Thank you for yesterday’s images of light spiralling into me. I sometimes had the impression of light coming in through my liver and circling through my body from there. May I settle further today. May we all.
And today, the Tao Te Ching says…
-15- The ancient followers of the Tao were subtle, mysterious, and penetrating. They were too deep to be fathomed. All we can do is describe their appearance. Hesitant, as if crossing a winter stream. Watchful, as if aware of neighbours on all sides. Respectful, like a visiting guest. Yielding, like ice beginning to melt. Simple, like an Uncarved Block. Open, like a valley. Obscure, like muddy water. Who else can be still and let the muddy water slowly become clear? Who else can remain at rest and slowly come to life? Those who hold fast to the Tao do not try to fill themselves to the brim. Because they do not try to be full they can be worn out and yet ever new. (Tao Te Ching Chap 15)
Awesome. Two initial things. The first is basic. Just this morning, I decided I need to add one further alliterative phrase to my eating guidelines: ‘smaller suppers’ or perhaps better across the day, ‘micro meals’ – because I’m undoing so much of my good daytime work in the evenings with a huge carb fest. I’ve been eating raw til 6pm – and then going overboard with cooked food. So thanks for the confirmation: ‘Those who hold fast to the Tao do not try to fill themselves to the brim.’ And in sum, my current eating guidelines to myself are:
- plant-powered
- virtually vegan
- roughly raw
- fat frugal
- grazing green
- micro meals
Good. The second thing – I love those descriptors of the wise, ancient Taoists:
- Hesitant
- Watchful
- Respectful
- Yielding
- Simple
- Open
- Obscure
This: ‘Who else can be still and let the muddy water slowly become clear? Who else can remain at rest and slowly come to life?‘ Please discuss with me: how might I more effectively incorporate this teaching into my life?
Notice how you are becoming less reliant on externals to prosper. You are less in need of validation, stimulation, approval or excitement to experience peace.
I even read less than I once did. (I was addicted to reading books on spirituality and development!) I am without religion at this stage in my life. I am even without dependents (oh, my precious girls, to witness you grow up and become independent has been the joy and the heartbreak of my life)…
Little, by little, by little… you are tapping into the wellspring of your own heart, and drinking of its elixir. Little, by little.
:-(”” Show me how to do this more. Please.
… To sit in silent contemplation, listening softly to the wind in the trees, is your gift to yourself. Resting in the present moment, accepting its perfection, is your gift to yourself.
Be still, remain at rest… for the muddy waters to clear and to slowly come to life. I need more practice at remaining still without leaping forward in thought. I need a meditative community…
You have all that you need. You truly do. In fact, maybe you have more than you need. Can we sit simply, without resources to simulate or calm us, and allow ourselves to sink into the perfection of ‘What Is’, without seeking to change or adjust it, or impose upon it?
It’s a different perspective or paradigm, isn’t it? In our over-stimulated state we are… troubled. That’s the key word for me, I think. Even in the best of circumstances, it’s so easy to bring the energy of {troubled} into it – our antennae are out, looking for the fly in the ointment. We’re braced…
Let’s FLIP the paradigm. And what do we find? Untroubled. Is that an ok word to use? It is essentially a negative…
It’s a beautiful word. And now we can find its positive counterpart word.
Troubled waters become clear…?
Good. Clear. A clear state. What does that mean and say to you?
If I am in a clear state, I’m not adding tetchy resonance to the moment.
Because the moment is…?
The moment is itself clear and true and perfect, and I can accept that.
This is a deep concept. It takes spiritual recklessness to see every moment as perfect, doesn’t it? You could easily be held up and challenged for your apparent indifference to what’s going on in the world.
I know! But, this clear-feeling ‘perfection-seeing’ really has to be my best response to what is going on in the world, because my adding fear, rage or judgment only seems to add fuel to its flames. It’s as if the purveyors of scandal, scare-mongering and stealing WANT us to become inflamed and infuriated. It’s as if that actually increases their boldness. Like the bully who is gee’ed up by their victim’s lamentations. It’s like they feed on the pain of the other. So my contribution is not to add fire, but to hold a frequency of peace – like wielding a flaming sword in darkness.
Can I do that without retreating to a monastery? Sure I can.
Tell me more about letting the ‘muddy water slowly become clear‘. (Oh, that’s where I got the word ‘clear’ from!)
First we stop adding more mud. Secondly we stop stirring the water. We let it all rest as it is. The clarity is a naturally occurring state, given time and ‘no input’.
What is meant by ‘no input’?
No external input = limiting the mud of outer stimulation, of fixation on worldly events, of jiggery-pokery-style food/drink…
No internal input = limiting the stirring spoon of inner thought, emotion, resistance, concern, analysis, judgment…
Don’t we risk just switching off, and becoming mute, inert statues…?
Mm. Try it.
***20m med on Insight Timer – no guidance, gentle music***
Ok. Wow. So, when I sat quietly (and I must be honest and say that of late my meditation has been sporadic or heavily guided) and actually let things settle in me, this happened…
It was like the coffee granules were settling in a cafetiere. So I gently brought in the notion of a golden plunger, as a kind of body scan, to bring the granules down… But nothing could get the area in and around my heart clear. In fact, when the muddy waters cleared, all I could really see was a tender, tender heart. It was enough to bring tears up in me.
Your heart has seen a lot. ‘Too much.’ It is the current human condition. How can you nurture your heart?
By loving it? By giving it reiki? By listening to it? By regularly letting the waters clear so that I can see it and truly feel it?
By sensing your heart more clearly you will learn to dialogue with it on a moment to moment basis. It will become your greatest teacher and ally.
I am sensing my heart