The Tao Te Ching for Astrologers – Verses 73 & 74

Hey everyone, this is Adam Elenbaas from Nightlight Astrology, and today we're going to take a look at verses 73 and 74. of the Tao Te Ching. This is continuing on in our series; we're almost to the end of our series on the Tao Te Ching for astrologers; you don't have to have seen any of the previous episodes to jump in and enjoy this one. Although all the other episodes I think are also really rich, every single text and verse from the Tao Te Ching is absolutely beautiful and has been a part of my daily practice in terms of how I prepare my talks and what kind of spiritual insights go into the formation of my content.

So it's good to pause once in a while, as people who are subscribed to and interested in astrology content, in order to ask ourselves what are we doing, why do astrology? What does it mean, spiritually speaking? Why did this ancient spiritual practice ever come about in the first place, and what was the intention behind it, according to the ancient sages and mystics who downloaded it or practiced it? So we're looking at a text that is not directly related to astrology, but has many parallels, philosophically.

So verses 73 and 74. As always, I will read through each verse twice, and on the second read through the verse, we will offer some reflections and commentary in light of our study of astrology. I'm reading from the Jonathan Star translation of the Tao Te Ching, which is from Tarcher Cornerstone additions. I love this addition and find that it's really a beautiful and easy read, especially if it's your first time reading the Tao Te Ching, some translations are a lot heavier than others, and that's fine too. I like this one because of how accessible it is for beginners.

So pick up a copy, and check it out as we're going through. I'll also be reading it directly from the text, so you will be able to hear me if you're listening to the audio version of this.

So before we get into it, as always today, don't forget to like and subscribe to share your comments and reflections; it helps the channel to grow. Click the notification bell for updates if you want to know when I'm going live. You can find transcripts of any of these daily talks on my website nightlightastrology.com where you can also see all of the courses that I offer, the readings, and all the other good stuff. We have a couple of classes that just started this month, and go check those out. If you want to join, it's not too late. Any questions that you have as you check out the info on our website or email us info at nightlightastrology.com.

All right, let's go ahead and take a look at verses 73 and 74. We are almost done with our series. It's hard to believe because it's been a very long series and a very deep and rewarding study of this beautiful text.

Verse 73
Bold action against others leads to death
Bold action in harmony with Tao leads to life
Good fortune, bad fortune
One seems to bring benefit the other to cause harm
But Heaven rejects them both
Both, in the end, tether men to this world
Who can know the reasons of Heaven?
Who can know its endless ways?
Not even the Sage has an answer to this one
Heaven's way does not strive, yet it always overcomes
It does not speak, yet it responds
It is not summoned, yet it appears
It does not hurry, yet it completes everything on time
The net of Heaven spans the universe yet not the slightest thing ever slips by

Verse 74
If people do not fear death, why threaten them with it?
But suppose they did fear death and this was the fate handed to lawbreakers
Who would dare to do the killing?
There is always a Lord of Death
He who takes the place of the Lord of Death is like one who cuts with the blade of a
master carpenter
Whoever cuts with the blade of a master carpenter is sure to cut his own hands

It's an interesting verse. Let's go back up to 73. We're going to reread this one, and I'm going to pause to offer some reflections in light of our study of astrology. There are a lot of interesting parallels in verse 73. To the core, the mystical and spiritual values of ancient astrology. Bold action against others leads to death,
bold action in harmony leads to life.

One of the things that the Roman poet Miletus said and his texts, the astronomical is a textbook on astrology that was written in poetic verse, one of the first earliest surviving texts of the Hellenistic era, although there are authors cited in early texts that come much prior to Miletus. In this text, he says that the purpose of astrology is to learn how to live in harmony And with the heartbeat of the heavens.

It says, though, when you study astrology and you bring it into your life that, one of the benefits of doing it is that it leads you into a state or sense of alignment with the cosmos. Now, this verse is not saying that exactly, but what it is saying is that somehow when you take bold actions against others, it's problematic karmically.

However, when you live life in harmony with the Tao, there's obviously a contrast here that's being offered, which suggests that you're not going to be an aggressive person who's harming other people if you're paying attention to this way, this path, this alignment. This alignment provides us with a sense of living that is more peaceful and harmonious. And that is precisely what ancient astrologers said, as well, that when you live life in accordance with the Tao, so to speak, or the cosmos, the Stoics, set it, the Platanus set it, the hermetic all said it in different ways that there's a sense in which the alignment provides you with a peacefulness that doesn't come when you're acting from the ego, which is also why, when you're acting from the ego, it's more likely that eventually, you'll get into the game of domination and competition and so forth.

This next part is really important good fortune, bad fortune. One seems to bring benefit; the other seems to cause harm. But heaven rejects them both in the end, tethered men to this world, whether it's Ptolemy or Vettius Valens, many of the earlier Firmicus Maternus, many of the earliest astrologers say that what astrology teaches you is that the world is like a wheel of fortune that's always turning, like the game show Wheel of Fortune. And that, what you'll notice is that things are filled up with good fortune, and then eventually, in time, they're emptied and that the world works cyclically to fill up things and to empty them. And at the end of the day, the sage, or the one who's practicing Astrology, is learning to live a life that is situated in the soul. And the soul.

Though it experiences, good fortune and bad fortune does not get attached to or identified with those states. It's not that we deny their existence. It's not that we don't experience good fortune or bad fortune. It's that our inner sense of who we are and what brings us steadiness, happiness, joy is not ultimately rooted in these vacillations because we've understood them. We've understood the impermanent nature of time and space and the fluctuations of the gods and the archetypes that astrology trains us to have a kind of steadiness.

Again, that does not mean that we are neutral automatons that don't experience anything, but that how we experience things changes because we see things for what they are, we see the highs and lows as part of the cycles reflected by the planets.

Who can know the reasons of heaven? Who can know its endless ways; not even the sage has an answer to this one. The same thing that said in the Bhagavad Gita when Krishna says that not even the wisest sages understand karma. Who can know exactly why things happen the way that they do? Astrology is not here to fill us with some pompous, self-righteous, you know, all-knowingness like, Oh, I know everything in a way; everything happens. I know what is going to happen exactly, you know, I have all the answers. No, it gives us a sense that there is a divine intelligence, something like a time signature, and a musical scale that is inherent within our experiences within our mental and emotional lives, within our relationships within the different seasons of life.

But the reason behind why things unfold the way they do will always remain deeply mysterious. If we can understand this mystery as something drawing us into a greater or deeper intimacy with life itself, with ourselves and with each other, and with existence or reality itself, then we are greatly rewarded with a deepening sense of curiosity and wonder and beauty. And for this to happen, you really don't want to be able to say, well, I know why everything happens. But you do want to be able to say that I trust the way in which everything happens because I've trained myself to see and feel a kind of intelligence that's moving things along. And that's what astrology is all about, as well as the path of the Tao.

Heaven's way does not strive; it always overcomes; it doesn't speak, yet it responds; it is not summoned, yet it appears it does not hurry. Yet it completes everything on time. The net of Heaven spans the universe, yet not the slightest thing ever slips by, And these realizations to me are the same kinds of realizations that we get to receive the benefit or the joy of as we live a life that is reflective, astrologically reflective, we use the symbols of astrology, to see that heaven has a way it's doing but not striving, that speaking. It doesn't speak verbally, yet it is responsive and intelligent.

I mean, sometimes it does speak verbally, it's not summoned, yet it appears it doesn't hurry, and it completes everything on time. There's nothing about this divine intelligence that we learn to feel and sense through astrology that feels rushed, or, like ambitious, or, you know, and it's a bit like a hide and seek game. You know, if you go at it directly, it hides; if you try to hide from it, it finds you.

So it's a very, it's a beautiful kind of dance that we end up doing with this Divine Presence. And it could be; honestly, astrology teaches me that this is present in the small everyday things as much as it is in the big things.

Verse 74
If people do not fear death, why threaten them with it?
But suppose they did fear death and this was the fate handed to lawbreakers
Who would dare to do the killing?
There is always a Lord of Death
He who takes the place of the Lord of Death is like one who cuts with the blade of a
master carpenter
Whoever cuts with the blade of a master carpenter is sure to cut his own hands

Yeah, this is a great verse talking to us about the danger of becoming judgemental and thinking that it is our job to punish other people. If people do not fear death, why threaten them with it? But suppose they did fear death. And this was the fate handed to lawbreakers who would dare to do the killing? You can see in this verse that there is this is not so much an instruction about societal law as much as it is a commentary on something like karmic reactions, that if you're not afraid of death, there's a way in which you are free from the fear of it. And then it doesn't have the sort of power over you. There's also a way of saying that. Lawbreakers who feared death there's something about lawbreakers that inherently fear death. And that leads to this kind of karmic retribution. That's just a very enigmatic set of verses.

The second part of this that I find interesting, though, is there's always a lord of death who takes the place of the Lord of Death is like one who cuts with a blade of a master carpenter; whoever cuts with the blade of a master carpenter is sure to cut his own hands don't deal in death and judgment, right? Simple instruction, let the higher intelligence let the cosmic administrators who take care of these things take care of them; if you try to take them into your own hands, you're going to be cut with the very thing that you are cutting others with. And I don't know, the way that I would relate this to astrology, very simply is just to say that, you know, astrology over time has certainly taught me that I don't have to worry about, you know, the karmic wheels, taking care of things like I don't have to try to control or change other people. The forces of reality are going to do that.

I'm not suggesting that there isn't a place for law, order, government, you know, penalties in society; of course, there is, but when it comes to the larger karmic intelligence that's working behind things, astrology is always showing me that that, you know, people, people will evolve and grow because there's, the universe has a way of teaching us there's built-in guidance and ramifications and consequences that enlighten us. And as that happens, we grow, and I can trust that that's going to happen for everyone. I don't need to be the one to do that. And, in fact, it's dangerous for me to do so. And I feel like that's a teaching that you see, especially a lot in Indian astrology, where the study of karma is much more explicitly linked to astrology. There are warnings about, you know, in all astrologers, throughout history, have given warnings about how you actually communicate with other people about karma and about their actions and consequences of their actions so that you're not taking on some kind of karma yourself by you know, getting a god complex. So anyway, Really interesting stuff.

We have, let's see, we were that those were verses 73 and 74. So we have left 75 and 76,77, and 78 as pairings. And then we have 79,80, and 81. So 81 is our final verse. So we're almost complete with our series. After the series is done, I'm going to be returning to do a series on the planets, Planets in Profile Series, which will feature the moon. So that ought to be interesting. And I'm looking forward to that and also to some of the concluding remarks and teachings of the Tao Te Ching in the next couple of weeks. But you guys are having a nice middle of your week, and we will be back with more content tomorrow. Until then, take it easy, everyone. Bye