Today: Summer Solstice – “In a time of conflict, do not push against the adversary” – I Ching

In a time of conflict, do not push against the adversary.  Do not give the opponent anything to push back against.  There no viable option to withdraw completely, so you must find it within you to resolve it.  Be very still, contemplate in Shuniya.  Then engage at the right time.

Read the text from Richard Wilhelm's translation of the I Ching

When meeting an impasse, the Superior Person turns his gaze within, and views the obstacle from a new perspective.
Offer your opponent nothing to resist.
Let a sage guide you in this.
Good fortune lies along this course.The Obstacle lies in obstinance.
An insistence on only one way of proceeding has brought things to an impasse.
You may either continue banging your head with irresistible force against this immovable object, or you might step back and survey this situation from a fresh perspective.
This refers to a man who has already left the world and its tumult behind him. When the time of obstructions arrives, it might seem that the simplest thing for him to do would be to turn his back upon the world and take refuge in the beyond. But this road is barred to him. He must not seek his own salvation and abandon the world to its adversity. Duty calls him back once more into the turmoil of life. Precisely because of his experience and inner freedom, he is able to create something both great and complete that brings good fortune. And it is favorable to see the great man in alliance with whom one can achieve the work of rescue.
True quiet means keeping still when the time has come to keep still, and going forward when the time has come to go forward. In this way rest and movement are in agreement with the demands of the time, and thus there is light in life.
The hexagram signifies the end and the beginning of all movement. The back is named because in the back are located all the nerve fibres that mediate movement. If the movement of these spinal nerves is brought to a standstill, the ego, with its restlessness, disappears as it were. When a man has thus become calm, he may turn to the outside world. He no longer sees in it the struggle and tumult of individual beings, and therefore he has that true peace of mind which is needed for understanding the great laws of the universe and for acting in harmony with them. Whoever acts from these deep levels makes no mistakes.

Meditation

Tao Te Ching – Verse 47

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Today: I Ching

 

Tao Te Ching – Verse 47 – Without opening your door, you can open your heart to the world

47
Without opening your door,
you can open your heart to the world.
Without looking out your window,
you can see the essence of the Tao.

 

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Today: “Spirituality and Godhead” – Yogi Bhajan

Spirituality and Godhead does not mean that if I meditate all the time I am very spiritual. Spirituality does mean that I am perfect in my spirit as far as my relationship is concerned on all levels of consciousness.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation

Today: “We have not been here before.  It is all new to us.” – I Ching

We have not been here before.  It is all new to us.  Having no prior experience it’s not easy to read the situation.  Watch, listen, study, contemplate, then step lightly but decisively on.
Keep in touch with your inner being.  Cultivate relationships with those who want to help.
Make use of the great inner treasures — compassion, economy, and modesty.   Allow the benevolent will of Heaven to flow through you and outwardly to curb evil and to further good.

Read the text from Richard Wilhelm's translation of the I Ching

You are a stranger to this situation.  It is your attraction to the exotic that has led you here, but you will move on to a new vista when this one has lost its mystique.  Because much of this environment is foreign to you, you must exercise only the best judgement.  You don’t know the custom here, and it’s too easy to cross a line you don’t know is there.  Because you are the foreigner in this setting, you have no history to acquit you.
Watch, listen, study, contemplate, then step lightly but decisively on.
The wanderer here described is modest and reserved. He does not lose touch with his inner being, hence he finds a resting place. In the outside world he does not lose the liking of other people, hence all persons further him, so that he can acquire property. Moreover, he wins the allegiance of a faithful and trustworthy servant – a thing of inestimable value to a wanderer.
The Fire of clarity illuminates the Heavens to those below:  The Superior Person possesses great inner treasures — compassion, economy, and modesty.
These treasures allow the benevolent will of Heaven to flow through him outward to curb evil and to further good.

Supreme success.

Meditation

Tao Te Ching – Verse 46

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Today: I Ching