I recently heard a very simple and concise advice about living in a balanced way which nourishes your mind and growth the most.
Spend 1/3 of every day thinking with your rational mind. Perhaps we can call this the left-hemisphere thinking and living, when we function in a cause and effect aspect of the universe, in time, in sowing and reaping. We need this of course to perform our daily duties, in our work, which normally takes 8 hours anyway- perfect. Doing things for a purpose, supplying for the basic needs of ourselves and our family. We can also call this a quantitative way of living.
Spend the other 1/3 of the day on your intuitive mind or a qualitative way of living. Here we do not think about what we can gain by doing certain actions. Here the questions are- where am I coming from and mostly the very famous question- who am I? It is the time for self, but it doesn't mean selfishness for the third of your day, it means doing things in a way to access your true self so that even if you are with others and doing things for others, you are doing it from your essence. You cannot do anything good for others or have real relationships anyway, before you know how to be yourself and to be good to yourself.
In this state there is liberty for any type of action but the source and the manner of action is completely different and there is even no difference between action and non-action (being). Most people ignore their intuitive side of mind completely. Or even if they have the interest and inner need to search for the question who am I and to touch their own core and borders, thus being a true creator in life- they still do it with the same habitual process of looking for gain ie doing meditation to gain enlightenment or praying to receive favourable after-death state or painting to sell the picture or singing in the manner that pleases the crowd etc etc. This will not bring results cause you cannot expect a right-brain result from a left-brain action even if this is simplifying. Its just easier to understand that as sensing timelessness is a right brain ability, it is the left hemisphere which moves in time and doing an action for a result.
Knowledge is also useless to us at this time of day. The belief in the usefulness of knowledge is so inbred into us that this causes difficulties for most people. What do you mean knowledge is useless? Intelligence and IQ useless.. But then how can I know? How can I understand.. It takes time to know that wisdom has nothing to do with anything from the outside world. It takes practice to realise that our intellect, pure intellect, which needs not have huge amounts of stored information, but simply sparks of intuitive understanding/knowing/feeling (very hard to find the right word here), is actually beyond cleverness and learnedness. And how much practice it requires to do the one thing really necessary- to simply let go of all of that.
And the rest of the day is spent of course on sleep.
For me personally its been quite difficult to find the "middle way", the balance. Either I was at work in a groundless state and wishing to continue the timeless feeling, treating the ground as a hateful place, which needless to say resulted in frustration.
Or in fact getting too grounded to the day-to-day existence and losing the link to the Divine, mostly by simple forgetfulness. Feeling numb and subconsciously alienated cause the link has been lost to myself, the true self- peace, freedom, openness, the sky-mind.
Of course one can only be grateful for that feeling of dissatisfaction, frustration and numbness- that helps you back to yourself!
Two recipes for the two imbalances have helped me.
In the first case- understanding. Understanding that we are human beings, made for the material ground of learning, able to move forward fast BECAUSE of the quick and forceful lessons of earthly matters, let it be an illusion but what an illuminating illusion it is! How we learn and grow through love and loss, through myriads of emotions, and also by the feeling of time and how all things change. How blessed we are to be frail little humans! I used to only wish to fly, fly, fly and be joined with the eternal always. I later understood that I wasn't really living anymore cause I was constantly living in a sort of death-state. I was living an extreme life where my time in solitude was a bliss and my every-day dealings pure hell and there was no middle ground. It takes time to produce something timeless, a conundrum as it may sound- duality takes us to the understanding of non-duality and the separateness to the unity of different polarities. It is always a combination and balance of the mundane and the divine that show us the necessities of both the shallow and the deep, the heaven and earth, the feminine and masculine sides, in other words yin and yang.
In short- knowing through experience and intellect that falling is just as good as rising up and suffering is not a curse, something to find escape from, but in fact the only thing that truly makes us grow.
And second I've found it very useful to know myself and to recognise my anchors to the groundless state, which remind me and let me fall back into my real self most often and with ease. These anchors are personal for us all. We can all think back and determine- which sights, experiences, actions, places etc have made us feel most that we are at peace, happy, without worries, free, and make these anchors our daily friends. The following are mine just as an example. What are yours?
Personal anchors for me to getting to sense the divine-
Travel. I often think of myself as a rolling stone and familiarity and staying still grows on me as a moss of un-clarity and unidentified frustrations. But the very minute I am rolling again, every one of those falls off as if by magic. Physical freedom and meeting the unknown are intensely purifying experiences if you are thus inclined.
Watching the sky. Mainly the nightly sky and stars- I can imagine that if sky had always been covered by clouds we would have perhaps never progressed to the state of wonder and feeling of eternity.
Watching the birds fly is my definite anchor- how amazing to have those inspiring creatures always remind you that freedom is right here and right now.
Of course breath. Following the breath from very start to finish can be all we need to enter the core of yourself.
Silence.
Nature. Especially the open planned vistas of the wide seas, deserts and mountains.
Like-minded souls, in a direct or indirect medium of books, videos, lectures. (I am thoroughly grateful for a place like multiply and BT among those! :))
There can never be a real recipe for happiness but its good to find some guide-lines for sustaining the balance. :)
