Today: Give up who you think you are, or who you want to be.  Just be yourself. – from the I Ching

Give up who you think you are, or who you want to be.  Just be yourself.

Meditation: NM0383-20010213 – Culturing the Self

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Today: I Ching – Previous Reading

Today: I Ching – Previous Previous Reading

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Tao Te Ching – Verse 18 – When the great Tao is forgotten, goodness and piety appear.

29 – Twenty-Nine  K’an / Dangerously Deep

Water follows Water, spilling over any cliff, flowing past all obstacles, no matter the depth or distance, to the Sea.
The Superior Person learns flexibility from the mistakes he has made, and grows strong from the obstacles he has overcome, pressing on to show others the Way.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

You are facing a crucial trial along your Journey.
The danger of this challenge is very real.
It is a test of your mettle.
If you can maintain your integrity and stay true to your convictions, you will overcome.
That’s not as easy as it seems when you are faced with the sacrifice of other things you’ve come to depend upon or hold dear.

Six in the fourth place means:

A simple meal of rice and wine, eaten from earthen bowls.
This is correct.

A jug of wine, a bowl of rice1 with it;
Earthen vessels
Simply handed in through the window.
There is certainly no blame in this.

Rice man

In times of danger ceremonious forms are dropped. What matters most is sincerity. Although as a rule it is customary for an official to present certain introductory gifts and recommendations before he is appointed, here everything is simplified to the utmost. The gifts are insignificant, there is no one to sponsor him, he introduces himself; yet all this need not be humiliating if only there is the honest intention of mutual help in danger. Still another idea is suggested. The window is the place through which light enters the room. If in difficult times we want to enlighten someone, we must begin with that which is in itself lucid and proceed quite simply from that point on.
47 – Forty-Seven  K’un / Exhaustion

A Dead Sea, its Waters spent eons ago, more deadly than the desert surrounding it:
The Superior Person will stake his life and fortune on what he deeply believes.

Triumph belongs to those who endure.
Trial and tribulation can hone exceptional character to a razor edge that slices deftly through every challenge.
Action prevails where words will fail.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

This is the realm of the Shaman.
You have exhausted every alternative, spent yourself completely, taxed body and mind beyond your former limits.
Survival and salvation lie beyond your reach now.
Only transcendence to a new existence — a higher plane of being — will see you through.
The Old You is just a dry husk.
You can’t return to it.
Metamorphosis is the only grace offered.
You can only return to your homeland as a New You.

Read the text from Richard Wilhelm's, Thomas Cleary's, Brian Arnold's and other translations of the I Ching

Today: “When you communicate, the only friend you have is the art of creative dialogue.” – Yogi Bhajan

“When you communicate, the only friend you have is the art of creative dialogue. That is what establishes you as a man.”

Meditation: NM0364-20001023-On Communication I

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Today:Go to your strength and what supports you.  Do not count on others.  Rely on yourself. – from the I Ching

Go to your strength and what supports you.  Do not count on others.  Rely on yourself.

Meditation: LA101 790419-Faith In Our Self And Our Own Discipline

See Yogi Bhajan’s quote for today

Today: I Ching – Previous Reading

Today: I Ching – Previous Previous Reading

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Tao Te Ching – Verse 16 – Empty your mind of all thoughts. Let your heart be at peace. Watch the turmoil of beings, but contemplate their return.

59 – Fifty-Nine  Huan / Dissolution

Wind carries the Mists aloft:
Sage rulers dedicated their lives to serving a Higher Power and built temples that still endure.

The King approaches his temple.
Success if you stay on course.
You may cross to the far shore.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

Walls meant to protect have instead separated and isolated.
Your defenses have kept you apart from those whom you most need to touch.
Whatever the reason for discord between you, it is time to lay down your arms.
Dispel the inflexible demands and fears of the Mind so that you may reunite in the Heart.
If you have begrudged, forgive.
If you have torn down, repair.
If you have injured, heal.
If you have judged, pardon.
If you have grasped, let go.

Nine in the second place means:

When his dreams evaporate to mist on the breeze, he returns to his well of strength.
Regret is washed away.

At the dissolution
He hurries to that which supports him.
Remorse disappears.

Composition

Composition by Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1944)

When an individual discovers within himself the beginnings of alienation from others, of misanthropy and ill humor, he must set about dissolving these obstructions. He must rouse himself inwardly, hasten to that which supports him. Such support is never found in hatred, but always in a moderate and just judgement of men, linked with good will. If he regains this unobstructed outlook on humanity, while at the same time all saturnine ill humor is dissolved, all occasion for remorse disappears.
25 – Twenty-Five  Wu Wang / Remaining Blameless

Thunder rolls beneath Heaven, as is its nature and place:
Sage rulers aligned themselves with the changing seasons, nurturing and guiding their subjects to do the same.

Exceptional Progress if you are mindful to keep out of the way of the natural Flow.
It would be a fatal error to try to alter its course.
This is a time of Being, not Doing.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

This is thoroughly a matter of the heart.
If everything you attempt, no matter how carefully planned, ends in disarray, then examine your motives.
They are the cause of your predicament.
It isn’t that your motives aren’t pure — even the best intentions will fail under these circumstances.
What stymies you in this situation is that you have a motive at all.
Free yourself of all expectations, release any tenuous grip you may have, and roll with it.
This is totally out of your control.
There are higher powers and more elements affecting the outcome of this situation than you can imagine.
Get out of their way.

Read the text from Richard Wilhelm's, Thomas Cleary's, Brian Arnold's and other translations of the I Ching

Today: “Those people who are humble, affectionate, serving, and who breathe the Divine Force into themselves…” – Yogi Bhajan

“Those people who are humble, affectionate, serving, and who breathe the Divine Force into themselves, make their mind to concentrate on one breath, and pray to the Universal Spirit by tuning in—not only does their own magnetic field/electric power get charged because of the life force, their circumvent force becomes so strong that it can keep away all the negative forces, and they can change the destiny of others.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: LA847-19950816-Unity-Your Magnetic Field of the Total Self Will Become One

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Today: If you idolize your teachers, the most regrettable consequences are that you lose your own identity and you entirely miss the point of their shared awareness and wisdom. – from the I Ching

If you idolize your teachers, the most regrettable consequences are that you lose your own identity and you entirely miss the point of their shared awareness and wisdom.  Look inside yourself, not presuming to know anything, then bear witness to what appears in your awareness.  You can then take action with confidence and effect.

Meditation: NM360-20000913 – Making a Mold – White Hole Mudra

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Today: I Ching – Previous Reading

Today: I Ching – Previous Previous Reading

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Tao Te Ching – Verse 16 – Empty your mind of all thoughts. Let your heart be at peace. Watch the turmoil of beings, but contemplate their return.

Tell The Magical Story of Mushkil Gusha over a meal with friends today.

4 – Four  Mêng / Inexperience

A fresh Spring at the foot of the Mountain:
The Superior Person refines his character by being thorough in every activity.
The Sage does not recruit students; the students seek him.
He asks nothing but a sincere desire to learn.
If the student doubts or challenges his authority, the Sage regretfully cuts his losses.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

This is a time of interchange between a mentor and pupil.
Whether you are the teacher or the student, it is a time of companionship along a mutual path.
This hexagram also emphasizes the eternal, cyclical nature of the mentor/student relationship — a mentor is merely a more seasoned pupil, further along on the journey.
A pupil holds within himself the seed of a future Master.

Six in the third place means:

No one respects a lovestruck woman who throws herself at the object of her desire.
Do not idolize.

Take not a maiden who, when she sees a man of bronze,
Loses possession of herself.
Nothing furthers.

Chinese strong man

Chinese strong man

A weak, inexperienced man, struggling to rise, easily loses his own individuality when he slavishly imitates a strong personality of higher station. He is like a girl throwing herself away when she meets a strong man. Such a servile approach should not be encouraged, because it is bad both for the youth and the teacher. A girl owes it to her dignity to wait till she is wooed. In both cases it is undignified to offer oneself, and no good comes of accepting such an offer.

26 – Twenty-Six  Ta Ch’u / Recharging Power

Heaven’s motherlode waits within the Mountain:
The Superior Person mines deep into history’s wealth of wisdom and deeds, charging his character with timeless strength.

Persevere.
Drawing sustenance from these sources creates good fortune.
Then you may cross to the far shore.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

There are important precedents in this situation.
Others have trodden this Path before you, overcoming the same obstacles facing you now, and making crucial decisions at the same crossroads.
Study their journals, watch for their trail markings.
Gain inspiration and wisdom from the heroes and learn from the mistakes of those who chose a sidepath.
All were Seekers, explorers whose daring mapped a course you can follow.
The words and deeds of the finest can imbue you with the courage necessary to face what lies before you.

Read the text from Richard Wilhelm's, Thomas Cleary's, Brian Arnold's and other translations of the I Ching

Today: “If you feel you can’t believe anybody or anything, fine. Don’t. Instead believe in yourself.” – Yogi Bhajan

“If you feel you can’t believe anybody or anything, fine. Don’t. Instead believe in yourself. Wake up and go deeply in your self. Master the mind. Get to the essence and process of your own life. Stop playing games. If you find I am wrong in my statements, then try to be right and exalt, elevate, and take care of yourself.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: M136-970930 – Work on Shashara, Balance Earth and Heavens

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