The fifth Zen Ox-herding picture or the fifth stage on the road to enlightenment in Zen Buddhism is called “Taming the Ox.” Hixon writes:
“With the rising of one thought, another and another are born. Enlightenment brings the realization that such thoughts are not unreal, since even they arise from our True Nature” (Coming Home: The Experience of Enlightenment in Sacred Traditions by Lex Hixon).
Dodging Bullets
While Neo and Trinity are rescuing Morpheus, Neo dodges an agent’s bullets. Trinity asks Neo, “…How did you do that?” Neo replies, “Do what?” Trinity exclaims, “You moved like they do. I’ve never seen anyone move that fast.”
When Neo stops thinking and momentarily becomes one with his True Nature (the Self) he can dodge bullets in the Matrix. Certainly, dodging bullets appears to be a superhuman feat and a physical impossibility.
However, there are reportedly true but still hotly debated stories of Master Ueshiba’s ability to dodge bullets. Morihei Ueshiba was the founder of aikido. And what about the purported psychic powers (siddhis) developed by certain yoga practitioners (see The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, various interpretations)? Are they possible or psychotic fabrications? Certain Tibetan Yoga texts speak of yogis developing not only psychic powers but superhuman physical powers as well. Are these stories only for children, adults with fish brains, or repeated viewers of The Matrix? Or is there some truth in these seemingly false claims?
Love or Power
Carl Jung said:
“Where love reigns, there is no will to power; and where the will to power is paramount, love is lacking” (Collected Works, Volume 7: Two Essays on Analytical Psychology: 78, p. 52).
One of the things Jung was implying in this quote is that there are only two paths in life: love or power. In fact, it is implied in the Yoga Sutras that psychic powers can only be permanently developed by yoga practitioners who don’t care about them. No will to power.
Neo loves Morpheus. Neo risks his life for Morpheus. It is because of Neo’s altruistic self-sacrificing attitude that Neo falls into union with the Self.
Love or Power in Trading
Do you love to trade? Do you experience an exhilarating passion on certain trading days? Do the nuances of trading lore absorb you? Are you fascinated by stories of both successful and unsuccessful traders? Or, do you just want to win?
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