DIANE DIMOND - TAROT

[EMPATHY]

I asked about Diane Dimond and her pursuit of Michael for 16 years I find this meditation on zen tarot more than interesting. I think you will too it should answer your questions.





Compromise



Don't be clever, otherwise you will remain the same, you will not change. Half-techniques on the path of love and half-techniques on the path of meditation will create much confusion in you. They will not help.... But to ask for help is against the ego, so you try to compromise. This compromise will be more dangerous, it will confuse you more because, made out of confusion, it will create more confusion. So try to understand why you hanker for compromise. Sooner or later you will be able to understand that compromise is not going to help. And compromise may be a way of not going in either direction, or it may be just a repression of your confusion. It will assert itself. Never repress anything, be clear-cut about your situation. And if you are confused, remember that you are confused. This will be the first clear-cut thing about you: that you are confused. You have started on the journey.


In the courts of ancient Japan, the male attendants were often selected from the ranks of petty criminals who were castrated. Because of their intimate familiarity with the activities of the court, they were often at the center of the political and social intrigues and exercised a great deal of power behind the scenes. The two figures on this card remind us of the sleazy and conspiratorial situations we can get into when we compromise our own truth. It is one thing to meet another halfway, to understand a point of view different from our own and work towards a harmony of the opposing forces. It is quite another to "cave in" and betray our own truth. If we look deeply into it, we usually find that we are trying to gain something--whether it is power or the approval of others. If you are tempted, beware: the rewards of this kind of compromise always leave a bitter taste in the mouth.

[EMPATHY]

A good explaination of this card.



"To reach a compromise is supposed to be a good thing - yet if you think of it, it is the result where no-one is happy! - yet to be compromised is definitely not good. Where does one start and the other end. Look at 'the other' in the situation - it is usually a mirror of some part of you, frequently the bit you do not want to acknowledge, which is why it is so hard to agree.

The card is unattractive, even ugly. The colours are muddy, the skin tones green (envy?). The two of them, although almost twins, are so aware of one another, bodies turned slightly away, but faces turned enough to see out of the corner of the eye, just in case the other starts something. Their little fingers touch, but not lovingly. They are hunched up, from hiding in corners listening to things they shouldn't hear, trying to gain an advantage over the other one.

Sixes are supposed to show success, but in the RWS six of pentacles it is not really clear whether the one who gives or the one who gets is the successful one. That idea fits well with this Compromise card - who is it that gets the gratification?
I realise that I have had a habit of thinking I am reaching a compromise, only to find out that I am actually giving in, and 'the other' is gaining the upper hand, or getting far more of what they want.

Realising this, and being willing to continue, means that I have put peace well above my own self. And you know, most often that wasn't so bad, after all. It may at first have seemed like caving in, but being willing to give up any thought of power for myself worked well in the end.

I do not need power over someone else - I need it over myself. Letting other things go, however, does not mean I need to compromise my own self. Seeing the difference has been a huge education, all in itself."

[EMPATHY]

I asked about the future of Diane Dimond.



RECEPTIVITY



Listening is one of the basic secrets of entering into the temple of God. Listening means passivity. Listening means forgetting yourself completely - only then can you listen.

When you listen attentively to somebody, you forget yourself. If you cannot forget yourself, you never listen. If you are too self-conscious about yourself, you simply pretend that you are listening - you don't listen. You may nod your head; you may sometimes say yes and no, but you are not listening.

When you listen, you become just a passage, a passivity, a receptivity, a womb: you become feminine. And to arrive one has to become feminine. You cannot reach God as aggressive invaders, conquerors. You can reach God only...or it will be better to say God can reach you only when you are receptive, a feminine receptivity. When you become yin, a receptivity, the door is open - and you wait. Listening is the art for becoming passive.

Receptivity represents the feminine, receptive quality of water and of the emotions. Her arms are extended upwards to receive, and she is completely immersed in the water. She has no head, no busy and aggressive mind to hinder her pure receptivity. And as she is filled she is continuously emptying herself, overflowing, and receiving more. The lotus pattern or matrix that emerges from her represents the perfect harmony of the universe that becomes apparent when we are in tune with it.

The Queen of Water brings a time of unboundedness and gratitude for whatever life brings, without any expectations or demands. Neither duty or thought of merit or reward are important. Sensitivity, intuition and compassion are the qualities that shine forth now, dissolving all the obstacles that keep us separate from each other and from the whole.

Dianes future is being told to LISTEN - zen tarot is giving her guidance to Listen before speaking. She may or may not learn that lesson.

This is still another card in this deck that has me thinking, "Yep. I need to work on this." I admit I'm occasionally guilty of nodding my head and making appropriate noises during a conversation while thinking of what I'm going to say next. Maybe I would be a better listener If I had a beautiful receptive lotus blossom instead of a head.

Her situation would remind us of the classic zen story about the university professor who has been invited to have tea with a Zen master. While the Master is serving the tea, the professor goes on and on about his own views of Zen. The Master listens politely while filling the professor's cup with tea. The master keeps pouring until the cup overflows. As tea goes everywhere, the professor cries out "enough! the cup is already full. The tea is overflowing." "Like this cup," the Master calmly responds, "you are full of your own opinions and speculations. How can I show you Zen unless you first empty your cup?"



"We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak." Epictetus

This card is a card of water which like the tides will come and go - she has to accept her importance in the future is going to be like that tide unless she attains passivity and the ability to listen.

If she does not listen - then perhaps she will find her future is like that tide.

This woman should take up YOGA she needs to be more peaceful to herself - then she could understand true intuition which she does not seem to recognise because of her own full opinion and speculations are always uppermost in her mind.