Living a Balanced Life

"Never be divided. First and foremost is balance. Find balance. Balance is the highest peace possible.”

— Michael Gottlieb, Master Teacher and Founder of Royal Way

Looking for “a balanced life” is a phrase we often hear in today’s society. It’s an admirable goal that most people want to achieve. The term usually refers to “work-life balance”—something we feel needs to be recalibrated, most often by working less. “I need more time with my family,” or “I spend way too much time at the office,” or “I am just too stressed with deadlines” are common complaints. The idea is that if we are more relaxed and spend more time with family and friends, we’ll be happy.

While relaxation and connection are certainly important, the teachings of Royal Way offer a richer, deeper, and more fulfilling approach to achieving balance and becoming whole. A balanced life means much more than spending less time at the office or taking longer vacations. A balanced life incorporates both the spiritual and the material.

The treasures we glean from seeking a balanced life are incredibly alluring. Michael Gottlieb, master teacher and founder of Royal Way, teaches that “to be balanced means—hear this carefully—no one, and nothing, can ever bring stress to you. No one can bring anxiety to you.  No one can bring divisiveness to you. No one can bring pain or suffering to you. You are bliss.” 

Balance equals bliss. So how do we get there?

The World Is in Balance

It’s easy to blame external circumstances for the lack of balance in one’s life. But the truth is, any feeling of a lack of balance or wholeness is not from working too hard or not having enough time with family. It’s not because of the state of the world. The lack of balance emanates from within us.

Michael teaches that the world, in fact, is in balance: “Nothing is lacking and nothing is in excess. Everything is as it should be, absolutely balanced.” Like night and day, life and death, the world is perfectly balanced.

If the world is balanced, yet we feel out of balance, it is because we are internally divided—out of balance.

A clear example of that is the false notion that materialism and spirituality are mutually exclusive. That is, a wealthy person cannot be spiritual, and a spiritual person should not be wealthy. When one imagines a “spiritual” person, that person is usually depicted as someone who separates themself from society and eschews anything linked to materialism (e.g., a nice car, a large home, expensive vacations, a big bank account). Similarly, someone who lives a luxurious life is seen as superficial and out of touch with God. So given that notion, if we seek to be spiritual yet also aspire to material success, we are likely to be internally divided—out of balance.

In reality, Michael teaches, the material (the “outer”) and the spiritual (the “inner”) are not divided.

“Do not make a distinction between outer and inner,” Michael writes. “Be flowing, balanced. Outer and inner are just like the right and left legs. You cannot choose just one. If you choose just one, you will not be able to walk.”

He continues: “Furthermore, outer and inner are not two different things. Where does outer end? Where does inner begin? Can you draw a line of demarcation? They are not divided. Those divisions are of the mind. Inner and outer are one.”

How to Find Balance

So how do we achieve this kind of balance?

“The only sure way to find the right balance,” says Michael, “unique for each individual, is to constantly seek our divinity.”

Meditation is crucial to this effort, because in meditation we experience ourselves as more than our minds. We touch the beyond, the divine. We experience the balance of inner and outer. That automatically reduces internal conflict, and at the same time, opens our heart. We feel balanced.

Seeking Balance Means Seeking God

Ultimately, seeking balance, seeking our divinity, and seeking God are really the same. “Man is constantly in search of something,” Michael writes. “But he has forgotten what it is he is searching for. He wants to find his home again. Home equals balance (homeostasis.)” 

That “home,” that place of balance we are searching for, is God.

In Royal Way, we understand through the teachings of Michael Gottlieb that this does not mean denying ourselves the pleasures of the world. Because, Michael says, “Everything is God. An awakened being embraces everything and makes it godly, embraces all and turns it into the divine.”

Becoming whole, finding a balanced life, is fundamentally about seeking the divine. When we live from that place, regardless of external circumstances, life is buzzing with aliveness. It is saturated with richness. It is overflowing with love.

Conclusion

Understanding that the desire for a “work-life balance” is really an ancient calling to unite with God is profound. Not only does it allow us to deeply enrich our lives, but it affords us the opportunity to discover the most sacred of treasures, our true balance, our divinity.