A template is a pattern used to make an exact copy. My fiancee uses a cardboard template to cut out a piece of paper that will cover the insides of a book. This way she doesn’t need to keep measuring the dimensions of the paper over and over again. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a template for living?
When I think of the whole of life, I think of a big circle. That’s the original template. The big circle suggests zero, nothing. Nothingness suggests no answer or many answers to life. Never think you know it all and know there is infinite possibility. This reminds you to be humble.
Going from the big “0”, the next template might be the old “yin/yang” sign, or the taichi. This is the circle with the “S” dividing it, like the symbol for Safeway. The taichi symbol has a dark dot in the bright half, and a light dot in the dark half. This suggests that within the two primary forces of the universe, yin and yang, there is a little yang in yin, and there is a little yin in yang; nothing is absolutely one way. Each half of the taichi looks like a stylized version of a fish. As you go to the head of one fish, you are near the tail of the other fish. This means that you create the opposite when you go too far with what you are doing. The taichi suggests that life consists of never-ending changes in combinations of yin and yang, going one way or to its opposite.
How about 3 divisions to the whole of life? The Christians use the trinity. People talk about mind, body, and spirit. The Aryuvedic philosophy speaks of the three doshas. You see three divisions in the tri-colored symbol of the Korean Olympics.
A template with 4 divisions could be the elements in astrology: earth, air, fire, and water. Western philosophers spoke of the four humors: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile.
The No. “5” template is one I like. I have created five main areas of life: mind, body, money, sex, and love and the 5 Natural Success principles: I am, Truth, Balance, Whole, Creation. Chinese medicine uses 5 elements: wood, earth, fire, water, metal.
The next progression might be “8”. The Chinese set up 8 trigrams, the “bagua”. Their symbol is an eight-sided octagonal shape with sets of three lines on each side. Some lines in the set of three are broken in two; some are not. There are only 8 ways to combine broken and unbroken lines in sets of three. They are like 8 directions of the compass. Whereas the taichi suggests 2 main forces, the bagua suggests 8.
Twelve is a good template. It is used in astrology and the months of the year. There were also 12 apostles of Christ. Each represents some aspect of the whole.
The final template to consider has 64 parts. This is taken from the “I Ching”, a Chinese book of divination. This suggests that life has 64 aspects. Why 64? They put together 2 baguas or trigrams and came up with 64 hexagrams. Too many more than 64 would be impossible to remember; less than 64 would not be sufficient to distinguish all the aspects of the whole.
Please be aware of the templates that you use in your life. Also consider the many templates that you may have not considered and that you may create to make your life a Natural Success.