The Tao Te Ching for Astrologers – Verses 61 & 62

Hey everyone, this is Adam Elenbaas from Nightlight Astrology, and today we are going to continue our study of the Tao Te Ching with an eye for how the verses of the week apply to us as students of astrology. So we're going to be looking at verses 61 and 62. You don't have to have seen any of the previous episodes. You can really dive into the series anywhere. All of the verses of the Tao Te Ching provide timeless, beautiful wisdom. And what we do is we read through two of them every week. And then just compare and contrast what ancient mystics had to say about the study of astrology. Finding those meaningful comparisons between the Tao Te Ching and my practice as an astrologer has been a part of my life for many years.

Now a lot of people sometimes ask, where do you get the inspiration to write your daily talks? A lot of it comes from a regular reading of the Tao Te Ching, which is one of my favorite inspirational spiritual texts of all time. So we're going to look at verses 61 and 62. We'll read through them once. We'll read through them a second time. And then, we'll pause the second time through to reflect on each verse in light of our study of astrology. And we do this in order to remind ourselves of, you know, what, why are we here doing this? And what benefit is it for our spiritual lives? It's good to do that. Because otherwise, Astrology can sometimes devolve into just sort of like a celestial gossip column, like what's gonna happen, oh, my God, it's important to remember why we care at all about what's happening. And you know why we're here.

So, anyway, with that being said, I also want to remind all of you to like and subscribe if you're new to the channel, especially since we're getting close to 50,000 subscribers really excited got some fun things planned for that when we cross that milestone, if you ever want to find a transcript of any of my daily talks, they are on my website every day at nightlightastrology.com. We are also in the midst of promoting this channel in the last days of the year. We do a fundraiser, a Kickstarter, every year to support the channel in the year ahead. If you want to donate and help us get there, you can find the link to the Kickstarter in the description of this video or in the comments section of this video below. When you do that, when you are taken over to the Kickstarter page, you can choose a reward when you donate. I have exclusive lectures that only come around every year during the Kickstarter, for example, the astrology of 2023, a lecture that I gave on all the major transits of the year for the year ahead, or your sun and rising sign horoscope for the year ahead. Those are awesome ways you can support us in the channel and also get something back in return that I'm not releasing anywhere else. Of course, all of my programs are also on sale. We're trying to reach 1608 backers. We are getting close to 300. And so we are really thankful to everyone who's already donated. We still have a long ways to go. So you know, pitch in now and help us get there.

We have a couple of things that I'll mention as well. The Roots and Spheres class is on sale through the Kickstarter, the 23 masterclass series, and then my online courses. My year one and year two programs are over 50% off through the program. And if you bundle year one and year two, you also save even more than 50% off on each course. And if you do three programs, I also have a horary class and a craft class called Readings and Passages. Those classes are more advanced, but they are also one-year programs, and they are also on sale. So you can, and you can use those or redeem those whenever you want as well. So it's a really great way to support the channel and get an astrological education in the process that's really affordable. We are our big goal for the year ahead in this fundraiser is to build a donation-based reading clinic where people can come and get readings from some of my best graduates; we'll have a staff of them, and you'll be able to have affordable rates, it gets them experience as readers. And it helps people who might be struggling financially to be able to get a high-quality astrological reading. So that's our big goal for 2023. When you support this channel, you're supporting a staff, me and my family, and my work. You're also supporting the creation of some really cool projects. So we really appreciate it. If you love this channel, if you get something good out of it, if it gives something special to you. If it makes your day once a week or once a month or, you know, five days a week, all day, all year round. We're producing content. So you know if it means something to you, we really appreciate your patronage. This channel doesn't work without it. We deeply appreciate, again, everyone who's already donated. Okay, well, with that all said, let's get into it.

We're going to take a look at verses 61 and 62 of the Tao Te Ching today. And here we go. I'm going to put the verses up on the screen here so that if you're following along on TV or a computer that's big enough to see, then you'll be able to read along if you'd like. We'll go over 61 first and then 62. We'll read it through again and then offer some reflections.

Verse 61.
A great state is like a river basin that receives everything flowing into it
It is the place where all things come to rest
where all the world is welcomed
The low is greater than the high
The still is greater than the restless
The low country wins over its neighbor
The still female wins over the male
The Sage wants to uplift the people
The people want to follow the Sage
only by being low does this come to be
The Sage bows to the people
The people bow to the Sage
And when they lift up their heads only greatness remains

Verse 62
Tao is the treasure house the true nature the secret source of everything
It is the great wealth of those who are awake
the great protector of those still sleeping
If a person seems wicked do not cast him away –
Awaken him with your words
Elevate him with your deeds
Recite his injury with your kindness
Do not cast him away
cast away his wickedness
When the emperor is crowned or the three ministers installed
they receive a gift of jade and horses
But how can this compare to sitting still and gaining the treasure of Tao
This is why the ancient masters honored the inward path of Tao
Did they not say, "Seek and you will find"? "Err, and you will be forgiven"?
Within, within
This is where the world's treasure has always been

Love some of the pieces of that 62nd verse are just awesome. Alright, let's go back to 61. We're going to reread it and then pause and offer some reflections that apply to us as astrologers.

Verse 61,
A great state is like a river basin that receives everything flowing into it
It is the place where all things come to rest
where all the world is welcomed
The low is greater than the high
The still is greater than the restless
The low country wins over its neighbor
The still female wins over the male
The Sage wants to uplift the people
The people want to follow the Sage
only by being low does this come to be
The Sage bows to the people
The people bow to the Sage
And when they lift up their heads only greatness remains.

So as I've said a few times before, Tao Te Ching often focuses on the leadership of a nation, country, or village city. And is a text that is supposed to form like the philosophy or advice given to leaders. But often, it will flow back and forth between wisdom that is applicable to anyone and the wisdom that is necessary for creating a peaceful community. I will speak now to that part of this verse that is a little bit more personal in nature. But it's it can easily be there's a personal takeaway here, even though some of what's being said has to do with the harmony of a state or community.

If you think about what makes for peace, wisdom, serenity, growth, and healing within a group or community. Verse 61 tells us that in such a community, everything is welcome. And there is a way in which the distinctions between who has a lot and who has a little, like the low and the greater, the low and the high, is often reversed. Because everyone recognizes within an enlightened group or community, even a family, that the low moments, or the times when one member of a group or family is lower than another who is higher, all play a really important role in what the group is as a whole.

And what it stands to learn and where it stands to grow and heal because of what it is as a whole. And the way in which I see a similarity between this idea and astrology is that in astrology, we have the idea that the gods never come alone, that they always come in a community, that the heavens are like a picture of the Divine as a community as a body with lots of parts. And that every part is really important. So even though we have this functional language in ancient astrology, for example of malefic and benefics, good doers and bad doers literally in the Greek. It was understood it was implicit in the ancient texts that they were all equally important in the sense of the cosmos being a good array Divine whole and that somehow a wise person, a sage, and an astrologer is able to recognize this. And that even though people will come to the astrologer really worried about the bad stuff and really wanting to have the good stuff, or naturally privileging certain kinds of things over others, certain hierarchies that establish our sense of value or worth, or beauty or talent or ability or reputation.

There is a way in which the astrologer as Sage, not just, you know, cosmic gossip columnist but, as a sagely endeavor, the astrologer sees that every single planet and every single aspect and every single part of every single chart is necessary and beautiful. And with this knowledge, an astrologer should be able, through a chart reading, to uplift someone and or at least help free them from the limiting perceptions that they might have.

I, for example, people come in to speak to me all the time, and they'll come in with perceptions about their charts like, oh, well, Saturn is bad. And this place in my chart is really difficult. And I see I have, like, this really challenging placement or whatever. And I feel like, in a sense, my goal is to help them understand that they live in a cosmos where the whole world is welcomed, where often the low is greater than the high, the still is greater than the less restless, the low country wins over its neighbor, the still female, the Yin, wins over the active, heroic, masculine young, that that that is so often the case. But it's really hard for us to think like that because we tend to privilege just the opposite heroism and action is better than stillness, being great or mighty or reputable or famous is better than being obscure or humble or quiet or you know.

So one of the things that astrology is doing over the course of long periods of time, if you keep paying attention to it, if you keep paying attention to transits, is it will uplift you specifically because you are able to release some of your judgments about what a good experience is, and what a bad experience is. What a good planetary transit is and what a bad planetary transit is. It's funny, though, because most people can't get there until they go through a stage where you first get to know the language, and as you get to know the language, you have to go through a stage where it's very clear that, like, Mars transits often suck, you know, and, and Jupiter transits are often much more pleasant, or fun or Venus transits are much more enjoyable than, you know a hard aspect from Saturn.

But the further you go, that you keep going with everything, the more that you reach this place where you start to recognize that it is all welcome. So I love this verse because our own psyches are like a village or a community or a city populated by gods and presences, spirits, voices, they end those are all aspects of the Divine that are. They're all aspects of the Divine in a psychic city where the whole world is welcomed.

Let's move on to verse 62.
Tao is the treasure-house the true nature the secret source of everything
It is the great wealth of those who are awake the great protector of those still sleeping
If a person seems wicked do not cast him away –
Awaken him with your words
Elevate him with your deeds
Recite his injury with your kindness
Do not cast him away cast away his wickedness

I'll pause here before I go to part two of this verse. This is such a deep and simple teaching that is so common in so many different traditions Christianity, Buddhism, yoga, you know, the Sufis say very similar things. Common sense, our conscience, or some innate heart centered quality tells us this regardless of any religious text, and that is that our behavior is not an exact representation of who we are. And that we go through seasons of life acting and behaving in different ways and learning from those experiences. And the people that elevate us that help us move from something toxic to something more enlightened are those people that help us recognize the difference between our authentic selves, hopes, and some behavior. They don't condemn or judge us, but they help us to become aware of a behavior that actually isn't who we are.

And isn't it beautiful that the Tao is the treasure house of our true nature, the secret source of everything? It is the great wealth of those who are aware of their own true nature. And it's also the protector of those who aren't yet aware of it. This is important because, in astrology, the same fundamental distinction existed for ancient mystics that those who practice astrology often will come to astrology specifically because they're still very much stuck in identification with, you know, every transit and change and circumstantial shift in their life driven mad with anxiety about it all. And they'll come to astrology because they'll think the Astrology can, you know, tell me what's going to happen, give me some good news. And basically, you know, give me what I want to hear. But over time, especially because astrology often doesn't give us what we want to hear, but gives us the truth.

We go on, and suddenly we start awakening to some deeper sense of self that is present within the various seasons of life. And we start to recognize that we're being guided, that there is a sense of purpose, and it's like the way that I explained it is it's sort of like realize going from the planets are either cursing me or blessing me to realizing that the planets are guiding me. And that shift in consciousness happens for most people over time. If they keep practicing Astrology, they go from the planets are blessing or cursing me, and oh my god, which one is it going to be to?
Okay? There are lots of different seasons of life. I'm learning, and I'm growing, and the planets are guiding me. The second part of this verse says,

When the emperor is crowned or the three ministers installed they receive a gift of jade and horses
But how can this compare to sitting still and gaining the treasure of Tao
This is why the ancient masters honoured the inward path of Tao
Did they not say "Seek and you will find"? "Err and you will be forgiven"?
Within, within
This is where the world's treasure has always been

I love this; it kind of comes circles back around to the idea that although it's given advice about statecraft, in a sense, the next verse comes around to say, Look, don't pine after worldly privileges, leadership stations, offices, and power. They're a part of the world, but it doesn't compare to the inner life that's gained through this path of Tao. And when you seek real treasure, your authentic nature, you'll find it. If you mess up along the way, you'll be forgiven, and you're being guided. It's kind of reiteration of this idea that you're being guided.

If you're looking for the real thing, you'll find it. And if you mess up along the way, you'll be forgiven. If you're looking for the real thing, some pretty beautiful promise within within this is where the world's treasure has always been.

There's a verse, and I believe it's Vettius Valens or Firmicus Maternus, and I'm forgetting it off the top of my head, the exact line, but it says something to the effect of people who study astrology, the Sage who studies astrology, is not bothered because of the fluctuations of fortune for, they have developed an inner life, and they're confident in their soul. And this is what the Tao is giving us over and over, as well as instructions for how to be in the world. So it kind of does both at once. And astrology, if you ask me, does the same thing over and over, it tells us in great description about the different seasons of life that will play out literally in your career in your marriage with your kids, and you have to deal with those you have to live those. They can give you advice for what to expect and how to approach those different seasons. But it will also always be pointing to the need to cultivate an inner life rather than being too caught up in or anxious about the externals. And the Tao is really the same thing over and over and over in every verse.

So I hope that you take some inspiration for this. I hope you're having a great weekend. Remember, we are on a mission. We are looking for the help of 16 108 backers from this channel to break last year's record to help us build a donation based Reading Clinic to help keep this channel alive and well to, you know, take care of a staff of people Bull and the production of this content five days a week.

If you like this channel, if it means something to you, if it is a part of your life that is meaningful and substantive. Please donate if you can. And if you can't, send up some prayers for us that we'd meet our goals. You can find the link to the Kickstarter in the description of this video or the comments section of this video below. And I hope you're having a great weekend. Take it easy, everyone. Bye