7000 years ago, or so, Sadashiva, the founder of yoga, said that one of the seven secrets of spiritual success is to have a balanced mind.

What does this mean? One should not have a superiority complex, nor should one have an inferiority complex. Everyone knows that a big ego is an impediment to spiritual growth. However, just as the “umbrella of ego” can prevent you from feeling the rain of spiritual grace, an inferiority complex can cause you to stop striving for perfection.

The balance between the two extremes is hard to achieve but it is possible. The best way to achieve it is to remember that you are the son or the daughter of the Supreme Consciousness. If you remember this, you can never harbor an inferiority complex. Similarly if you remember this, you will be reminded that whatever strength you have has been provided by the Supreme Consciousness.

About 1500 years ago Caetanya Mahaprabhu gave a wonderful and concise formula for achieving this balanced mind. He said:

Trńádapi suniicena taroriva sahiśńnuná
Amáninaḿ mánadeyaḿ kiirtaniiya sadá harih.

One should be as humble as the grass and as tolerant as the trees, one should give respect to those whom no one respects, and always sing spiritual songs to God.

So, when your vanity rears up, just remember the example of the humble, but strong, blades of grass that absorb a lot of wear but always bounce up again. Remember the example of a tree that gives everything to people but asks for nothing in return. Turn your attention to the people in society who are neglected and in all your spare moments, sing a spiritual song to God.

This is a very simple formula for bringing your mind in balance. Remember you should never harbor an inferiority complex and think that you are useless. According to yoga, you are a manifestation of the Great Supreme consciousness. The same force that is guiding the universe is inside of you and if you just become aware of it you can do great things.

But, we should never let our ego get out of control either and if we remember that our gifts, our talents and our capacities emanate from that Supreme Being, then we will remain balanced and enjoy life. Think of a great big number like 1,000,000. It is a powerful number, no doubt, but without the numeral “1” the zeros don’t mean a thing. We are like that too. We have a lot of potential but if we do not remember our connection with the “1” we will be zero too.