Counting Tao - Omer 28

Today’s Omer theme is presence and rulership in eternal victory and endurance. (See comments below for more on the Omer)

Before and after meditating today, I read chapter 55 from the The Lao Tzu (See comments below for full text)

I must admit that I find today’s reading in the Tao difficult.

There are lines that remind me that the long-lasting action, the thing that will be effective, after these days of contemplating what will endure, the path of presence is one of moderation, going back to our discussion of the consistent teaching of the Middle Path and Golden Rule in many traditions.

On this day where we focus on being present and taking charge, that is the rulership theme in the Omer, the Tao reminds us not to force things. In this I find much insight, that the Tao reminds us that to be an effective ruler, of ourselves first and foremost, is to not force things. This non-typical image of the ruler is one I need more than ever in my own heart and soul.

Accomplishing often feels like pushing things by force of will and personality and the traditions that remind us that nothing lasting is accomplished by force are so important.

[From The Lao Tzu (Tao-Te Ching) as found in Wing-Tsit Chan (translator and compiler), A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, (1963), page 165-166, slightly adapted by Jonathan Freirich]

55.
One who possesses virtue in abundance
May be compared to an infant.
Poisonous beasts will not sting them.
Fierce beasts will not seize them.
Birds of prey will not strike them.
Their bones are weak, their sinews tender, but their grasp is firm.
They do not yet know the union of people,
But they are aroused.
This means that their essence is at its height.
They may cry all day without becoming hoarse,
This means that their (natural) harmony is perfect.
To know harmony means to be in accord with the eternal.
To be in accord with the eternal means to be enlightened.
To force the growth of life means ill omen.
For the mind to employ the vital force without restraint means violence.
After things reach their prime, they begin to grow old,
Which means being contrary to Tao.
Whatever is contrary to Tao will soon perish.

About the Counting of the Omer in the Jewish holiday cycle:

Today is twenty-eight days, which is four weeks of the Counting of the Omer - a time when many Jews note each day between the Second Day of Passover, the celebration of freedom, and the next major holiday, Shavuot, or “weeks”, when Jews celebrate the covenant given at Mount Sinai. Each of the seven weeks and each of the seven days in these weeks correspond to a particular “sefirah” or “sphere”, or perhaps better, “a divine emanation/human aspiration”. These themes allow us to reflect on the days as we move from liberation to revelation in the Jewish calendar.

Today’s Omer theme is presence and rulership (“malchut”) in the week of eternal victory and endurance (“netzach”).