Sabian Symbols: Two men playing chess
This universal idea is best expressed through planets in
Sagittarius 3 (2° - 3°)STRATEGIC TRAINING
Life must be strategically managed if we want to know happiness and success "Carefully choosing the optimal path" One cannot excel at chess by allowing passions to occlude clarity of mind, so too in life. There is always another person to come up against as we pursue our agenda and to cope with this we need to take into account the other side of things. Where there is push there is always push-back; strategy is always met by counter-strategy, and thus relationship evolves. So too does our ability to find more subtle processes of mind – the way to reflect on the likely results and implications of our choices.
Rudhyar: TWO MEN PLAYING CHESS |
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Two men playing chess
Ability |
The master sees with broad vision yet concentrates focus on only one outcome
There are those whose suffering causes them to believe that suffering is inevitable; this leads to furthering of victimhood. In order effectively to participate in life this attitude needs to be corrected. To profit in every situation we need first to accept full responsibility for having brought it upon ourselves. With this highly mature and self-empowering approach we are motivated to raise our skills, to discipline our understandings and to mobilise our fullest potential. Like the two chess players, we have chosen to engage on equal terms with life in order to refine who we are and what we can do, presumably, enjoying the process. A secondary aspect of the development of our abilities has to do with how we present them to the world. We find that exactitude and bigotry tend to be disliked and so are usually counterproductive. Challenges and other events that call for a high degree of confidence, and the authority of ability, are often fraught and require sensitive management, so any attempt to claim importance can undermine our effectiveness. What does in fact optimise our ability to hold sway and resolve events to our satisfaction is concentration. The quality of genius is dependent upon sustained, single-pointed focus. Yet this is only one side. On the other hand, we also need such a wide panorama of vision that we embrace all possibilities. The chess master sees all the potential moves and keeps them all in mind. Thus we see the formula for success – broad vision and pinpoint focus. Each of these is a skill to be identified, developed, nurtured and practised, and yet they only begin to operate when we sit down at the table to play with a realistic hope of winning. |