Trustfullness:
The Chinese symbols evoke an inner sense of trust in others and ourselves, the courage to follow the natural evolution of things, and the willingness to take responsibility as the person entrusted with this awareness and clarity. The red chop symbolizes the eternal knot.

Tao te Ching
---10---

Can you coax your mind from its wandering
And keep to the original oneness?
Can you let your body become
Supple as a newborn child’s?
Can you cleanse your inner vision
Until you see nothing but the light?
Can you love people and lead them
Without imposing your will?
Can you deal with the most vital matters
By letting events take their course?
Can you step back from your own mind
And thus understand all things?

Giving birth and nourishing,
Having without processing,
Acting with no expectations,
Leading and not trying to control:
This is the supreme virtue.

Emptiness:
 The Chinese symbols depict an empty space to be filled and refilled as long as this “fertile void” is maintained in our awareness of eternal renewal. When a natural forest fire ignites, a clearing is revealed with the promise of new life. The red chop represents chi energy or life force.

Tao te Ching
---12---

Color blinds the eye.
Sound deafens the ear.
Flavors numb the taste.
Thoughts weaken the mind.
Desires wither the heart.

The master observes the world
But trusts his inner vision.
He allows things to come and go.
His heart is open as the sky.

Love:
is the life force breathed into the Heart/Mind
“flower center” of harmonizing human relationships.
Tao te Ching

Tao te Ching
---15---

The ancient Masters were profound and subtle.
Their wisdom was unfathomable
There is no way to describe it;
All we can describe is their appearance.

They were careful
A someone crossing an iced-over stream.
Alert as a warrior in enemy territory.
Courteous as a guest.
Fluid as melting ice.
Shapeable as a block of wood.
Receptive as a valley.
Clear as a glass of water.

Do you have the patience to wait
Till your mud settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving
Till the right action arises by itself?

The master doesn’t seek fulfillment.
Not seeking, not expecting,
She is present, and can welcome all things.

Self-acceptance:
 The Chinese Symbols describe a person who has full awareness of self in body, mind, and spirit. This person’s cener of consciousness (hsing or “heart flower”) is in full bloom, ready to receive power from above, openly relating to and being reflected by others. The red chop is the symbol of essence.

Tao te Ching
---21---

The Master keeps her mind
Always at one with the Tao;
That is what gives her her radiance.

The Tao is ungraspable.
How can her mind be at one with it?
Because she doesn’t cling to ideas.

The Tao is dark and unfathomable.
How can it make her radiant?
Because she lets it.

Since before time and space were,
The Tao is.
It is beyond is and is not
How do I know this is true?
I look inside myself and see.

Fire:
primal Breath of the lifeforce awakening and igniting

Tao te Ching
--49---

The Master has no mind of her own.
She works with the mind of the people.

She is good to people who are good.
She is also good to people who aren’t good.
This is true goodness.

She trusts people who are trustworthy.
She also trusts people who aren’t trustworthy.
This is the truest trust.

The Master’s mind is like space.
People don’t understand her.
They look to her and wait.
She treats them like her own children.

Water:
unformed Fountain of awakeness flowing and purifying

Tao te Ching
---65---

The ancient Masters
Didn’t try to educate the people,
But kindly taught them to not-know.

When they think that they know the answers,
People are difficult to guide.
When they know that they don’t know,
People can find their own way.

If you want to learn how to govern,
Avoid being clever or rich.
The simplest pattern is the clearest.
Content with an ordinary life,
You can show all people the way
Back to their own true nature.

Wood:
boundless Expansion of energy unfolding and blossoming

Tao te Ching
---76---

Men are born soft and supple;
Dead, they are stiff and hard.
Plants are born tender and pliant;
Dead, they are brittle and dry.

Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible
Is a disciple of death.
Whoever is soft and yielding
Is a disciple of life.

The hard and stiff will be broken
The soft and supple will prevail.

Inner Stillness:
The Chinese symbols represent the inner peace attained by being at ease with the gentle and feminine Yin, the receptive self, and the calmness and clarity that is attained without striving. The red chop symbolizes sudden enlightenment.

Tao te Ching
---17---

When the Master governs, the people
Are hardly aware that he exists.
Next best is a leader who is loved.
Next, one who is feared.
The worst is one who is despised.

If you don’t trust the people,
You make them untrustworthy.

The Master doesn’t talk, he acts.
When his work is done,
The people say, “Amazing:
We did it, all by ourselves!