Practicing Moderation (Alobha) on the Spiritual Path

We all know that excess (atishaya in Sanskrit) of anything is bad, yet we indulge in excessive pursuits of pleasurable activities. For example, excessive eating at a buffet, excessive accumulation of wealth, excessive work to get fame, excessive gossiping, and so on. What happens with excess? Eventually, it leads to pain either in the short term or the long term. For example, if we overeat, we may, in the short term, have abdominal discomfort. If we continue excessive eating, in the long term, it can lead to us becoming overweight and obese. Hence, all this excess is a barrier on the path of living a harmonious life with nature and thus in our spiritual journey. It ultimately robs us of peace of mind and causes dissatisfaction. Excess of anything leads to raga (likes) and dvesha (dislikes) which are detrimental to the path of the development of our consciousness. How to avoid excess in our actions?

The way to deal with excess is to practice moderation (alobha in Sanskrit). The path of moderation helps us perform all our duties with fervor while living in harmony with nature. Buddha in his eightfold path also talks about the middle way or moderation. The eight limbs of this middle way are right understanding (samma ditthi), right intention (samma sankappa), right speech (samma vaca), right action (samma kammanta), right livelihood, (samma ajiva), right effort (samma vyama), right mindfulness (samma sati), and right concentration (samma samadhi). By exerting just the right amount of effort and indulgence, all activities can be performed with ease. In this way life becomes effortless. This moderation can begin with thoughts. We should not overindulge or underindulge in thinking. We should use our minds productively and at the same time give adequate rest through relaxation and sleep. Next, as Budha says samma vaca, we should speak less, truthfully, avoiding slander, gossip, and abusive speech. Practicing silence from time to time is also a beneficial approach to gaining moderation in our speech. Finally, our actions should be moderate. We must avoid excessive work, excessive sleep, excess in pleasurable activities, or any other excess in pursuit of our desires. For this, we need constant awareness and practice.

Modern psychotherapy in its rational emotive therapy (RET) school also talks about this moderation. Albert Ellis (1913-2007), an American psychologist and the originator of this school of psychotherapy, wrote that we develop irrational beliefs and classify time, places, and persons as 100% bad and choose extreme terms in our interactions. These are detrimental to our mental health and often result in stress and anxiety. There is a need to use moderation in all our interactions and use tolerance. For example, instead of saying” I hate it” one can say, “I don’t like it but I can bear it,” or instead of saying “It’s awful”, one can say “It is bad but not terrible,” or instead of saying “I’m always right” admitting fallibility by saying, “ I was wrong” or replacing extremes like, “I always do well” with “I often do well.” Tolerance is a great virtue in practicing moderation.
A final thought about moderation that we must keep in mind. Oscar Wilde (1854-1900), an Irish poet and playwright, wrote, “Everything in moderation, including moderation.” We must not become a fanatic about moderation and that is why Buddha uses the word samma or right or balance.

Dr. Manoj Sharma is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Social and Behavioral Health at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, USA. He is an avid practitioner of Kundalini Yoga.