The Tao Te Ching for Astrologers – Verses 77 & 78

Hey everyone, this is Adam Elenbaas from Nightlight Astrology, and today we're going to continue on with our series on the Tao Te Ching for Astrologers by looking at verses 77 and 78, which are coming down to the last couple of verses. We have, I think, three more verses after this week. And then our series, which has been the better part of the last year, I should say, will be over.

So you don't have to have listened to any of the previous episodes in this series. It's been a real pleasure to do this as a way of exposing people to one of the sacred spiritual, great spiritual texts of our planet and also one that we can draw on as astrologers. There are so many parallels between the wisdom of the Tao Te Ching; I'm thinking of the I-Ching as well, the Tao Te Ching, and the spiritual worldview that ancient astrologers had.

So before we get into it today, don't forget to like and subscribe. Sharing your comments and reflections helps the channel to grow really appreciate it when you guys do that. You can find transcripts of any of my daily talks on the website nightlight astrology.com masterclass series is starting in February, so check out the masterclass series under the Courses tab on the website. If you would like to take advantage of the need-based tuition option, you can always do that. And if you have any questions about the upcoming Masterclass series, which starts February 17, you can email us info at nightlightastrology.com. Hope to see some of you there.

The first series in the Masterclass will be on the ancient Hellenistic view of the lunation cycle. So we're looking in-depth at the combinations of placements between the sun and the moon and birth charts throughout the entire lunation cycle. So what does it mean to have been born under every individual stage of that lunar cycle? So that should be pretty interesting.

Anyway, so let's go ahead and get into it. We're going to read through both verses, as always; we'll do it twice the first time through just to get familiar with the verse the second time through in order to reflect upon the verse in greater depth in light of our study of astrology.

So this is a text that has been part of my daily reading practice for a long time as something that has offered me a ton of inspiration for the creation of my content. Of course, I have been using the Tarcher Cornerstone edition of the text, which is translated by Jonathan Star. Here's a little picture of it right there. In case you want to get a copy.
So let's go ahead and read verses 77 and 78.

Verse 77
Heaven operates like the bending of a bow - the high it pulls down, the low it brings up
It takes from that which has too much
And gives to that which has too little
The way of man is otherwise - he takes from that which is depleted and gives to that
which has too much
Who can offer an abundance to the world? –
One who has Tao
Such a one can give like the heavens
The Sage gives without relying on his own effort
He completes without waiting for a reward
He illumines without stepping from the shadow

Verse 78
Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water
Yet for attacking the hard and strong, none can triumph so easily
It is weak, yet none can equal it
It is soft, yet none can damage it
It is yielding, yet none can wear it away
Everyone knows that the soft overcomes the hard and the yielding triumphs over the rigid
Why then so little faith?
Why can no one practice it?
So the Sages say, fulfill even the lowest position
love even the weakest creature
Then you will be called "Lord of every offering"
"King of all below Heaven"

Two really beautiful verses and coming down to some of the summarizing wisdom of the entire text. Let's go back to 77. We'll read it again, and then we'll do some reflecting on it in light of our study of astrology and what are the parallels between being a student of astrology, having astrology as a spiritual practice in our lives, and the wisdom of this particular verse.

Verse 77
Heaven operates like the bending of a bow
the high it pulls down, the low it brings up
It takes from that which has too much
And gives to that which has too little
The way of man is otherwise
he takes from that which is depleted and gives to that
which has too much
Who can offer an abundance to the world?
One who has Tao
Such a one can give like the heavens
The Sage gives without relying on his own effort
He completes without waiting for a reward
He illumines without stepping from the shadow

I love this verse, especially the first part, because there are so many parallels that we can draw on as astrologers. For example, Heaven operates like the bending of a bow; the high it pulls down, the low it brings up. We can see this metaphor, or this, that there's an analogy here, or a metaphor with the sky.

So what happens to planets when they rise in the east, they're brought up to the top of the sky. So then when they're high, what happens, they are brought down low, they set; all the planets and stars along the Zodiac by means of the primary or diurnal motion are brought up high, and then brought down low, and then from low, they're brought up high, and from high, they're brought down low.

This is something that we see in nature every day, that we see this in terms of the cycles of nature, from the ebbing and flowing of water levels and rivers, to the temperature, the rise and fall of heat and cold and the temperature, life, and death, that things rise up into life and then they fall down into death and darkness.

That the sun rises up in light and sinks down in the darkness, all of nature, including the planets, reflect this basic wisdom. And so, when we think about astrology, a lot of the times we think, right to the part that has to do with my anxieties and concerns, you know, about my life, which is totally fair.

But we can miss that astrology, itself as a practice, is meant to teach us that, you know, don't worry if you're having a bad day because it is usually followed; dark times and times where you feel empty followed by times where you feel filled up. And so much of what astrology is doing as a lifestyle is teaching us how to ride those ups and downs, which is something we have probably said in every single episode to date of this series.

So the heavens show us the way of the Tao. The planetary cycles from the moon cycle and filling up with light to emptying its light. Everything shows us that there is this ebb and flow. People often ask me, as an astrologer, is there free will? Do we have free will? How does it work, stuff like that. As far as I can tell, one of the things that ancient astrologers in both India and the Hellenistic region of the world, everything they said seem to point to the fact that, like you are never your will, your agency is never greater than these forces.

And so insofar as you try to exert your will against them, controlling them, manipulating or trying to dominate them, it's a futile exercise, and you will end up feeling sort of weakened, you know, kind of crushed by the by these forces. And people end up calling that fate. Or they'll call it karma, or you know, usually has kind of a negative connotation, or it's a more ominous one. Whereas the sage or the wise person or the philosopher or the astrologer, the Taoist, or whatever we want to call a seeker, one who seeks to understand these seasons of time and the alternation of these currents of energy, and one who uses their agency to move with them intelligently harmonizing their lives like it's part of a greater musical composition.

This is the way of Hermes. This is the way of ancient astrology. Not surprisingly, the Tao is called The Way, but here we have an outline of someone the way of man is otherwise, he takes from that which is depleted and gives to that which has too much when we are trying to exercise our will in Domination rather than using our will as a form of alignment or harmonization.

We get it all backward. We tend to really get messed up. And similarly when we use astrology as something that is primarily about whether I will get what I want or not. We're objectifying ourselves, and we're objectifying the universe we live in. It's fine to have anxiety about life, that's normal, but we should be using our study of astrology to help us accept, reflect and move with using our free will using whatever agency we have to move with the currents of life, understanding them and understanding ourselves in relationship with them. Rather than trying to dominate or control them or sitting around feeling like passive victims of them and hoping you know, today will be the day that the lottery hits.None of these are really the reason that we do astrology.

Verse 78
Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water
Yet for attacking the hard and strong, none can triumph so easily
It is weak, yet none can equal it
It is soft, yet none can damage it
It is yielding, yet none can wear it away
Everyone knows that the soft overcomes the hard and the yielding triumphs over the rigid
Why then so little faith?
Why can no one practice it?
So the Sages say, fulfill even the lowest position love even the weakest creature
Then you will be called "Lord of every offering" "King of all below Heaven"

I love this. This is a very Christ-like feeling to this verse, at least for me growing up in the Christian church; it reminds me a lot of some of the Christ consciousness energy, I guess you could call it. First of all, in the first part of the verse, again, I think when we learn to use, like, as students of astrology, when we learn to follow the movements of the planets, living a kind of reflective lifestyle, I am acting as someone who is trying to understand and move with the co-arising, fields and symbols and archetypes that are present.

When I'm doing that, there's, weirdly there's a strength that starts to come in, but it's not a hard, rigid, dominant, bullying kind of strength. It's, it's a gentle, fluid, adaptive, intelligent kind of strength. And that's really what astrology is trying to give us. Adaptability, flexibility, acceptance, curiosity, a good sense of humor, and the joy of discovering meaning in anything and everything.

Those qualities are like the power and strength of water. It can be very masculine to it doesn't have mean water might sound to some ears like very feminine, I don't think it's masculine or feminine, because, you know, it can express itself through, you know, both through both masculine and feminine, like, let's say, characteristics. If you're going to exert something or assert something, this does it in a way that is adaptable and not too rigid. If you're going to be on the more receptive end of things, then this moves with, and it's a very cooperative kind of intelligence.

I like this; everyone knows that the soft overcomes the heart and the yielding triumphs over the rigid why, then, so little faith? Why can no one practice it? That's a good question for us to reflect on. When I think about it, it's that well because it's hard to imagine that if I, if I'm not exerting some form of control, or if I'm not asserting my will, it feels like the only other option would then become a completely passive victim.

I think what astrology teaches us, just like, what the Tao is saying, is that you learn, like, receptivity is still a kind of activity. It still requires agency. So it's not just blank, neutral, passive, you know, it being receptive is a choice. It's like a meditation posture that you have to assume. When you do that, it's still something active. That is, in a sense, asserting your own beingness into the stream of events. But it doesn't feel that way at first; it can almost feel like you're becoming, you know, like, inert or like, what am I just supposed to not do anything? What's not, it's not just being neutral, being receptive, being in a receptive position.

One of the best ways that I can think about it, for example, is I go to Quaker services every week, and the Quaker services are silent. It's just silent prayer and listening, listening for that still, quiet voice of God. And in that practice and art of listening, just assuming that posture, I am still actively becoming and doing something. I'm becoming a listener; I'm actively listening. And then, when it comes time for me to speak, I have so much more thoughtfulness, and it's much more intentional. And so, you know, by becoming more reflective and receptive as an active choice, I think over time, especially with astrology, when we become actively receptive with the transits, then when it comes time to do something, when it comes time to assert something, or say something, or put our own will out there, you're gonna get a lot better results.

Not better, as in, you get something. So, you know, like, you get something, you just notice that, at the very least, you're not creating problems for yourself as much. And you find that your will is more it harmonizes. And that harmony produces good things, pleasant, happy things.

So anyway, the sages say fulfill even the lowest position, love even the weakest creature. For example, one of the things that I've found through many years of doing, you know, active listening with astrology clients, is that there's nothing and nobody, that if I don't, if I take a posture of active listening with absolutely anybody that I'm talking to, I can learn something amazing.

But in order to do that, I have to set aside my assumptions about, well, this person's got something good to say, and this person probably doesn't, or this person is going to be interesting, and this person isn't. Now so, when we make those distinctions between the low and the high, who's worthy and unworthy, rather than taking up a posture of openness, appreciation, listening, receptivity, to who and what is around us, you know, we're going to learn a lot more from doing that.

Anyway, so that's, that's, that's what I take away from this. And I think astrology gives us that all the time because what I hear from clients, and what I hear from all of you in our storytelling that we do together, is that when you stay open to what a transit is saying, or what it's bringing into your life, you always get more than if you are anxious about it or trying to control it.

So anyway, some good thoughts today from the Tao Te Ching. I hope this was a useful midweek reflection, a moment to pause and remember why am I here. Why am I doing this? What does it, what does it help me with in my life, and then we can get back into, you know, what are the transits of the week and, you know, get back into the grind of it all.

Okay, well, we have a couple of weeks left, and then we'll be shifting gears. We'll be going into a series on the moon through the 12 signs that should be really fascinating. Alright, that's what we've got. Hope you guys are having a good week, and we will see you again tomorrow. Take it easy, everyone. Bye.