Taoist Philosophy - Chapter 112

[Marblehead]

The Female Overcomes With Tranquillity

 

The large state is like the lower part of a river;
It is the female of the world;
It is the meeting point of the world.

The female constantly
Overcomes the male with tranquillity.

Because she is tranquil,
Therefore she is fittingly underneath.

Therefore if a big country
Places itself below a small country,
It absorbs the small country.

What a big country wants is but to shelter others,
And what a small country wants
Is but to be able to come in and be sheltered.
Thus considering that both may have what they want,
A big country ought to place itself low.


The Great Sea

“The great sea does not object to flowing eastwards (or downwards).”

Edited March 2, 2013 by Marblehead

[Everything]

I think I get it, but can't find the value of it, personally. What does it mean to you?

[Marblehead]

I think I get it, but can't find the value of it, personally. What does it mean to you?

 

Hi Everything,

 

Of course, this is Chapter 61 of the TTC. It is a political concept. Chuang Tzu disliked politics and therefore the only times he mentioned politics was to speak negatively about it therefore we have only that one-liner from him supplimenting what Lao Tzu said.

 

However, this chapter of mine is important to me where it speaks to the feminine, Yin, the place of rest and security.

 

Elsewhere Lao Tzu mentioned that we should know the masculine but rest in the feminine. I hold dearly to this concept. And it is not a sexual thing but applies to both male and female.

 

We should know how to act when required and we should have the strength, both mental and physical, to act in an efficient manner. But, to not need to act is better. To remain at rest means we are building up reserve, or at least we should be.

 

The feminine also refers to the valley. The valley is where we go to find our peace and contentment (Y'all know I had to say it that way. hehehe.), our sanctuary, if you will. We each should have our own sanctuary, however meager it might be. This is Yin. The place where we can be passive and there is no one to take advantage of us.

[manitou]

I like what you said about the masculine and feminine, Marbles. It takes a man who has done a lot of inner ego work to be able to embrace the female within. Many men are in denial that she lives in there at all.

[Marblehead]

I like what you said about the masculine and feminine, Marbles. It takes a man who has done a lot of inner ego work to be able to embrace the female within. Many men are in denial that she lives in there at all.

 

Tell me about it. It took oh!, so many years before I was able to say "I love you" to a man.

 

It's actually very scarey until you have done it the first time. (It doesn't hurt at all. Hehehe.)

[Everything]

I like what you said about the masculine and feminine, Marbles. It takes a man who has done a lot of inner ego work to be able to embrace the female within. Many men are in denial that she lives in there at all.

Hehe, I've been exactly the other way round.

I was born with the feminine, being extremely sensitive, able to cry on command, feeling infatuations 24/7 with whomever I cross, caring extremely much about everything and everyone. This feminine nature is kinda gone and lost, atleast not so extreme anymore. It is more balanced now, which I prefer. I've explored and got to use my inner masculine more often, being physical with guys, not showing my weakness, "never let 'm see you sweat" kind of attitude. Not just that, but also alot of couragious decisions to make without having a father behind you back to lend his courage to you or make those decisions for you.

 

I've been thought that giving love without receiving it is called an infatuation and that it is childish. Not just by other people, but by personal experience aswell. Every person I've loved, hugged and gave affection to, I've made sure that the feeling is mutual. And I loath it when people pretend to give love. When they hug you from a masculine core. These are like the arrabs who make a social rule out of kissing eachother and greeting with extremely kind words while they hold a knife behind their backs in their minds. While in other cultures, people make it clear that they don't care about eachother and just say "hi" in such a situation, which seems alot more authentic to me. The very symbol and story of vampires that is universal in all cultures has been brought forth by these kind of people who pretend to be something they're not and drain your energy our of emotional starvation.

 

In the american army the idea goes as follows(it seems): "To create a killer, kill the female in the man." Which is kinda true. So I see how in some societies accepting the inner feminine is dificult.

 

Also thanks for the reply Marblehead, I totally like the response aswell. I guess knowing the masculine has been an ongoing practice for me personally. Took me very long to be ok bout grabbin' dem big boys round the neck sayin' "Whatsup my man!" It is a process of testing eachother boundaries, to make sure we can trust the masculinity of our friends to back us up in trouble. But usually no one has a trouble with feminine guys, as long as you show you know the masculine well enough. It is a matter of balance, in which the feminine nature holds the key to a cooperative and peaceful future where weapons are not displayed. While masculine keeps us durable and protects this way of living. Surely, it is prefered not to have it be in danger in the first place.

 

I found this one:

A nation is like a hierarchy, a marketplace, and a maiden.

A maiden wins her husband by submitting to his advances;

Submission is a means of union.

 

So when a large country submits to a small country

It will adopt the small country;

When a small country submits to a large country

It will be adopted by the large country;

The one submits and adopts;

The other submits and is adopted.

 

It is in the interest of a large country to unite and gain service,

And in the interest of a small country to unite and gain patronage;

If both would serve their interests,

Both must submit.

 

Like an ongoing fight where there will eventually be a "winner and looser", but neither of the two submits and thus looses equally. For the winner walks down the path of destruction and promotes the manifestation of such a fight to occure once more.

When both submit, both win equally and walk down the path of cooperation. If one cannot submit, the other one cannot submit either. If the male does not submit to his masculine, the female cannot submit to her feminine. If you do not stop killing others, others cannot stop killing others aswell. And if you stop killing others while other do not stop killing others, then you will be killed. I think thats whats ment. So in a way, what is adviced is that we all choose the path of the female. If we all submit, we all continue the path of cooperation.

The other way is that we all never submit and this will destroy ourselves in the process, eventually. I personally believe that we will have lean towards the feminine and make an effort to stay on that side. Simply because the masculine nature cannot be ignored or removed from our species.

Edited April 20, 2011 by Everything

[manitou]

It works the other way around too.

 

When I was in police work, I indulged the male inside me. The things I had to do, the scary situations I got into, particularly working undercover. The girl inside me was Terrified!! But the male inside me (I was brought up to be the 'first son', although a daughter) would never let on that I was scared shitless, even to myself. I just drank.

 

Now, 30 years later, the female in me is here, and loving it. There's still plenty of male - I can handle just about anything that comes down the pike - but now I get to wear incredible turquoise stuff, and be an artist, and make music, and just not be taken too seriously by anyone, including myself. And I can't even begin to talk about how much better sex is when the male and female are in balance.

 

Back when I was more yang than yin, sex was never very satisfying because I was never able to submit in the yin sense - it was always more of a competition or something, can't quite describe it. Just can't say enough for balance, can we?

[Marblehead]

Excellent comments y'all.

 

(Just letting you know that I have read them. Nothing to add at the moment.)

[Everything]

Just can't say enough for balance, can we?

Totally agree. Balance, integration, harmony. Love it all.

What started as simply trying to walk or stand straight has led to a serious of behaviours ending with the contemplation of our ideals trough the idea of balance and perfect unity of all. When we see the balance of all and our place in it, we can make an effort to move towards this ideal more efficiently. Every constructive change in my life has found its roots in the contemplation of balance.

[Otis]

Agreed on balance.

 

I find myself having a hard time trusting people who are too far in either direction. At least with men who are too yang, or women who are too yin, I just get a sense of understandable naivete, that they just haven't cultivated the other side. But a man who shows no yang, or a woman without yin, feels false, as if they have smothered a huge part of who they are. (Not to say that any of this is true, just my reactions).

 

By far, I find myself drawn most to men and women who are powerful, but aware. Gentle, but firm. Self-assured, but with nothing to prove.