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This looks fantastic! What a wonderful opportunity.
I’ll be on the east coast during this time, but I would definitely participate if I were closer…
So if I follow, the parts do not have meaning apart from seeing the unity of the integrated whole, but the whole can be decieving because one also needs to look at it’s parts.
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Chinese philosophy is about how things influence each other. Its Yin-Yang, not Yin and Yang. Its what happens when things come together. Isn’t this the very nature of the alchemy formulas.We look at parts and we look at what happens as they mix. its the interaction we analysis, anything less than this is dabbling.
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So here is the real issue. Judgement against my “dabbling” in Chinese astrology.
Well, I’ll just point out that “looking” is yang and a masculine relationship to knowledge and reality. It represents light and consciousness’s interaction with the whole. Your judgement against my “dabbling” could be an unconscious suppression of and resistance to the feminine power of knowing and relating to the whole, namely intuition and intuitive abilities to “know” the whole and the parts rather than “see” them.
So if I follow, the parts do not have meaning apart from seeing the unity of the integrated whole, but the whole can be decieving because one also needs to look at it’s parts.
Hmm…
Ever try cutting up an ox? 😉
I’m going to stick to a weak day master always pushing the balance towards more wealth. Isn’t it always true with the five elements that when a controlling element is weak, it’s “grandchild” expands?
But here is a related question: if a day master is weak, and the wealth element is strong, and “wealth” does in fact “run rampant,” because the day master grandparent element is not strong enough to control it, what would that look like, practically speaking?
Patrick
One representation of the integration of all four pillars is the five element composition (the percentages and circles given in bagua’s software.) The five element composition I believe can be read as various forces in tension. For instance, a weak day master element will always tend to make you more wealthy.
Interesting perspective. Can you define some of the terms you use and “how” they relate to the Chinese calendar, which is not the same as the western calendar. And it does not really relate to planets like Western astrology and astronomy?
True. Chinese astrology seems to be guided by the principle Lao tzu mentions in chapter 25 of the Tao Te Ching (this amazing webpage compares 24 different translations line by line: http://wayist.org/ttc%20compared/chap25.htm)
“Man follows the ways of the Earth.
The Earth follows the ways of Heaven,
Heaven follows the ways of Tao,
Tao follows its own ways.”in that while western astrology seeks to connect the ways (cycles) of heaven directly with the ways of humanity, Chinese astrology charts out the intermediate cycles and rhythms of earth and seeks to connect those to human life. But those earthly rhythms follow the rhymes of heaven, the deeper and more essential cycles which determine the essence of earthly and thus human experience.
So while the day master marks the cyclical energetic breathing of sun moon and earth, the individual essence of each days energy is the essence of the relationship between the earth and the lunar constellation, as mediated by the moon.
Collective stellar mind refers to the field of collective consciousness embodied by the stars (stars as in “sun, moon, and stars” which includes nebulae, galaxies, galactic clusters, etc, not just stars.) Just as our little moon has it’s orientation within the vast cosmos, so does our own mind have its little place and direction within the vast field of consciousness, it’s own “vector” if you will.
As for the planetary aspect of the year masters, it seems to me that while the year masters do not directly record the cycles of the (heavenly) planetary bodies, they do represent the manifestation of planetary and stellar cycles as earth energy cycles. Heaven could thus be said to follow a ten year HEAVENLY YEAR in which there are five seasons (consisting of the five elements.) The twelve individuated divisions of the field of stellar consciousness (the twelve zodiacal animals) each in turn evolve in and out of the seasons of the heavenly years until all stellar energies have evolved through all seasons (energy phases), [every 120 year cycle.] These “seasonal” energies are experienced collectively as cohort qualities and have five phase energetic qualities (like growth and expansion during wood phases and contraction during water phases.)
Does this jibe with your model of the basis of the four pillar system?
Stelar resonance of the moon.
Spiritual vector of the astral body.
Collective stellar mind.
seasons of the human collective.
Etc.
thanks,
To answer your first question, I think I heard Master Chia say it best:
“Where the mind goes, the chi flows.”
As for yours second question, vedic astrological tradition is vast. Those more inclined to reduce things to their essences (as I often do in my work) would probably have little trouble accepting the Taoist view of the planets as representing the five elements. Those who more embrace the diversity and complexity of the “ten thousand things” would probably reject a five element model as overly simplistic.
My two cents:
The day master represents the stellar resonance of the moon. The location and spiritual vector (direction AND velocity) of the individual astral body within the collective field of stellar mind.
The year master marks where within the “seasons of the human collective” your soul enters the drama (it is defined by the wood-earth elemental relationship at the planetary level, one’s placement within Jupiter and Saturn cycles. What is humanity excited to start, what is it determined to finish? Is it more a time for creating new collective projects or more for completing old ones?)
I would say that the day energy marks more “where your individual essence is at” in relation to the vast cosmic field of possibility, while the year energy indicates your emotional orientation towards human events. The year energy is a cohort effect, meaning everyone born your year is going to share it, so it is less individually YOU and more the collective personality of your YEAR COHORT. I think of High School pep rallies where the Freshman, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior classes compete to see which group can cheer the loudest. A Chinese astrologer can just look at the year masters of the four cohorts to predict which would be most excited, aggressive, extroverted, etc (e.g. You’d expect a yang wood tiger cohort to roar pretty loud.)
Interested to hear other views.
Happy New Year,
Patrick
Welcome back Ladies and Gentlemen to your favorite game show and intergalactic spiritual past-time, where we swoon and sigh over the One Most High:
ASK A TAO IMMORTAL!
Yes, that’s right, we’re back and you’re all looking particularly beautiful today on planet…*psst…which planet are we on today?* [earth.]… *Right! Earth! And what a gorgeous little mud-ball it is!
We’ll let’s introduce ouselves to today’s contestants…
First we have a retired samurai from sixteenth centrury Japan, Ato, let’s give Ato a round of applause!
*APPLAUSE*
Well Ato, did you have any trouble getting to the show today?
“No, not really… I merely kept my feet warm, my head cool, and meditated on my third eye for 40 years in a cave in the mountains.”
That’s just super! Our second contestant is the spirit of a particularly advanced slab of granite hailing from one of the free-love rock’n’ roll colonies in the earth’s upper mantle. Great to have you with us, how’s the sex back at the free-love colony these days?
“We like to take it slow.”
No kidding! Well, we hope you can keep up with the show today. Finally, we have an earnest-looking young man from..is this right…the surface of the earth in 2009?
“Yes, that’s right.”
Well, an early riser you must be! Up with the sun every morning, are you?
“Yeah, sometimes, to meditate.”
Well, that’s just super! Now let’s get right to it shall we. Today we have the rare and titilatingly unlikely pleasure of welcoming Lao Tzu himself to our studio as today’s guest Immortal on ASK A TAO IMMORTAL! But first this word from our sponsors:
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Welcome back, gentle-beings, to your favorite game show ASK A TAO IMMORTAL!
For those of you new to the show I’ll briefly explain how the game works:
Our three contestants will each ask our special guest Immortal questions and then try desperately to digest the answers! At the end of the show, we check to see which contestants are grinning like milk-filled babies, and which ones are wiping vomit off their shoes! Let’s begin!
Slab of Granite, you won the three-sided coin toss, so your question manifests first!
“Honored Tao Immortal, I’m just a slab of granite, and over the past few million years I have very very gradually become aware of having very very very gradually become ever so slightly warmer with shame over my feeling somewhat boring compared to more complex and faster-vibrating objects around me. Is this OK?”
()()()It’s OK.()()()
*Ato, your turn!*
“Blessed One, I have seen much violence and misery in only a single lifetime. Humanity seems like, well, a complete mess. Sometimes it’s really very depressing. Is this, you know, from a broader viewpoint…OK?”
()()()It’s OK.()()()
Your turn, Early-riser!
“Mr. Tzu, I study physics and we were going over the stronger anthropic principle, you know, that only in a universe where human life could exist can the physical laws of the universe be observed, and, aside from how crassly anthropocentric it is in light of the cornucopic preponderance of life forms in the universe, I started thinking about how if things like the relative strength of gravity and electro-magnetism, and the magnitude of the quantum Strong Force, and the balance of light and dark matter in the universe, and I started to freak out, because if even one of these structural elements of the physical universe were to somehow change even a little, the universe and life as we know it would change drastically, probably obliterating every aspect of the physical universe with which we’ve become familiar. What I’m trying to say is that it has come to my attention that the laws of physics *could* change, and I’m freaking out a little. So, as far as the laws of physics go, is everything, like, OK?”
()()()Everything’s OK.()()()
“Really?”
()()()Really.()()()
We’re running ot of time, folks. I think we’ve got just enough time for a few short questions for our Immortal. Let’s make it snappy people!
Ato?
“What about death?”
()()()It’s fine.()()()
Slab of Granite?
“Too many earthquakes?”
()()()No such thing.()()()
Early-Riser?
“What about human freewill?”
…
…
…()()()What do you think?()()()
“I think It’s fine.”
()()()
()()()
()()()Well, with a wink and a smile our Immortal has disappeared, which signals the end of today’s show! Tune in tomorrow when a Pre-Socratic Greek, a comet, and a Shetland Pony grill the Mayan Moon Goddess on ASK A TAO IMMORTAL!!!
Here’s a bit of spiritual teaching that I have found to be quite liberating. Usually liberates my body from my chair. It also frees the mind to focus on its true deepest purpose: to coordinate the body’s dancing. I’ve pasted a good transcription of the…umm…transmission, below. I recommend studying it from the original vinyl for a more…complete communication… of spiritual content.
😉
CARRY ON by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
D A G E
One morning I woke up and I knew you were really gone
D A G E
A new day, a new way, and new eyes to see the dawn
Bsus D A A7sus E
Go your way, I’ll go mine and carry onThe sky is clearing and the night has cried enough
The sun he comes the world to soften up
Rejoice, rejoice, we have no choice but to carry onThe fortunes of fables are able to see the stars
Now witness the quickness with which we get along
To sing the blues, you’ve got to live the dues, and carry onRIFF a 2 EXTRA TIMES
BRIDGE:
(E3) (D2)(Bm) (A) (Bm) (A) E
Carry on love is coming, love is coming to us allRIFF b 4 TIMES TILL SOLO (THEN 4 MORE TIMES)
E Bm D(2) G A B D E(4)
Where are you going now my love? Where will you be tomorrow?
E Bm D(2) G A B D E
Will you bring me happiness? Will you bring me sorrow?
E(3) D(2) Bm A E(3) D(2) Bm A
All the questions of a thousand dreams what you do and what you see
E(3) D(2) A G E RIFF b 4 TIMES
Lover, can you talk to me?Girl, when I was on my own chasing you down
What was it made you run, tryin’ your best just to get around
The questions of a thousand dreams what you do and what you see
Lover, can you talk to me?For a good example of how NOT to attempt this renewing of the earthly contract, observe the strategy of fictional villain “Vigo the Carpathian” in the educational documentary Ghostbusters 2.
Serious issues are the ones which need silliness most, to balance them along the serious-silly axis of polarity. 😉
But you suggest to yourself, unbeknownst to yourself, an excellent practice for increasing your skill at and understanding of the art of longevity: consult an expert. Namely, a being who has managed to live on earth in a body for millions of years, more precisely, a rock.
Meditate with a rock on the topic of earthly longevity. You know, ask it questions and wait patiently…very… very… patiently, for a response. 😉
You might also visit a nearby ornithological museum and ask one of those arctic terns who spend most of their time in the air, migrating thousands of miles just for better food and more sex, how they manage to stay in a body. I mean, they rarely even touch the earth and they live for at least a decade!
Between a bird and a petrified turd, perhaps you can find the deep spiritual insights you seek.
Yours in mortal solidarity (solidity?),
Patrick
“My experience is that LSD depletes your jing if over-used.”
Hi Michael,
Do you have an alchemical explanation for why this is?
It’s the testicle breathing.
You’re pulling up the jing too hot and it’s getting stuck in the head because you’re only circulating chi in the microcosmic orbit.
TIPS:
#1 Try to exert yourself less when testicle breathing. Ideally, the jing hits the occiput (the back of the neck) chilly, cooling the head.
#2 Work on moving the jing (the peanut-buttery thick energy) through the orbit. Feel the hot jing in your head as thick, hot butter, and try to get it to drip down your face, through your tongue, down your chest, and through your navel into your lower dan tien.
#3 Before bed do the triple warmer healing sound (heeeeeee), using your bones to “conduct” the hot jing down into the ground, or at least into your abdomen.
#4 If you get desperate, drink some very cold water, holding a large mouthful of water in your mouth touching your upper palate until you feel the heat transfer from your head into the water, then swallow it.
Hope that helps. Since the Sun entered Aries last week everyone’s been much more active and sexual, so it’s an important time to work on the healing love practices.
Good luck!
Patrick
