Today: “Technically, the best approach is to do jappa—repeat the words and mantras we use in Kundalini Yoga and from the Shabd Guru.” – Yogi Bhajan

“Technically, the best approach is to do jappa—repeat the words and mantras we use in Kundalini Yoga and from the Shabd Guru. To some that looks insane. But we repeat those words for a purpose and a specific effect. When we repeat those sounds, the tongue touches the upper palate’s meridian points. This alerts the thalamus and hypothalamus of the brain. We can control the brain’s function and level by our use of the shabd. We can settle the function and frequency of the mental projections. Then you can relax and be factual and be present.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: LA159 800318 NAAD KRIYA

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Today: “Do what you can without forcing any issue.  Apply yourself with your best excellence.  Allow things to turn out as they are destined.  Give up suffering.” from the I Ching

Do what you can without forcing any issue.  Apply yourself with your best excellence.  Allow things to turn out as they are destined.  Give up suffering.

Meditation: NM0413 – Intuition and the Strength of Excellence

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Tao Te Ching – Verse 20 – Stop thinking, and end your problems.

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62 – Sixty-Two  Hsiao Kuo / Lying Low

Thunder high on the Mountain, active passivity:
The Superior Person is unsurpassed in his ability to remain small.
In a time for humility, he is supremely modest.
In a time of mourning, he uplifts with somber reverence.
In a time of want, he is resourcefully frugal.

When a bird flies too high, its song is lost.
Rather than push upward now, it is best to remain below.
This will bring surprising good fortune, if you keep to your course.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

There is no profit to striving here.
To be content with oneself is the greatest success imaginable.
The enlightened person has nothing to prove to himself or others, and thus may always operate from a position of sincerity, with no pretense or posturing.
His humility is guileless simplicity.
His mourning is selfless compassion.
His frugality is an unshakeable faith that he is but a conduit, letting what is needed flow through him to others, with no loss to himself.

Six in the second place means:

She invokes the spirit of her ancestor, but is visited by her ancestress.
He heads straight for the Prince but is intercepted by the Minister.
It is best.

She passes by her ancestor
And meets her ancestress.
He does not reach his prince
And meets the official.
No blame.

Two exceptional situations are instanced here. In the temple of ancestors, where alternation of generations prevails, the grandson stands on the same side as the grandfather. Hence his closest relations are with the grandfather. The present line designates the grandson’s wife, who during the sacrifice passes by the ancestor and goes toward the ancestress. This unusual behavior is, however, an expression of her modesty. She ventures rather to approach the ancestress, for she feels related to her by their common sex. Hence here deviation from the rule is not a mistake.

Another image is that of the official who, in compliance with regulation, first seeks an audience with his prince. If he is not successful in this, he does not try to force anything but goes about conscientious fulfilment of his duty, taking his place among the other officials. This extraordinary restraint is likewise not a mistake in exceptional times.
(The rule is that every official should first have an audience with the prince by whom he is appointed. Here the appointment is made by the minister.)
40 – Forty  Hsieh / Liberation

A Thunderous Cloudburst shatters the oppressive humidity:
The Superior Person knows the release in forgiveness, pardoning the faults of others and dealing gently with those who sin against him.

It pays to accept things as they are for now.
If there is nothing else to be gained, a return brings good fortune.
If there is something yet to be gained, act on it at once.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

The relief you experience here is not your own personal pardon, but the release of others from your rigid expectations.
Like a hot air balloon, you will rise to new heights as you cast the heavy sandbags of resentments and restrictions away from you.
Feel the lightness of being that results from forgiving others and accepting them as they are.
Free yourself of the endless vigil of policing the behavior of others.
See them for who they are, not what they can or can’t do for you.

Today: “To win the game of life you must have caliber. To have caliber you must have an Applied Mind.” – Yogi Bhajan

“To win the game of life you must have caliber. To have caliber you must have an Applied Mind. An Applied Mind is a mind that processes everything positive and negative then acts from the Neutral Mind to express you. The Applied Mind uses the Neutral Mind to assess all positive and negative, but does not react on that basis. It acts to cause a cause that leads to the fulfillment of you and your destiny, you andyour highest identity.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: The Neutral Mind

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Today: “Treat your relations with respect.  Behave with dignity.  Do not squander your goodwill.” from the I Ching

Treat your relations with respect.  Behave with dignity.  Do not squander your goodwill.

Meditation: KWTC 19970630 – For Faculty of Self Engagement

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

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

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56 – Fifty-Six  Lu / The Wanderer

Fire on the Mountain, catastrophic to man, a passing annoyance to the Mountain:
The Superior Person waits for wisdom and clarity before exacting Justice, then lets no protest sway him.

Find satisfaction in small gains.
To move constantly forward is good fortune to a Wanderer.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

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.

Nine in the third place means:

The traveler causes a fire that burns down the inn.
He loses the trust of his servant and traveling companions.

Danger.

The wanderer’s inn burns down.
He loses the steadfastness of his young servant.
Danger.

Burning house

A truculent stranger does not know how to behave properly. He meddles in affairs and controversies that do not concern him; thus he loses his resting place. He treats his servant with aloofness and arrogance; thus he loses the man’s loyalty. When a stranger in a strange land has no one left on whom he can rely, the situation becomes very dangerous.

51 – Fifty-One  Chên / Thunder

Thunder echoes upon Thunder, commanding reverence for its father Heaven:
In awe of Heaven’s majestic power, the Superior Person looks within and sets his life in order.
Thunder mingles with startled screams of terror for a hundred miles around.
As the people nervously laugh at their own fright, the devout presents the sacrificial chalice with nary a drop of wine spilt.
Deliverance

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

A thunderbolt of Cosmic judgement crashes to earth.
For the common person, it’s just a momentary fright soon forgotten, its warning unfathomed and unheeded.
But to one who understands its significance, this thunder is a signal to awaken.
Centering the Self, seeking balance, the enlightened person will respect and align himself with this Higher Power, while his fellows remain subject to the whims of every passing storm.

Today: “I want to share with you the beauty, the wonders of the human mind. I want you to understand that your mental faculty is not only a power, it is the greatest power, and it is at your call.” – Yogi Bhajan

“I want to share with you the beauty, the wonders of the human mind. I want you to understand that your mental faculty is not only a power, it is the greatest power, and it is at your call. I am not sharing this to be a professional lecturer or even to start some industry. I want to share some simple truths, which are timeless, and which let you live wonderfully as a human being under all the challenges we have to face. I know for all my best efforts, many of you will not understand the depth and effectiveness of these truths now. You were trained to prefer emotions and your own fears above simple truth. When you clear your mind and come to the state of fearlessness, then you will understand these truths, their applications, and implications.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: NM0380 – Ecstasy and Joy

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Today: “Hold your established relationships with open devotion.  It will bring great blessings.” from the I Ching

Hold your established relationships with open devotion.  It will bring great blessings.

Meditation: LA724-920328 Reorganize Your Head, Be Positive, Lose Your Inherited Anger

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

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8 – Eight  Pi / Bonding

Deep Waters on the face of the Earth:
Surface waters flow together.
The Superior Person recognizes the situation calls for joining together.
Thus he cultivates friendly relations with all.

Good fortune is possible.
Cast the coins again to discover if you have the qualities needed to lead such a group.
Then there will be no error.
Those uncertain will gradually join.
Those who join too late will meet with misfortune.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

This is a time of connection with another or others — not just an alliance, but a melding of parts into a new whole.
Such a connection may be too close, too intense for some.
Consult the oracle again to see if you have the qualities needed to strengthen and withstand such an intense synthesis.

Six in the fourth place means:

You express your devotion humbly and openly.
Good fortune if you keep to this course.

Hold to him outwardly also.
Perseverance brings good fortune.

Icon

Here the relations with a man who is the centre of union are well established. Then we may, and indeed we should, show our attachment openly. But we must remain constant and not allow ourselves to be led astray.
40 – Forty  Hsieh / Liberation

A Thunderous Cloudburst shatters the oppressive humidity:
The Superior Person knows the release in forgiveness, pardoning the faults of others and dealing gently with those who sin against him.

It pays to accept things as they are for now.
If there is nothing else to be gained, a return brings good fortune.
If there is something yet to be gained, act on it at once.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

The relief you experience here is not your own personal pardon, but the release of others from your rigid expectations.
Like a hot air balloon, you will rise to new heights as you cast the heavy sandbags of resentments and restrictions away from you.
Feel the lightness of being that results from forgiving others and accepting them as they are.
Free yourself of the endless vigil of policing the behavior of others.
See them for who they are, not what they can or can’t do for you.

Today: “The Age is shifting. We had the Industrial Age, then the Information Revolution, and now we are crossing into the Aquarian Age. ” – Yogi Bhajan

“The Age is shifting. We had the Industrial Age, then the Information Revolution, and now we are crossing into the Aquarian Age. This will be the Age of Awareness. We will be overloaded with information and our psyches will become more sensitive. It will be essential for each of us to know our mind and command it with our meditative mind. Without control of those many facets, the undirected mind will create depressions, delusions, identity splits, and a deep core feeling of emptiness. It will be our duty, and a fundamental requirement of our future lives, to meditate and to command the mind.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: LA041-780525- Control the Mind

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Today: “It is as important to be good as it is to look good.  You are sustained by your good works.” from the I Ching

It is as important to be good as it is to look good.  You are sustained by your good works.

Meditation: LA082-790123 Telescopic Infinity

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Tao Te Ching – Verse 17 – When the Master governs, the people are hardly aware that he exists. Next best is a leader who is loved. Next, one who is feared. The worst is one who is despised.

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22 – Twenty-Two  Pi / Grace

Fire illuminates the base of the Mountain:
The Superior Person realizes he has not the wisdom to move the course of the world, except by attending to each day’s affairs as they come.

Success in small matters.
This is a good time to begin something.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

The emphasis now is on form, not function — on the sizzle and not the steak.
The environment around you is not one of depth, and you are appreciated now for your image, not your essence.
You perfectly fill a role, and no one is seeing the genuine you.
Still, you are being listened to and watched.
Use this influence to further your goals as much as possible.
Even if you don’t feel understood, you can perhaps connect with a few isolated hearts.
Relax and enjoy the attention.

Nine in the third place means:

Graceful as the mist.
Holding to this course brings blessing.

Graceful and moist.
Constant perseverance brings good fortune.

Moist and shady

This represents a very charming life situation. One is under the spell of grace and the mellow mood induced by wine. This grace can adorn, but it can also swamp us. Hence the warning not to sink into convivial indolence but to remain constant in perseverance. Good fortune depends on this.
27 – Twenty-Seven  I / Providing Nourishment

Beneath the immobile Mountain the arousing Thunder stirs:
The Superior Person preserves his freedom under oppressive conditions by watching what comes out of his mouth, as well as what goes in.

Endure and good fortune will come.
Nurture others in need, as if you were feeding yourself.
Take care not to provide sustenance for those who feed off others.
Stay as high as possible on the food chain.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

You are a conduit in this instance, able to provide the sustenance needed by others.
Position yourself to nourish the truly needy and worthy.
Avoid situations where you might be coerced into supporting the parasites and vermin who deprive your true charges.
Your own nourishment is an issue here, too.
Remember Lao Tzu’s three Great Treasures:
Only the person possessed of Compassion, Modesty and Frugality can remain fit enough to stay free of desperation and keep control of the situation.

Today: “Periodic fasting is well known to clear the mind and to adjust our relationship to many of our emotions and impulses.” – Yogi Bhajan

“Periodic fasting is well known to clear the mind and to adjust our relationship to many of our emotions and impulses. Take the example of Mahatma Ghandi. He fasted, lived simply, and when he died the entire world acknowledged him. Right or wrong, his mind was coherent and his mind awakened the acknowledgement of the psyche of the entire globe.” Yogi Bhajan

Fast: Banana Fast

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Today: “Ensure that every last remnant of corruption is banished.  What you don’t see can hurt you.” from the I Ching

Ensure that every last remnant of corruption is banished.  What you don’t see can hurt you.

Meditation: NM0380 – Ecstasy and Joy

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Tao Te Ching – Verse 17 – When the Master governs, the people are hardly aware that he exists. Next best is a leader who is loved. Next, one who is feared. The worst is one who is despised.

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43 – Forty-Three  Kuai / Breakthrough

A Deluge from Heaven:
The Superior Person rains fortune upon those in need, then moves on with no thought of the good he does.

The issue must be raised before an impartial authority.
Be sincere and earnest, despite the danger.
Do not try to force the outcome, but seek support where needed.
Set a clear goal.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

Your iron will must come to the forefront now.
It will take great personal determination to resolve the situation in question.
Your adversary would love to force you into an angry display.
That would legitimize his opposition to you.
Such a berserker rage would drag you down to his level.
You must resolutely take a public stand against what he represents, but refuse to engage him.
Without compromise, you show others the way to higher ground.

Six at the top means:

A warning sign goes unheeded.
Misfortune ahead.

No cry.
In the end misfortune comes.

The Scream

‘The Scream’ – Edvard Munch, 1893

Victory seems to have been achieved. There remains merely a remnant of the evil resolutely to be eradicated as the time demands. Everything looks easy. Just there, however, lies the danger. If we are not on guard, evil will succeed in escaping by means of concealment, and when it has eluded us new misfortunes will develop from the remaining seeds, for evil does not die easily. So too in dealing with the evil in one’s own character, one must go to work with thoroughness. If out of carelessness anything were to be overlooked, new evil would arise from it.
1 – One  Ch’ien / Creative Activity

Heaven above and Heaven below:
Heaven in constant motion.
With the strength of the dragon, the Superior Person steels himself for ceaseless activity.

Productive Activity.
Potent Influence.
Sublime Success if you keep to your course.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

The time for action has come.
You now have the focus and the stamina necessary for accomplishing great tasks.
The path before you is being cleared and reward lies ahead.

Today: “Normally, your mind doesn’t work that well. You forget to develop the meditative mind and your awareness.” – Yogi Bhajan

“Normally, your mind doesn’t work that well. You forget to develop the meditative mind and your awareness. You forget to care for this body as a temple and as a most sophisticated creation and instrument. Your brain cannot compute well because your hormonal and neurochemical base is poor. Then your power, which is in your basic structure and brain, is not facilitated to understand, to analyze in depth, to compute, and reconstruct the thought forms of your entire psyche. Further, you are not trained to use your mind to synchronize your own magnetic field with the cosmic magnetic field, which has a complete interconnection with all other humans, other existences, and realms of material existence. That synchronization gives you guidance and pathways through every problem. Did you know that? Do you know that as an experience, as a practical skill?” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: NM132-940504-Pratyahar

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Today: “You have a sacred calling to teach what you have realized and to call on others to do the same.  ” from the I Ching

You have a sacred calling to teach what you have realized and to call on others to do the same.

Meditation: 760422 – Balancing Projection with Intention

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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.

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19 – Nineteen  Lin / Noble Calling

The rich, loamy Earth on the banks of the Marsh provides fertile soil for exceptional progress.
The Superior Person is inexhaustible in his willingness to teach, and without limit in his tolerance and support of others.

Supreme Success if you keep to your course.
But be aware that your time is limited; your power will wane, as Summer changes to Fall.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

You are in a position to help another.
This is a temporary situation, because your power is cyclical, seasonal.
Knowing this, you must perform your good deed without hope of reward.
You are not furthering your own process, but another’s.
Though you may cherish this other, you will never possess.
Touch without grasping.
Take comfort in becoming a fond memory.
Nurture, then let go.

Six in the fifth place means:

Your wise approach is worthy of a prince.
Great fortune will result.

Wise approach.
This is right for a great prince.
Good fortune.

Chinese prince

Chinese prince

A prince, or anyone in a leading position, must have the wisdom to attract to himself people of ability who are expert in directing affairs. His wisdom consists both in selecting the right people and in allowing those chosen to have a free hand without interference from him. For only through such self-restraint will he find the experts needed to satisfy all of his requirements.
50 – Fifty  Ting / The Caldron

Fire rises hot and bright from the Wood beneath the sacrificial caldron:
The Superior Person positions himself correctly within the flow of Cosmic forces.

Supreme Accomplishment.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

Your needs are coming into harmony with the requirements of the Cosmos.
Blending brilliantly with the Dance of Life, you are becoming an actual element of Cosmic Law.
Your goals will now be realized because you no longer cut against the Cosmic grain; you are no longer swimming against the flow of the Tao.
You are acquiring an intuitive sense of what can and cannot be, and aligning your efforts accordingly.

Today: “In any exercise which touches the mind, a person starts getting upset in exactly two and half minutes.” – Yogi Bhajan

“In any exercise which touches the mind, a person starts getting upset in exactly two and half minutes. That’s the rule of thumb. The mind doesn’t want to be caught. It wants to swing. But there are some people like us who feel that it’s hard work to control the mind, but once we control the mind, then we can control the whole world.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: LA819 850109 Eliminate Brain Fatigue

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Today: “Be flexible as water.  Do not resist the flow of living in your experience with your own version of reality.  You can only save yourself by being yourself.” from the I Ching

Be flexible as water.  Do not resist the flow of living in your experience with your own version of reality.  You can only save yourself by being yourself.

Meditation: LA860-960131-Increase the Flow of Earth Within You

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Tao Te Ching – Verse 15 – The ancient Masters were profound and subtle

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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.

This hexagram consists of a doubling of the trigram K’an. It is one of the eight hexagrams in which doubling occurs. The trigram K’an means a plunging in. A yang line has plunged in between two yin lines and is closed in by them like water in a ravine. The trigram K’an is also the middle son. The Receptive (2) has obtained the middle line of the Creative (1), and thus K’an develops. As an image it represents water, the water that comes from above and is in motion on earth in streams and rivers, giving rise to all life on earth.
In man’s world K’an represents the heart, the soul locked up within the body, the principle of light inclosed in the dark – that is, reason. The name of the hexagram, because the trigram is doubled, has the additional meaning, “repetition of danger.” Thus the hexagram is intended to designate an objective situation to which one must become accustomed, not a subjective attitude. For danger due to a subjective attitude means either foolhardiness or guile. Hence too a ravine is used to symbolise danger; it is a situation in which a man is in the same pass as the water in a ravine, and, like the water, he can escape if he behaves correctly.

THE JUDGEMENT

The Abysmal repeated.
If you’re sincere, you have success in your heart,
And whatever you do succeeds.

Through repetition of danger we grow accustomed to it. Water sets the example for the right conduct under such circumstances. It flows on and on, and merely fills up all the places through which it flows; it does not shrink from any dangerous spot nor from any plunge, and nothing can make it lose its own essential nature. It remains true to itself under all conditions. Thus likewise, if one is sincere when confronted with difficulties, the heart can penetrate the meaning of the situation. And once we have gained inner mastery of a problem, it will come about naturally that the action we take will succeed. In danger all that counts is really carrying out all that has to be done- -thoroughness – and going forward, in order not to perish through tarrying in the danger.
Properly used, danger can have an important meaning as a protective measure. Thus heaven has its perilous height protecting it against every attempt at invasion, and earth has its mountains and bodies of water, separating countries by their dangers. Thus also rulers make use of danger to protect themselves against attacks from without and against turmoil within.

 

Drop of water falling

THE IMAGE

Water flows on uninterruptedly and reaches its goal:
The image of the Abysmal repeated.
Thus the superior man walks in lasting virtue
And carries on the business of teaching.

Water reaches its goal by flowing continually. It fills up every depression before it flows on. The superior man follows its example; he is concerned that goodness should be an established attribute of character rather than an accidental and isolated occurrence. So likewise in teaching others everything depends on consistency, for it is only through repetition that the pupil makes the material his own.

Today: “Now you will ask me if a mind can be controlled. Yes. Not only can your mind be controlled, your life can be controlled.” – Yogi Bhajan

“Now you will ask me if a mind can be controlled. Yes. Not only can your mind be controlled, your life can be controlled. A situation can be controlled. Sometime you get into very, very, very ugly situation. If you have the practice to switch your breath to the left nostril you will get out of it in two seconds. The moment you start breathing with your left nostril, your elementary self will come in play. Moment your elementary self comes in play, your totality of the mind becomes one unit to confirm and it puts the radiance shield of your body and you will immediately become very pleasant and positive rather than angry and reactive. Some people train themselves to breathe through any nostril they choose. But many of you have not practiced that, and therefore you use your hand to close your right nostril. Long, deep breathing through the left nostril is good for the heart and good for the health. It will calm you down.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: LA041-780525- Control the Mind

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Today: “Keep it simple.  Just follow what you know, recognize what you do not know  and contemplate it.” from the I Ching

Keep it simple.  Just follow what you know, recognize what you do not know  and contemplate it.

Meditation: Shuniya Meditations as Taught by Yogi Bhajan, Yoga West, 1994

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Tao Te Ching – Verse 14 – Look, and it can’t be seen. Listen, and it can’t be heard. Reach, and it can’t be grasped.

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63 – Sixty-Three  Chi Chi / Aftermath

Boiling Water over open Flame, one might extinguish The other:
The Superior Person takes a 360 degree view of the situation and prepares for any contingency.

Success in small matters if you stay on course.
Early good fortune can end in disorder.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

Victory at the expense of another is a merciless taskmaster.
The precarious balance here is reflected in the lines of the hexagram: each of the yin lines rests upon a strong yang line — a seemingly perfect arrangement.
But the scales will be tipped with the change of any one line.
And there WILL be change.
Tireless vigilance and an answer to every challenge — that is the uneasy Seat of Power occupied by the conqueror.

Nine in the fifth place means:

The sacrificial festival launched by his eastern neighbor cannot overshadow the western man’s simple, sincere offering.

The neighbor in the east who slaughters an ox
Does not attain as much real happiness
As the neighbor in the west
With his small offering.

Caves of Lascaux

An enormous species of ox, called Aurochs , emerged from regions of northern India and migrated into Europe
Caves of Lascaux, France, two million years ago.

Religious attitudes are likewise influenced by the spiritual atmosphere prevailing in times after completion. In divine worship the simple old forms are replaced by an ever more elaborate ritual and an ever greater outward display. But inner seriousness is lacking in this show of magnificence; human caprice takes the place of conscientious obedience to the divine will. However, while man sees what is before his eyes, God looks into the heart. Therefore a simple sacrifice offered with real piety holds a greater blessing than an impressive service without warmth.

52 – Fifty-Two  Kên / The Mountain

Above this Mountain’s summit another more majestic rises:
The Superior Person is mindful to keep his thoughts in the here and now.

Stilling the sensations of the Ego, he roams his courtyard without moving a muscle, unencumbered by the fears and desires of his fellows.
This is no mistake.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

There is a higher vantage point available to you, but it is obscured by the visible peak of personal ambition.
To climb to this higher plane, you must shake off the desires and fears of the conscious, visible world around you.
To make this journey you must quiet the Ego, empty your mind of past and future, and dwell totally in the moment at hand.
Thorough mindfulness of what is before you is the only tranquility.
Be. Here. Now.