Too much of anything is bad = Pujya Gurudev

Too much of anything is bad

=Pt.ShriRam Sharma Acharya

The wise recommend against excess of any kind. This applies not just to the bad qualities, but also to the good ones. There is a fable where King Bali was consigned to anguish and suffering on account of his being blindly and excessively charitable. Exceptions are always there, but for humans in general excess is best avoided.

Lord Buddha prescribes the middle-path of having fewer desires and prefers the desires that are elevating in nature. This is a balance between unbridled indulgence and complete suppression. If you go too fast, you get tired too soon. With extreme slothfulness, on the other hand, you may never reach the goal.

When an elephant crosses a river, each step is taken carefully and firmly. First, it feels the earth with one foot to ensure that it is hard, steadies the first foot, and then lifts up the second foot. Without this strategy, the elephant risks falling into water, ditches, or swamps. At the same time, if the elephant panics and hesitates to even start taking the first step, it can not cross the river. Elephant is an intelligent animal; it has sharp awareness of its size, of its need to cross the river, and of the dangerous nature of the waves in the river flow. Considering all factors, it starts the journey with sincere effort and completes it successfully. We can learn from the elephant and begin our projects with thorough understanding and sincerity. There is a reason each grade in school takes one year. For most people, it would be impossible to learn it all in a month. The learning accumulated at a moderate pace is internalized and has therefore a higher likelihood of actually being useful. A tree takes its own time to produce fruit. A child takes its own time to transition from the womb into the world. It is unwise to try to rush, as it is to unnecessarily slow down. We should go about each endeavor in a manner that is congruent to the nature of the work, our own capabilities, and the circumstances.

Eating too much is bad. Eating too little is just as bad. In general excess of both consumption as well as abstinence is bad. Both overindulgence and extreme penance often lead to a shorter lifespan. It is unwise to be miserly; being charitable to the extent that one doesn't have anything to eat is not wise either. Laziness and procrastination hurt the individual but overstraining industriousness is also harmful in the long run. Madly trying to amass wealth is not good; neither is ending up in extreme poverty due to financial negligence. If we eat desserts and sweets all the time, not only will we lose interest in them, they will damage our health. No fat and sugar-free food on the other hand will also lead to many health problems as well. When it comes to wearing clothes, too many is just as bad is too little. For our mental faculties, we stand to lose from both overusing as well as under-using our brain.

Being principled in an acute, intolerant, and fanatical manner is not behooving. We must be tolerant and respectful of different opinions. Both blind faith and disbelief are bad. Just like the swan that separates water from milk, we should discriminate between right and wrong, accept what is right and abandon what is wrong. Depending on the time, place, and the people, we have to adjust our strategy. A nonadjustable extreme policy should be avoided.

Idealism is a worthy goal. We need to be careful; however, not to jump before we are ready and end up with a broken leg. To accomplish lofty goals, a strong mature character is needed. It takes a lot of patience to develop this character. To be successful, we need to tread the middle path, with patience, calmness and determination.

Shortcomings of one-sided development

Mental imbalance leads to biased and one-sided development. We should always try to adjust with our circumstances. If we do not fit in with the environment at home, work, or society, we feel unsatisfied and agitated in our hearts. For example, there might be some elements in our environment that we don't agree with, or that we are even jealous of. It is impossible to permanently escape the feeling of dislike and jealousy. Unless we learn to work through it, and unless we learn to be friends with opposing feelings, we can not attain mental peace.

What is the reason for internal struggles in the mind? Two opposing thoughts, two opposing points of view arise on our mental horizon. We need to make progress despite them. Balance is the only way.

A thief is unable to navigate through the differences within his desires, heart, and soul. His greed subdues his soul. He lets attachment get ahead to the extent that it engulfs him and propels him to steal. The cry for truth and justice is hushed. Overly troubled kids, people prone to fighting and conniving, are all victims of such imbalance. They are unable to steer and balance their mental existence. Some of their perversions are so strong that they totally choke their discriminating ability.

Mental activities may be divided into three parts - Feelings, thoughts, and actions. It is rare for these three to work harmoniously. Some people have strong feelings, but they do not translate into thoughts and actions, leading to confusion, and extreme sensitivity. Such people are unable to handle and control their feelings. Some are strong thinkers; they get lost in deep philosophical puzzles. Numerous plans rise and fall in their thought realm; they are very good at planning. But they have a hard time translating their thoughts into action. The persons of action do not think thoroughly and do not get caught up in emotions, but get a lot done. There is nothing to stop them, however, from doing needless and even harmful things.

A well balanced individual has the harmonious interplay of feelings, thoughts, and actions. Such a person enjoys perfect mental health.

We need to protect ourselves from going overboard, to ward off imbalance. Let’s not be so blinded by emotions that we lose touch with reality. Let’s not be so blinded by thoughts that we have no time to actually put our thoughts into action. Thinking is a good thing, but not acting on the thoughts only leads to laziness and unhappiness.
Integrated development of the three aspects -- thoughts, feelings, and actions -- is essential for a well rounded personality. One who is prone to anger, anxiety, and other such impulsive behaviors should exercise caution with strong feelings. Those who are prone to act mostly on paper should learn to be more realistic. We should learn to translate our aspirations into actions. Truly great men are those whose intelligence attains complete development; they have strong feelings, thoughts, as well as strong actions. Mahatma Gandhi is an excellent example of such greatness.

Importance of balance in Life

Imagine a man who is walking amidst a strong storm. The sand blinds his eyes. He tries to go the right way, but with half closed eyes, he gets misled into different pathways. He wants to go on the correct route, but is unable to.

The internal state of most humans is no different. Internally, we are victims of several opposing feelings. Greed and lust surround and attack us from all sides and we just keep running distractedly in the sand storm. Our positive thoughts do caution us occasionally. If these thoughts are strong enough, we are saved from disaster. Otherwise, there is no way of getting out of the spiral of confusion and blind chasing the demons of pleasure and greed.

Human life is influenced by several internal as well as external powers. Emotions say - "This man is sick and needy. Let’s help him, forget about our own pleasure and luxuries. Think of all the examples of great kindhearted men - Karna, Shivi, Harishchandra! They achieved greatness through compassion, kindness, and charity. We should do the same. We should not think too much of our own needs."

Thoughts argue - "Are you crazy? Think, be realistic. If you make big promises, give away unrealistically, you will be in a big mess. Don't let your emotions get the better of you. The world respects money."  Feelings of pleasure say - "You have worked hard enough. You should relax now. Enjoy life. You only live once."

Thus, human mind is full of thoughts, emotions, lust, physical strength, emotional strength, love, jealousy, and many more inter-conflicting powers that are at constant war with one another. To be successful, one must calm these powers down, and balance them out.

Humans need emotions; we would be like statues of stone without any emotions in our hearts. We also need discriminatory powers, as well as the power of argument. If we do not think before we act, if we do not use our intelligence; then we are behaving more like animals than humans. Similarly, lust, hatred, and love, all have their place in our life. Happiness and success, however, lie in striking a balance between all these drives.

Alexander, Caesar, and Aurangzeb all had mighty ambitions. Karna (in Mahabharata) had an overflow of emotions, and Ravana had an overflow of arrogance. None of them met a glorious end.

Too emotional, too logical and argumentative, too action-oriented - all three attributes may lead to failure due to imbalance. It’s crucial, therefore, that we develop all facets in a balanced way. We must avoid the extremes. True act of life lies in proper balance between the opposing forces.

Thanks Sadguru, Thanks GOD,

Shiv Sharma