Tao Te Ching (Chapter 50)
Again and again
Men come in with birth
and go out with death
One in three are followers of life
One in three are followers of death
And those just passing from life to death
also number one in three
but they all die in the end
Why is this so?
Because they clutch to life
and cling to this passing world
I hear that one who lives by his own truth
is not like this
He walks without making footprints in this world
Going about, he does not fear the rhinoceros or tiger
Entering a battlefield, he does not fear sharp weapons
For in him the rhino can find no place to pitch his horn
The tiger no place to fix its claw
The soldier no place to thrust his blade
Why is this so?
Because he dwells in that place
where death cannot enter
(By Lao Tsu, translated by Jonathan Starr)
Vital Energy
Traders can find themselves burning the candle at both ends. If you think of a candle’s wick as the length of your body’s life, then burning your body’s energy in an unthinking and wasteful manner could be downright dangerous. “One in three are followers of death.” Through Taoist meditation, theoretically according to Charles Luk, there are supposedly ways to access and increase your vital energy (Taoist Yoga: Alchemy and Immortality by Charles Luk). The main thing in trading and life is don’t deplete your vital energy or you could become one of . . . “those just passing from life to death.”
The Deeper Self
In Jungian theory, the deeper Self can be symbolized by an animal such as a rhino or tiger. If you are in right relationship to your inner rhino or inner tiger, you may feel less depleted and experience a greater zest for life. Then the Self has no need to correct your spiritual path by symbolically attacking you. “For in him the rhino can find no place to pitch his horn. The tiger no place to fix its claw.” A thought-provoking book in which Jungian analyst, Janet O. Dallett, describes how a woman client’s symbolic relationship to her deeper Self was supposedly helpful on multiple levels is titled, “Listening to the Rhino: Violence and Healing in a Scientific Age.
Death Cannot Enter
Running the risk of hubris or being struck by lightning, I am recommending my books How to Defend Yourself Without Even Trying and Meeting Force With Silence. These books contain true stories about my getting out of tight situations by trusting in a power greater than myself. “Because he dwells in that place where death cannot enter.” These books also discuss aikido, spiritual philosophy and other interesting topics. They were published in the early 1980s and have been out-of-print for many years, but you probably can get a used copy from Amazon. In 2012, Spring Snow Publications will be publishing them as ebooks.
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