Living Wisely Living Well | With Asha Nayaswami

Advice to women seeking balance: As you progress spiritually, your feminine nature will become balanced by masculine characteristics. You will find yourself becoming more affirmative; less personal; firmer in your step; more outwardly expressive as your energy becomes centered more at the point between the eyebrows. Your every gesture, then, will be more decisive.

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Advice to men on the subject of balance: As men progress spiritually, they acquire certain feminine characteristics, becoming softer, gentler, more sensitively aware of others’ needs, and more willing to listen sympathetically to what others have to say (these being signs of feminine maturity, though many women exist who need still to mature in these respects!). The reason breasts are attractive is that they suggest tenderness of heart. Physically speaking, men too may, for this reason, develop slight breasts, and the sensitivity in them of a young girl entering puberty. At this point it may become difficult for men to conceal their softer feelings: they may weep easily.

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Further advice for women: Because it comes more naturally to you to be personal, concentrate on developing an intimate, I-and-Thou relationship with God. Serve Him in personal ways. Create a beautiful altar; surround yourself with inspiring spiritual images. Enjoy Nature’s beauties as God’s gift to you, personally.

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Advice, again, for men: It is easier for you to be impersonal. Therefore, in your search for God, dwell more on thoughts of infinity, of freedom from ego, of desire for the well-being of all. Let your search be more for His Bliss than for His love. Think in terms of serving others self-expansively.

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Advice for women: There are two very different ways of relating to men. Flirtation is an easy way of winning them, and success may give you a sense of power over them. That power is delusive, however. Men will subconsciously resent you for drawing on their energy, even if they aren’t sensitive enough to understand the reason for their resentment. If your behavior toward them is more self-giving—like that of a mother, or a friend—you will increase their energy, and they will always appreciate you. This is why women in India are spoken of as men’s shakti (strength, or energy). As temptresses, however, they are not shakti, but ashakti.

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Advice for men: If you maintain a certain reserve in the presence of women, they will always respect you.

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When presenting your ideas, illustrate them with familiar examples. The closer to home, the easier they will be to understand. Children, for example, are often told the pleasant myth that there is a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow. Show them how to test the truth of this claim. Suggest they dig at the end of the rainbow which appears in the spray of a garden sprinkler. Could there really be gold there? Tell them, “Dig there and see for yourselves.”

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Eat a balanced diet. A good formula for doing so is to select foods that are varied in color: the deeper the color, usually, the richer their energy.

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Every time you inhale, imagine yourself inhaling energy. Pranayama (a yoga practice) means not only “breath control,” but “control of energy.” As air fills your lungs, feel your entire being—body, mind, feelings, aspirations—swelling with energy and joy.

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Make inner freedom your primary goal in life. See every binding desire or attachment as a rope tying your balloon of consciousness to the ground. Sever those ropes, and exclaim vigorously with each slash, “You can hold me no longer! My place is high in the sky, soaring over seas and continents on breezes of pure bliss.”

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