Balance: Holding Center While the World Goes Round

I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth.
Thich Nhat Hanh

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Our dear friend Tina talked to us today about how much she loves the Kai Chi Do movement called “Holding Center while the World Goes Round”.  The truly magical thing about the movement is that you can FEEL that balance between centeredness and motion – the balance between your connection to Source and Self  and your connection to the world around you.

So often we fall off center, so to speak – trapped in the busy-ness of it all.  Overwhelmed by the tasks…and the personalities…and the schedule…and the hubbub.  And it’s confusing and you feel scattered and kinda dizzy.

And then you react and rebel and say we need to get back to the garden.  We need to get more spiritual.  We need to sit in high lotus.

But God is not an escape.

We see people try to get rid of their ego in order to be more spiritual.   They think the ego is the enemy.  But it doesn’t work.  Naturally, the ego puts up a fight.  And then you’re trapped in a struggle – rejecting a part of yourself.

The ego is the mathematical mind.  It likes to organize and calculate.   It really just wants a job!   And it is capable of such diligent service!

So we put it to work.  The ego is assigned the job of making Spirit tangible, bringing it down to Earth.  Instead of an ego that separates you from your Self and others, we give the ego the job of creating union.  We give the ego the job of reconciliation.

“Holding center while the world goes round” is about keeping your balance.  It’s not about choosing between the physical and the spiritual.   It’s about filling your everyday life with Spirit.  It’s about integrating the Divine and the human aspects of yourself.

Tina says it sometimes feels “exquisitely beautiful and exquisitely painful at the same time.”

photo of HH Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche by Wonderlane on Flickr, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

3 thoughts on “Balance: Holding Center While the World Goes Round

  1. al

    Thanks for this Message -we forget those “small things” at times because we are always looking for the “Bigger” so called picture. As this Message states it’s all about keeping our Balance. The Physical and Spiritual together as one- The very Foundation of Life. Thanks again for this Message, Sensi Al Mckay

    Reply
  2. Tina

    Yes, yes and yes. All of the above. And it seems that when you allow the ego to work with you, it is the engine, the muscle that propels you through.
    I see it like this, the ego really does want to grow and expand consciousness, but just needs to be told what the homework is. Just give it the list, and it wants to help and yes, with a little A-type personality of its own – keeping things right- in- line and predictable and consistent.
    As long as the ego has the assignment given in some order or clarity, it will go along with the spirit.

    When Charles and Susan talked about the “Holding Center While The World Goes Around” it clicked for me. The technique of one hand staying at your heart and the other circling was perfect. The ego was let in on the concept (yeah the rotating hand is the same as the world around you, Dah!) , it was a concrete concept that the ego can understand, and now can help with the process.
    The ego is like the foreman on a big project, no construction happens unless you go through the big guy .

    Now my whole being can really “understand” it. I am the still hand, the world is the moving hand… and click, I stay centered ! What a concept !!!!
    I just need to start moving my hands, and the spirit flows right in!

    Thanks Susan and Charles. Your sharing and spirit and generosity has been the perfect gift this holiday. All wrapped up in a fun little dancing, sparkly love ribbon!

    Oh and yeah, who is this Tina character, anyway?

    Reply

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