What Are Harmony and Balance?

This is far from what the masses think.

This is by no means the extreme of: I will be good, think only positive thoughts, pray, repeat a mantra... And I will do nothing for the world I live in; I will simply ignore the fact that peaceful people are dying...
And of course, it is not the other extreme either: I will side with those who love brute force, who hate people and the whole world...


Both of these extremes give rise to MONSTERS. Although the first monsters may appear to be pious. But this is exactly the same kind of extreme as the second.

Moreover, these people constantly swing from one extreme to the other!

Harmony and balance mean being able to use both appropriately. Yes, sometimes you need to show strength and defend yourself; sometimes you need to release your anger; sometimes you can shut yourself off from everyone and meditate and pray... But this must be done appropriately to the situation, rather than choosing only one side.

MORE DETAILS:
www.youryoga.org/vesti-ashram/107.htm

A parable that Ramakrishna told, about a snake and its teacher, fits this topic well.

In one place, there lived a venomous snake, and everyone was afraid of it. One day, a holy wanderer gave it a mantra and told it never to harm anyone again. The snake obeyed. But some boys noticed that it had stopped biting, began throwing stones at it, and then beat it so badly that it barely managed to crawl back to its hole. After that, it only came out at night.

When the teacher returned, he found it emaciated and asked what had happened. The snake explained that it had tried to follow his instruction and harm no one. Then he said, "I asked you not to bite, but I never forbade you to hiss!"

That "never forbade you to hiss" is very apt here. The teacher did not withdraw his instruction when he saw what it had led to. He showed the snake where it had misunderstood him. It seems to me that in ordinary life, such hissing could be a firm "You can't treat me like that." Without any desire for revenge, but clearly enough for the other person to hear. Sometimes this simple step is exactly what is missing between patience and losing control.

The parable can be found in the first chapter of "The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna."