Balance Spiritual & Physical Life

[IndigoSalvia]

I am pondering my "next chapter" and how that may look. I am drawn to creating a life that provides for time and space to pursue more spiritual activities. Yet, I am also faced with 3D obligations. I borrowed a quote from Diana's recent post but didn't want to derail that OP. Thank you, Diana: you concisely articulated what I've been thinking about. 

Most people barely come to know themselves and what they want. More years may not change this for some. But the way this world works right now, adulthood is so packed with obligations just to survive it is difficult to rise up out of that mindset and explore deeper things. 

I have spent many years in education, work and careers, partnered relationships, etc. and now I want to emphasize my spiritual pursuits more than 3D obligations. I know that they are not mutually exclusive, but I tend to feel torn between giving my attention to one or the other, not being able to do both deeply and simultaneously. I am meditating and contemplating various paths, and how I may balance both of these pursuits. My Buddhist teachings remind me that even the most mundane of tasks can be spiritual as well, when we bring our awareness to it. 

I am also curious about how others balance your spiritual aspirations, and physical (3D) obligations.

[Spaced]

I struggle with as well at times. The way I try to see it these days is that my spiritual and physical lives are one and the same. If all things are one, the dualism of spiritual vs. mundane is a false one. In living our day to day lives we have experiences and we process them. This is spiritual work, as mundane as the experiences may be.

What would a more spiritual life look like? What would you do with the time away from obligations? Would you be afforded the same opportunities to be of service?

I won't deny that the obligations of daily life can certainly be an impediment when it comes to self-knowledge, but this is the life we have. Acceptance of that has helped me some.. That doesn't mean I don't desire a different socio-economic reality with more free time, but attachment to an idealized lifestyle feels counterproductive.

Just some thoughts.

[aWanderer91]

I think you would need to consider whether this is your soul and true self requiring more time to be free that's dedicated to spiritual pursuits, or your ego.

Maybe this is one of your life lessons, a challenge if you like, the question being how can you integrate your true self into the mundane responsibilities of normal life?

Or it could be your true self saying enough is enough, I want that freedom to explore spirituality in more deep and private way without the clutter of the 3D world calling upon me. Only you would know this...

My experience and something I am also coming to terms with, is that spiritual awareness is active whether I am working in my local supermarket or meditating at home. These both allow me equal opportunities to go deeper into the now and also to serve others, just both in different ways.

[MonadicSpectrum]

I like to view our lifetimes like a song we are improvising as we go along. One of the main features of music is cycles: both small and large. So when considering balance, I think it's less important to balance everything at the same time and more important to balance everything across time. For example, in the daily or weekly cycles, we might dedicate some time to work, some time to relationships, some time to fun, some time to spiritual seeking, and some time to healthy habits. Then, in yearly cycles, we might shift how much of our time is dedicated for each category in our daily and weekly cycles depending on which ones we choose to focus. For some parts of our lives, we might be focused mainly on work or relationships while the other categories are in a form of maintenance mode. Other parts of our lives may have a better balance or rotating around what's most important.

When considering how to allocate time and priorities, I think it is helpful to consider the big picture of the whole lifetime and see which categories are most important to work on at this time to make the lifetime more melodic or harmonious. The balance we seek is not necessarily the same amount of time dedicated to each category but rather the right allocation to each category that best creates beauty, goodness, and truth for our own individual situation.

There are many ways to make beautiful music and each has their own preferences and genres they like. So it is with life experiences so the most important question is: what kind of life experiences do you want to improvise?

Here is a video about musical improvisation which one can correspond to life improvisation as well:

[jafar]

My Buddhist teachings remind me that even the most mundane of tasks can be spiritual as well, when we bring our awareness to it.

I couldn't agree more with this statement.
Every events that you experienced in this "life session" is a catalyst.

Meditation is not an 'action' or 'ritual' as such it requires a dedicated time, it's a 'state of mind'.

Be appreciative of the "physical obligation" that you have right now, because one day it will be gone.
"Having physical obligation" is among the catalyst that makes you want to experience this "life session" to begin with.
Once your physical body become dysfunctional and you've logged out from this (virtual reality) session called life, you shall no longer have any physical obligation.