“The best ruler is the one whose existence is not noticed.
Somewhat worse is the one to which the people are attached.
Even worse is the one that the people are afraid of.
And worse than all rulers is the one whom the people despise.
The people are the basis for the rulers. They are low – the basis for high. Therefore, rulers who elevate themselves do not have a strong position, because they do not consider the people as their basis … ”
Lao Tzu
If you think of this ruler as the “King in the head” which is our mind, it is easy to draw an analogy where the people are a metaphor for the body and feelings.
When he knows how to perform his function and truly serves a creation, care for an integral system, does not exalt himself and does not identify himself with the foundation, then the psyche moves along the path of development, as well as a wisely built policy of the state.
If our mind begins to play its games and reproduces total and sole power, according to the establishment of the Ego in the rank of a god, the whole person discovers a violation of harmony in the hierarchy.
If I afraid important part of myself, it create anxiety, loss of support, depression, apathy and despondency. Creative ideas cannot be realized in such an inner atmosphere. A person acts from the position of “need” and “should”, more then from a free impulse. The body is clamped and constrained by fear, and suppressed feelings.
But what struck me most about this quote – worst ruler is the one whom the people despise.
And how precisely this idea express on the internal dynamics of the psyche. After all, if I despise in myself the one I had to follow and rely on, then I am in chaos. There is no structure inside me that centers the processes, which gives a vector and directs the creative flow. Moreover, any attempts to create something are devalued and scolded. There is no creation, only self-destruction remains.
I do not have a short answer what to do if you find in your head a king whom you despise. But I hope this post will give you the opportunity to look in this direction and perhaps see the reason for the recurring problems. Let me just say that in my personal history, it took several years of therapy to build my system in a harmonious order. In some aspects, work is still ongoing.