The Great Balancing Act

There is no doubt
A balance and equilibrium exists
At the grand physical level of the universe
As the innumerable galaxies
And their suns and planets
Came into existence
And sustains itself
In a vast and endless dance

This balance was observed
By the ancients sages and priests
As they watched the planets
Stream across the sky
And followed the moon
Along its orderly passage
Across the pathway of stars and constellations
And tracked the seasons
As the sun made passage
Across its various heights
Above the horizon

And this cycle of life
That was reflected in the sky
Became the gods that the ancients worshipped
As the givers of life
And the creators of omens
Both good and bad
That were interpreted by the priests
And shamans of old
For the good of the rulers
For the good of the people

And then came the philosophers
Who were the harbinger of language
This the sacred gift
From the gods on high
From Prometheus bound
From time immemorial
To the seers of truth
The Rishis as they were called
In the ancient Vedas
The oldest of books
From before time began

These sages and priests were chosen
Or so they would have us believe
By the great gods themselves
And who saw themselves
In the position grace and glory
Who communed with these great gods
And could read the portents
And advise the rulers
As to what was right and what was wrong
And grant the ancient kings and queens
Their divine authority to rule

And these first philosophers
Saw not just order in the skies and stars
But also in the world of man
As they extracted from nature
The various rules that they supposed
Governed the realm of life
In all its forms
On the great planet of Earth
Which they deemed to be
The center of it all

And in this order
They saw not only a grand beginning
But also a creative process
Out of fire and water
And ether and air
From these basic elements
That the world we know it was made
And from which mankind was created

And laws of ethics and morality
And the basic rules of society
They formed out of these very same laws
From order out of chaos

Rules and tenets
Which allowed for society to function
For the good of the people
So that they could be sustained and supported
Out of and from these very same forces
Which created the great cosmos
Within which all sentient beings existed

And out of this order
That the philosophers gleaned
From mother nature herself
With their creation of language and writing
And the formulation of advanced logic
And systems of metaphysics
And ethics and theology

And therefrom comes
This grand balance that is spoken of
From the grand cosmic principles
Which they understood a
After so many centuries of watching
The planets and the stars
Revolve around the sky
In their orderly procession
Throughout the zodiac
And across the ecliptic

This balance they saw
Could and should be applied
To the life of the individual
As to the society as a whole

And so were created
By these very first scribes
Not just stories of creation
But stories and theories
As to how rulers were to govern
And how individuals were to lead their lives

To live in harmony with their surroundings
And live in peace with their neighbors
And achieve in the end
A happiness which was thought to be
The very end, the very purpose
Of life itself

And it is this harmony and balance
That we all must seek
Not only with our Creator
But with our fellow man as well
And when our conscience speaks
And a relationship becomes tainted
There arises at the same time
A desire to correct the imbalance
To move to a place
Where harmony can exist once again

And this becomes our challenge
In this world of competing desires
Fraught with confusion and strife
And sometimes even war between nations
And even other times
Between friends and family

To seek resolution
And a path to peace
Where we can once again
Live in harmony with our surroundings
Not just with our Creator
The ultimate judge of right and wrong
But with our fellow man as well
Whose judgment comes swift at times
And where grudges are held
For centuries and generations
And the cycle of hate
Seems to be endless and boundless
And love and compassion
Seems ever so distant a hope

And to the man or woman
Who can find this balance
Who can live in the Way
Who can live through the Way
And find action in inaction
And inaction in action
As the ancients taught us
So many centuries ago

To them there is Peace
And their souls can be at rest
Even while they endlessly toil
And run about wth their ceaseless tasks
They can still find that place
Where calmness prevails
And full knowledge of the grand plan
And their small part that they play
Can provide them with some comfort

So as without so within
And for the one who seeks
The ultimate release from bondage
One must manage
Not only with the internal demons and fears
But with the external ones as well

That manifest in relationships
In work and in family
And perhaps most profoundly
In love and friendship
Which can be the greatest cure
Of the ills of the world
And yet at the same time
Be the greatest curse of all

Unless the balance of life
Can find its harmony
In the smallest of the small
In the greatest of details
Which mark our daily life
And in the grandest of the grand
In the cosmic existence
To which we are all bound