The Tao Te Ching for Astrologers: Verses 37 & 38

Hey everyone, this is Acyuta-bhava from Nightlight Astrology, and today we are going to continue our exploration of the Tao Te Ching for Astrologers by looking at verses 37 and 38 of the Tao Te Ching and reflecting on it in light of our study of astrology. So if you're new to the series, you don't have to have heard all the previous episodes to jump in; you can really jump in at any point during the series. We are using the Tao Te Ching Tarcher cornerstone edition of the Tao Te Ching translated by Jonathan Star. And I highly recommend getting a copy so you can read along. You can find it on Amazon. I think it's good; it's a good accessible text for people who are maybe newer to the teaching or, excuse me, to the Tao Te Ching. I spend a lot of time I-Ching as well.

So, before we get into it today, don't forget to like and subscribe and share your comments in the comment section. And don't forget to click on the notification bell for updates. If you want to receive updates when I go live, you can always find a transcript of any of my daily talks on my website, nightlightastrology.com And I'm going to take you over there right now to show you a couple of classes that we are running a sale on until September 12. So pre-registration sale for two new classes lasts until September 12 versus the Nightlight MasterClass series; these are four MasterClass series that are happening each season throughout 2023. These are for students who probably have a background in traditional or ancient astrology already or have been studying astrology for a while and are interested in going deeper with some specific topics. We'll be looking at the faizal dynamics of the moon cycle, and how to read the sun in the Moon cooperatively according to what phase the Moon is in. We will also be looking at the Morningstar Eveningstar cycles of Mercury and Venus in the spring. We're looking at zodiacal releasing in the summer, which is an ancient timing technique. And we will be looking at temperament the ancient temperament theory, including the four temperaments choleric, sanguine, phlegmatic, and melancholic, and how to calculate them in the birth chart; at least one ancient method for their calculation, so we're doing that in the fall. So if you want to take part in The MasterClass series, you can save several $100 off, and early bird payment is available until September 12. There's a payment plan if you need it, tuition assistance. If you wanted to do just one of the classes of the series, you could always do that as well.

The other class begins in January, and Ashley and I will be leading that one that is called Roots and Spears, a moon circle. And this class I'm really excited about this is brand new material. And it the class consists of meetings before every new and full Moon throughout 2023, where we go through the astrology of the month we pair it with spiritual practice and exercises that are designed to help people deepen their connection to the astrological energy so that it's more than just information you're taking. And we're also pairing each moon cycle with plant teachers and reflecting on how the plant diets that we're working with are deepening our connection to the astrology of the month. So there's an early bird payment that saves you a couple of 100 bucks off of that if you want to join us, there's a payment plan and tuition assistance. As always, for everything in case people might be hurting or in need of some help. If you have any questions as you're looking at it, feel free to email us info @nightlightastrology.com.

All right. That being said, let's get into verses 37 and 38 today. So I'm going to put the presentation up on the screen here. Let's put it into full-screen mode. And I'm going to read through each verse, and then we'll go back, read through them a second time, and offer some reflections the second time through.

Verse 37

Tao does not act yet it is the root of all action
Tao does not move yet it is the source of all creation
If princes and kings could hold it, everyone under them would naturally turn within
Should a doubt or old desire rise up
The Nameless Simplicity would push it down
The Nameless Simplicity frees the heart of desire and reveals its inner silence
When there is silence one finds peace
When there is silence one finds the anchor of the universe within himself

Verse 38

To give without seeking reward
To help without thinking it is virtuous – therein lies the great virtue
To keep account of your action
To help with the hope of gaining merit – therein lies no virtue
The highest virtue is to act without a sense of self
The highest kindness is to give without condition
The highest justice is to see without preference
When Tao is lost one must learn the rules of virtue
When virtue is lost, the rules of kindness
When kindness is lost, the rules of justice
When justice is lost, the rules of conduct
And when the high-blown rules of conduct are not followed people are seized by the arm and it is forced on them
The rules of conduct are just an outer show of devotion and loyalty – quite confusing to the heart
And when men rely on these rules for guidance –
Oh, what ignorance abounds!

Let's read through it again and just offer some reflections. Tao does not act, yet it is the root of all action. Tao does not move, yet it is the source of all creation. If princes and kings could hold it, everyone under them would naturally turn within, should a doubt or old desire rise up, the nameless simplicity would push it down. The Nameless simplicity freeze the heart of desire, and reveals its inner silence. When there's silence, one finds peace. When there is silence, one finds the anchor of the universe within himself.

One of the things that I have said on my channel and as an astrology teacher for 12 years now, my career started in 2010, is that I believe astrology gives its best to us when we pair it with a daily spiritual practice. And by that, I don't mean that there is one prescription, one particular exercise, or one ritual that one should perform. For me, it's always been meditation and prayer, mantra meditation. And, it can look different for different people. The point is to go within. I've been attending Quaker services for several months now. And the Quaker service consists of an hour of silence. And that's it. It's very simple. The idea is to commune with the divine in silence and in community. The community congregating in silence creates a kind of concentrated silence. It's really beautiful. Whatever it is, I think silence, mindfulness, quiet time, going within listening, within, turning off the noise is really, really important.

The second verse of the Yoga Sutras is Yogas Chitta vritti nirodha which also means yoga is the cessation of the revolutions of the mind. It's like a steal, or open center, in the wheel, that around which the spokes or the wheel is turning. So the word vritti, where we get the idea of revolution, actually, etymologically shares a route with the idea of the revolutions of the sky. So when we study astrology every day, there's a way in which everything is always moving. Everything is moving in great circles in the sky, great repeating patterns of circles and cycles. Sunrise, sunset, Moonrise, waxing, Moon, waning Moon, new Moon, Full Moon, everything is moving in cycles and circles of light and dark, dark and light. And our life moves in seasons, from happy to sad or to full and empty. Everything's always moving like that. And it is a really beautiful and it's actually a really profound thing that we have a language that can help us to identify those cycles and circles, track them. Imagine our lives alongside of them, see reflected the shining face of divinity within them. Like all of that's really amazing.

And at the same time, there is a tendency within those patterns for us to get pulled into them. This is why we use I use the phrase grabbed; the hashtag grabbed, grahas, that grabs us. And so some kind of reflective lifestyle, some kind of daily reflective time out, allows the soul to come forth and act as the mediating ground for these great cycles in circles. And that same place within us, that soul, that spark of the divine that lives in us. It has, shares in essence, with the divine with the same thing I believe the Taoists are talking about when they say the Tao does not act; it is the root of all action. Tao does not move yet is the source of all creation. When we get in touch with the mediating ground of the soul, In addition to being able to reflect and make meaning out of all of the cycles and circles and imagine our lives alongside of them, we also get in touch with that mysterious essence that is behind within everything. And we need to be in touch with the soul; we need to be in touch with the inner self. If the cycles are not to be pulling us along, in eventually, if not now than later in, in madness, right in, in suffering.

So, the Tao tells us very clearly, just as ancient astrologers told us, that it's, we, in part, we're becoming aware of these cycles and circles so that we do not get lost in them. And every single week, it is important. On my channel, I will always have to speak about this in some way or somehow to remind us of why we're here and why we're doing this. It's the same reason that we would take time to meditate or pray or go for a walk or take time for inner quiet every day. It's the same exact reason that we would show up here once a week and reflect on something like this, this kind of topic.

Alright, verse 38,

To give without seeking reward
To help without thinking it is virtuous – therein lies the great virtue
To keep account of your action
To help with the hope of gaining merit – therein lies no virtue
The highest virtue is to act without a sense of self
The highest kindness is to give without condition
The highest justice is to see without preference
When Tao is lost one must learn the rules of virtue
When virtue is lost, the rules of kindness
When kindness is lost, the rules of justice
When justice is lost, the rules of conduct
And when the high-blown rules of conduct are not followed people are seized by the arm and it is forced on them
The rules of conduct are just an outer show of devotion and loyalty – quite confusing to the heart
And when men rely on these rules for guidance –
Oh, what ignorance abounds!

So there's one thing that really stood out to me about this verse as I was reflecting on it before sitting down to make the video today. And it is that there is a distinction that is made, at least in the bhakti yoga tradition, and I think in there are similar ideas, and many other religious and spiritual traditions, which is that the universe lived from the standpoint of self-interest, materialism, consumerism, and identification with the body and material energy, without any reference or remembrance of the soul. Makes this universe the experience of it become one of objectification and impersonalism when you act because you think it will get you something; the goodness is mechanistic and impersonal. It's not coming from the heart. Right? When you act from the heart, there's no consideration of what it will get you because when you act from the heart, that action is its own reward is, it's own good feeling. It is its own gift, its own satisfaction, and there's no sense of self in it. That doesn't mean that it's self-negating or that it is self-harming or self-deprecating means that when you do something good, it's because it feels good to do it. And there's not a lot of taking account of it. Similarly, when we walk, I think just generally when we walk through the universe, through our daily lives through, you know, the big stories and the little stories, the most mundane details of life and the biggest twists and turns of life. And we do so with a lot of premeditation. A lot of calculation, a lot of accounting for things.

There is a sense in which we are objectifying ourselves, we're objectifying others, and we're making the universe into a mechanistic, impersonal place. And what this verse tells us is that the more that we act in that way, the more that the universe becomes legalistic, and it ends up grabbing us by the arm and teaching us how to live by rules and by a system of rewards and punishments. That is the definition of karma. You don't have to live by karma according to the laws of karma. It's like a system. It's like an operating program. You don't have to run that program if you don't want to. It's quite confusing to the heart. And when you rely on rules of conduct that are based on merit, reward-punishment, you're living in an impersonal universe; you're living with objectification of yourself and others, you will feel objectified, you will feel ground up by the machine of the universe. And that is a choice made in a style of consciousness that we adopt. It starts when we act with some sense of calculation, interest in punishment, avoidance of harm, out of fear, right? So when you're, when you're living in alignment, with Tao, when there's a kind of alignment, just walking the path of life with a sense of being in alignment in every moment in every situation. It's a different result, the different universe that we live in, we feel happy. And it doesn't matter.

The happiness is not dependent upon what is happening around us. We lose that sense of there being conditions to our happiness because the heart becomes this place of unconditional love, joy, acceptance, curiosity, and patience. When we start losing that, then we lose; we have to learn the rules of virtue. And then when virtue is lost, then you have to have rules of kindness. See, it's starting to get more and more degraded. When you lose kindness, then everything is about justice. When you lose, you know, it's a sign of a society that's lost kindness, and that in turn has lost virtue is when Justice becomes more and more of the way that people are thinking and moving in the world. When Justice is lost, then it's about conduct which is even worse. It's about policing actions and words and behaviors constantly. And when those are not followed, then you get a kind of totalitarianism or some kind of authoritarianism, where then everyone is being made to do things, made to say things or think things. And that's confusing to the heart. And when we rely on that way of being in the world, Tao Te Ching says, ignorance abounds.

Well, astrology is really the daily art of living in alignment. By understanding these cycles, these ebbs and flows of the planetary energies, these archetypal fields, and by relating to them from the heart and cultivating soulfulness, that reflective space that we develop every day, then suddenly, we live in a universe where virtue is nothing more than just being in alignment, just listening, and being thoughtful and careful about how we move because we're recognizing the divine intelligence that's flowing through everything because we're charting it and tracking it and taking time out for the soul. And to me, this makes a huge difference in my life. I'm still just as much a mess as anyone else. I don't. I don't want to pretend that I'm not. But I will tell you that I would feel lost without this beautiful spiritual GPS system.

And without daily practices of surrender and silence. Practices that get me in touch with the soul that are prayerful, that help me to commune even just in small moments with my divine source. And so I hope it does that for you too. And I hope that in reading the Tao Te Ching, just once weekly, we are refreshing on why we're here, why we listen to astrology content, and what it's doing for us. It's important to come back to that intention over and over and over again. It's like the drum beat and a good song; you got to have that drum there. It's kind of like the heart of the song. So we have to come back to our intentions behind why we're taking this and why I'm doing what I'm doing. It's really important to me. So I hope it's important for you too. I hope that you get something good out of this.

Don't forget to like and subscribe, and share your comments and thoughts. I'd love to hear from you guys. I know a lot of people like to read them afterward. So check it out there. Don't forget the pre-registration sales and the new classes last until September 12. Hope to see some of you in those new classes soon. And we'll talk to you again tomorrow. Bye.