About
The title of this website, “Person Patterns After Earth”, describes the underlying principle which guides my life, and consequently, that which I will explore through my writings. It comes from chapter 25, of the Daodejing, formerly called in English, the Tao Te Ching. Some 2,500 years old, this short book of wisdom, originally intended for political leaders, is the most translated of Chinese books into English. The full quote that interests me is as follows:
Man patterns after Earth;
Earth patterns after Heaven;
Heaven patterns after Tao;
Tao patterns after Innate Freedom
This rendition comes from Henry Wei, in his book “The Guiding Light of Lao Tsu”. There is a naturalness and a clarity to his translation that makes it my favorite. To me, in this quote, we can see a clear connection between our relation with Earth and a path leading to “Innate Freedom”. I also prefer his choice of the word “patterns”, most often translated as “follows”. Since the Tao or “Way” describes a path, “follows” makes sense, but there is a certain rigidity in the phrase “Man follows Earth”. “Patterns” suggests something else; a structure on which we create something. If it is a piece of clothing, we know nothing of the material being used or its color, or what clothes will be worn with it, and so forth. In a similar manner, a pattern for life refers to an underlying structure that we need to observe in order to arrive at, what is believed in this case, freedom. However, provided we adhere to this structure, through holding fast to the principles related with it, we are really free to make of life, our own creation. My intent is to find a way we can explore this relationship between us and Earth, in such a way that we can identify this underlying structure, and the universal principles connected with it; principles that permeate the descending levels of Innate Freedom, Tao, Heaven, and Earth. There is another point; my choice of the word “Person”. The Chinese character for person, humans, and man, is the same. Older texts, such as Wei’s, tend to choose “Man”, as a convention of the past, while modern translations tend to use “humans”, most likely to avoid gender issues. However, “Person” not only avoids problems of gender, but most importantly focuses the point of exploration directly on the relationship between the individual and Earth, and this is my personal interest: a way that the individual can discover freedom by his/her own actions.
Next is this word “ki”. Ki is the Japanese translation; “chi” or “qi” in Chinese. Even though we are talking about Chinese concepts, my learning experience has been through Japanese teachings; mostly through practicing macrobiotics and shiatsu, and for this reason, I feel more comfortable using “ki”. Ki is energy, invisible electromagnetic energy, our life-force: no ki, no life. Our physical being has evolved from ki, contains and is vivified by ki. If we step back from the physical to the level of ki, we begin to see connections, and correspondences between things, that are literally concealed by physical shapes, to those unaware. In this way, I will endeavor to explain that quite literally, ki is the key of life.
Again, referring to classical Chinese medicine and philosophy (CCMP for brevity), we have a theory, and a structure, for interpreting this relationship between the person and Earth: “The Five Transformations Of Natural Energy”. This theory, believed to be as old as Chinese culture itself, sees all relative phenomena as manifesting energy qualities that we find in one of five phenomena found on Earth: Tree, Fire, Soil, Metal, and Water. It was first introduced to the West as “The Five Elements” and Tree was called “Wood” (same Chinese character). Indeed it still is for most people who practice traditional Chinese medicine or other classic arts from China that embrace this theory. However, in this interpretation by Michio Kushi, this change of name from Wood to Tree is significant. “Wood” is a dead image, while Tree is full of potential. Most fundamentally by this simple name adjustment we can very clearly see this idea of energy transformation. To elaborate, there are basically two aspects to this theory: a diagram describing this cyclical nature of energy transformation, and, a list of correspondences associated with each phenomena (see Reference/Five Transformations).
In terms of the diagram, there are two cycles: a “nourishing” cycle, and a “control cycle”. In the former, one phenomena supports, and nourishes, and in so doing, transforms into, the following, in a continuous cycle: Water into Tree, into Fire, into Soil, into Metal, into Water. In the latter, one energy controls or overrides another: Water energy controls Fire, controls Metal, controls Tree, controls Soil, controls Water. Kushi ascribes a basic quality of energy aligned with each phenomena. Tree is described as “rising” energy, Fire as “the most active”, Soil as “downward”, Metal as “inward”, and Water as “floating”. The transformations of these energies, one into the next can be seen by our individual activities throughout the day. The morning time corresponds with Tree’s rising energy, when we literally rise up out of bed, and probably go outside to work or school: up like the trunk of a tree, and out, like its branches. The middle part of the day, when we are most active, corresponds with Fire, clearly in nature a most active force. In the early afternoon, after lunch, we become more settled, things quiet down; from the active high of Fire we come back down to earth: Soil. In the late afternoon/early evening around sunset, we finish work, and return home; we go back/inside again: Metal. At night, we take the lowest body position, lying flat, to sleep, just as water at rest is horizontal and at its lowest point, restoring our energies, just as water keeps flowing into still waters, from rivers for example, for the next cycle of activity the following day: Water. A similar cycle can be described by the changes of the seasons, beginning with spring which corresponds with Tree.
There is a further point I find most important and significant, that makes this theory so valuable to me, that I have never seen mentioned. The Chinese characters for Water, Tree, Fire, and Soil, are all natural images. For example, the Water character originates from an image of water as flowing in a river; Tree, of a tree with its trunk, roots and branches; Fire, of fire clinging to wood and flaming upward; and Soil, of the earth, one interpretation being of the earth and a plant growing from it. The Metal character, however, the same that describes “gold”, is arguably of a mine. It images a roof, and at the base of the character, on each side of a vertical stroke there are two small strokes that image pieces of gold. The character’s significance to me, is that it includes, albeit unconsciously, the image of humans, for something with a roof must have been constructed by humans.
Thus, by its mere presence, it suggests that the Metal phase includes the activity of humans as part of the natural landscape and thus participants in, not separated from this endless cyclical flow of natural energy: there is a place in nature for human’s employment of metal. In our daily life of course, human use of metal is pervasive. However, the relationship between this Metal culture and nature is constantly seen as one of conflict, more and more with each day, between the benefits it provides us, and the continual destruction of the natural world. Traditionally in Japan, the changes in the weather from season to season were steady, one could have a good idea of what the weather would be like at any point in time. As a result, numerous festivals arose to celebrate these seasonal changes, festivals that are still held today on days that were deemed appropriate centuries past. These celebrations were created by a people who lived in harmony with the natural environment, people who “patterned after earth”. Today, weather patterns are rapidly changing, more and more with catastrophic results. And more and more there is conclusive evidence that climate change is theresult of human influence, from a modern world culture, I would argue, that has arisen from the domination of the natural environment.
The point I want to make is that if human influence is based on patterning after earth, then the negative influence of human interaction will be reduced. Many say that it is too late. Perhaps, perhaps not. I wish to support the latter. But how? The most fundamental connection we have with our natural environment, apart from the fact that it provides us with a place to actually be, is in the food it produces, that we consume. Although most of us take it for granted, we are as dependent on the earth for sustenance, as a baby is to its mother’s breast. This point brings up the connection with diet. Our perception of life, whether it be to dominate the environment, or to live in harmony with it, I maintain, is very much influenced by what and how we eat. Traditional cultures from the Far East, who viewed life from this view of “patterning after earth” lived on a plant-based diet centered on rice and vegetables, that included small amounts of animal food. In the modern situation, the principal food has become animal protein, with little respect for grain or vegetable, let alone for food in general. However, there is a growing awareness of the importance of food for health, and that the way that we eat affects the way that we think. I believe that we can have our Metal culture, but it needs to be modified, and the change in outlook, and desire to make change to do this, will be seen more readily in a people who reduce their animal food intake, and increase their consumption of plant foods, especially if centered on the consumption of whole cereal grains.
Now, if we refer to the table we can clearly see this cyclical flow of energy when we look at the correspondences relating to Season, Time of day, and Development. However, this approach does not answer all of the correspondences. Some are obvious: tree leaves are green, fire is red, and so forth. But how about eyes for Tree, for example; what is the correspondence?
It is at this point that I want to begin what I consider my personal contribution. I suggest that if we break down each of the five Energies into their basic components, through fundamental observations, we can then see the correspondences, and furthermore, we can extend the images to cover other aspects of our life. To see the connection between eyes and Tree, we could make the observation that “a tree responds to light”, which of course is what our eyes do. However, we could change the observation slightly and say that “a tree grows toward the light”. In us the light becomes an image, and thus an internal vision, and thus relates with our imagination. So this procedure is my basic approach.
The next step is to find some way to verify it.
Chinese astrology provides an answer. There is a system associated with the ancient Chinese book of divination, The I Ching, called Nine Star Ki. In this system, each person embodies and expresses a certain energy according to the year he/she was born in; it could be a Water, Tree, Fire, Soil, Metal, or Water year. A person born in a Water year for example, is likely to have a personality and character that has distinctly water-like characteristics. The Chinese year begins later than the western year. To simplify probably, Michio Kushi says that the year begins on February 4th (if your birthday is around this time, for a more accurate assessment, I recommend you refer to a book under the 9 Star Ki section in the Reference section). In the system of Nine Star Ki, then, this day marks the beginning of a new year. We can be born in one of 9 different energetic years. To find one’s energetic birth year, take the numbers of the year of birth, add them up, reduce that number to a number between 1 and 9, and deduct from 11.
Here is an example: President Obama was born on August 4th, 1961. Adding the last four numbers, 1+9+6+1, we arrive at 17. Add 1+7, we get 8. Deduct 8 from 11, we get 3. He was born in a 3 Tree year. If he was born before February 4th, say, January 1st, 1961, then the birth year would actually be considered part of the year before, 1960. Add these four numbers up, 1+9+6+0, and we get 16. Add 1+6, and we get 7. Deduct 7 from 11 (Why 11? I don’t know), and we get 4; a 4 Tree year. It’s that simple, simple enough to be considered simplistic – but it works! Thus, we have 1 Water, 2 Soil, 3 Tree, 4 Tree, 5 Soil, 6 Metal, 7 Metal, 8 Soil, and 9 Fire. Take another example, the first president of the United States, George Washington. He was born on February 22nd, 1732. 1+7+3+2 = 13. 1+3 = 4. 11 minus 4 = 7. He was born in a 7 Metal year.
Every week, numerous magazines and newspapers, feature profiles of people, usually famous. The advent of Wikipedia has made the birthdates of many of these people available. What I have done is to examine written profiles of famous people with known birthdates, keeping in mind images of all the different parts of the physical object that represents the year that he/she was born in, and see how that quality actually manifests. By studying hundreds of profiles in this way, we can see trends, with enough information to most basically, validate that there is indeed an energetic way that we can view things. However, as I will endeavor to show through my journal, Ki Review, there are numerous ways that this information can be useful in understanding different aspects of life.
First, let us look at an example of President Obama and see how it might show his 3 Tree nature. The following comes from a profile in Time magazine (9/1/2008):
‘Dreams From My Father is the story of a quest – not for honor or fortune but for meaning. The book presents a wounded young man who has never felt entirely at home – not among whites or among blacks, neither in slums nor in student unions – and is haunted by “the constant, crippling fear that I didn’t belong.” He wants to know how to feel rooted and purposeful.’
My basic approach in using a quote, is to first state the relevant observation, that in this case refers to a tree, and then to comment on it.
In this quote there are two issues, the first deals with the issue of a quest:
A tree grows toward light, a tree’s branches extend outward
The issue of a quest, mission, cause, crusade, of rescuing, saving and/or simply helping others arises often in the case of those born in a Tree year; something with a vertical intention in mind and a horizontal outward extension – a belief in, or image of, something that one strives to express, to share with others.
Meaning and purpose are also interesting in this context; they are an image of something that one strives for; the light that a tree grows toward.
A tree puts down roots
The second issue concerns the word ‘rooted’, clearly a tree image, and what it means on a deeper level – the feeling of belonging.
A tree occupies one position versus transplantation/uprootedness
It is interesting in the above context that in writing about Obama’s mother in a profile in The New York Times magazine (4/24/2011), the sub-heading reads:
‘In 1967, Stanley Ann Durham took her 6-year-old son, Barry, on an adventure, transplanting him to Indonesia. She did not know just how much it would change her life, and his.’
Further on in the text, it says:
‘Ann uprooted Barry, at age 6, and transplanted him to Jakarta. Now she was uprooting him again, at barely 10, and sending him back alone. She would follow him to Hawaii only to leave him again, less than three years later.’
The important words in these two quotes are ‘transplanting’ and ‘uprooted’. Both words can clearly be seen to be tree related images. Throughout all these profiles it is uncanny how the writers of these profiles choose images to describe their subjects that so obviously correspond with their inherent natural energy in this system, most likely with the author’s ignorance of this system of describing their subjects. In Obama’s case, it is significant to keep this in mind when we see that he eventually moves to the south side of Chicago where he becomes a community organizer:
A tree lives in one place; a tree can thrive in a certain kind of environment and not in others
‘His excitement [in becoming a community organizer] wasn’t merely rooted in youthful enthusiasm but also in the psychology of a vagabond. By 1985, Obama had already lived in Hawaii, where he was born and raised by his white mother, and grandparents; Indonesia where he lived briefly as a child; Los Angeles, where he started college; and New York where he finished it. After these itinerant years he would finally be able to insinuate himself into a community – and not just any community, but, as he later put it, “the capital of the African American community in the country.”……..an ideal place for an identity-starved Kenyan Kansan to immerse himself in a more typical black American experience.’ (The New Republic, 3/19/2007)
Once we have this information, gradually a real image develops of how the nature of each kind of energy actually manifests in the person. However, we can also employ this information in other areas; in terms of a person’s health for example. In CCM, the liver and gallbladder and their functions correspond with Tree. If for example, problems connected with being uprooted, transplanted, or of belonging, of having an identity, arise, in a healing situation, then perhaps they might reflect the health condition of that person’s liver/gallbladder function.
This brings up another issue that we can answer by this approach of employing observations. The color green corresponds with Tree, and we can easily understand this correspondence. Indeed the gallbladder itself is green in color, as is the color of bile, which the gallbladder stores. However, why does the liver correspond with Tree? Western science states that the liver stores nourishment; CCM maintains something similar but states it this way: “the liver stores blood”. However, in CCM, “the heart rules blood”. Blood is of course the substance that the heart and circulatory system deliver to each and every cell of the body; blood in CCM corresponds with Fire (no surprise, color wise). In nature, a tree is fuel for a fire; in this theory, the liver stores the fuel that the heart circulates. There is another observation of Tree that can further support this relationship between liver and Tree: a tree grows. Western science tells us the liver is the only organ of the body that can grow back even if 80% has been removed. Thus, we can say that the function of growth in different ways, whether it be in the physical body, or in a field that is completely different, such as in establishing and getting a business going, corresponds with Tree. Let us take a different kind of example. According to the table above, corn corresponds with Fire. Corn grows in summer, the season which corresponds with Fire, so we can easily see the correspondence there. However, if we look at corn from the view of observation of fire, we find there are many more reasons for this correspondence. In addition, from this larger view, we can see how corn shares mutual qualities we find in people, and indeed in other experiences of life:
Corn’s fire nature
Bigness: a fire can become huge
The plant is big, the ear is big, the kernels are the biggest of all the grains.
Bigness in some form is a common theme in the profiles of those born in a 9 Fire year.
Fire stands out
Due to the size of the plant, its upright posture, and the size of the corn ears and the way that the kernels are gathered together on the husk, of all the grains, corn really stands out.
People like to stand out, to entertain, be the center of attention, and so forth, and in so doing they express their Fire.
Fire doesn’t bend from the heat of the sun
The plant doesn’t wilt from the heat of the sun
Those with a strong fire nature tend to have a strong spine; they don’t give up or in, easily.
Fire clings directly to its source of fuel
The kernels are attached directly to the husk.
In us, this observation is connected with issues of security and uncertainty; of our access to energy; basically, for most of us, in earning a living.
Fire envelops, surrounds
The kernels surround the husk.
We express our fire nature of affection to another by hugging.
Fire rises to a point
An ear of corn is cone-shaped
In Chinese face diagnosis, the triangular face is said to be that of the person with a dominant Fire nature. In human nature, the desire to be the best, at the top, the winner, the highest, corresponds with Fire.
Fire has an inexhaustible appetite: fire always wants more.
Corn is a heavy feeder.
The issues of always wanting more, of clinging, and of addiction, correspond with Fire.
Fire can be violent
Other grains puff under heat; corn pops!
We humans use explosives.
Fire needs to be controlled.
The kernels are arranged in rows.
Arranging people in rows is a severe form of control, but a necessary restraint in some cases to the potential expression in them of fire’s violent energy. The most obvious example comes from the military which corresponds with Fire, where soldiers, carrying firearms, march in rows, in form. I suggest that we see this same idea in nature in an ear of corn; arranging kernels in rows counters the potential extreme expansive nature of a food produced when the energy of the year is at its most expansive.
Ki Review
These examples give some idea of what I am trying to do, which leads me to my journal Ki Review, in which I plan to make regular submissions, ideally every week. Mostly, I want to focus on current events and people in the news, basically “reviewing” issues from the vantage point of ki, but also using these concerns as a leadoff into other areas that I feel relevant to whatever the issue is at hand. The overall concept is one of integration, of showing how things are interconnected at an energetic level, and that an energetic approach can be a simple but highly effective way of understanding and solving issues in all aspects of human life.