Welcome to our Open Forum where we seek to understand the challenges - and guidance - of the Spiritual Path, and through it all seek Balance and Harmony... thus the question today is
What gives value to Life ?
Many on the Spiritual Path become so focused on ‘doing good’, on helping others, being of service to Man and the planet, that they ignore their own needs, and - if they have a family - frequently ignore their duty towards them.
This is a major debate among the spiritual community - “God first, Mankind second, myself last”... truly a great debate, with far too many opposing points of view...so I thought I would add my two pennies worth and contribute even more questions for us all to ponder ... and now consider this -
We live in a world of Duality, and Karma - good or bad - is firmly entrenched in it.
Basically, no matter what you do - or choose not to do - you will always create Karma, and thus swing the balance between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ accordingly.
Now, we know that Karma creates Bindings, energy cords which links people / places / or concepts together, or even to objects [think the Mala that belongs to the Dalai Lama].
These Bindings have to be correctly released, and the Karma balanced and resolved, before we can progress on the Path; i.e. we must be free of our Human Burdens before we can embody Light.
Now, it stands to reason that one of the major requirements of the Path is for us to fulfill these Karmas AND whatever Duties come with it...
So - if you are married, have children, a job, own a house, have pets / plants / a car etc. then you have a duty towards them which cannot - must not - be ignored / dismissed / put aside in favor of some concept that has been presented to you as ‘Spiritual Practice’.
Here is a simple example - if your three month old baby is hungry and cries while you are meditating, your first duty is to the child and not your meditation.
Of course, this is not an excuse for you not to meditate, but is in fact a ‘test’ of you dedication to the Path that you will return to it after you have satisfied your Duties.
And to add to all this, you - your body, emotions, mind and lifestyle - are all part of these Duties, thus cannot be ignored... basically it means that all your human needs are also part of your Spiritual Path.
Remember, the Spiritual Path places more and more demands on us all - but everything must always be kept in Balance, in Harmony [after all, your Soul chose this physical incarnation for a very good reason, and if you are to be this excellent Spiritual Instrument, then you must take care of your whole Life as best you can... and that means creating the best, most fulfilling Human Life so you can now serve Spirit as your best-self, and not some pale shadow of your potential, burdened by increasing neglect and ignored Karma.]
