Soul is a kind of harmony, a fusion of opposites, and man is a part of universal harmony.
Filolaj, Aristoksen
Harmony, the balance of diversity, is perhaps easiest to recognize in art and nature. Every harmonious artistic form speaks to our hearts because Harmony is always where Love is… W. A. Mozart said: “I gather together notes that love each other.” In harmonious music, notes that love each other create a consonance of tones that has the power to transport us to dimensions so different from the everyday ones that we sometimes forget ourselves and everything around us. If we try to convey that experience, we remain speechless because it surpasses the power of words. The same happens to us when we look at the night sky filled with stars, a blooming tree, a flowing river…
According to Pythagorean teachings, the universe is a unique whole, and its order and beauty arise from the harmonious diversity, i.e. from harmony. Human beings can perceive harmony and consciously participate in establishing it. Moreover, for the Pythagoreans, that is the purpose of human life.
And the Stoics speak of establishing harmony within ourselves in order to be able to harmonize with others. However, we often fail to do so because we live in a hurry, scattered, we are deceived by the brilliance of what has no lasting foundations, we fall into superficiality that distances us from harmony.
Harmony is inseparably connected to beauty. It is necessary to stop, see and hear, allow ourselves to be touched by it. And not only that, harmony needs to be achieved in everyday life.
A Buddhist story tells that Buddha’s disciple Sona grew tired of the ascetic life full of renunciation and indulged in pleasures. Buddha asked him:
In order for the tone to be “To be perfect,” Buddha continued, “it is necessary for the strings to be well-tuned, neither too tight nor too loose. Similarly, your soul will fall into extremes, which will not please it, if its strings are too tight from strictness and renunciation. On the other hand, if its strings are too loose and flexible, the soul will soften and become like dough.”
“Sona,” Buddha concluded, “always live in a way that your soul is like a well-tuned lute.”
To achieve the right tone of life, persistent work is needed to tune our strings. Symbolically speaking, a person is composed of multiple strings. It is necessary to tune the strings of our body, emotions, and mind, our little universe. This does not mean indulging them, but adjusting them to the frequency at which they give the best of their nature.
On a physical level, we achieve this through taking care of a healthy diet, exercise, regular hygiene, and finding a balance between activities and quality rest. In all of this, we should be guided by the golden Pythagorean rule: nothing in excess.
To have the strings of our Emotion gives harmonious tones, it is necessary to live generosity, courage, avoid extremes in moods and negative feelings. In the realm of our mind, frequent dissonant clutter of thoughts is eliminated by clear ideas and the effort to implement them, which leads to an experience that gives us security and stability.
A string instrument is tuned before each performance to make its sound as pleasant and beautiful as possible. Likewise, a human being, who steps onto the stage of life every day, has the opportunity to tune their strings and gradually achieve harmony between what they feel and what they think and act accordingly.
Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.
Gandhi
Harmony is a characteristic of an authentic person, someone who is true to their human nature. Living in harmony is not given to us at birth, but it is something we need to achieve throughout life. Often in moments of struggle within ourselves, when we show our teeth to our weaknesses, anger, and Amidst the conflicts, doubts, and all those discordant noises that loosen the strings, equilibrium is once again established. Perhaps that is why, according to the myth, Harmony is the daughter of the god of war, Ares.
However, in order to emerge victorious from this battle, we need to know what we are fighting for. That is why Harmony is also the daughter of the goddess of love, Aphrodite. To fight with ourselves in order to live love and be better, more sincere, and fairer, is a way to harmonize with the sublime harmony of the spheres.