Today: “The blend of your soul, mind, and body makes you talk” – Yogi Bhajan

SSSYWa“The blend of your soul, mind, and body makes you talk. This is the art of vibration. If your mind is off you cannot talk sensibly. If your soul is off you don’t exist. Hence, it is a blending of the three that makes you vibrate. You vibrate anyway, but vibration in the form of communication is effectively recognized when you talk. Word was with God and communicated with maya to create this universe and its beauty. Word is with you. Communicate to create your own world.” Yogi Bhajan

Sat Nam!
Ram Anand

 

Meditation

Today: use your awesome power to proceed in a considered, smart and righteous way – I Ching

As the gates to success open, use your awesome power to proceed in a considered, smart and righteous way.  If you can apply it wisely you will enjoy great abundance.

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

The hexagram points to a time when inner worth mounts with great force and comes to power. But its strength has already passed beyond the median line, hence there is danger that one may rely entirely on one’s own power and forget to ask what is right. There is danger too that, being intent on movement, we may not wait for the right time. Therefore the added statement that perseverance furthers. For that is truly great power which does not degenerate into mere force but remains inwardly united with the fundamental principles of right and of justice. When we understand this point – namely, that greatness and justice must be indissolubly united – we understand the true meaning of all that happens in heaven and on earth.
The premise here is that the gates to success are beginning to open. Resistance gives way and we forge ahead. This is the point at which, only too easily, we become the prey of exuberant self-confidence. This is why the oracle says that perseverance (i.e., perseverance in inner equilibrium, without excessive use of power) brings good fortune.
It is not given to every mortal to bring about a time of outstanding greatness and abundance. Only a born ruler of men is able to do it, because his will is directed to what is great. Such a time of abundance is usually brief. Therefore a sage might well feel sad in view of the decline that must follow. But such sadness does not befit him. Only a man who is inwardly free of sorrow and care can lead in a time of abundance. He must be like the sun at midday, illuminating and gladdening everything under heaven.

Meditation
Previous readings
Today: I Ching

“Victoria and Abdul” – movie recommendation and review

Victoria and Abdul is the story of the meeting and friendship of an elderly Queen Victoria of England and a  young and handsome Abdul from Agra, India, who happened to visit the royal court on an official state visit to present a nondescript gift to Victoria from the colonial government of India.

The story is told from the points of view of Victoria and Abdul.  The story emerges from their relationship.  There are many complexities to the story, such as the imperialistic tendencies of the British empire, white racial dominance, and power seeking sycophants at the royal court.  Sound familiar?

In its telling, the intention is to distill the aspects of the experience that are important to the characters and express them in human terms that we can understand, for our benefit.  Many of the scenes are humorous, but real.

It is tempting to see the race relations and power structure portrayed in the movie in today’s popular terms, but only doing that limits the impact of the experience of the movie.  Those things are secondary in importance at best, though that seems to be mostly what the critics are hung up on and all they can talk about.

We, the audience, are not objective observers of a drama played out in a certain (maybe familiar) context.  We can actually share the characters’  experience if we allow the suspension of disbelief and merge with them.  What they see, feel and know is what we see, feel and know.  That is the virtue of how the movie is crafted.

We don’t emerge from the movie loving Victoria and Abdul.  We do love the love these characters found as it resonates in us.  After the movie we can go on with great satisfaction having had that experience, just as Abdul suggests to Victoria for her final journey as he recites Rumi’s poem.

On Dying – Rumi

Listen, O drop, give yourself up without regret,
and in exchange gain the Ocean.
Listen, O drop, bestow upon yourself this honor,
and in the arms of the Sea be secure.
Who indeed should be so fortunate?
An Ocean wooing a drop!
In God’s name, in God’s name, sell and buy at once!
Give a drop, and take this Sea full of pearls.
Rumi