I use tarot and oracle cards as tools for reflection and contemplation. Rather than divining the future, they are a way for me to look more deeply at the "now."
"The goal isn't to arrive, but to meander, to saunter, to make your life a holy wandering." ~ Rami Shapiro

Monday, October 10, 2016

Self-imposed Suffering

From the Art of Life Tarot, the Seven of Pentacles; from the Tao Oracle, Excess:
 With time and patience the mulberry leaf becomes a silk gown. ~ Chinese Proverb
Hexagram 28: A forest submerged in a great body of water.

          There's a saying that I find myself thinking of lately: Hurry up and wait. As this particular Seven of Pentacles card points out, patience is a virtue, one that I can either adopt or ignore. But the kicker is that my frustration with having to wait will not make things move at a faster pace, they'll just make me suffer more. It's like the story Pema Chodron tells about the arrow: “If someone comes along and shoots an arrow into your heart, it’s fruitless to stand there and yell at the person. It would be much better to turn your attention to the fact that there’s an arrow in your heart...” Sharyn pointed me in this direction yesterday in her comment on my post. The I Ching card points out that limitations have been overlooked, and now there is a price to pay known as STRESS. There's no need for blame or shame, only blunt honesty. Time to start moving according to natural rhythms rather than an artificial, self-imposed cadence.



6 comments:

  1. I can relate how hard it is to slow down and be mindful of what we ar doing. it often feels like I am pushed forward by haste and unrest while I realize it this only will result in time consuming mistakes.
    You wouldn't want to know how many errors I have typed in this little comment; I could be over at Carolyn's now but I am still here going over my typo's :D

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    1. I'm trying to figure out why when I use my phone to comment on someone's blog that it always makes two posts. I'm flummoxed. :)

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    2. And my iPad keeps liking your posts on Google plus. I do of course like them...two comments on my blog fine - Good for my stats :D

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    3. Technology.... (eyeroll). :D Well feel free to delete any extras that I don't catch!

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  2. This reminds me a bit of getting in a snit because you have to do the dishes. You know what it's like, you hurl the dishes into the soapy water, jerking things around and being irritable until you chip a good plate. Then you realize that if you slow down and concentrate, do things gently but consistently, everything works out.

    The idea of suffering from rushing about or hurrying to complete a task that would be more enjoyable if we slowed down--that word "suffering"--we think we have to get cancer or have an accident to suffer, but these smaller moments of suffering really matter and build up.

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    1. Makes complete sense to me. If I concentrate on each moment of the task I'm doing instead of focusing on what I want to be doing or how unfair life is, I'm completely content.

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