Another great day of the Tao kicked off with my reading #6 before being joined by my buddy Inma for #7. Then a new guest but long time listener Carletta chose #11 followed by fellow friend og Bill's William and #30. Kristen was next to share #74, then Loyce and #49. Kelly had to jump off and then finally joined me for #17 and Mary K popped up to wrap things up with #13.
#6 "The Great Feminine"
Everything is born from the feminine,
Even Heaven and Earth.
The Feminine that births is a Mother,
She nourishes and supports without possessing.
Despite your awareness of it
You are using it right now.
#7 "The Wisdom of Not Having Preference"
Tao is infinite
It doesn’t grow old or tired.
Because it has no preference for itself
It can always persist.
The Master puts herself last
And always finds herself first.
By being detached from preference
She can give herself to what is
And find fulfillment there.
#11 "Emptiness is Valuable"
Spokes, tire, rim, and hub all make a wheel,
Yet it is the space where the axel goes that makes it worthwhile.
Clay is formed into a vessel,
A vessel’s function is to hold things,
Thus its form includes emptiness.
A house can be built
But if it were solid, it would be useless.
It is easy to see structure,
But structure is there to expose the value of emptiness.
#13 "Finding Equality at the Extremes"
To succeed and to fail are equally undesirable.
Creation and destruction are equally present within us.
What do I mean by “To succeed and to fail are equally undesirable?”
The more success you have the more you protect it by hiding failure.
The more you associate with failure the more you embody it.
When neither success nor failure is identified as the destination
Being becomes the objective.
What do I mean by “Creation and destruction are equally present within us?”
Having a body and a mind, with which I identify, gets me involved in the manifestation.
The manifestation convinces me of my actions
And so naming them I both create and destroy
Neither of which are unique.
To see yourself with indifference
You will have faith in all things.
To see the world with indifference
You will be able to care for it all.
#17 "Of Masters and Leaders"
In the time of the great Masters there were no leaders.
Then, those whom the people loved, led the way.
After having created the position
The people feared their leaders,
Then they despised them.
Having created leaders, their faith in Tao was diminished.
Having become a leader, his trust in the people was diminished.
When there are great Masters there are no leaders
She works day and night and says nothing about it,
When the work is done the people say
“Amazing! We did it all by ourselves!”
#30 "Tao Does Not Dominate"
Governing, in any capacity, when led by Tao
Doesn’t use force to gain power.
Every force applied will suffer equal counterforce.
So violence, however it is intended,
will always rebound upon oneself.
Where armies march briers grow
And in their wake follows hunger and villainy.
Skillful in what she does
The Master achieves her goal and stops;
Neither forcing nor manipulating further.
She knows that dominating
Goes counter to Tao
And whoever opposes Tao
Will certainly die early.
