East Meets West

Tai Sui (or God of the Year) is a Chinese term for the stars directly opposite the planet Jupiter.  They were kind of artificially created during the mid to late Warring States period (475-221 BC) hundreds of years before Jupiter was even discovered by Galileo.  During each year of the cycle, the stars were personalised as a Heavenly General, the duty of which is to assist in the mortal world.  Worshipped as deities, each year there are those people whose birth sign or other features clash with the deity of the year.  One is said to be negatively impacted in those years which has the same Chinese horoscope that he or she was born in, and this will repeat itself every 12 years.  It is described to be typically a year subject to obstacles, emotional instability and misfortune.  The remedy?  They are advised to conduct a prayer session and some ceremonial ritual to propitiate the deity, make peace and hopefully reverse their luck!

Although these are humanly created stars, the mechanism of this totally coincide with the motion of Jupiter which also has a roughly 12-year orbital cycle.  But in Western astrology, this orbital cycle is interpreted quite differently.  Jupiter is named after the Roman God, which is the head of the gods and such a connotation already sets a very different tone.  The return of Juiter every 12 years symbolises a time of growth and expansion.  It is about luck, generosity, abundance, freedom, etc...  Whilst it could be quite overwhelming, it offers new horizons and adventure in a very optimistic way.  That is, of course, if one is ready to jump in and move forward.  For all personal growth implies breaking from old structure and making progressive changes.

Whether you are into metaphysics or not, the way we approach this inevitable energetic cycle is an example of our choice of seeing our lives as half empty or half-full.  There are always some deep-seated beliefs in every culture that shape our worldview.  Are you audacious enough to be de-conditoned from such beliefs that may not serve you anymore?

Freedom and Security

If you were to ask someone, "Would you want to have freedom or security?"  Most people would face a dilemma on what to pick and may greedily say, "Both!"

The matter of the fact is that freedom and security are mutually exclusive.  The need for security is like a chameleon and never fails to amuse us.  It can appear in so many different facets.  Sometimes it is our yearning of security from material gain, other times it is security from relationships, and of course there is also our physical health.  Whatever it is, it all boils down to our survival instinct.  The more secured we feel, the more we are assured of our survival.  Yet there are always small clauses that come with having security, the fine print of which is overlooked by many.  Firstly, you can never satisfy the desire for security, as there is nothing called "enough" for you to conclude and say that "I feel 100% secured and I don't need it anymore."  In fact, this hungry beast is quite a handful, the bigger it gets, the more it wants to be fed.  Secondly, security always comes with a price tag: freedom.  This inverse relationship suggests that the more secured you feel, the less free you are.  Why?  When you are falsely believing that you are secured, you often lose sight of what is really present and become busy chasing after the next moment.  This is to coax your mind into thinking that you have to continue to do the "right" things to get you well-covered so that you can sustain that feeling of security.  Is this really what freedom is?

There is, in truth, no such thing as security.  Uncertainty is the only thing we have as humans and you can never be sure of how things will turn out.  The only thing that you can be sure is:  It is always for your highest good, and the gem is the lesson you learn from every experience you have.  The realisation of this and going with the flow is thus, true freedom.

The S-word ("Should")

When was the first and last time that you used or heard the word "should"?  For the answer to the first part, it is likely to be after you learned to mumble "mama" or "dada" at infancy.  For the second part to the question, perhaps it was five minutes ago.  So often we are telling ourselves or others what should be done or should have been done, not realising that once we utter these words, we are instantaneously putting ourselves in a split position and at a level of resistance.  "Should" implies that there is a "should not" and the duality of which makes us lose focus of what is truly happening in reality and in real-time.  More so, it always drives us away from the present moment, gives us a flashback to what has happened and makes you think how you wish the scenario would be different if you were to choose again.

The truth is: all things happen for a reason, and all things can ONLY happen if the conditions are present in a phenomenological way.  Any missing piece will not make the puzzle complete.  So how could anything happen in a different way?  On the other hand, if all the necessary conditions exist, the event will take place by itself and any outcome is a natural by-product.

Maybe this is another way to say that "Thinking less is More"?