Nei Yeh Chapter 20

[manitou]

TWENTY

 

 

Deep thinking generates knowledge.

Idleness and carelessness generate worry.

Cruelty and arrogance generate resentment.

Worry and grief generate illness.

When illness reaches a distressing degree, you die.

When you think about something and don't let go of it,

Internally you will be distressed, externally you will be weak.

Do not plan things out in advance

Or else your vitality will cede its dwelling.

In eating, it is best not to fill up;

In thinking, it is best not to overdo.

Limit these to the appropriate degree

And you will naturally reach it (vitality).

[manitou]

Deep thinking generates knowledge...

 

One of the most important books I've ever read, the Impersonal Life, talks about always looking 'under' the object or manifestation to see what the real idea behind it is. It seems to develop the ability to back up in space and see things from a long distance. Like getting out of the forest to see the trees. I don't think that 'deep thinking' is the same about 'thinking about something and not letting go of it'. It's all together different, as I see it. Deep thinking would be to observe the condition in its entirety, without making judgments, just seeing it for what it is. It's like the juggler stopping his juggling act all of a sudden - only then can he see the pieces in their entirety on the floor. To think about something without letting go of it, this is the very sort of attachment that is useless and harmful to us. When we dwell on a problem, not trusting that the Universe is actually a friendly place, and if things are left to their own devices by Not-Doing, the friendly force in the Universe will straighten it of its own accord.

 

It's easy for a retired person to say this. My life is now such that I don't have to make things happen any more, I don't have to worry about financial matters that much. I truly feel for those who are still in the position of having to make a living. And I think it falls upon each of us to decide just how much energy we want to put into 'making a living', and what we see as the end result? If all our energy is put into building our castle bigger and bigger, then the prison walls get higher and higher.

 

Finding balance. This seems to be what the chapter is about.

 

It also talks about Wu-Wei when it says 'Do not plan things out in advance'. Again, how in the world is someone with kids and just starting out in life supposed to do this? This is the enigma. Is it possible that life gives us the cycles exactly as we need them? That some of us chose the path to raise kids and some of us did not? That our souls knew from the get-go what particular dynamics we needed in our life for our ultimate spiritual and physical vitality? That each of us has the capacity to reach enlightenment within their immediate lifetime, if the truths are realized and the soul's lessons are internalized?

 

I remember an old boyfriend hollering at me one day a long time ago (I'd probably just drank a gallon of wine on our trailer trip)....CAN'T YOU DO ANYTHING IN MODERATION??? No. At that time, I couldn't. Balance was nonexistent.

[Informer]

TWENTY

 

 

Deep thinking generates knowledge.

Idleness and carelessness generate worry.

Cruelty and arrogance generate resentment.

Worry and grief generate illness.

When illness reaches a distressing degree, you die.

When you think about something and don't let go of it,

Internally you will be distressed, externally you will be weak.

Do not plan things out in advance

Or else your vitality will cede its dwelling.

In eating, it is best not to fill up;

In thinking, it is best not to overdo.

Limit these to the appropriate degree

And you will naturally reach it (vitality).

 

This is continuing the self-inquiry which it began to describe in the previous chapter. Explaining that we need to be free of attachments and illusion to achieve the numinous vital breath.

[Truth Seeker]

Thanks for your post, Manitou, and for sharing how this relates to you on a personal level. I think it's wonderful that you're applying this knowledge to real life and real choices, rather than as a hobby or exercise that we occasionally pick up and then put back down. I think you hit the nail on the head when you wrote about deciding how much energy to put toward making a living. Next to whom we choose to marry, it's the biggest life-changing decision we must make. I still struggle with it constantly when I feel my work has taken me too far away from spending time deeply experiencing life and practicing my chosen arts. I daily look forward to retirement, though it's years and years away. But I know it would be a crime to hold off living fully until I do retire, so the struggle to find balance continues daily. Nei Yeh is definitely a fantastic book for helping me to find that balance - the perfect reminder as to what is really important.

[manitou]

Hi Truth Seeker - welcome to TTB's, you're a fabulous addition.

 

It does seem that Life has its own timing, as to our life events and what we learn and when.

 

As to a personal level, I've just decided to go for the Full Monty on all this stuff and I do take it real personal. I think it's about aligning our inner selves with the wisdom that has come before us, and the Direct Knowledge that we become capable of tapping into. There are many side paths of distraction.