Tao Te Ching: Chapter 9 Commentary

This is part of a series examining the Tao Te Ching from an LDS, Christ-centered perspective.

Chapter 9 of the Tao Te Ching is about avoiding excess and withdrawing the self. 

Cup overfilled. Image here.

Holding a cup and overfilling it
Cannot be as good as stopping short
Pounding a blade and sharpening it
Cannot be kept for long 

Gold and jade fill up the room
No one is able to protect them
Wealth and position bring arrogance
And leave disasters upon oneself 

When achievement is completed, fame is attained
Withdraw oneself
This is the Tao of Heaven

Avoiding excess

The beginning of this chapter is about avoiding excess. Holding a cup in place too long will lead to it overflowing. You can only sharpen your blade for so long.

Once again, this is a suggestion to embrace the yin aspect: resting is the necessary counterpart of work. Trying to do the yang thing for too long is not just impossible (as in the case of endlessly pounding on the blade), it's unwise (as in the case of overfilling the cup).

Sharpening a blade. Image here.

The Christian scriptures teach the same thing, except in the context of the Sabbath. Both the people (Exodus 20: 8-10) and the land (Leviticus 25:4) have a Sabbath--with every period of work comes a rest.

Now, there's a rest every night: sleep counts as yin-time. But even on top of our daily rest, Christians and Jews are commanded Biblically to add in a full day out of seven to rest. In the case of the Shemitah, Jews were commanded to leave the land fallow one year out of seven, to allow the land to rest. The punishment for violation of this law was invasion and displacement from their land (Leviticus 26:34), so that their land could still enjoy her Sabbaths.

Now, the reference to the cup overflowing is an interesting one because in the Tao Te Ching it appears that an overflowing cup is a bad thing--wasteful and messy. In the Christian scriptures, a famous verse uses the same imagery to convey abundance (Psalms 23:5-6):

5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Although those verses get a lot of play, cups and how full they are play other important roles in the Bible.


Mark 14:36

36 And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.

Luke 22:20:

20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

1 Corinthians 10:21:

21 Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.

Ezekiel 23:33:

33 Thou shalt be filled with drunkenness and sorrow, with the cup of astonishment and desolation, with the cup of thy sister Samaria.

Isaiah 51:22:

22 Thus saith thy Lord the Lord, and thy God that pleadeth the cause of his people, Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again:

Do a scripture search on the word "cup" and see what comes up. By and large, it seems that the references to cups in the scriptures more often refer to suffering than abundance--and stopping that suffering short seems like a good idea. I like how 1 Corinthians 10:21 explains that the cup reference can refer to both good and evil. An overflow from a good cup can mean abundance for all of one's days--but an overflow from a bad cup would never be a good thing. It is far better to stop short.

Withdraw oneself

Treasures of gold. Image here.

The other part of this chapter extols the virtue of withdrawing--or what Buddhists might refer to as giving up attachment.

No one can protect the gold and jade that fill up the room, this chapter explains; a Christian might phrase it this way (Matthew 6:19-20):

19 ¶Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
20 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: 

 Chapter 9 goes on to counsel readers to avoid attachment to earthly things like wealth and position, because they only lead to pride and disasters--which completely fits with Christian teachings. Here is Proverbs 16:18:

18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.

And here is a list of scriptures that use the words "puffed up," a really interesting phrase for the word "pride." This chapter of the Tao Te Ching in essence cautions against being puffed up, because it only brings disaster on the self. Christianity tends to draw the focus of those disasters on the life to come--the idea that if you sin through pride you will end up paying for it in the eternities--but the Tao Te Ching seems to focus on the disastrous effects of pride in this life.

Conclusion

The Tao Te Ching supports periods of rest, and encourages the reader to "withdraw oneself" as a way of uniting with the Tao of Heaven. These concepts support and are supported by Christian scripture.

Tao Te Ching: Chapter 8 Commentary

This is part of a series examining the Tao Te Ching from a Christ-centered, LDS perspective.

Chapter 8 of the Tao Te Ching is one of my favorite chapters. To me, it perfectly describes the essence of the yin, feminine aspect.

Here is the text:

Water. Public domain.

The highest goodness resembles water
Water greatly benefits myriad things without contention
It stays in places that people dislike
Therefore it is similar to the Tao
Dwelling with the right location
Feeling with great depth
Giving with great kindness
Speaking with great integrity
Governing with great administration
Handling with great capability
Moving with great timing
Because it does not contend
It is therefore beyond reproach

Benefits myriad things without contention

I love the idea that the highest goodness benefits things without contention, being even in places that people don't want to be. Are these not explicitly Christian values?

• Matthew 5:39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

  
  

  3 Nephi 11:29  For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another. 

  
  Because it does not contend, it is beyond reproach.
  
• To me, this chapter of the Tao Te Ching is essentially a condensed version of key parts of the Sermon on the Mount. Compare Matthew 5:39-44: 

39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
 40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.
 41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
 42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
 43 ¶Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

What is all this but giving with great kindness? Dwelling with the right location and feeling with great depth? 

Because it does not contend

In the context of eternal marriage, this chapter stands out to me as being particularly relevant for women as they relate to their husbands, and men as they relate to Christ (like in 1 Corinthians 11:3). This is an instruction manual on how to appropriately submit. Appropriate submission involves feeling and giving and governing and speaking, kindness and integrity and capability and administration. And as the chapter concludes, it marks itself with a notable lack of contention--which contention Christ says is of the devil (see 3 Nephi 11:29, quoted above).

The Bible teaches that wives are to submit to their husbands and that husbands are to submit to Christ. This is a brief explanation of how to do that--not necessarily instructions how, but rather an explication of the adverbs involved with the action. Godly submission, this chapter explains, is hardly "giving up" or "being less" or something--true, godly submission is full of work. It is about giving and doing and speaking and being, and all without contention. This is how a house of order can work: the only way a house can be a house of order is if someone is in charge, and someone else submits to the decisions of the guy in charge.

Enjoy this Ensign article on the responsibilities of husbands. It is very clear about the leadership role of the husband in marriage and the submissive role of the wife in marriage. 

Check out Romans 7:4 for another take on marriage and its relationship to Christ. In a symbolic way, believers become married to Christ for the purposes of bringing up spiritual fruit. Understanding the role of the submissive member of a relationship is important for both men and women, because both men and women are supposed to be perfectly subordinate to Christ. 

Conclusion

Chapter 8 gives a pattern for how to submit like water--and be like the "highest good." Submission and kindness without contention blesses myriad things and leaves the actor "beyond reproach."

Tao Te Ching: Chapter 7 Commentary

This is part of a series examining the Tao Te Ching from a Christ-centered, LDS perspective.

Chapter 7 of the Tao Te Ching examines the importance of selflessness in achieving steadfastness and other goals.

Heaven and Earth. Image here.

The chapter reads:

Heaven and Earth are everlasting
The reason Heaven and Earth can last forever
Is that they do not exist for themselves
Thus they can last forever

Therefore the sages:
Place themselves last but end up in front
Are outside of themselves and yet survive
Is it not due to their selflessness?
That is how they can achieve their own goals

Selflessness, a Christian virtue

Generally speaking, this is Christian doctrine. Matthew 19:19 explains that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. The Sermon on the Mount really expands on this idea, urging Christians to "go the extra mile" (Matthew 5:41), to give those who sue us for our coat our cloak also (Matthew 5:40), and generally bless those that curse us and do good to those who hate us (Matthew 5:44). What are all these admonitions but a call to stop existing for ourselves, and start existing for others--placing ourselves last? 

This concept is also widely recognized in the secular world.
Image here. 

Who really wants to walk an extra mile with that Roman soldier? Who really wants to give up their cloak after they've already been sued for their coat? Who wants be kind to those who hate them? Right? Anybody? These are not natural reactions. Mastering them requires selflessness and a willingness to "place [ourselves] last." But we know from the Bible that keeping these commandments results in "last[ing] forever" through eternal life, and "acheiv[ing] [our] own goals" of salvation. 

Yin, Yang, and a Celestial Marriage

Now I want to note is the reference to Heaven and Earth. In Taoist philosophy, Heaven is yang and Earth is yin (Heaven is infinite, Earth is finite). So this is very much referring to the masculine and feminine aspects. In that way, it can be understood to be offering advice for a solid marriage, if you choose to read it that way. Heaven and Earth--yin and yang, masculine and feminine, male and female, "can last forever," because "they do not exist for themselves." The wise therefore "place themselves last but end up in front," "are outside of themselves and yet survive."

Yin and yang. Public domain.

But this is also Christian doctrine. I say Christian and not just Mormon because it is straight-up right there in the Bible. Here is one succinct scripture about the concept, Ephesians 5:23-25: 

23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. 24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. 25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 

 Christ is Infinite, the masculine aspect, and the church is finite, the feminine aspect; as Christ is yang to the Church, husbands are yang to their wives. Or at least, they are supposed to be.

Yin

Verse 24 commands wives to be "subject" to their husbands "in every thing." Not just some things, but actually everything (see also 1 Corinthians 7:10-14--where it is recommended that wives even stick with their "unbelieving husbands," and 1 Peter 3:1, where wifely "subjection" is said to make disobedient husbands come around to follow the Word). What is this, as a wife, but not existing for yourself? I can speak from experience when I say that subjecting yourself to your husband in all things necessarily means putting yourself last. In my case, I've made a number of sacrifices in order to keep the commandment to "subject" myself to my husband "in every thing."

Eve covenanted to obey her husband.

Yet, as his wife, I've enjoyed miracles as a result. Every time I have put my own self aside in order to keep that commandment, I've ended up being more blessed as a result. For more on this Biblical order, see Colossians 3:18 and Ephesians 5:22, or even just Genesis 3:16 and Moses 4:22 (and go ahead and recall the first covenant in the endowment ceremony). There's more than just that, also. Consider the Proclamation to the World on the Family. If fathers are to "preside," that puts them in the leadership position and the wife in the subordinate position. They are still "equal partners" when living this Biblical edict. Submission is not weakness; actually, it is strength, as the Tao Te Ching explains later. If God's house is a house of order, someone has to be in charge. The Bible explains who that person is supposed to be in a godly marriage.
And as the TTC explains, along with books on Biblical marriage like Fascinating Womanhood, and as personal experience will verify if you attempt it, living this actually does allow "Earth" or the yin aspect, women, to "achieve their own goals" as this chapter of the Tao Te Ching concludes. I can verify with personal experience that when I live this Biblical recommendation (if not commandment), I end up happier in the end.


Yang

On the yang side, men are commanded in the scripture I quoted about (Ephesians 5:25) to love their wives as Christ loved the church--to the point of giving up their lives for them. The Proclamation explains that the role of husband is to "preside," "provide," and "protect." This puts them in the leadership position in the home (a function only made possible by a wife willing to submit to his leadership), as well as in the position of working every day to provide the necessities of life, and in the position of protecting their family from harm. Those are all big jobs and come with a lot of responsibility. They take self-control, just as wifely submission takes self-control on the part of the wife.

Just as it is natural for women to want their own way, and to resist submission, it is natural for men to not want to work all the time, and not want the responsibility of a family. A functional marriage and family relies on both partners putting the other ahead of themselves. When a man puts his wife's needs above his own by providing for her, protecting her, and presiding over her and his family, even if he might rather be viewing pornography or playing video games full time, and when a woman meets her husband's needs by submitting even when he seems wrong or wants to do something she doesn't want to do, they both come out ahead.

[Obviously, pray and follow the Spirit with this. And no woman must obey a husband who commands something morally wrong. The Biblical pattern for a family is man and woman, yet we also allow for single parenthood while recognizing that it is not ideal. It is not our job to judge others' situations, but it IS our job to recognize what the scriptures say about the wife's role in marriage, and pray about how the Lord wants us to live that role. Sometimes the Lord wants us to get out of a bad marriage. But sometimes He wants us to follow the Bible instead, even though it is hard. Follow the Spirit.]

This is such a huge topic, it will need another post. Or two. Or three. Or a book. But hopefully this covers some of the basics.

To go back to the text of the chapter from a marriage-based perspective: when each partner in marriage decides "not to exist for themselves," they can "last forever." When we "place ourselves last," we "achieve our own goals."

Conclusion

 The Tao Te Ching provides a Biblically-sound pattern for marriages that fits with both ancient Christian writings--from as far back as Genesis--and modern LDS teachings, although the concepts are couched differently for each audience.

Tao Te Ching: Chapter 4 Commentary

This is part of a series examining the Tao Te Ching from a Christ-centered, LDS perspective. 

Chapter 4 of the Tao Te Ching examines the nature of the Tao. To me, the more I study this text, the more it becomes apparent to me that the Tao, the way, is the prototypical eternal marriage--the eternal union between masculine and feminine, as explained in Chapter 1 of the TTC--but applied to God. It just makes so much sense. This is Chapter 4 of the Tao Te Ching:

It unravels the knots.

The Tao is empty 

When utilized, it is not filled up 

So deep! 

It seems to be the source of all things 

It blunts the sharpness 

Unravels the knot 

Dims the glare 

Mixes the dusts 

So indistinct! It seems to exist 

I do not know whose offspring it is 

Its image is the predecessor of the Emperor

I just love how this chapter reads. It very much expresses the ineffability of the Tao, or the way of the universe. "So indistinct! It seems to exist." Even our understanding of the Tao's existence may be an illusion. Fascinating.

The Tao is endless, eternal--it existed before the Emperor. No one knows when it began. It is empty, and even when it is being used, it is still not full. I love this idea because to me it really speaks to the grandeur and endless possibilities of God. Even when we rely on Him 100%, He still has plenty more to give, such that everyone else in the history of the world can also rely on Him 100%, and He'll still have more left over to give. 

The source of all things... Chapter 1 of the TTC and how the unity is the door to all wonders. Is the Tao the prototype of eternal marriage? And in that way, the source of all creation? 

The Bible teaches that God is the Creator of all things. No argument there. Fascinatingly, the Hebrew Bible titles God as "Elohim," which is also the name of God as listed in the LDS Bible Dictionary. I've mentioned this before on this blog, but I'll quote it again: 

A common title of God in the Hebrew Bible is Elohim (Hebrew: אלהים), as opposed to other titles of God in Judaism. The root Eloah אלה is a feminine noun, meaning goddess, also used in poetry and late prose (e.g., the Book of Job) and ending with the masculine plural suffix "-im" ים creating a word that indicates a plurality of both masculine and feminine essences, yet in a singular identity.

We know that God is the Creator of all things--and it would appear that God as understood by at least the writers of the Hebrew Bible was somehow plural and involving both masculine and feminine essences. Sounds like an sealed eternal dyad to me. 

This extra stands out to me the context of the middle part of this chapter, Chapter 4. The version I linked reads:

It harmonizes all lights.

It blunts the sharpness 

Unravels the knots 

Dims the glare 

Mixes the dusts

Another version I have at home reads: 

It blunts all sharp edges
It unties all tangles
It harmonizes all lights
It unites the world into one whole

Doesn't marriage do those things? In a temple marriage, hopefully both partners are using the relationship to blunt their own sharpness, untie the knots in their souls, harmonize with each other. This gets cooler.

First, let's look at "It harmonizes all lights." In my work, I find that the human soul seems to be made of actual light. Notably, both James 1:17 and D&C 67:9 refer to God as "the Father of lights." Fascinating, right?

But one thing that really stood out to me from this is the fourth line in the set that I just quoted. One version reads, "[It] Mixes the dusts," and the other reads, "It unites the world into one whole."

Uniting the world into one whole

First, uniting the world into one whole. When the angel Moroni first appeared to Joseph Smith, he quoted Malachi 4:6, about turning the hearts of the fathers to the children, and vice versa. Now we understand that temples are to be used to seal parents to their children, in completion of that prophecy. During the Millennium, we'll seal all the families that ever lived--their sealings will only count if they choose them to, but it will be an option for everyone. With the sealing covenants, the whole world can be united into one eternal family with God. The basic unit of this, though, is the sealing between husband and wife--masculine and feminine. This is what in the end will unite the whole world into one whole.


Mixing of dusts

Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.- Genesis 3:19  

And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.- Genesis 13:16

The Bible teaches that at least figuratively, the body is made of dust. There is a repeated body-dust connection made throughout the Bible, such that when I read that the Tao "mixes the dusts," this is what I thought of.

Could it be that this "mixing of dusts" is referring to the procreative power? Two human bodies mixing would qualify as a mixing of dusts, using Biblical terminology, as far as I can tell. It is notable to me that two different translations of the same line--"[It] Mixes the dusts," and "It unites the world into one whole"--would be so relevant to the same topic: eternal marriage.

Conclusion

Chapter 4 of the Tao Te Ching can be reasonably interpreted to be referring to eternal marriage, and the Tao being the nature of God's eternal union of masculine and feminine.

Visions, the Zodiac, and Gone With the Wind

I just finished reading Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell for my book club, and first: it was great. Such a good read. And a timely one, too, since the movie is coming out in theaters for its 75th anniversary this next week.

Second: it had a bunch of really interesting stuff going on from an energetic perspective.

Here are just a few things I noticed.

1. Influence of Saturn. If you read Progressive Prophetess's blog, she's been talking a lot about Saturn and Jupiter, the planets of justice and mercy.

Saturn is the planet of justice, and the planet of the harvest. It is the planet that ensures people receive their just rewards. It runs on a 29.5-year cycle. Between the ages of 28-30 and 57-60, people tend to reap the harvest that they've sowed with their lives. Examine:

SATURN. Public domain.

As Lord of Karma, Saturn brings you what you've earned through your disciplined pursuit of goals and experience. You'll find out during the Saturn return what you've manifested up to that point, how well you've used your talents. No wonder it's a feared transition -- this is like the mid-semester exam! 

In myth, Saturn is also the God of the Harvest, and it's harvestime during your Saturn return. If nothing's been sown, and therefore, very little reaped, you'll realize it's time to get busy. The scythe of Saturn prunes, cuts away the useless bits, and that can feel like a death of the self. Saturn often brings a death to the old ways of doing things, but later on, you're likely to say, "Good riddance!" The death phase is never easy, but keep in mind that rebirth will come.

What is the ending of Gone With the Wind but this exact thing? Scarlett finally reaps what she's sown all along: she's been ugly at heart, no matter what Melanie sees in her, and in the end, she gets an ugly ending. I hope I'm not spoiling the ending for anyone--dude, has anyone in America not seen Gone With the Wind?--but in the end, she realizes that she's loved Rhett all along, but then he leaves her. Because she has been a super jerk to him the whole time. Sounds like a Saturnine comeuppance to me.

At the end of the story, during her retribution phase, Scarlett O'Hara is a perfect 28 years old--which perfectly fits with the Saturn Return.

FYI, my life is so weird now: I was just searching Google Images for the perfect pictures for this post, and I came across one of Scarlett and the Tarleton twins, and this was the page it linked to. Seriously? Seriously. Amazing. Go read it. Basically it's about how someone found Mitchell's notes on astrology that were connected to Gone With the Wind--Scarlett is a typical Aries, the Tarleton twins are Gemini, Rhett Butler is Leo, etc. Think of the name of the Wilkes plantation: Twelve Oaks. Duh. The book was organized around astrology after all--according to Mitchell's own notes. Bazam. What.


2. Scarlett's Out of Body Experience and Ancestral Visitation 

 At the end of Chapter 24, Scarlett O'Hara gets "drunk with fatigue and whisky." The chapter goes on: "She only knew she had left her body and floated somewhere above it where there was no pain and no weariness and her brain saw things with an inhuman clarity. She was seeing things with new eyes."

She then understands, again, with "inhuman clarity," the strength of her ancestors. She internalizes their stories, and then,

All of those shadowy folks whose blood flowed in her veins seemed to move quietly in the moonlit room. And Scarlett was not surprised to see them, these kinsmen who had taken the worst that fate could send and hammered it into the best. Tara was her fate, her fight, and she must conquer it.  

She turned drowsily on her side, a slow creeping blackness enveloping her mind. Were they really there, whispering wordless encouragement to her, or was this part of her dream? 

"Whether you are there are not," she murmured sleepily, "good night--and thank you."

Here, right here in Gone with the Wind, we have a description of an out of body experience (OBE) and ancestral vision! Bizarre and awesome!

Knowing that Margaret Mitchell had planned a connection between the zodiac and her characters in the novel, it kind of makes me wonder if she didn't write this scene based on some kind of personal experience with OBEs or ancestral visitation. People at church all the time bear testimonies and stuff about deceased ancestors helping them find genealogical records, or helping them in times of extreme need--why couldn't such an event have happened to Mitchell? Fascinating stuff.

When I read Chapter 24, and got to this part, I was totally shocked. An out of body experience in Gone with the Wind??? Seems kind of "out there" or "woo woo" for what is practically the most popular American novel ever. And true, during the scene, she is both literally and figuratively drunk. But it's kind of a cool validation that such an "out there" part of the human experience would make it into such a famous, successful book.

3. Yin and yang.

Now, nowhere in Gone With the Wind is the term "yin" or "yang" used, but there is a CONSTANT commentary on the differences and interplay between masculine and feminine energy. Overall, that is considered Scarlett's biggest problem: a yang imbalance--too much masculine energy. "Despite her pink cheeks and dimples and pretty smiles, she talked and acted like a man. Her voice was brisk and decisive and she made up her mind instantly and with no girlish shilly-shallying. She knew what she wanted and she went after it by the shortest route, like a man, not by the hidden and circuitous routes peculiar to women. [...] Scarlett was guided by no one but herself and was conducting her affairs in a masculine way which had the whole town talking about her" (Chapter 36).
Grandma Fontaine accuses Scarlett thusly: "You're smart enough about dollars and cents. That's a man's way of being smart. But you aren't smart at all like a woman. You aren't a speck smart about folks" (Chapter 40).

Scarlett ruins Ashley's life, turning him into a shell of what he could have been--he attributes this to "when [Scarlett] went to Atlanta, shouldering a man's burden." When Scarlett did that, Ashley said, "I saw myself as much less than a man--much less, indeed, than a woman."

Scarlett walks all over Frank.
He lets her.

Of course, Rhett mostly doesn't mind Scarlett's masculinity--but arguably, that's because he himself is so far masculine on the masculine-feminine spectrum. The narrator explains of Scarlett in Chapter 36, "She never could respect a man who let her run over him and the timid, hesitant attitude [Frank] displayed in any situation, with her or with others, irritated her unbearably." Rhett doesn't let her run over him, ever. He understands the truth about women--that they "[have] a hardness and endurance unknown to men" (Chapter 36). He knows what it takes to be on the masculine side of the spectrum compared to a masculine woman.

From Wikipedia.

The narrator writes of Rhett, "He never played like a boy; he was a man and no matter what he did, [Scarlett] could never forget it. She could not look down on him from the heights of womanly superiority, smiling as women have always smiled at the antics of men who are boys at heart" (Chapter 48).

Scarlett is only truly happy when she surrenders in her heart to Rhett, in the night following Ashley's birthday party and the drama surrounding it. But even though she's submitted to him in her heart, she refuses to submit in person--and their next interaction leaves them both smarting. If Scarlett had been submissive in that interaction with Rhett, things would have been totally different in the end. In other words, Scarlett's yang imbalance, since that is what prevented her from openly submitting to Rhett even when she wanted to, was directly responsible for him leaving her in the end.

I highlighted just about every reference to the yin-yang spectrum in the 1000+ pages of Gone With the Wind, but suffice it to say: the yin-yang spectrum plays a huge role in this book. And this role is directly explored in both dialogue and narration.

4. Scarlett's prescient dream.

Starting about halfway through the book, Scarlett begins to have a horrible dream that haunts her through the end of the book. She's running down a street, looking for something, something and she doesn't even know what it is.

It isn't until the very last chapter--or perhaps the second-to-last chapter--that we learn what it is she's been dreaming of the whole time. And she runs back home after witnessing Melanie's death, with a sickening feeling in her heart she realizes that she recognizes her surroundings--the mist, the lights, everything--it's what she's dreamed of all this time. And the thing she is searching for is no thing: it's Rhett. The man she loves, and has loved all along, even though she didn't know it.

... Scarlett had a vision of the future. And this recurring vision plays a role throughout the book.

Fascinating.

Conclusion

All in all, I loved the book, even though the end was so hard to read! So sad! It really shocked me, though, how very spiritually progressive the book was--if that's how you would term it. With veiled references to astrology, an out of body experience, a prescient dream and ancestral visitation, and constant yin-yang spectrum commentary, this book is surprisingly cognizant of the more esoteric aspects of human life.

yin and yang in kundalini yoga and meditation

I am at heart a researcher. Over the past year, my research has led me to study the concepts of yin and yang, as well as kundalini yoga and meditation. In my own sadhana, or KYM practice, I have been endlessly intrigued and overjoyed to see how the concepts of yin and yang present themselves in the basics of kundalini yoga and meditation.

Yin and Yang overview

I've blogged about this before, but yin is the feminine essence and yang is the masculine essence. Yang leads, yin follows; yang does, yin is. While yang is aggressive, yin is submissive.

Kundalini and feminine energy

Kundalini is energy coiled at the base of the spine; it rises when the masculine and feminine energies are brought together. This is the purpose of kundalini yoga and meditation: to raise the kundalini from the base of the spine to the top of it. 

Yin and yang in KYM

Here are just a few examples of how the principles of yin and yang are exemplified in KYM.

• Sat nam. The phrase means "I am truth; truth is my identity." When you do meditations like cat-cow, you're supposed to think "Sat" on the inhale and "Nam" on the exhale. Inhalation is fundamentally yang, and exhalation is fundamentally yin. Similarly, the active voice, as exemplified in "I am truth," is yang, while passive voice ("Truth is my identity") is yin. The phrase "Sat nam" as a whole combines both yin and yang energies. And breaking it up with "sat" on the inhale and "nam" on the exhale... it's yin and yang, guys!

• Sat nam, Waheguru. Other KYM things have you think "Sat nam" on the inhalation and "Waheguru" ("praise be to God") on the exhalation. Just as it is masculine to assert identity, it is feminine to praise others, and particularly to praise the masculine essence--and what is more "masculine essence" than God? Another perfect example of yin and yang in KYM. 

• Opposing postures. While other forms of yoga involve long deep stretches and minimal movement, many KYM postures involve movement--back and forth, flex and curl, etc. Doing the postures can really work up a sweat! KYM is designed to balance yin and yang energies, though, in a way other yogas are not. Using opposite postures (ex: flexed spine/curled spine) on the inhalation and exhalation balance the masculine and feminine energies in a truly fascinating and effective way.

• Finite and infinite.
  
  "Kundalini Yoga is the science to unite the finite with Infinity, and it's the art to experience Infinity in the finite." - Yogi Bhajan.
  
  Infinity is yang, and the finite is yin. Just as the Heavens are yang and the Earth is yin. KYM purports to unite the two, finite and Infinity--as Yogi Bhajan says, the science to unite finite with Infinity, and the art to experience Infinity in the finite. A beautiful expression of what it means to bring the yin and yang, masculine and feminine, energies into alignment.

• Going along with the Infinite/finite idea, consider the words of the tuning-out song, Longtime Sun:
  
  May the longtime sun shine upon you
  All love surround you
  And the pure light within you
  Guide your way on
  
  Even the tune-out song unites the Infinite (the longtime sun, or Son, for those Christian practitioners out there!) and the Finite (the light within you). This is another example of KYM uniting the perceived duality of yin and yang, masculine and feminine, Infinite and Finite.

Conclusion

If you are working to balance your masculine and feminine energies, or are working to achieve any sort of enlightenment, taking up a kundalini yoga and meditation practice will help with that. KYM is a technology that uses exercise and vibration (through postures and chanting) to bring energies into alignment for spiritual awakening. 

Tao Te Ching: Chapter 2 Commentary

This is part of a series on the Tao Te Ching from a Christ-centered perspective.

Yin and yang. Image here.

The first half of Chapter 2 of the Tao Te Ching deals a lot with the concepts of yin and yang. Opposites that create each other, inform each other, illuminate each other, give rise to each other. The second half provides an application of that knowledge for practical action. I quote this translation:

When the world knows beauty as beauty, ugliness arises
When it knows good as good, evil arises
Thus being and non-being produce each other
Difficult and easy bring about each other
Long and short reveal each other
High and low support each other
Music and voice harmonize each other
Front and back follow each other
Therefore the sages:
Manage the work of detached actions
Conduct the teaching of no words
They work with myriad things but do not control
They create but do not possess
They act but do not presume
They succeed but do not dwell on success
It is because they do not dwell on success
That it never goes away

The First Half

When I first read this stuff, I thought: no wonder Asian cultures place such a high value on meditation. You need to think about these lines for hours for them to make any sense at all!

But really, when you ponder them, they do make sense. 

Take the first two phrases:

When the world knows beauty as beauty, ugliness arises
When it knows good as good, evil arises

When I first read them, they felt strange to me. How does such a concept fit with the Gospel? But thinking about it more, it makes a lot of sense. 

Adam and Eve, pioneers of opposition.
Image here.

Whenever there is a lot of good--whenever people recognize good and truth for what they are--ugliness does arise. It is in the natural order. When prophets show up in righteousness, the people stone them or burn them to death, or throw them into lion's dens. Jesus came into the world and was crucified. Part of the nature of our fallen world is that Satan is allowed to tempt us, and the more goodness there is in the world, the more he shows his ugly face and tries to ruin it all.

Thus, as Chapter 2 explains, "being and non-being produce each other." At least in our fallen world that is propelled by duality. In 2 Nephi 2, we see that prior to Adam's fall, the world lacked this duality--opposites were literally incomprehensible. But they are necessary to "make the world go round," as it were. 

Duality isn't just good and evil, though. Let's read the next few lines: 

Difficult and easy bring about each other
Long and short reveal each other
High and low support each other
Music and voice harmonize each other
Front and back follow each other

Think of how true these concepts are. Difficulty breeds easiness as surely as easiness breeds difficulty. As a musician, I think of learning to play the piano. I spent years slaving away over the piano, and it was difficult. But now, I can sit down at the organ in sacrament meeting or the piano in the Primary and barely practice. The prelude is my practice. All those years of difficulty have made my life super easy.

On the other hand, if I had been lazy all those years instead of cultivating that talent, having callings like ward organist and Primary pianist would be very, very difficult right now!

"Long and short reveal each other." Without opposites, you can't appreciate something for what it is. Just today I was wondering how big Britain is. I thought: if only I knew how large Britain was in comparison to an American state. (... don't ask, I think crazy things all day.) Part of living in a duality world involves seeing things in relation to other things. You don't know if something is big until you see it in comparison to something else. It is the comparison that reveals the truth. 

Long and short reveal each other. Image here.

"High and low support each other." I think of tall trees and the small plants beneath them. The trees provide the shade for the smaller plants; as the smaller plants grow and die and decompose they provide the soil for the tree. They each support each other in their way.

"Music and voice harmonize each other." They are so different but together they are beautiful. 

"Front and back follow each other." Everything has a front and a back and where the first goes, the second goes also.

These are all attempts at make the ineffable concepts of eternal forms of duality conceivable to the human mind. 

The Second Half

The second half here is about application.

Therefore the sages:
Manage the work of detached actions
Conduct the teaching of no words
They work with myriad things but do not control
They create but do not possess
They act but do not presume
They succeed but do not dwell on success
It is because they do not dwell on success
That it never goes away

Eradicate your ego through meditation! Image here.

Each of these lines is worthy of deep pondering, but the takeaway thought for me comes down to the final lines: "They succeed but do not dwell on success / It is because they do not dwell on success / That it never goes away."

To me, what this is saying has everything to do with what Moses taught in Moses 1:10, that "man is nothing," and what Jesus taught all through the New Testament and other revealed scripture, "Love thy neighbor as thyself." When we are truly humble, when we realize we are no better than the dust, and when we realize we are equal in value to our neighbors and start acting that way--that is when success comes.

Sages relinquish control to God, teach by example, create and act and work without exercising unrighteous dominion, and succeed because they do not dwell on, or take pride in, their success. When all actions become a reflection of God, and when no level of success or defeat affects the soul, success is inevitable--in whatever definition "success" takes in God's timing and His plan.

Conclusion

There must be opposition in all things. When we humble ourselves before God, He makes us strong.