Osho Zen Tarot

[sooZen]

I thought I would revive this subject as I had such a ScHisT day yesterday (some days are diamonds, some days are stones...)

Wanted to check and see what came up:

47. Suppression


Zen Tarot Card
Suppression

In Sanskrit the name is alaya vigyan, the house where you go on throwing into the basement things that you want to do but you cannot, because of social conditions, culture, civilization. But they go on collecting there, and they affect your actions, your life, very indirectly. Directly, they cannot face you--you have forced them into darkness, but from the dark side they go on influencing your behavior. They are dangerous, it is dangerous to keep all those inhibitions inside you. It is possible that these are the things that come to a climax when a person goes insane. Insanity is nothing but all these suppressions coming to a point where you cannot control them anymore. But madness is acceptable, while meditation is not--and meditation is the only way to make you absolutely sane.

Osho The Great Zen Master Ta Hui Chapter 11
Commentary:

The figure on this card is quite literally "all tied up in knots". His light still shines within, but he has repressed his own vitality trying to meet so many demands and expectations. He has given up all his own power and vision in return for being accepted by the very same forces that have imprisoned him. The danger of suppressing one's natural energy in this way is apparent in the cracks of a volcanic eruption about to take place around the edges of the image. The real message of the card is to find a healing outlet for this potential explosion. It is essential to find a way to release whatever tensions and stresses might be building up inside you right now. Beat on a pillow, jump up and down, go out into the wilderness and scream at the empty sky--anything to shake up your energy and allow it to circulate freely. Don't wait for a catastrophe to happen.

Hummm, suppression. Okie dokie, I can see that. Too much to do, too many demands on my time, too much and so I suppress my "natural energy." I can relate to that. I am sure not gonna wait until a catastrophe happens, no sirree. I am gonna go for a walk with my dogs and my friend Cactus Mary and we can yell to our hearts content. (I need some "content" right about now.)

What does your card say?

http://www.osho.com/Main.cfm?Area=Magaz ... ge=English

[Arcadia]

today´s card... a ver...:

Letting go

In existence there is nobody who is superior and nobody who is inferior. The blade of grass and the great star are absolutely equal.... But man wants to be higher than others, he wants to conquer nature, hence he has to fight continuously. All complexity arises out of this fight. The innocent person is one who has renounced fighting; who is no longer interested in being higher, who is no longer interested in performing, in proving that he is someone special; who has become like a rose flower or like a dewdrop on the lotus leaf; who has become part of this infinity; who has melted, merged and become one with the ocean and is just a wave; who has no idea of the "I". The disappearance of the ''I" is innocence.

Osho The White Lotus Chapter 6



Commentary:

In this image of lotus leaves in the early morning, we can see in the rippling of the water that one drop has just fallen. It is a precious moment, and one that is full of poignancy. In surrendering to gravity and slipping off the leaf, the drop loses its previous identity and joins the vastness of the water below. We can imagine that it must have trembled before it fell, just on the edge between the known and the unknowable. To choose this card is a recognition that something is finished, something is completing. Whatever it is--a job, a relationship, a home you have loved, anything that might have helped you to define who you are--it is time to let go of it, allowing any sadness but not trying to hold on. Something greater is awaiting you, new dimensions are there to be discovered. You are past the point of no return now, and gravity is doing its work. Go with it--it represents liberation.

I´ll meditate about it!

[sooZen]

35. Abundance


Zen Tarot Card
Abundance

In the East people have condemned the body, condemned matter, called matter "illusory," maya - it does not really exist, it only appears to exist; it is made of the same stuff as dreams are made of. They denied the world, and that is the reason for the East remaining poor, sick, in starvation.

Half of humanity has been accepting the inner world but denying the outer world. The other half of humanity has been accepting the material world and denying the inner world. Both are half, and no man who is half can be contented. You have to be whole: rich in the body, rich in science; rich in meditation, rich in consciousness. Only a whole person is a holy person, according to me.

I want Zorba and Buddha to meet together. Zorba alone is hollow. His dance has not an eternal significance, it is momentary pleasure. Soon he will be tired of it. Unless you have inexhaustible sources, available to you from the cosmos itself...unless you become existential, you cannot become whole. This is my contribution to humanity: the whole person.

Osho Communism and Zen Fire, Zen Wind Chapter 2
Commentary:

This Dionysian character is the very picture of a whole man, a "Zorba the Buddha" who can drink wine, dance on the beach and sing in the rain, and at the same time enjoy the depths of understanding and wisdom that belong to the sage. In one hand he holds a lotus, showing that he respects and contains within himself the grace of the feminine. His exposed chest (an open heart) and relaxed belly show that he is at home with his masculinity as well, utterly self-contained. The four elements of earth, fire, water and sky all conjunct at the King of Rainbows who sits atop the book of the wisdom of life.

If you are a woman, the King of Rainbows brings the support of your own male energies into your life, a union with the soul mate within. For a man, this card represents a time of breaking through the conventional male stereotypes and allowing the fullness of the whole human being to shine forth.

Cool! Since I am about to leave town to see my Mom and family, I am happy to share my abundance with them!

[hester_prynne]

SooZen, thank you for bringin this back!!!!!It needs to be here! So glad to see you here! All of you!!!!!
H

Osho Zen Tarot
78. Maturity

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Maturity


The distinction between the grasses and the blossoms is the same as between you not knowing that you are a buddha, and the moment you know that you are a buddha. In fact, there is no way to be otherwise. Buddha is completely blossomed, fully opened. His lotuses, his petals, have come to a completion.... Certainly, to be full of spring yourself is far more beautiful than the autumn dew falling on the lotus leaves. That is one of the most beautiful things to watch: when autumn dew falls on the lotus leaves and shine in the morning sun like real pearls. But of course it is a momentary experience. As the sun rises, the autumn dew starts evaporating.... This temporary beauty cannot be compared, certainly, with an eternal spring in your being. You look back as far as you can and it has always been there. You look forward as much as you can, and you will be surprised: it is your very being. Wherever you are it will be there, and the flowers will continue to shower on you. This is spiritual spring.

Osho No Mind: The Flowers of Eternity Chapter 5



Commentary:

This figure stands alone, silent and yet alert. The inner being is filled with flowers--that carry the quality of springtime and regenerate wherever he goes. This inner flowering and the wholeness that he feels affords the possibility of unlimited movement. He can move in any direction--within and without it makes no difference as his joy and and maturity cannot be diminished by externals. He has come to a time of centeredness and expansiveness--the white glow around the figure is his protection and his light. All of life's experiences have brought him to this time of perfection. When you draw this card, know well this moment carries a gift--for hard work well done. Your base is solid now and success and good fortune are yours for they are the outcome of what has already been experienced within.

[SadLuckDame]

I had the same card as Arcadia. Thanks sooZen, a nice fun for me, as I enjoy this type of thing very much, too.

[sooZen]

Why you are most welcome Hes...I think it needs to be, here, now too!

and welcome SLD, I have used the Osho Zen Tarot for many, many years and always appreciate the wisdom there in...

Today:

76. Ripeness


Zen Tarot Card
Ripeness

Only if your meditation has brought you a light that shines in every night will even death not be a death to you but a door to the divine. With the light in your heart, death itself is transformed into a door, and you enter into the universal spirit; you become one with the ocean. And unless you know the oceanic experience, you have lived in vain. Now is always the time, and the fruit is always ripe. You just need to gather courage to enter into your inner forest. The fruit is always ripe and the time is always the right time. There is no such thing as wrong time.

Osho A Sudden Clash of Thunder Chapter 6
Commentary:

When the fruit is ripe, it drops from the tree by itself. One moment it hangs by a thread from the branches of the tree, bursting with juice. The next moment it falls--not because it has been forced to fall, or has made the effort to jump, but because the tree has recognized its ripeness and simply let it go. When this card appears in a reading it indicates that you are ready to share your inner riches, your 'juice'. All you need to do is relax right where you are, and be willing for it to happen. This sharing of yourself, this expression of your creativity, can come in many ways--in your work, your relationships, your everyday life experiences. No special preparation or effort on your part is required. It is simply the right time.

Well, I am ready and willin'! All I need to do is wait for the right time and 'juice' sharing is in the offing and that time is NOW. Hah!

[sooZen]

Today, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed with all that needs doing. This card was a good reminder of what is really of import in my life and how very lucky I am to have a lover on the highest level.

6. The Lovers


Zen Tarot Card
The Lovers

These three things are to be taken note of: the lowest love is sex - it is physical - and the highest refinement of love is compassion. Sex is below love, compassion is above love; love is exactly in the middle.

Very few people know what love is. Ninety-nine percent of people, unfortunately, think sexuality is love - it is not. Sexuality is very animal; it certainly has the potential of growing into love, but it is not actual love, only a potential....

If you become aware and alert, meditative, then sex can be transformed into love. And if your meditativeness becomes total, absolute, love can be transformed into compassion. Sex is the seed, love is the flower, compassion is the fragrance.

Buddha has defined compassion as love plus meditation. When your love is not just a desire for the other, when your love is not only a need, when your love is a sharing, when your love is not that of a beggar but an emperor, when your love is not asking for something in return but is ready only to give - to give for the sheer joy of giving - then add meditation to it and the pure fragrance is released. That is compassion; compassion is the highest phenomenon.

Osho Zen, Zest, Zip, Zap and Zing Chapter 3
Commentary:

What we call love is really a whole spectrum of relating, reaching from the earth to the sky. At the most earthy level, love is sexual attraction. Many of us remain stuck there, because our conditioning has burdened our sexuality with all kinds of expectations and repressions. Actually the biggest "problem" with sexual love is that it never lasts. Only if we accept this fact can we then really celebrate it for what it is - welcome its happening, and say good-bye with gratitude when it's not.

Then, as we mature, we can begin to experience the love that exists beyond sexuality and honors the unique individuality of the other. We begin to understand that our partner often functions as a mirror, reflecting unseen aspects of our deeper self and supporting us to become whole.

This love is based in freedom, not expectation or need. Its wings take us higher and higher towards the universal love that experiences all as one.

Just about perfect...

[sooZen]

I was in need of some wisdom today... Sometimes it all seems so overwhelming, just the day to day stuff that piles up. Osho always seems to have a solution when I need it. My flawed guru, my imperfect teacher and guide sent me this:

Going With The Flow

When I say "become water" I mean become a flow; don't remain stagnant. Move, and move like water. Lao Tzu says: The way of the Tao is a watercourse way. It moves like water. What is the movement of water? or of a river? The movement has a few beautiful things about it. One, it always moves towards the depth, it always searches for the lowest ground. It is non-ambitious; it never hankers to be the first, it wants to be the last. Remember, Jesus says: Those who are the last here will be the first in my kingdom of God. He is talking about the watercourse way of Tao--not mentioning it, but talking about it. Be the last, be non-ambitious. Ambition means going uphill. Water goes down, it searches for the lowest ground, it wants to be a nonentity. It does not want to declare itself unique, exceptional, extraordinary. It has no ego idea.

Osho Take it Easy, Volume 1 Chapter 14



Commentary:

The figure in this card is completely relaxed and at ease in the water, letting it take him where it will. He has mastered the art of being passive and receptive without being dull or sleepy. He is just available to the currents of life, with never a thought of saying "I don't like that," or "I prefer to go the other way." Every moment in life we have a choice whether to enter life's waters and float, or to try to swim upstream. When this card appears in a reading it is an indication that you are able to float now, trusting that life will support you in your relaxation and take you exactly where it wants you to go. Allow this feeling of trust and relaxation to grow more and more; everything is happening exactly as it should.

As so it is, the watercourse way... The stream of my consciousness sometimes has rapids, waterfalls and rocks aplenty and sometimes meanders lazily, still and deep. Sometimes I try to swim upstream but I am not as resilient as a salmon and they die after their arduous journey, don't they? So I will go with the flow, let life take me where it will and enjoy the view while I can.

[Arcadia]

beautiful reflexiones Soozen...!

I had today a difficult morning, not in my best humor I guess, but I could manage to laugh with myself in little break- hours...! Today´s card made me smile...!


Osho Zen Tarot
0. The Fool
Try Again

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The Fool


A fool is one who goes on trusting; a fool is one who goes on trusting against all his experience. You deceive him, and he trusts you; and you deceive him again, and he trusts you; and you deceive him again, and he trusts you. Then you will say that he is a fool, he does not learn. His trust is tremendous; his trust is so pure that nobody can corrupt it.

Be a fool in the Taoist sense, in the Zen sense. Don´t try to create a wall of knowledge around you. Whatsoever experience comes to you, let it happen, and then go on dropping it. Go on cleaning your mind continuously; go on dying to the past so you remain in the present, herenow, as if just born, just a babe.

In the beginning it is going to be very difficult. The world will start taking advantage of you...let them. They are poor fellows. Even if you are cheated and deceived and robbed, let it happen, because that which is really yours cannot be robbed from you, that which is really yours nobody can steal from you.

And each time you don´t allow situations to corrupt you, that opportunity will become an integration inside. Your soul will become more crystallized.

Osho Dang Dang Doko Dang Chapter 2



Commentary:

Moment to moment, and with every step, the Fool leaves the past behind. He carries nothing more than his purity, innocence and trust, symbolized by the white rose in his hand. The pattern on his waistcoat contains the colors of all four elements of the tarot, indicating that he is in harmony with all that surrounds him. His intuition is functioning at its peak. At this moment the Fool has the support of the universe to make this jump into the unknown. Adventures await him in the river of life.

The card indicates that if you trust your intuition right now, your feeling of the 'rightness' of things, you cannot go wrong. Your actions may appear 'foolish' to others, or even to yourself, if you try to analyze them with the rational mind. But the 'zero' place occupied by the Fool is the numberless number where trust and innocence are the guides, not skepticism and past experience.

[sooZen]

Ahhhh Arcadia, the Fool is a beautiful card actually because it represents our innocence, our inner child, our journey in life. Trust our instincts it tells us and most of us don't even know what our instinctual self is...

All the rest of nature knows, everything is instinctual, but we humans have seemingly lost that ability to trust our inner "knowing" in favor of our huge intellects. We "see" without really seeing, we "hear" without really listening, we "feel" without really touching and so it goes.

I like the Fool. He/she has no fear, is ripe for adventure and trusts unconditionally his/her inner voice.


Today, we have to set up for the biggest show we do all year. I have been running around like crazy trying to get everything ready, worrying that I won't be ready. Trying to do too much because of my insecurity and because I want it to go "perfectly." This is my card:

Zen Tarot Card
Change

Life repeats itself mindlessly - unless you become mindful, it will go on repeating like a wheel. That's why Buddhists call it the wheel of life and death, the wheel of time. It moves like a wheel: birth is followed by death, death is followed by birth; love is followed by hate, hate is followed by love; success is followed by failure, failure is followed by success.

Just see! If you can watch just for a few days, you will see a pattern emerging, a wheel pattern. One day, a fine morning, you are feeling so good and so happy, and another day you are so dull, so dead that you start thinking of committing suicide. And just the other day you were so full of life, so blissful that you were feeling thankful to God, that you were in a mood of deep gratefulness, and today there is great complaint and you don't see the point why one should go on living.... And it goes on and on, but you don't see the pattern. Once you see the pattern, you can get out of it.

Osho Take it Easy, Volume 1 Chapter 7



Commentary:

The symbol in this card is an enormous wheel representing time, fate, karma. Galaxies spin around this constantly moving circle, and the twelve signs of the zodiac appear on its circumference. Just inside the circumference are the eight trigrams of the I Ching, and even closer to the center are the four directions, each illuminated by the energy of lightning. The spinning triangle is at this moment pointed upward, toward the divine, and the Chinese symbol of yin and yang, male and female, creative and receptive, lies at the center.

It has often been said that the only unchanging thing in the world is change itself. Life is continuously changing, evolving, dying and being reborn. All opposites play a part in this vast circular pattern. If you cling to the edge of the wheel you can get dizzy! Move toward the center of the cyclone and relax, knowing that this too will pass.

My Mom is fond of saying to me, "this too will pass" when I am in the midst of change that seems unbearable or just challenging. And of course, she is right, it does and all goes on as it should.

I guess I am "dizzy" from all the things that needed to be done, or I thought needed doing. Center my "self" is good advice and what will happen, happens (as it should.)

[Arcadia]

also like the fool card, love the image! Hope you are having a great show now!!

today´s card:

Osho Zen Tarot
23. The Creator


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The Creator


There are two types of creators in the world. One type of creator works with objects - a poet, a painter, they work with objects, they create things. The other type of creator, the mystic, creates himself. He doesn't work with objects, he works with the subject; he works on himself, his own being. And he is the real creator, the real poet, because he makes himself into a masterpiece.

You are carrying a masterpiece hidden within you, but you are standing in the way. Just move aside, then the masterpiece will be revealed. Everyone is a masterpiece, because God never gives birth to anything less than that. Everyone carries that masterpiece hidden for many lives, not knowing who they are and just trying on the surface to become someone.

Drop the idea of becoming someone, because you are already a masterpiece. You cannot be improved. You have only to come to it, to know it, to realize it. God himself has created you; you cannot be improved.Osho Ah, This! Chapter 1



Commentary:

The Zen master in this card has harnessed the energy of fire and is able to use it for creation rather than destruction. He invites us to recognize and participate with him in the understanding that belongs to those who have mastered the fires of passion, without repressing them or allowing them to get destructive and out of balance. He is so integrated that there is no longer any difference between who he is inside and who he is in the world outside. He offers this gift of understanding and integration to all those who come to him, the gift of creative light that comes from the center of his being.

The King of Fire tells us that anything that we undertake now, with the understanding that comes from maturity, will bring enrichment to our own lives and to the lives of others. Using whatever skills you have, whatever you have learned from your own life experience, it is time to express yourself.

[Arcadia]

well, I guess with the years I´m learning to express what I want to say without passion playing against the situation most of the time!
This week will be the last week with all the kids at school and last friday we happily did with the kids and my co-worker and friend, the math and natural sciences teacher, a kind of fair (most of us use to do it all the years, but this year the direction of the school priorizied instead a looong written evaluation...) to show some of the things they/we learnt and shared togheter this so peculiar year!. We had some authorities resistance and schedule imprevistos but we could do it and all of us (including the parents who assisted) enjoyed it a lot! Now, the kids have to end the formal evaluation tomorrow and I have to submerge in papers all the week but with renewed energies!

[sooZen]

Yes, I know how difficult it can be to master your emotions or integrate your passions and just let the creativity flow without getting caught up in the fire(s) of the moment. Especially when others around you are fueling the flames.

This card (Creativity) is always an indicator to me that I am approaching a situation I am facing with a mature (and sensible) attitude. Whatever I am trying to create will be fruitful and meaningful. Good card for you Arcadia!

Our big show is now over. Saturday, the moon was in Capricorn (materialistic earth sign) and it was great for us. I even went home and made more stuff for Sunday. But then Sunday, the moon went into Aquarius (not materialistic but free from materials air sign) and it was very slow, no one was buying. O well, so it goes. It was a fun show and the weather was beautiful!

My card today:

Experiencing


Zen Tarot Card
Experiencing

You just look around, look into the eyes of a child, or into the eyes of your beloved, your mother, your friend - or just feel a tree. Have you ever hugged a tree? Hug a tree, and one day you will come to know that it is not only that you have hugged the tree but that the tree also responds, the tree also hugs you. Then for the first time you will be able to know that the tree is not just the form, it is not just a certain species the botanists talk about, it is an unknown God - so green in your courtyard, so full of flowers in your courtyard, so close to you, beckoning you, calling you again and again.

Osho Dang Dang Doko Dang Chapter 2
Commentary:

An "experience" is something that can be filed away in a notebook, or captured on film and pasted into an album. 'Experiencing' is the feeling of wonder itself, the thrill of communion, the gentle touch of our connectedness with all that surrounds us.

The woman in this card is not just touching this tree, she is in communion with it, she has almost become one with it. It is an old tree, and has seen many hard times. Her touch is gentle, reverent, and the white on the inside of her cape reflects the purity of her heart. She is humble, simple - and that is the right way to approach nature. Nature doesn't bang any drums when it bursts forth into flower, nor play any dirges when the trees let go of their leaves in the fall. But when we approach her in the right spirit, she has many secrets to share.

If you haven't heard nature whispering to you lately, now is a good time to give her the opportunity.

Ahhh, time for me to relax a bit, sit on my outside deck and watch the birds, play with my dogs, go for walks, enjoy the sky, the trees and the see what "secrets" nature will share. Sounds good to me!

[sooZen]

Was feeling (watch out Soo!) a bit discomforted today. Many things seem to be going South, breaking down, not working out or just darn expensive to boot. There are days like this and I know they will pass just as this mood I am in will too.

Here is my card today:

Courage


Zen Tarot Card
Courage

The seed cannot know what is going to happen, the seed has never known the flower. And the seed cannot even believe that he has the potentiality to become a beautiful flower. Long is the journey, and it is always safer not to go on that journey because unknown is the path, nothing is guaranteed.

Nothing can be guaranteed. Thousand and one are the hazards of the journey, many are the pitfalls - and the seed is secure, hidden inside a hard core. But the seed tries, it makes an effort; it drops the hard shell which is its security, it starts moving. Immediately the fight starts: the struggle with the soil, with the stones, with the rocks. And the seed was very hard and the sprout will be very, very soft and dangers will be many.

There was no danger for the seed, the seed could have survived for millennia, but for the sprout many are the dangers. But the sprout starts towards the unknown, towards the sun, towards the source of light, not knowing where, not knowing why. Great is the cross to be carried, but a dream possesses the seed and the seed moves.

The same is the path for man. It is arduous. Much courage will be needed.

Osho Dang Dang Doko Dang Chapter 4
Commentary:

This card shows a small wildflower that has met the challenge of the rocks and stones in its path to emerge into the light of day. Surrounded by an aura of bright golden light, it exposes the majesty of its tiny self. Unashamed, it is equal to the brightest sun.

When we are faced with a very difficult situation we have a choice: we can either be resentful, and try to find somebody or something to blame for the hardships, or we can face the challenge and grow.

The flower shows us the way, as its passion for life leads it out of the darkness and into the light. There is no point fighting against the challenges of life, or trying to avoid or deny them. They are there, and if the seed is to become the flower we must go through them. Be courageous enough to grow into the flower you are meant to be.

So, I must face the challenge(s) and grow on...

[Arcadia]

today´s card:

Beyond illusion


This is the only distinction between the dream and the real: reality allows you to doubt, and the dream does not allow you to doubt....

To me, the capacity to doubt is one of the greatest blessings to humanity. The religions have been enemies because they have been cutting the very roots of doubt, and there is a reason why they have been doing that: because they want people to believe in certain illusions that they have been preaching....

Why have the people like Gautam Buddha been so insistent that the whole existence - except your witnessing self, except your awareness - is just ephemeral, made of the same stuff as dreams are made of? They are not saying that these trees are not there. They are not saying that these pillars are not there. Don't misunderstand because of the word "illusion".... It has been translated as illusion, but illusion is not the right word.

Illusion does not exist. Reality exists. Maya is just in between - it almost exists. As far as day-to-day activities are concerned, it can be taken as reality. Only in the ultimate sense, from the peak of your illumination, does it become unreal, illusory.
Osho The Great Zen Master Ta Hui Chapter 12

Commentary:
The butterfly in this card represents the outer, that which is constantly moving and that which is not real but an illusion. Behind the butterfly is the face of consciousness, looking inward to that which is eternal. The space between the two eyes has opened, revealing the lotus of spiritual unfoldment and the rising sun of awareness.

Through the rising of the inner sun, meditation is born. The card reminds us not to look outside for what is real, but to look within. When we focus on externals, we too often get caught up in judgments - this is good, this is bad, I want this, I don't want that. These judgments keep us trapped in our illusions, our sleepiness, our old habits and patterns.

Drop your opinionated mind and move inside. There, you can relax into your own deepest truth, where the difference between dreams and reality is already known.