Anything in excess is Harmful

 

Photo Credit: New York Times || New Spiritual Consumerism

Anything in excess is Harmful

This is a very old proverb which is a guide for doing anything in moderation. It helps us live a balanced life. It also helps to give attention to each aspect of our life. I remember my parents always telling us not to overdo stuff, because as growing up children we were extremely boisterous and would go to extremes in our mischief. Her strong and firm voice would always tell us to tone down on our mischief.

With the passage of time this sane voice would become a kind of guide when it came to crossing the line. It is not that I have not crossed the line – I have – but with the full knowledge that if things go wrong, I will have to face the consequences! And they did go wrong and I did face the consequences happily. Stuff happens in life for a reason – if I am crossing the line that means I have to that act as part of my karmic bonds, I have therefore to endure the consequences and move on in life without holding any grudge or guilt! That’s exactly what I have done!

Whether it is eating, drinking, exercising, working, etc – excess is always bad. Excess of anything always affects your physical as well as mental health. We are pursuing material objects through our sense organs which too have their limits, and after a point everything starts appearing like poison. Tasty food can give us pleasure, but if we overeat it can lead to indigestion and badly affect our health; similarly excess money can lead to bad habits and so on. The best path to follow is the middle path, the path of moderation. You may well ask what has this to do with spirituality and meditation.

Swamiji tells us to meditate only for 30 minutes a day and not more. There is a reason for this – sitting down for hours together does not necessarily mean that you get the trance like state of meditation – if you do then it does not matter because the hours seem just like a moment! As meditators we need to follow the 30 minutes guideline simply because that is all that is required for charging our internal battery for the day. For instance, if you charge your mobile phone continuously what happens? The battery loses its capacity over a period of time, it starts draining faster and loses its life! Similarly, when you meditate for more than 30 minutes alone you charge yourself in excess, then the excess energy which you build up has to be burnt somewhere, if you find the outlet it is good, else you will lose control of yourself. I have seen this happen to at least two people, who subsequently needed psychiatric help!

It is best to meditate for 30 minutes alone in the morning and if possible, for 30 minutes in the evening in collectivity, in a group. The morning meditation gives you speed and the group meditation gives you control – its like driving a car, if you want to drive fast then you should have good control, else an accident will be the result!