Today: “It is a normal thing in human behavior to be selfish” – Yogi Bhajan

SSSYWa“It is a normal thing in human behavior to be selfish. You can’t get away from it, but you can channel it. Be selfish to the extent of being known as generous. Cater to the image to be selflessly serviceful to others.” Yogi Bhajan

 

Meditation

Today: “To be spiritual is to give and give” – Yogi Bhajan

SSSYWa“To be spiritual is to give and give, never to expect back, as clouds give rain and never come down to take the water back. And your life exists on that giving. There is nothing to learning to be spiritual; learn from the clouds that give you the light and the spirit of giving through their own drops of water which create huge vegetation for you. “ Yogi Bhajan

 

Meditation

Today: “  If you abandon your inner core, you will only know conflict, within and without” – I Ching

 

While savoring life and the world, do not be swept away by the many delights.  If you abandon your inner core, you will only know conflict, within and without.  Stay steady and strong.

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

The joyous mood is infectious and therefore brings success. But joy must be based on steadfastness if it is not to degenerate into uncontrolled mirth. Truth and strength must dwell in the heart, while gentleness reveals itself in social intercourse. In this way one assumes the right attitude toward God and man and achieves something. Under certain conditions, intimidation without gentleness may achieve something momentarily, but not for all time. When, on the other hand, the hearts of men are won by friendliness, they are led to take all hardships upon themselves willingly, and if need be will not shun death itself, so great is the power of joy over men.
If a man is unstable within, the pleasures of the world that he does not shun have so powerful an influence that he is swept along by them. Here it is no longer a question of danger, of good fortune or misfortune. He has given up direction of his own life, and what becomes of him depends upon chance and external influences.
CONFLICT DEVELOPS when one feels himself to be in the right and runs into opposition. If one is not convinced of being in the right, opposition leads to craftiness or high-handed encroachment but not to open conflict.
If a man is entangled in a conflict, his only salvation lies in being so clear- headed and inwardly strong that he is always ready to come to terms by meeting the opponent halfway. To carry on the conflict to the bitter end has evil effects even when one is the right, because the enmity is then perpetuated. It is important to see the great man, that is, an impartial man whose authority is great enough to terminate the conflict amicably or assure a just decision. In times of strife, crossing the great water is to be avoided, that is, dangerous enterprises are not to be begun, because in order to be successful they require concerted unity of focus. Conflict within weakens the power to conquer danger without.

Meditations

Tao Te Ching – Verse 26

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Today: I Ching

 

Lecture: NM0399-20010512 – The Power of Shushmana

The Power of Shushmana

Yogi  Bhajan,  Ph.D.    May  12th,  2001    Espanola,  NM,  USA

The  ida,  pingala  and  shushmana  are  our  essence.  3000  years  ago  the  energy  channels  of the  ida,  pingala  and shushmana were  known  as  the  human body’s  support  system.  We  understand  the  ida and  pingala through  their relationship with  the  left  and  right  nostrils,  but the  shushmana is  not understood.  The  shushmana  is  considered to  be  the  central  nerve  inside  and  outside  the  spine.

Continue reading “Lecture: NM0399-20010512 – The Power of Shushmana”

Today: “It is not possible that you will not create anything” – Yogi Bhajan

SSSYWaIt is not possible that you will not create anything because you are a vibration; therefore, you must vibrate, and your vibration will create an action and reaction in relation to the universal vibration.” Yogi Bhajan

 

Meditation

Today: “ Colleagues are family.  Fellow citizens are family.  Neighbors are family. ” – I Ching

 

Colleagues are family.  Fellow citizens are family.  Neighbors are family.  Only allow it to be so.

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

True fellowship among men must be based on a concern that is universal. It is not the private interests of the individual that create lasting fellowship among men, but rather the goals of humanity. That is why it is said that fellowship with men in the open succeeds. If unity of this kind prevails, even difficult and dangerous tasks, such as crossing the great water, can be accomplished. But in order to bring about this sort of fellowship, a persevering and enlightened leader is needed – a man with clear, convincing, and inspiring aims and the strength to carry them out.

Meditations

Tao Te Ching – Verse 25

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Today: I Ching

 

Today: “Between you and God there is only one link” – Yogi Bhajan

SSSYWa“Between you and God, between you the creature and the Creator there is only one link, and that is the breath of life.” Yogi Bhajan

 

Meditation

Today: “ The potential for greatness all around lies in your radiance” – I Ching

 

It is time to appreciate the development that has taken place.  The fruit is not found in your accomplishments.  The potential for greatness all around lies in your radiance.  The capacity to be the leader that others see in you is inherent in your presence in the world which does not need embellishment.   Just be and the darkness and chaos will be dispelled.

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

The conditions are difficult. The task is great and full of responsibility. It is nothing less than that of leading the world out of confusion back to order. But it is a task that promises success, because there is a goal that can unite the forces now tending in different directions. At first, however, one must move warily, like an old fox walking over ice. The caution of a fox walking over ice is proverbial in China. His ears are constantly alert to the cracking of the ice, as he carefully and circumspectly searches out the safest spots. A young fox who as yet has not acquired this caution goes ahead boldly, and it may happen that he falls in and gets his tail wet when he is almost across the water. Then of course his effort has been all in vain. Accordingly, in times “before completion,” deliberation and caution are the prerequisites of success.
The victory has been won. The power of steadfastness has not been routed. Everything has gone well. All misgivings have been overcome. Success has justified the deed. The light of a superior personality shines forth anew and makes its influence felt among men who have faith in it and rally around it. The new time has arrived, and with it good fortune. And just as the sun shines forth in redoubled beauty after rain, or as a forest grows more freshly green from charred ruins after a fire, so the new era appears all the more glorious by contrast with the misery of the old.
When, owing to the influence of inferior men, mutual mistrust prevails in public life, fruitful activity is rendered impossible, because the fundaments are wrong. Therefore the superior man knows what he must do under such circumstances; he does not allow himself to be tempted by dazzling offers to take part in public activities. This would only expose him to danger, since he cannot assent to the meanness of the others. He therefore hides his worth and withdraws into seclusion.

Meditations

Tao Te Ching – Verse 23

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Today: I Ching

 

Today: “Without creative meditation a man will feel burdened” – Yogi Bhajan

SSSYWa“Without creative meditation a man will feel burdened; the law of detachment does not become functional in the man if he is not creative.” Yogi Bhajan

 

Meditation

Today: “ Nurture and preserve your best qualities” – I Ching

 

Nurture and preserve your best qualities.
With any neglect your mind and your relations will deteriorate, leading to conflict in your life.

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

We must go down to the very foundations of life. For any merely superficial ordering of life that leaves its deepest needs unsatisfied is as ineffectual as if no attempt at order had ever been made.
The water itself is clear, but it is not being used. Thus the well is a place where only fish will stay, and whoever comes to it, comes only to catch fish. But the jug is broken, so that the fish cannot be kept in it.
This describes the situation of a person who possesses good qualities but neglects them. No one bothers about him. As a result he deteriorates in mind. He associates with inferior men and can no longer accomplish anything worth while.
Difficulties and obstructions throw a man back upon himself. While the inferior man seeks to put the blame on other persons, bewailing his fate, the superior man seeks the error within himself, and through this introspection the external obstacle becomes for him an occasion for inner enrichment and education.

Meditations

Tao Te Ching – Verse 23

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Today: I Ching

 

Today: “Whatever name of God you want to chant, just do it” – Yogi Bhajan

SSSYWa“Whatever name of God you want to chant, just do it. It will tune you in. It will be your own biofeedback machine.” Yogi Bhajan

 

Meditation

Today: “ Enlighten others by gently and ceaselessly penetrating their souls with your message” – I Ching

Enlighten others by gently and ceaselessly penetrating their souls with your message.  Leave the ego out of it, lest it produce resistance and division.

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

The penetrating quality of the wind depends on its ceaselessness. This is what makes it so powerful; time is its instrument. In the same way the ruler’s thought should penetrate the soul of the people. This too requires a lasting influence brought about by enlightenment and command. Only when the command has been assimilated by the people is action in accordance with it possible. Action without preparation of the ground only frightens and repels.
When a responsible position and accumulated experience lead one to combine innate modesty with energetic action, great success is assured. The three kinds of animals referred to served for offerings to the gods, for feasting guests, and for everyday consumption. When the catch answered all three purposes, the hunt was considered especially successful.
This hexagram indicates a situation in which the principle of darkness, after having been eliminated, furtively and unexpectedly obtrudes again from within and below.

Meditations

Tao Te Ching – Verse 22

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Today: I Ching

 

Quantum Mechanics: the Problem of Superposition

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It is the central question in quantum mechanics, and no one knows the answer: What really happens in a superposition—the peculiar circumstance in which particles seem to be in two or more places or states at once? Now, in a forthcoming paper a team of researchers in Israel and Japan has proposed an experiment that could finally let us say something for sure about the nature of this puzzling phenomenon.Their experiment, which the researchers say could be carried out within a few months, should enable scientists to sneak a glance at where an object — in this case a particle of light, called a photon — actually resides when it is placed in a superposition. And the researchers predict the answer will be even stranger and more shocking than “two places at once.”The classic example of a superposition involves firing photons at two parallel slits in a barrier. One fundamental aspect of quantum mechanics is that tiny particles can behave like waves, so that those passing through one slit “interfere” with those going through the other, their wavy ripples either boosting or canceling one another to create a characteristic pattern on a detector screen. The odd thing, though, is this interference occurs even if only one particle is fired at a time. The particle seems somehow to pass through both slits at once, interfering with itself. That’s a superposition.

And it gets weirder: Measuring which slit such a particle goes through will invariably indicate it only goes through one—but then the wavelike interference (the “quantumness,” if you will) vanishes. The very act of measurement seems to “collapse” the superposition. “We know something fishy is going on in a superposition,” says physicist Avshalom Elitzur of the Israeli Institute for Advanced Research. “But you’re not allowed to measure it. This is what makes quantum mechanics so diabolical.”

For decades researchers have stalled at this apparent impasse. They cannot say exactly what a superposition is without looking at it; but if they try to look at it, it disappears. One potential solution—developed by Elitzur’s former mentor, Israeli physicist Yakir Aharonov, now at Chapman University, and his collaborators—suggests a way to deduce something about quantum particles before measuring them. Aharonov’s approach is called the two-state-vector formalism (TSVF) of quantum mechanics, and postulates quantum events are in some sense determined by quantum states not just in the past—but also in the future. That is, the TSVF assumes quantum mechanics works the same way both forward and backward in time. From this perspective, causes can seem to propagate backward in time, occurring after their effects.

But one needn’t take this strange notion literally. Rather, in the TSVF one can gain retrospective knowledge of what happened in a quantum system by selecting the outcome: Instead of simply measuring where a particle ends up, a researcher chooses a particular location in which to look for it. This is called post-selection, and it supplies more information than any unconditional peek at outcomes ever could. This is because the particle’s state at any instant is being evaluated retrospectively in light of its entire history, up to and including measurement. The oddness comes in because it looks as if the researcher—simply by choosing to look for a particular outcome—then causes that outcome to happen. But this is a bit like concluding that if you turn on your television when your favorite program is scheduled, your action causes that program to be broadcast at that very moment. “It’s generally accepted that the TSVF is mathematically equivalent to standard quantum mechanics,” says David Wallace, a philosopher of science at the University of Southern California who specializes in interpretations of quantum mechanics. “But it does lead to seeing certain things one wouldn’t otherwise have seen.”

Take, for instance, a version of the double-slit experiment devised by Aharonov and co-worker Lev Vaidman in 2003, which they interpreted with the TSVF. The pair described (but did not build) an optical system in which a single photon acts as a “shutter” that closes a slit by causing another “probe” photon approaching the slit to be reflected back the way it came. By applying post-selection to the measurements of the probe photon, Aharonov and Vaidman showed, one could discern a shutter photon in a superposition closing both (or indeed arbitrarily many) slits simultaneously. In other words, this thought experiment would in theory allow one to say with confidence the shutter photon is both “here” and “there” at once. Although this situation seems paradoxical from our everyday experience, it is one well-studied aspect of the so-called “nonlocal” properties of quantum particles, where the whole notion of a well-defined location in space dissolves.

In 2016 physicists Ryo Okamoto and Shigeki Takeuchi of Kyoto University verified Aharonov and Vaidman’s predictions experimentally using a light-carrying circuit in which the shutter photon is created using a quantum router, a device that lets one photon control the route taken by another. “This was a pioneering experiment that allowed one to infer the simultaneous position of a particle in two places,” says Elitzur’s colleague Eliahu Cohen of the University of Ottawa in Ontario.

Now Elitzur and Cohen have teamed up with Okamoto and Takeuchi to concoct an even more mind-boggling experiment. They believe it will enable researchers to say with certainty something about the location of a particle in a superposition at a series of different points in time—before any actual measurement has been made.

This time the probe photon’s route would be split into three by partial mirrors. Along each of those paths it may interact with a shutter photon in a superposition. These interactions can be considered to take place within boxes labeled A, B and C, one of which is situated along each of the photon’s three possible routes. By looking at the self-interference of the probe photon, one can retrospectively conclude with certainty the shutter particle was in a given box at a specific time.

superposition-graphic

Credit: Amanda Montañez

The experiment is designed so the probe photon can only show interference if it interacted with the shutter photon in a particular sequence of places and times: Namely, if the shutter photon was in both boxes A and C at some time (t1), then at a later time (t2) only in C, and at a still later time (t3) in both B and C. So interference in the probe photon would be a definitive sign the shutter photon made this bizarre, logic-defying sequence of disjointed appearances among the boxes at different times—an idea Elitzur, Cohen and Aharonov proposed as a possibility last year for a single particle spread across three boxes. “I like the way this paper frames questions about what is happening in terms of entire histories rather than instantaneous states,” says physicist Ken Wharton of San Jose State University, who is not involved in the new project. “Talking about ‘states’ is an old pervasive bias whereas full histories are generally far more rich and interesting.”

That richness, Elitzur and colleagues argue, is what the TSVF gives access to. The apparent vanishing of particles in one place at one time—and their reappearance in other times and places—suggests a new and extraordinary vision of the underlying processes involved in the nonlocal existence of quantum particles. Through the lens of the TSVF, Elitzur says, this flickering, ever-changing existence can be understood as a series of events in which a particle’s presence in one place is somehow “canceled” by its own “counterparticle” in the same location. He compares this with the notion introduced by British physicist Paul Dirac in the 1920s who argued particles possess antiparticles, and if brought together, a particle and antiparticle can annihilate each other. This picture at first seemed just a manner of speaking but soon led to the discovery of antimatter. The disappearance of quantum particles is not “annihilation” in this same sense but it is somewhat analogous—these putative counterparticles, Elitzur posits, should possess negative energy and negative mass, allowing them to cancel their counterparts.

So although the traditional “two places at once” view of superposition might seem odd enough, “it’s possible a superposition is a collection of states that are even crazier,” Elitzur says. “Quantum mechanics just tells you about their average.” Post-selection then allows one to isolate and inspect just some of those states at greater resolution, he suggests. Such an interpretation of quantum behavior would be, he says, “revolutionary” — because it would entail a hitherto unguessed menagerie of real (but very odd) states underlying counterintuitive quantum phenomena.

The researchers say conducting the actual experiment will require fine-tuning the performance of their quantum routers, but they hope to have their system ready to roll in three to five months. For now some outside observers are not exactly waiting with bated breath. “The experiment is bound to work,” says Wharton — but he adds it “won’t convince anyone of anything, since the results are predicted by standard quantum mechanics.” In other words, there would be no compelling reason to interpret the outcome in terms of the TSVF rather than one of the many other ways that researchers interpret quantum behavior.

Elitzur agrees their experiment could have been conceived using the conventional view of quantum mechanics that prevailed decades ago — but it never was. “Isn’t that a good indication of the soundness of the TSVF?” he asks. And if someone thinks they can formulate a different picture of “what is really going on” in this experiment using standard quantum mechanics, he adds, “well, let them go ahead!”

Meditation  for those who want to grok more deeply

Today: “Your life always changes in seven years” – Yogi Bhajan

SSSYWa“Your life always changes in seven years. Within seven years your loss must turn into a gain and your gain must turn into a loss. That is how this universe has been created. This is a cosmic cycle.” Yogi Bhajan

 

Meditation: LA097-790327-Yoni Kriya

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Today: “ Bear with frugality so you can accumulate awesome power.” – I Ching

Bear with frugality so you can accumulate awesome power.

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

Limitations are troublesome, but they are effective. If we live economically in normal times, we are prepared for times of want. To be sparing saves us from humiliation. Limitations are also indispensable in the regulation of world conditions. In nature there are fixed limits for summer and winter, day and night, and these limits give the year its meaning. In the same way, economy, by setting fixed limits upon expenditures, acts to preserve property and prevent injury to the people.
But in limitation we must observe due measure. If a man should seek to impose galling limitations upon his own nature, it would be injurious. And if he should go too far in imposing limitations on others, they would rebel.
Therefore it is necessary to set limits even upon limitation.
Every limitation has its value, but a limitation that requires persistent effort entails a cost of too much energy. When, however, the limitation is a natural one (as for example, the limitation by which water flows only downhill), it necessarily leads to success, for then it means a saving of energy. The energy that otherwise would be consumed in a vain struggle with the object, is applied wholly to the benefit of the matter in hand, and success is assured.
The hexagram points to a time when inner worth mounts with great force and comes to power.  
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.

Meditations

Tao Te Ching – Verse 12

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Today: I Ching

 

Today: “Kundalini yoga is a method to become nothing” – Yogi Bhajan

SSSYWa“Kundalini yoga is a method to become nothing, so that everything can flow through you. That’s all it is.” Yogi Bhajan

 

 

Meditation