Joel Levey - Living in Balance: A Mindful Guide for Thriving in a Complex World

Advance praise for the new edition ofLiving in Balance

The world is craving a vocabulary that enhances balance in life and compassion in communications both towards self and towards others. Through all my encounters with Joel and Michelle Levey they offer just that, and Im grateful for everything they are offering me in my personal life and in my work. With a soft wisdom the new edition of Living in Balance guides us towards our inner force and the bigger understanding we all need in this time of a world in transition.

KAROLINE KLERK, founder of Compassionate Sweden

Living in Balance is a global priority. Joel and Michelle skillfully highlight the inner dimension to international crises. Through modern science and ancient wisdom traditions, they offer insights and practical tools to help us find and maintain balance in daily lifeso we can contribute to creating a more peaceful and environmentally sustainable world.

PHILIP M. HELLMICH, Director of Peace, The Shift Network; author of God and Conflict: A Search for Peace in a Time of Crisis

Today more than ever modern society makes demands on the individual for which evolution has not prepared us. Living in Balance gives each of us tools that not only will allow us to navigate through a complex world but allow us to thrive. By gaining insights into ourselves and learning techniques that fundamentally allow one to rewire their brain, Joel and Michelle have given us a wonderful gift the gift of transcendence.

JAMES R. DOTY, M.D., founder and director of Stanfords Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education; clinical professor of neurosurgery at Stanford University

This book, like its luminous authors, brings refreshment to mind and heart. It invites us to open to our own inner wisdom, and brings us tools, visions, and whispered counsel that restore the blessed balance we each deserve.

JOANNA MACY, author of Coming Back to Life

A beautiful book that brings wisdom and love into a world that longs for balance.

ROSHI JOAN HALIFAX, Abbot, Upaya Zen Center

In this book, Joel and Michelle offer us all that we need to create a meaningful and balanced life. Anyone who follows these practices and teachings will become a blessing to others, a refuge for all beings. The revolution we seek must always come from the inside out.

NOAH LEVINE, author of Refuge Recovery, Dharma Punx, and Against the Stream

The benefit of Living in Balance is in the skillful weaving of the personal, interpersonal, and ecological perspectives with the fields of wisdom, faith traditions, daily life, and science. Its a pleasant combination of practical advice and inspiration that is very helpful as we seek to develop wiser relationships with ourselves, our community, our technology, and our world.

BILL DUANE, senior manager, Well Being and Sustainable High Performance Development Programs at Google

A vital compass for this era of chaos and possibility, Living in Balance guides us on a deep and expansive journey, flowing with transformative wisdom. Lucid and engaging, it is a tonic for the heart, mind, body, and the world we inhabit.

NOVA AMI AND VELCROW RIPPER, award-winning filmmakers, Fierce Love Films

Joel and Michelle are not just experts in this field, but two of the most balanced people I have ever met. In Living in Balance, they offer not only cutting edge science and their own experience, but wisdom from the ages on living wisely and well. A must read for all of us seeking calm in the chaos of our times.

M.J. RYAN, author of This Year I Will and How to Survive Change You Didnt Ask For

This book is both a practical and inspirational resource for living our lives to the fullest while also encouraging and impacting those around uswhether its a single family, a workplace environment or an entire community of citizens. Living in Balance offers wisdom and depth gleaned from innovative, entrepreneurial, and compassionate thinkers and doers; it is thoughtful, well researched, and immensely valuable in bringing balance and productivity to the increasingly complex, challenging, and global world we live in.

GREG FISCHER, mayor of Louisville, Kentucky, an International Model City of Compassion

Wonderful! A radical yet simple approach that can save our sanity and the world! The timeless wisdom and modern science in this book offer critical insight for everyone working to rebalance their lives or engaging in social change. The mindfulness practices share essential skills for keeping calm in the midst of todays raging storms. I recommend this book to everyone and return to its quotes and passages often.

RIVERA SUN, author of The Dandelion Insurrection

Ive known and admired the work of Joel and Michelle Levey, and have witnessed first-hand the loving wisdom and depth of their teaching. This book elucidates and enlivens their work and makes it accessible to anyone who is on the journey to find more peace, joy, and fulfillment in life. The Leveys affirm the many strategies we might embrace to find our way. This book is to be treasured and read until dog-eared and damp with sweet tears of deep recognition.

KAREN GUZAK, mayor, City of Snohomish, Washington State

Published by DIVINE ARTS

DivineArtsMedia.com

An Imprint of Michael Wiese Productions

12400 Ventura Blvd. #1111

Studio City, CA 91604

(818) 3798799, (818) 9863408 (Fax)

Cover design: JohnnyInk www.johnnyink.com

Interior design and layout: Howie Severson www.fortuitouspub.com

Copyeditor: David Wright

Printed by McNaughton & Gunn, Inc., Saline, Michigan

Copyright 2014 by Joel Levey and Michelle Levey

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Levey, Joel.

Living in balance : a mindful guide for thriving in a complex world / Joel Levey and Michelle Levey ; foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama. [Revised edition].

pages cm

ISBN 9781611250305 (ebook)

1. Conduct of life. 2. Quality of life. I. Levey, Michelle. II. Title.

BF637.C5L46 2014

158.1dc23

2014014689

This book is dedicated to all those

who yearn for balance,

and to the spirit of harmony and wholeness

awakening within us all.

Contents

Humankind has always been faced with problems, and in different parts of the world, at different times, people have come to varying conclusions about the nature of these problems and how to tackle them. One of Buddhisms most relevant lessons is the avoidance of extremes. It teaches that freedom and happiness will not be found in the extremes of either sensual indulgence or mortification: a middle way must be found.

Today there is an overemphasis on the external world. Science has rapidly extended our understanding of external phenomena, and technological advances have contributed to improved health and physical comfort. Yet even in the most developed countries we do not find a corresponding increase in peace and happiness; if anything, there is even greater anxiety and stress. Fear stimulates the need for terrifyingly destructive weapons systems, while greed gives rise to damage and pollution of the environment, putting the very existence of humanity at risk.