So, my amazing beings here we are embarking on verse 6 of the Tao Te Ching and I am busy trying to live my life as discussed in the previous verses. It is so easy to see where our negative behaviours are causing us, and as a consequence our associates, trouble, but not so easy to be aware every single time you revert to type. Yet, each time that I manage to pick myself up and catch myself in the act of hypocrisy I know that I am a step closer to reaching the person I want to be. We are all constantly learning and honing our souls until we finally scrape away the last layer of dirt that shows the true Buddha within, but how many lifetimes of searching that will take I have no idea.
Verse 6 – Life’s Spirit
The spirit of life
never dies.
It is the infinite gateway
to mysteries within mysteries.
It is the seed of yin,
the spark of yang.
Always elusive,
endlessly available. (Translation Ralph Alan Dale)
This is a fairly straightforward verse. All traditions incorporate an idea of the soul, or higher consciousness – whether this is our Buddhahood; our spirit; our Daemon (see ‘The Daemon’ by Anthony Peake); our higher self.
Our lives are nothing without both the spirit and the body (‘the seed of yin, the spark of yang’). We have chosen to be here to experience life, whatever that may entail, and to do that we need a vessel through which to feel – our earthly body. Our bodies are at best ephemeral, a suit of clothes to be discarded when they are worn out, but we can only learn what we came here to learn by appreciating (good and bad) the experience of our bodies.
Saying this we focus on our bodies and ignore our spirits at our peril. It is by listening to the calls of our souls rather than just the urges of our bodies that we leave animality behind us and begin on the path to awareness. Everything starts to take on more relevance, as all traditions teach – there is no such thing as coincidence. As we pay more attention to our spirit we begin to see the thread that weaves its way through our seemingly higgledy-piggledy lives, making sense out of panic.
However, becoming more aware does not mean that suddenly all the pain goes out of life because you now see ‘the bigger picture’, au contraire, what now happens is the opening of all your awareness to the nth degree. You are vibrating at a more acute level and pain becomes more intense as you see it everywhere and empathise with everything – everyone’s pain is your own. On the flip side everyone’s joy is your own. Beauty is suddenly all around you and you want to smile with the world. Oneness makes you cry more and laugh more than you ever have in your life. By oneness I mean understanding the inter-connectedness of our spirits and higher consciousnesses. Knowing that we succeed and fail together. We cannot stand aside and say ‘that person’s pain does not matter if I look the other way.’
‘The seed of yin, the spark of yang’ also highlights the passive and active sides of the spirit. Your higher self can be as active as you allow it to be. It is up to you whether you suppress it or embrace it. It is truly a formidable ally when you bring it on side – although as the verse states it is ‘elusive’ whilst ‘endlessly available’. You need to be prepared to look for it – to put the time and work in. You are the one who has hidden it away, only you know how deep you need to go. Some of you may only need to ask, whilst others may need to enter Saint Augustine’s ‘dark night of the soul’ – but it is always there it will never abandon you, whether you choose to embrace it or ignore it.
The question is do we work with it or against it, consciously or subconsciously. To bring yin and yang into equal balance we need to encompass the body and the spirit, not just choose the one we are most comfortable with. I certainly find this a very hard lesson to learn, as I would happily jettison the body if I could; unfortunately, I also know that by only focusing on one aspect we relegate ourselves at best to a half life and I want to experience it all.
As always vast amounts of love to all of you and yours.
Catherine xxxx
Verse 6 – Life’s Spirit
The spirit of life
never dies.
It is the infinite gateway
to mysteries within mysteries.
It is the seed of yin,
the spark of yang.
Always elusive,
endlessly available. (Translation Ralph Alan Dale)
This is a fairly straightforward verse. All traditions incorporate an idea of the soul, or higher consciousness – whether this is our Buddhahood; our spirit; our Daemon (see ‘The Daemon’ by Anthony Peake); our higher self.
Our lives are nothing without both the spirit and the body (‘the seed of yin, the spark of yang’). We have chosen to be here to experience life, whatever that may entail, and to do that we need a vessel through which to feel – our earthly body. Our bodies are at best ephemeral, a suit of clothes to be discarded when they are worn out, but we can only learn what we came here to learn by appreciating (good and bad) the experience of our bodies.
Saying this we focus on our bodies and ignore our spirits at our peril. It is by listening to the calls of our souls rather than just the urges of our bodies that we leave animality behind us and begin on the path to awareness. Everything starts to take on more relevance, as all traditions teach – there is no such thing as coincidence. As we pay more attention to our spirit we begin to see the thread that weaves its way through our seemingly higgledy-piggledy lives, making sense out of panic.
However, becoming more aware does not mean that suddenly all the pain goes out of life because you now see ‘the bigger picture’, au contraire, what now happens is the opening of all your awareness to the nth degree. You are vibrating at a more acute level and pain becomes more intense as you see it everywhere and empathise with everything – everyone’s pain is your own. On the flip side everyone’s joy is your own. Beauty is suddenly all around you and you want to smile with the world. Oneness makes you cry more and laugh more than you ever have in your life. By oneness I mean understanding the inter-connectedness of our spirits and higher consciousnesses. Knowing that we succeed and fail together. We cannot stand aside and say ‘that person’s pain does not matter if I look the other way.’
‘The seed of yin, the spark of yang’ also highlights the passive and active sides of the spirit. Your higher self can be as active as you allow it to be. It is up to you whether you suppress it or embrace it. It is truly a formidable ally when you bring it on side – although as the verse states it is ‘elusive’ whilst ‘endlessly available’. You need to be prepared to look for it – to put the time and work in. You are the one who has hidden it away, only you know how deep you need to go. Some of you may only need to ask, whilst others may need to enter Saint Augustine’s ‘dark night of the soul’ – but it is always there it will never abandon you, whether you choose to embrace it or ignore it.
The question is do we work with it or against it, consciously or subconsciously. To bring yin and yang into equal balance we need to encompass the body and the spirit, not just choose the one we are most comfortable with. I certainly find this a very hard lesson to learn, as I would happily jettison the body if I could; unfortunately, I also know that by only focusing on one aspect we relegate ourselves at best to a half life and I want to experience it all.
As always vast amounts of love to all of you and yours.
Catherine xxxx
Lovely, Catherine. A very good thought for the day/week/lifetime! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteEvelyn x