance is evershifting.
No need to run marathons or lift a hundred pounds to feel strong. But simply to pay attention to those things that sustain the body well – rest, nutrition, activity.
How? Movement & stillness in outer landscapes
No need to feel totally unconflicted in any moment in order to be sane. But simply to allow the natural fluctuations in human emotions to flow – without stifling or augmenting the proportion in which they are there.
How? Attentiveness to inner landscape
No need to be able to solve complicated equations in order to have sharp mental acuity. But simply to exercise cognitive capacity, a brain that is adept and supple.
How? Critical thinking
No need to sit on a mountaintop – the guru praying for the world. But simply to maintain balance in spiritual matters, remembering interconnection with all beings.
How? Rituals
We root ourselves in the body of Earth, the communities in which we reside, the service we provide, the compassion with which we peaceably embrace others. For it is this totality that is the fullness of who we really are. And when we acknowledge our wholeness in relationship to all that is, we experience a glimpse of the shining slivers of light in the interstices.
(Orig. posted in Dec 2016.)
