Tao Te Ching: Chapter 27
A good walker leaves no tracks;
A good speaker makes no slips;
A good reckoner needs no tally.
A good door needs no lock,
Yet no one can open it.
Good binding requires no knots,
Yet no one can loosen it.
Therefore the sage takes care of all men
And abandons no one.
He takes care of all things
And abandons nothing.
This is called “following the light.”
What is a good man?
A teacher of a bad man.
What is a bad man?
A good man’s charge.
If the teacher is not respected,
And the student not cared for,
Confusion will arise, however clever one is.
This is the crux of mystery.
(By Lao Tsu, translated by Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English)
Transmission of Knowledge
“Therefore the sage takes care of all men and abandons no one.” “. . . the principal intention in the life of the sage is to pass on to others what he has understood of the Way” (ibid. p.96). I would like to add to your knowledge of Taoism, life and trading by giving you new tools to work with.
Arnold Mindell’s way of working with the psyche is called process work and is very similar to Taoism.
“Process work is modernized Taoism . . .” (River’s Way: The Process Science of the Dreambody by Arnold Mindell, p.6).
Flow
Most therapy systems are stuck in stasis and are not dynamic (flowing).
“The very idea of process contrasts with the idea of a fixed state, which is a static picture, an unchanging description of a situation which has been broken up into parts” (ibid. p.11).
The Taoist sage flows with life.
“The state-oriented person perceives such a ‘sage’ as unpredictable” (ibid. p.93).
Channels in Taoism
Channels in process work are channels in Taoism. Messages from the deeper Self or the Tao can occur in any of the following six channels on an inner or outer level: visualization (seeing), audition (hearing), proprioception (sensing), kinesthesis (moving), relationship and world. Paul McCartney received the melody for “Yesterday” in a dream (inner audition). Elias Howe received the idea for the sewing machine needle from a dream. He dreamt that he was in a boiling pot surrounded by cannibals holding spears. When Howe awoke, he realized the spears had holes in their tips (inner visualization).
Nebuchadnezzar’s Furnace
A male therapy client gave me permission to share his dreamwork. He dreamt he was standing in Nebuchadnezzar’s furnace. I asked him to move like the flames. He began to dance spontaneously in my office (outer kinesthesis). Suddenly, he stopped dancing. Still standing, he said, “I need more passion in my life.”
Trade like a Dancer
The market is part of the eternal dance. Gabrielle Roth, a creative dancer, writes about five archetypal rhythms: flowing, staccato, chaos, lyrical and stillness. These five rhythms can be seen as a differentiation of Mindell’s kinesthetic channel. Roth states,
“The rhythms don’t only exist in the dance; they infuse every aspect of our lives” (Maps to Ecstasy by Gabrielle Roth, p.33).
As a trader, feel the staccato movements as you trade tight ranges (e.g. the S&P500 during the “dead zone,” 11:00 A.M.-12:30 P.M. EST or the EUR/USD during the Asian session on the forex). Move your body to the rhythm of the market. Dance your passion.
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