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Chapter of the Week: #61
A year ago i packed a bag and set out to begin a period of traveling and wandering. I had only been in Hong Kong for a short time and hadn't yet began moving north when i received a phone call offering me some rather lucrative projects back home.
As a session musician I am somewhat of a musical prostitute and will play anything anyone wants for cash. Well here we are, almost a year to the day I landed and Im still immersed in cabaret and all manner of flamboyancies.
I am currently half way through a 6 week stint at a posh restaurant in Plymouth on the south coast of the UK, where i am the jigging guitarist 'Bjorn' in a Abba tribute band. The other acts appearing are the finest tribute artists i've ever seen and the whole thing is actually very sleek indeed.
Last night I heard myself saying something that would make anyone's eyebrows raise,
"..well Neil Diamond bought a round of drinks, then Michael Jackson got a round in, so I kinda had to dint i!"
MJ was saying to me that he strives to be as good as he can but knowing he'll never be as good as the real MJ is a source of constant sorrow. I suggested to him that perhaps that which we do in life is a reflection of that which we perceive is missing. His lack of self confidence is perhaps what draws him so fervantly to perform and perform well. However the fact that he accepts that he will never BE his idol, no matter what he does, is what keeps his 'madness' from [chref=20]waxing[/chref].
Even tho we all find this concept [chref=70]easy to understand,[/chref] our insecurities are [chref=54]firmly rooted[/chref] in our biology and cannot simply be pulled out. This can feel rather frustrating and can often send us off on self destructive battles bewteen our actual selves and our 'ideal' self. Awareness of this however helps us slow down long enough to ask our selves what is [chref=44]dearer[/chref] and 'beat our selves up' a little less when we begin to trust that the great mother nature is doing what must be done in us, even if we feel we dont measure up to [chref=45]great perfection[/chref] or we 'should' be doing better.
Shamone! HE Hee! OW!
As a session musician I am somewhat of a musical prostitute and will play anything anyone wants for cash. Well here we are, almost a year to the day I landed and Im still immersed in cabaret and all manner of flamboyancies.
I am currently half way through a 6 week stint at a posh restaurant in Plymouth on the south coast of the UK, where i am the jigging guitarist 'Bjorn' in a Abba tribute band. The other acts appearing are the finest tribute artists i've ever seen and the whole thing is actually very sleek indeed.
Last night I heard myself saying something that would make anyone's eyebrows raise,
"..well Neil Diamond bought a round of drinks, then Michael Jackson got a round in, so I kinda had to dint i!"
MJ was saying to me that he strives to be as good as he can but knowing he'll never be as good as the real MJ is a source of constant sorrow. I suggested to him that perhaps that which we do in life is a reflection of that which we perceive is missing. His lack of self confidence is perhaps what draws him so fervantly to perform and perform well. However the fact that he accepts that he will never BE his idol, no matter what he does, is what keeps his 'madness' from [chref=20]waxing[/chref].
Even tho we all find this concept [chref=70]easy to understand,[/chref] our insecurities are [chref=54]firmly rooted[/chref] in our biology and cannot simply be pulled out. This can feel rather frustrating and can often send us off on self destructive battles bewteen our actual selves and our 'ideal' self. Awareness of this however helps us slow down long enough to ask our selves what is [chref=44]dearer[/chref] and 'beat our selves up' a little less when we begin to trust that the great mother nature is doing what must be done in us, even if we feel we dont measure up to [chref=45]great perfection[/chref] or we 'should' be doing better.
Shamone! HE Hee! OW!
Comments
Chapter 61
A large state is the lower reaches of a river-
The place where all the streams of the world unite.
In the union of the world,
The female always gets the better of the male by stillness.
Being still, she takes the lower position.
Hence the large state, by taking the lower position, annexes the small state;
The small state, by taking the lower position, affiliates itself with the large state.
Thus the one, by taking the lower position, annexes;
The other, by taking the lower position, is annexed.
All that the large state wants is to take the other under its wing;
All that the small state wants is to have its services accepted by the other.
If each of the two wants to find its proper place,
It is meet that the large should take the lower position.
Read commentary previously posted for this chapter.
Read notes on translations
Now, do it too at Wengu!
Taking the lower position sums up the incredible power and courage of humility. I say courage because it goes against our strong ‘pecking order’ instincts (hierarchy) to be ‘somebody’… pride, status, [chref=44]name[/chref]. Taking the lower position is different from being in the lower position by default through fear, insecurity or desire, (i.e., ulterior motives, curry favor). These all have some [chref=7]thought of self[/chref] pulling our emotional strings. Taking the lower position is more akin to facing the death of ego. And what is death really but the ultimate stillness and the place where all the streams of the world unite.
Correlating the essential meaning behind words like stillness, humility, peace, unite, death allows me to confront the tendency to want it both ways. Meaning, I want stillness, but too much stillness feels like death. Peace and unity sound good until that means giving up stimulating activity and variety. It seems there is an innate tendency to want to have it ‘just perfect’, not to much either way. This wish is futile ideal which may account for why those who seek it most are probably the most neurotic. Nature is not the spotless [chref=45]perfection[/chref] we [chref=37]desire[/chref]; Nature just flows this way and that.
This is a bit odd in spots and blurry perhaps, but that’s all for the better, right?
The large spreads lower where all under heaven meet.
Of all under heaven, the female always overcomes the male.
Using stillness she becomes the lower.
Therefore, the large, in using the lower, takes in the small,
The small, in using the lower, takes in the large.
Therefore, perhaps because of using the lower, it takes in,
Perhaps lower, yet it takes in.
The large only desires to concurrently raise the people.
The small only desires to join in the affairs of the people.
Both each getting the position they desire.
The big should serve as the lower.
I bolded the main literal meaning of each character this time. Is this helpful I wonder?
big country below (down; lower) flow (drifting; spread), heaven below (down; lower) of hand over (meet; mutual).
heaven below (down; lower) of female.
female always (ordinary; normal; constant) victory (success; surpass; be superior to) male.
use (take; because of; so as to) still (quiet; calm) do (act; serve as; become; be) below (down; lower).
therefore, big country use (take; because of; so as to) below (down; lower) small country,
standard(norm; criterion; rule; regulation> imitate; follow) take (get; aim at; adopt; choose) small country.
small country use (take; because of; so as to) below (down; lower) big country,
standard(norm; criterion; rule; regulation> imitate; follow) take (get; aim at; adopt; choose) big country.
therefore, perhaps (maybe; probably; or; either...or...) below (down; lower) use (take; because of; so as to) take (get; aim at; adopt; choose) ,
perhaps (maybe; probably; or; either...or...) below (down; lower) yet take (get; aim at; adopt; choose).
big country not cross (pass through; exceed) desire (longing; wish; want) double (twice; simultaneously; concurrently) raise people.
small country not cross (pass through; exceed) desire (longing; wish; want) enter (join; agree with) matter (affair; trouble) people.
man both each (every; various; different) get (obtain, result in > satisfied, need; have to) place desire (longing; wish; want).
big suitable (appropriate; fitting; should) do (act; serve as; become; be) below (down; lower)