It’s not an unusual observation to note the similarities between solar systems and atoms.  From the enormous to infinitesimally small, things in the universe have an order to their actions.  Order, however, doesn’t equate to peace and tranquility.  The universe is an extremely violent place, after all.  We have asteroids crashing into moons and planets, massive fission stars, super-novas, black holes, even galaxies crashing into each other.  There are ongoing storms on Jupiter that are larger than planets.  There are destructive electrical storms, tornadoes and hurricanes right here at home.

Within our own bodies are conflicts as blood cells fight off invaders, our immune systems in regular battles against foreign organisms, viruses, contaminants, etc.

As members of the universe, are we really any different than everything else?  We are born, we live and we die just like everything else.  What about rocks?  They aren’t born.  No, they are not organic forms of life like we are, but they are born in the same sense that a star is born.  Theycomes into existence when other elements are combined together by a formation process such as intense heat or extreme pressure.  Rocks are not eternal and eventually will erode away or fall victim to some other more traumatic ending, like being crushed into sand by a machine.

While some things in the universe are quiet and peaceful, they are that way not because they struggle against being any other way, but because that is just how they end up.  Just because they are at peace now, doesn’t mean they will always be at peace, nor does it prove they have never been involved in violence.  Consider the big rock floating quietly in an orbit for millions of years.  Nothing comes within thousands of miles for countless lifetimes.  Before it was there however, it may have been part of a moon that collided with another object.  Before it was part of the moon, it could have been super hot lava.  It went through some tough and drastic changes, but now it’s pretty mellow.  Well until another bigger rock happens to cross paths with it.  It gets knocked out of its tranquil orbit and by chance ends up caught in Earth’s gravity and burns up in the atmosphere while you and I point at the pretty shooting star.

Often we struggle to be peaceful, but peace is just a state of being that is equally natural as violence.  It has been said that necessity is the mother of invention.  The development of human technology would not be where it is today if it were not for strife, disease, war, crime and conflict of ideas and beliefs.  Do I like war?  Of course not.  I think war is horrifying and destructive.  Do I believe humanity will ever be at peace?  Perhaps for a time.  But nothing is at peace forever.

So we are part of that great patten.  We have cycles in our lives, orbiting one thing or another.  We also get knocked out of our orbits by other forces, often by some thing or some one, or sometimes just by being led by the gravity of our own will.  We will have conflict.  While that may not be our favored state, it’s part of who we are.  It will be these phases in your existence that will change and define you.  Keep this in your awareness.  How you respond to conflict is just as important as how you react to peace.  There will be war.  There will be violence.  There will be struggle.  There will be destruction.  There will be death.  These are all part of us and the universe in its entirety. With them there is peace.  There is compassion.  There is embracing.  There is creation.  There is birth.

When your tranquility is interrupted, for whatever reason, you may choose to fight or you may choose to flee.  No matter what your choice, know that it’s an essential part of being.

In Taoism, we talk about balance as the state of being from which all other things begin.

Nonbeing gives birth to the oneness. The oneness gives birth to yin and yang. Yin and Yang give birth to heaven, earth, and beings. Heaven, earth, and beings give birth to everything in existence. – Daodejing, Chapter 42 (Walker).

In most translations, “nonbeing” is interchangeable with Tao.  The oneness would be “being”.  Then from being comes the forces, and from the forces comes life, matter, etc.  Finally, everything else comes from those.

Existing, or “being” is the central state from which yin and yang spawn.  Balance is being.

If you set a ball on a level table it will remain there.  It is in balance with all the forces around it.  If you push the ball, or move the table, the ball will roll.  This movement is a natural flow towards a state of balance.  We don’t need to program the ball with special instructions.  We don’t have to send it to training seminars.  It simply rolls directly to where it can be at balance with its surroundings.

For us, balance takes on many facets.  After all, we’re slightly more complicated than a ball on a table.   However the natural way is still to move towards balance by default.  We don’t have to struggle.  In fact, our actions can actually block the natural return to an even state.

Balance is not the result of effort, but rather the lack of it.

We will not always find ourselves in sync with nature.  We will not always be balanced.  But the chances are, we can return back to that base by simply letting go.  Be the ball that rolls from the table and comes to rest on the floor.  This is not the same as “giving up” or “not moving”.  The ball rolls.  It moves as needed.  It lets the course of things be its guide.

We can do the same.