Do we need to sometimes prioritize the spiritual over the material or the material over the spiritual?
So how does one maintain balance on a regular basis and should are there times when we should prioritize the spiritual over the material or material over the spiritual? Yes definitely. See balance is never static balance itself is dynamic that means if you are riding a bike now the balance state of the bike is the vertical state but if you are turning right and the vertical state won't enable us to turn right we have to tilt the bike slightly towards the right now after I turn towards the right again I have to straighten the bike if I keep the bike tilted towards the right what will happen? I will just go in a circle so if I have to go straight then I tilt towards the right, move towards the right then afterwards again I turn towards left and move onwards so the basic nature of the balance state for the bike is not necessarily the vertical state it is that state which enables one to move onwards and depending on how the traffic is, how the roads are sometimes the tilted state may be the balance state so if we expect a balance in life to be that I do this in the morning, I do this in the afternoon, I do this in the evening, I do this at night we make a rigid plan for our life then we will soon find ourselves frustrated because life just cannot be so micro controlled like that and balance in that sense is not a static set of schedules, it is more a dynamic planning of purpose these are the things which I am to do in my life this is the direction which I need to go that is where I need to get so sometimes I may stay vertical, sometimes I may tilt left sometimes I may tilt right, like that now plans often don't work but planning works that means specific plans, I will do this at this time, I will do this at this time, that may not work but planning itself gives us an overall sense of priority and purpose these are the important things for me, this is what I need to get done and then we can be flexible, sometimes we can do one thing more, sometimes another thing more all that can be adjusted, just like another example we are going by we are driving to some place sometimes the traffic is a lot, we move slowly sometimes the traffic is less, we move faster so overall we keep moving forward, but depending on the traffic we may move slower or faster similarly with respect to our material-spiritual balance there are times when our material life may require prioritization if there is some family function there is a marriage there is some other family emergency whatever sometimes those require attention, I need to give attention so we could say, if we consider the spiritual journey, at that time, there is a lot of traffic over there, so spiritually we move slower, that's fine as soon as the traffic clears, we can move faster and sometimes we may prioritize our spiritual life also sometimes we may say, go for some spiritual outing, some pilgrimages, or there may be some retreats, where we may have a whole day, a couple of days events or it might be an outing to some other place so we focus exclusively on spirituality so if there are some special associations special programs available, we may prioritize that, so as long as we have the overall purpose clear we can adjust the specifics sometimes material life can be more, sometimes spiritual life can be more, we have certain basic spiritual commitments which we always try to fulfill, along with that we have some basic material commitments, which we always try to take care of, but overall within that basic level of material and spiritual commitments, some things can be beyond that basic which to do more, which to do less that is something which can be adjusted according to our specific situations, according to time and circumstance so instead of seeking for balance in terms of a rigid formula doing this, this, this at this, this, this times, we can see balance as a dynamic planning of priority and purpose and with that planning of priority and purpose, we will be able to adjust things according to time, place and circumstance while moving onwards in the direction which we want to go in our life.