If you would have a thing shrink,
You must first stretch it;
If you would have a thing weakened,
You must first strengthen it;
If you would have a thing laid aside,
You must first set it up;
If you would take from a thing,
You must first give to it.This is called subtle discernment:
The submissive and weak will overcome the hard and strong.
I think this is called subtle discernment because I get attached and hold on to one side or the other. I’m either bent on having a thing laid aside, or on setting it up. As a youth, I bounded from one extreme to the other so much, I never was able to notice the cyclic process of it all.
The realization that if you would have a thing weakened, you must first strengthen it, and so on, simplifies life greatly. Instead of opposites being at odds with each other, they fit into a beautiful whole. The chaos of my life has always stemmed from embracing one thing and rejecting another thing. To know that both things are merely two phases of ONE reality softens my approach and deepens my understanding. With this, forgiveness comes much easier.
I once thought that this utterly obvious cyclic process was beyond the discernment of all but a very few… and me of course. I now think that we ALL know this process (intuitively anyway) except in those areas of our lives we’re holding on to, or fleeing from. There we become blinded by our attachment.
The submissive and weak will overcome the hard and strong of course parallels Christ’s observation that: ‘blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth’ MATHEW 5:5.
The fish must not be allowed to leave the deep;
The instrument of power in a state must not be revealed to anyone.
I see the instrument of power in a state as being the processes that make society. The older I get, the more aware I become of these. I think I become aware of them as they cease to control me. When I’m in the grip of their influence, I’m hoodwinked and my view is biased.
The instruments of power in a state must not be revealed to anyone has also been translated as can not be revealed. So, does cannot mean must/ should not or ‘impossible’? The later is more likely, for I find that understanding comes from within, so it’s really impossible to reveal to someone anything they do not know within (but may not have it thought out), and likewise, it’s impossible to hide that which one already knows.
The deeper my revelation into the natural process, the less inclined I am to use any such knowledge of the instrument of power to meddle in other’s affairs. It takes care of itself. In other words, any ulterior motives I may have will limit my ability to discern the instruments of power.