The Tao Te Ching for Astrologers: Verses 29 & 30

Transcript:

Hey everyone, this is Acyuta-bhava from Nightlight Astrology, and today we are going to continue our series with the Tao Te Ching for Astrologers by looking at verses 29 and 30 of the Tao Te Ching. Now, if you are not familiar with this series, welcome; you do not have to watch the episodes in order. If you want to follow along, we use this edition which is the Tao Te Ching Tarcher Cornerstone edition translated by Jonathan Star. It's a great addition for people who are, you know, pretty new to the Tao Te Ching in general. And I will be reading the verse, the two verses, and then I go back, and I reread each verse and offer some reflection, as these verses in their teachings pertain to our study of astrology. You guys know if you listen to the series. The reason I do this is because I think it's really good as we're taking in astrological content to reflect on why we're doing this and what kinds of virtues or spiritual lessons we're really supposed to be learning by virtue of taking astrology content in week after week. Okay, so verse 29, I love these two verses today are very powerful. And I think there are some really good things for us as astrologers to consider.

Verse 29
Those who look down upon this world will surely take hold and try to change things
But this is a plan I've always seen fail
The world is Tao's own vessel
It is perfection manifest
It cannot be changed
It cannot be improved
For those who go on tampering, it's ruined
For those who try to grasp, it's gone
Allow your life to unfold naturally
Know that it too is a vessel of perfection
Just as you breathe in and out
Sometimes you're ahead, and other times behind
Sometimes you're strong and other times weak
Sometimes you're with people and other times alone
To the Sage all of life is a movement toward perfection
So what need has he for the excessive, the extravagant, or the extreme?

Verse 30.
Those who rule in accordance with Tao do not use force against the world
For that which is forced is likely to return –
Where armies settle
Nature offers nothing but briars and thorns
After a great battle has been fought, the land is cursed, the crops fail, the Earth lies
stripped of its motherhood
A knower of the Truth does what is called for then stops
He uses his strength but does not force things
In the same way complete your task seek no reward make no claims
Without faltering fully choose to do what you must do
This is to live without forcing to overcome without conquering
Things that gain a place by force will flourish for a time but then fade away
They are not in keeping with Tao
Whatever is not in keeping with Tao will come to an early end

Let's go back up to verse 29; we'll reread it and then offer some reflections. Verse 29,
Those who look down upon this world will surely take hold and try to change things
But this is a plan I've always seen fail
The world is Tao's own vessel
It is perfection manifest
It cannot be changed
It cannot be improved
For those who go on tampering, it's ruined
For those who try to grasp, it's gone
Allow your life to unfold naturally
Know that it too is a vessel of perfection
Just as you breathe in and out
Sometimes you're ahead and other times behind
Sometimes you're strong and other times weak
Sometimes you're with people and other times alone
To the Sage all of life is a movement toward perfection
So what need has he for the excessive, the extravagant, or the extreme?

Beautiful verse. My favorite part of this verse is, in light of our study of astrology is, first of all, there two I guess there are two aspects of this that I think really apply to my study of astrology every day. One is that
I talk to people day in and day out, and I am like this to where I think that you know, it's if there's not something wrong, then I'll find something wrong to try to fix. It says though there is existential anxiety that makes it difficult for us to get comfortable, you know, in the road trip or on the road trip of life, too hot too cold, windows up, windows down. So there's, there's if I want, there's always something wrong that could be fixed. That's not quite right. And when I live my life, tampering and tampering and tampering, trying to make everything perfect. I'm missing, you know, what is and how many sages in the world and how many different traditions and walks of life have said that the best things are sitting right in front of us.

That does not mean that we should become some kind of neutral, you know, passive automatons that just sit and observe and, you know, most of us, we can't pretend to be Zen, you know, it's not going to work that way. So what I love about astrology is that it helps me to be more accepting and appreciative of what is and how does it do so? Well, the second part of the verse gives us the advice that astrology gives us, allow your life to unfold. Know that your life is a vessel of perfection, just as you breathe in and breathe out. Sometimes you're ahead and other times behind. Sometimes you're strong and other times weak. Translated, sometimes it's a Venus transit, sometimes it's a Saturn transit, sometimes it's Jupiter, sometimes it's Mars. If we track astrology day in and day out, you know, when things are really good, appreciate but don't get attached, because you know that there's going to be a Mercury Retrograde that jams your comlink, you know, what I mean? There's gonna be a transit that's tough. In any area of your life, oh, work is going good? Well, it'll only be a matter of time before there's a challenge. Marriage, relationships, kids, health is going good. Well, you know, there will be turbulent weather eventually. And so you know, when things are good, appreciate them, but don't get too attached. You can appreciate and relish things without getting attached to them.

The attachment is the Okay; what could go wrong here? And how do I protect against that? How do I control it? How do I clutch this thing because it's good, and I want it to last? So as soon as we start doing that, it's gone already. And on the other hand, when things are gnarly, you know when things are bad. I can say well; it doesn't last forever. You know, there's a magnet on the fridge in a lot of people's homes that says; This too shall pass. And astrology is not just a meme for me, that teaches me that it's a living experience, that this too shall pass for everything. And because I have astrology, I can also appreciate and relish and reflect upon and contemplate the nature of all seasons of life. And see it within the greater picture of the cosmos, the word cosmos shares the root of the word cosmetic, which means like sort of a perfect arrangement of parts. If you think of someone doing their makeup, they have to make their face look beautiful. They're making a painting; everything needs to, there's symmetry, and there's consideration of colors, and the universe is a well-ordered whole. And look at what the beginning of the verse says.

Its perfection manifest that can't be changed can't be improved. If you go on tampering, you ruin it if you try to grasp, but it's gone. Allow your life to unfold because your life is part of this perfection. And just like you breathe in and out, things will go up, and things will go down, things will come, and things will go. Astrology is a language that helps us to see that and appreciate it so that we can flow along with it. It's a way of life that we start taking in when we study astrology; whether we know we're doing it or not, you don't have to sit and meditate and pretend to be Zen to start taking in this appreciative capacity. Alright, verse 30.

Those who rule in accordance with Tao do not use force against the world
For that which is forced is likely to return –
Where armies settle
Nature offers nothing but briars and thorns
After a great battle has been fought, the land is cursed, the crops fail, the Earth lies
stripped of its motherhood
A knower of the Truth does what is called for then stops
He uses his strength but does not force things
In the same way complete your task seek no reward make no claims
Without faltering fully choose to do what you must do
This is to live without forcing to overcome without conquering
Things that gain a place by force will flourish for a time but then fade away
They are not in keeping with Tao
Whatever is not in keeping with Tao will come to an early end

Why did people consult the I-Ching? Why did they consult the yarrow stalks? The turtle shells? Why did they go to see the diviner? Why did the diviner counsel the rulers? Why did people go to consult the stars? In part, they did it because they wanted to make sure that their actions and intentions were reflected in the heavens or in the Oracle in a way that suggested that they were in a kind of right relationship or alignment with things. Think about how many indigenous cultures from all around the world cared about being in the right alignment, whether it was with the seasons or with the animals, or that there is a kind of symmetry between certain kinds of plants and the shape of the leaves and the type of organs or illnesses that they're treating or acting with. There is a sense that in oracular or divinatory, the divinatory mindset in the ancient world in China, as well as in, you know, the Mesopotamian, Babylonian, Indian, Hellenistic world, that that it's possible to be pushing things or trying to do things in a way that's out of step with the natural order.

Part of what astrology does, and I don't think it's something we should sit and obsess over. But part of what it does over time, if you just keep taking it in, and you have the transits sort of downloaded like an internal GPS program, you start to feel and know and sense, like a different kind of sensory perception. Whether something that you're doing, the intention that you have is aligned. When you start when you notice that Mars is coming into conjunction with Uranus, you start going, okay, things are feeling a little erratic; I'm going to be very careful with what I'm doing right now. Right, I'm going to be careful that everything is aligned. And usually, when people throw the tarot cards or consult the I-Ching or go to an astrologer, part of what they're doing is they're saying, is this the right path? And the pause the fact that we would pause at all shows that we care to be in alignment with the currents of life.

So the beautiful thing about astrology is that it confirms that there are these currents. And then it's always helping us walk with them in like a right relationship, that the reward of that transcends good or bad results. It's like there is a deep joy in knowing. Oh, it's not the time to do something. So glad I asked. So glad I've got that feedback because then you feel right, even if something that you want is not available to you right now. And if something is great, but it's as though the first priority is to be in harmony with the cosmic choir. And once you are, it doesn't really matter where you go because it's that feeling of harmony. The ancients called it Harmonia, and the more you cultivate the desire to be in touch with that. And astrology is one way that I think people are always doing that, whether they really know so are doing so intentionally or not; they're learning how to walk with Gods. They're learning how to walk soulfully in the world. And, and so you know, to me, one of the reasons I love the Tao Te Ching is it everything in the Tao Te Ching says walk this path without forcing or pushing, know how to be in alignment know, right timing.

Even in ancient Greek, the difference between, you know, Chronos and Kairos. It's a different type of timing. There's sort of linear timing and schedules. And then there's the felt sense of the right moment, the ripe moment for something. This is what astrology is giving us, and if we don't learn how to develop that kind of awareness, it's just like we're, we're, we're always, things end early, they don't quite work out the way we want. There's misfiring because we're trying to work from the will rather than trying to listen and align. And, you know, not that I have alignment figured out, but at least the one thing that I cling to is at least I know I need it, you know what I mean? At least I know I need it, and at least I know a few good places to look for it. And so I benefit from occasionally getting that advice and, you know, stopping myself from banging my head on the wall or barking at the mirror. So that's what I've got for today. Hope this was interesting for you guys. Don't forget to like and subscribe, share your comments click on the notification bell for updates. We will See you again next week for more on the Tao Te Ching.