Balance: A Mystic Ideal
Last week, a friend of mine gave me a best-selling business book
that forecast the rise of the right brain thinker and the demise
of the left-brain thinker. Scientists have identified the right
brain as the emotional, empathic, artistic side and the
left-brain as the side of logic, intellect and language. The
essence of the author's argument is that we are moving from the
age of information, which was dominated by computer programmers,
MBAs and accountants, into a new conceptual age, which will be
dominated by artists, caregivers and designers.
To many people with an interest in personal and spiritual
growth, this is old news. A variety of tapes and CDs have been
on the market since the early 1980s that were designed to
influence brain rhythms, so that you can, in the words of one
marketer, "meditate more deeply than a Zen monk."
What is remarkable is that the underlying mystic principles are
now being accepted and transmitted to the general business
public!
Albert Einstein once said, "No problem can be solved from the
same level of consciousness that created it."
While producing great technological advances, our reliance on
left-brain thinking has not necessarily advanced our evolution
as a species. From the mystic perspective, however, neither
would switching to a world dominated by artists and caregivers.
In the world of the mystic all is one. This provides the answer
as to which side of the brain we should use-both.
The overriding goal should be BALANCE. Those that will thrive in
the emerging spiritual age will be whole-brainers. Using both
sides of the brain in synchronization puts you in the proper
state of mind so you can transcend it and attune with God. You
will think more clearly and improve your coordination.
This is true no matter which side of your brain currently
dominates. In the mystic's view, there is only one Creator. Your
job as an artist is to attune with this One source of all
creation and report back your "findings" via your work.
Similarly, the engineer will never design anything of
transcendent value by only relying on logic. You are selling
yourself short by only relying on one dominant hemisphere.
The Kabalistic Tree of Life illustrates this principle.
Tifereth, the sephira of beauty, represents the ideal balance
between justice and mercy. Lying in the middle column, it is
also the most direct path to the highest aspect of God.
The most direct method of attaining balance is through
meditation. Meditators are taught to "center themselves." But
meditation is not the only way. Any activity in which you feel
pure joy, in which you lose yourself so completely that time
passes without your conscious awareness, is one in which you are
in balance. This can happen while you are walking, swimming,
singing, dancing, playing a sport, communing with nature or
making love.
A simple way to tell if you are "in synch" is by looking at a
stereogram. These posters consist of a collection of black and
white or colored dots. When the proper focus is attained, you
are able to see a hidden picture within a picture. People that
are too dominant in either their left or right brain are unable
to see the picture. When your brain is synchronized you can see
it. To view a text-based stereogram with a hidden word visit:
http://www.MysticWarrior.us/newsletter_image.html
What's important is that in times of stress or fear, the brain
will automatically return to its dominant side. Accountants will
become more left brained and artists will become more right
brained, neither of which is suitable if your goal is to attune
with God and express your God given gifts. Neither will help you
evolve spiritually.
So the next time you're feeling frazzled and tense, pursue an
activity that involves your whole mind and helps you connect
with God. Turn off the TV and go for a walk, play with your
children, or take 15 minutes to meditate. The influx of spirit
into your being will not only reduce your anxiety, it will make
the world a better place, as well.