Today: “Get out of the way of the hostile forces that will blame anyone for everything.  Just stay in the flow.” – from the I Ching

Get out of the way of the hostile forces that will blame anyone for everything.  Just stay in the flow.

Meditation: Release obstacles in your path

A reading for the year 2021

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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.

Nine at the top means:

Innocent action brings misfortune.
Nothing furthers.

When, in a given situation, the time is not ripe for further progress, the best thing to do is to wait quietly, without ulterior designs. If one acts thoughtlessly and tries to push ahead in opposition to fate, success will not be achieved.

17 – Seventeen  Sui / Following

Thunder beneath the Lake’s surface.
The Superior Person allows himself plenty of sheltered rest and recuperation while awaiting a clear sign to follow.

Supreme success.
No mistakes if you keep to your course.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

Thunder from the Lake — the lulling, rhythmic roar of the faithful tide, eternally wearing away the stone of the shoreline, forever obedient to the phases of the moon.
The pull of the moon on the tide is the Following called for now.
As mighty as the tide is in its own right, it is ever the puppet of the invisible, irresistible gravity of the moon.
What cyclical forces pull you along?
Are you futilely attempting to resist a natural attraction?

Today: “What is greatness? Greatness is when you have found that you are not great, but everything else is.” – Yogi Bhajan

“What is greatness? Greatness is when you have found that you are not great, but everything else is. When everything else is great and you have experienced that, then everything else holds you in its esteem.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: NM371 – Enjoy the Creativity of God

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Today: “Trust in the promise of new leadership.  Do not be led astray by factions arising from tribalism.  Keep your eye on the prize.” – from the I Ching

Everything we have experienced has brought us the promise of prosperity.  Maybe you were chosen through the grace of God, but now it’s on you to deliver.

Meditation: NM0406 – Know the Best of You – Share the Best with Others

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55 – Fifty-Five  Fêng / Abundance

Thunder and Lightning from the dark heart of the storm:
The Superior Person judges fairly, so that consequences are just.

The leader reaches his peak and doesn’t lament the descent before him.
Be like the noonday sun at its zenith.
This is success.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

You are in a position of authority in this situation.
Archetypally, you are the New King, returned from your quest to claim your throne.
However, you are enlightened enough to realize that you are merely a part of a cycle, and that you must someday yield your throne to the new kid in town, the younger, faster gunslinger, the young turk, the next returning hero, the next New King.
Fretting about the inevitable descent is senseless.
For now you must play your role to the hilt and use this gift of power to govern your world as best you can.
You are the best person for the job.
That’s why you were chosen.
Give it your personal best.

Chên is movement; Li is flame, whose attribute is clarity. Clarity within, movement without-this produces greatness and abundance. The hexagram pictures a period of advanced civilisation. However, the fact that development has reached a peak suggests that this extraordinary condition of abundance cannot be maintained permanently.

THE JUDGEMENT

ABUNDANCE has success.
The king attains abundance.
Be not sad.
Be like the sun at midday.

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.

THE IMAGE

Both thunder and lightning come:
The image of ABUNDANCE.
Thus the superior man decides lawsuits
And carries out punishments.

This hexagram has a certain connection with Shih Ho, BITING THROUGH (21), in which thunder and lightning similarly appear together, but in the reverse order. In BITING THROUGH, laws are laid down; here they are applied and enforced. Clarity [Li] within makes it possible to investigate the facts exactly, and shock [Chên] without ensures a strict and precise carrying out of punishments.

 

For 2021: “What was broken nearly beyond repair through malfeasance can now not only survive, but also flourish. ” – from the I Ching

What was broken nearly beyond repair through malfeasance can now not only survive, but also flourish.  The evil perpetrated by the bad actors has turned on themselves  and begun to consume them and render them impotent.  It’s time to break the precedent for shameless notoriety and its dark corrupt practices and replace them with humility and grace.  Your example will shine and become contagious in a new age.

Meditation: LA822-950201-Healing the Physical

If you can, do this meditation daily for 40 days.  Then, if able, keep it up.    When you are strong enough, keep going on and on  — paraphrasing Yogi Bhajan in a lecture from 1995 at Yoga West.

YB: “…whatever happens to you, it will start happening you after forty days, keep it to yourself. Do not talk, do not telephone, do not disturb, don’t even call me. Whatever is happening, the unconscious is loading, unloading itself and finally you will be free of all the garbage – mental, spiritual and physical. You will be as clean, as cleanliness can be. It’s all up to you. But just remember, if you do one day this hand, next day the other side, it’s alternative day and my personal advice to you is, do not be freak out and do not do more than eleven minutes, don’t try to become hero. Your body cannot take more than eleven minutes. It’s different, I am master, I can do anything I want but any good person with a good sense and good health, just eleven minutes.

Student: Do you stop after forty days?

YB: If you stop, the benefit will stop. After forty days, it will start working in higher subtle body, at your arc body, at your other nine bodies, it will start working and you will start feeling, wider and wider and wider and wider, it’s a very good experience. And it will be fun. If you do not think that you can do it otherwise, you need a mantra, the sound current, the Shabad, the word, the word is Har. The sound is Har, there are six words, rest is all hanky-panky and donkey, monkeys, there are only six words in the word. Har, Harey, Hari, Wa He Guru, that’s it, rest is, five Tattvas are Sa Aa, Ta Aa, Na Aa, Ma Aa, Sat Nam, which we say to each other Sat Nam. It means, it is a power to give the energy to the Tattvas”

Read the text from Richard Wilhelm's, Thomas Cleary's, Brian Arnold's and other translations of the I Ching
36 – Thirty-Six  Ming I / Eclipsing the Light

Warmth and Light are swallowed by Deep Darkness:
The Superior Person shows his brilliance by keeping it veiled among the masses.
Stay true to your course, despite the visible obstacles ahead.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

This time calls for a saintly effort to turn the other cheek.
You have been deliberately injured.
Going blow-for-blow will only escalate this war.
Abstain from vengeance.
Show all watching that you are above it.
Sidestep your aggressor’s headlong charge, giving him the opportunity to fall on his face.

Six at the top means:

Not light but darkness.
First he climbed up to heaven,
Then plunged into the depths of the earth.

Here the climax of the darkening is reached. The dark power at first held so high a place that it could wound all who were on the side of good and of the light. But in the end it perishes of its own darkness, for evil must itself fall at the very moment when it has wholly overcome the good, and thus consumed the energy to which it owed its duration.

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.

 

Today: “If there is a purpose other than compassion in all relationships in your life, you will also find pain in that relationship.” – Yogi Bhajan

“If there is a purpose other than compassion in all relationships in your life, you will also find pain in that relationship.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: NM0414-20010905 – Correcting the Sensory System

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Today: “Trust in the promise of new leadership.  Do not be led astray by factions arising from tribalism.  Keep your eye on the prize.” – from the I Ching

Trust in the promise of new leadership.  Do not be led astray by factions arising from tribalism.  Keep your eye on the prize.

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

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45 – Forty-Five  Ts’ui / Gathering

The Lake rises by welcoming and receiving Earth’s waters:
The King approaches his temple.
It is wise to seek audience with him there.

Success follows this course.
Making an offering will seal your good fortune.
A goal will be realized now.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

This is an important Convergence, and you must be part of it.
Look for the Center of this convergence.
Like waters running to the sea, like an astronomical convergence of planets revolving around the sun, you should let the gravity of this Center draw you near.
Others are also drawn to this Center, and among them you will find shared bonds and kindred spirits.
This tribal convergence will give you a clarity of purpose.
You will no longer be alone.

Six at the beginning [yin at bottom] means:

If you’re sincere, but not to the end,
There will sometimes be confusion, sometimes gathering together.
If you call out,
Then after one grasp of the hand you can laugh again.
Regret not. Going is without blame.

The situation is this: People desire to gather around a leader to whom they look up. But they are in a large group, by which they allow themselves to be influenced, so that they waver in their decision. Thus they lack a firm center around which to gather. But if expression is given to this need, and if they call for help, one grasp of the hand from the leader is enough to turn away all distress. Therefore they must not allow themselves to be led astray. It is undoubtedly right that they should attach themselves to this leader.

3 – Three  Chun / Difficulty at the Beginning

Thunder from the Deep:
The Superior Person carefully weaves order out of confusion.

Supreme Success if you keep to your course.
Carefully consider the first move.
Seek help.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

New ventures always pack along their inherent chaos.
Though this is an annoyance at best, and can even imperil or downright doom an endeavor, it is also the friction needed to polish your project to jewel brilliance.
Learn from these early obstacles.

 

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

Kundalini Meditation N. 100

Taught by Siri Singh Sahib Bhai Sahib Harbhajan Singh Khalsa Yogiji P. 199

LA101 790419 We are suffering because we have no faith in our self and in our own discipline.

Raise the arms and hands up with the elbows bent until they meet at the level of the lips. Fold the fingers down so that the fingertips press on the mounds of the hands. The palms face forward and the thumb tips touch. (Long thumbnails will make this difficult.)

The mudra will be about six to eight inches from the face.

Sit with the legs crossed or in any meditative pose.

Inhale completely in eight equal strokes (sniffs Sa Ta Na Ma, Sa Ta Na Ma) and exhale in eight equal strokes Sa Ta Na Ma, Sa Ta Na Ma.

The entire cycle takes approximately ten seconds.

Look at the tip of the nose

No mantra for this meditation (mental SaTaNaMa)

After finishing the meditation inhale, hold and stretch up powerfully. Exhale and repeat twice more.

Practice this meditation 11-31 minutes.

See PDF: LA101 790419-FaithInOurSelfAndOurOwnDiscipline

 

Today: “You are true now, you were true then, and you shall ever be true—that is all you have to know, and you will be free.” – Yogi Bhajan

“You are true now, you were true then, and you shall ever be true—that is all you have to know, and you will be free.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: NM0420-20011015 – The Power of Memories – Remember the Saint Within

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Today: “Experience the depths of the silence that exists within you.” – from the I Ching

Experience the depths of the silence that exists within you.

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

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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.

The image of this hexagram is the mountain, the youngest son of heaven and earth. The male principle is at the top, because it strives upward by nature; the female principle is below, since the direction of its movement is downward. Thus there is rest because the movement has come to its normal end.
In its application to man, the hexagram turns upon the problem of achieving a quiet heart. It is very difficult to bring quiet to the heart. While Buddhism strives for rest through an ebbing away of all movement in nirvana, the Yi Jing holds that rest is merely a state of polarity that always posits movement as its complement. Possibly the words of the text embody directions for the practice of yoga.

THE JUDGEMENT

KEEPING STILL. Keeping his back still
So that he no longer feels his body.
He goes into his courtyard
And does not see his people.
No blame.

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.

Huang Shan

THE IMAGE

Mountains standing close together:
The image of KEEPING STILL.
Thus the superior man
Does not permit his thoughts
To go beyond his situation.

The heart thinks constantly. This cannot be changed, but the movements of the heart – that is, a man’s thoughts – should restrict themselves to the immediate situation. All thinking that goes beyond this only makes the heart sore.

 

Today: “A true seeker is one who will seek God in his heart.” – Yogi Bhajan

“What you are you are, and destiny is destiny. Make a dog emperor and still he will lick the grinding wheel.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: NM0415 – 20010910 – Karma & Dharma

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Meditation: NM422 A11020 Coordination of Body Mind by Spirit to Enter the Fall and the Winter Season

NM422 A11020 Coordination of Body Mind by Spirit GUIDED MEDITATION WITH THE MASTER  To Enter the Fall and the Winter Season  Yogi Bhajan, Ph.D. – October 20th, 2001

I have called you today, as these nine days are very auspicious. The moon is  crossing beneath the sun. It is a time to sharpen the mind. Why not to do it the  way of the century-old custom? It is not very difficult, and you will be very comfortable in the end.

NM0422 GUIDED MEDITATION WITH THE MASTER –

To Enter the Fall and the Winter Season  31 Minutes  (Sit straight in a cross-legged position. Bring your hands in front of your heart center, with the fingertips touching and the  palms spread.)  “Try to see how the energy moves. You will feel the reality of the body. Inhale deep and ride on the breath, in and out, long  and deep, as honestly as you can. Take your body—the inner being in this body, simply by meditative force. Do not try to  understand that you cannot do it. It is not difficult, but it is a great experience. Pull your mental body out of your body.  Just take it out. Just simply coordinate between you, your environments, your activities and your own preciousness.  Your mental body, when you command it, is very pure, very clear. And it is yours. It is not related to the physical activities,  although the mental body is with you. Things are corrupt only when you are in your physical body and your mental body  is not combined. So, do coordinate—you have that power, and take this out, out of your being. Time is with us, the wind  is behind us and virtuous we are.  It is a very special Saturday. Therefore the Saturn energy in the penetrating form of its being is passing through, irrespective  of any force or any effort. That is why I chose it. And we have a small time window only, that is why I am very quick and  not saying anything. So this breath has to be very long and down to the navel point. Deep in, and hold, and completely out.  The power we have is our virtue. Our virtue is extremely powerful. Our value is humongous. Value, we give! Virtues, we  experience! Our values are our values. The majority of the time we forget that we have values. But most of the time if we  practice these things, we remember our values. And once a person follows one’s own values, that is all divinity is all about.  So, keep the breath long, deep and evaluate yourself. Give yourself values. The first value you can give yourself is: I am  virtuous. I am beautiful. God created me in the best form. Thank God has given me health, happiness and wealth.  You know, you are a wonder of the world. Recognize the fact. Concentrate on these things.  Now comes the secret of the Shintoism, the Japanese faith. See that you are just a blade of grass, beautiful, green, and  you are covering your values. Start covering your values as a blade of grass, with an extreme sense of self-cooperation.  The tips of the fingers must meet so that circulation can coordinate the two parts of the body, and your valuable and  virtuous and wonderful body is right, at this time, under manual control, and your mental body is taken out.  The mental body is looking at your physical body as you are sitting. Practice this split. Once you can separate your mental  body and practice to separate it, as we keep on doing, there will be no problems—at the time of death you can split your  mental body and be free of karma. You will never have a rebirth again. That is guaranteed.  This is your reality. You have a physical body, you have a mental body and you have a body of bliss. When you separate  that, in-between you watch over this body. See how beautiful it is?  Your breath has to be very long and deep because your spiritual body, your physical body, your mental body and your being  are separate. You have never been taught this. You have never been told. You think you are one bundle. Feel the super and  extreme contentment. That will bring you prosperity. Ride on your breath and just feel supremely contented. That will give  you the prosperity that you are looking for. It’s no use living rich, it’s no use living poor, it’s no use being great if you cannot  demonstrate to yourself that you can separate your bodies as you can separate that strength. And you can not only  visualize, but experience it. In this experience, you are the Supreme.

Every religion goes round and round and round and talks one thing only—self-consciousness. Self-consciousness is just a  phrase to us. Let us consider what self-consciousness is: When we know we have a spiritual body, we have a mental body,  we have a physical body.  Your mental body and your radiant body—have you ever put them together? They are yours. Nobody will know it! But  you will be charged, and recharged with the energy. What is more beautiful on this Earth than you? What is more pure  and shining than you? What is more cool and calm and quiet than you? In the Eyes of God you are everything.  Take a long deep breath and ride on it. Fortune and misfortune are two wavelengths. By yourself it pulses—you can put  your body on any wavelength you need. In common man’s language we call it repetition.  The body’s membranes, the body’s re-adjustment and the body’s main nervous system are going to adjust now. You are  within that time. Please breathe long and deep and cure yourself forever. Heal! Take long deep breaths and ride on it, and  keep your mental body away. Only look at where the tips of the fingers meet.  Circulate your breath. Keep the mental body separate. Concentrate on the physical body, in the realm of personal  consciousness. You are beautiful, you are bountiful, you are blissful, you are virtuous, you have vigor, self-control. Apply  all that!  The central nerve in the navel point can be touched by a deep breath. A split mental body can give you a vast area of  coexistence. Your all five channels and tattvas are totally balanced at the moment. Your arc line is clear.  Can you believe the little bit that we have done? We suffer here, there, everywhere. What for? America needs peace, it  needs love. It needs tons of smiles. It needs us—we the people.  Our window is up at 12 o’clock. The rotation of the planet will change the energy and it will change everything. Now is  the time. Breathe long and deep. Get it when it is available. Bring in you the coziness. Colorful coziness. Split the light inside. Bring in the special Breath of Life. If you know how to concentrate, meditate and breathe, this is the time.”  To end  “Breathe in deep and hold it tight. Breathe out. Breathe in deep and hold it tight. Breathe out. Breathe in all the virtues of  God and breathe out peace for the world. Breathe in long and deep, hold it, love it, feel it, and then let it go. Now put all  the pressure on the fingertips. Inhale deep. Put a tight grip on the fingers. Let it go. Inhale deep. Make the fingers very tight.  Feel the purpose of life and prosperity. Let it go. Inhale deeply, exhale and relax.”  This time may come in this month next year. My idea was just to give you a re-charge. And this is a very special  time. The whole Eastern World is going to celebrate the Festival of Light. During the ten days of this festival people  will do nothing but breathe, meditate, eat the right food and show gratitude to young girls, the mothers of  innocence. When you see a young girl, you see the creative purity. Purity has many forms, but creative purity is  only the young girl. The source of humanity is that young girl, who will grow and one day have a family and children.  America is young all the time and does not care. There is no rule, no virtue, because we are not a very meditative  nation. But now we are learning a lesson. We got chili in our nose. Now we know we have to change. One day  you will come out and realize how virtuous you are, how valuable you are, how this precious time is given to you  so you can act on yourself so that you can turn from human into an angel. You are going to get kicked. That is a  fact you cannot avoid. Every moment you have to concentrate on your purity.  I asked a Japanese master, “What is Shinto?” He replied, “It is a personal religion.”“Can I know about it?” He picked  a blade of grass and said, “What do you see?” I was a little cleverer than he thought and I said, “God.” He asked,  “Where is it?” I said, “In this blade.”“You know Shinto. That’s it! Thank you.”  There is nothing more in teaching. This is all it is. If you cannot see God in all you cannot see God at all. When that  monk picked up a piece of grass and said, “What do you see?” a normal reply would have been, “A blade of grass.”  What is the most beautiful virtue man has? Matching intelligence! If you can match intelligence with another person  you are the most valuable, virtuous and wonderful person. Love is when you temporarily get along with a person.  Virtue is in matching intelligence–not values, where everybody differs. Match intelligence!

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Today: “Put your best virtue forward.  We have an opportunity to work together harmoniously. ” – from the I Ching

Put your best virtue forward.  We have an opportunity to work together harmoniously.  In this season of dormancy, assess your next ventures carefully.

Meditation: LA046 – 780614 – Hari Shabad Meditation – Use the Wind to Produce Trance and Dissolve Negativity

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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.

Nine in the second place means:

Joint approach.
Good fortune.
Everything furthers.When the stimulus to approach comes from a high place, and when a man has the inner strength and consistency that need no admonition, good fortune will ensue. Nor need the future cause any concern. He is well aware that everything earthly is transitory, and that a descent follows upon every rise, but need not be confused by this universal law of fate. Everything serves to further. Therefore he will travel the paths of life swiftly, honestly, and valiantly.

24 – Twenty-Four  Fu / Return

Thunder regenerates deep within Earth’s womb:
Sage rulers recognized that the end of Earth’s seasonal cycle was also the starting point of a new year and a time for dormancy.
They closed the passes at the Solstice to enforce a rest from commerce and activity.
The ruler himself did not travel.

You have passed this way before but you are not regressing.
This is progress, for the cycle now repeats itself, and this time you are aware that it truly is a cycle.
The return of old familiars is welcome.
You can be as sure of this cycle as you are that seven days bring the start of a new week.
Use this dormancy phase to plan which direction you will grow.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

You are about to experience a rebirth — about to be given another chance, a new lease on life.
You have persevered, gone the distance through an entire cycle — through the Spring of hope or new passion, through a Summer of growth and building, only to be sacrificed like the archetypal Harvest King at the Autumn reaping.
You lie dormant like seed beneath Winter snows now, healing and absorbing new energies in preparation for the new young Spring coming shortly to your life.

 

Today: “When a man becomes God-conscious, he becomes humble enough to present his entire personality before the world without fear.” – Yogi Bhajan

“When a man becomes God-conscious, he becomes humble enough to present his entire personality before the world without fear.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: LA742 921201 Fear 1, original fear

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Today: “Whatever we wish to accomplish, with patience and determination we will succeed together.” – from the I Ching

Whatever we wish to accomplish, with patience and determination we will succeed together.

Lecture and Meditation: Patience Pays – LA-19831020

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7 – Seven  Shih / Recruiting Allies

Deep Water beneath the Earth’s surface:
Untapped resources are available.
The Superior Person nourishes and instructs the people, building a loyal, disciplined following.
Good fortune.
No mistakes if you follow a course led by experience.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

You must gain support from others.
Find a way to make others want to see your objectives met as badly as you want it.
How can they profit from the attainment of this goal?
Can you command confidence that you are just the person that can bring this plan to fruition?

Six in the fourth place means:

The army retreats. No blame.

In the face of a superior enemy, with whom it would be hopeless to engage in battle, an orderly retreat is the only correct procedure, because it will save the army from defeat and disintegration. It is by no means a sign of courage or strength to insist upon engaging in a hopeless struggle regardless of circumstances.

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: “Dear ones, never blame anyone or anything…Have patience, for patience pays.” – Yogi Bhajan

“Dear ones, never blame anyone or anything. Whatever happens, you must have asked for it, and you must have asked for it for a purpose. Have patience, for patience pays.” Yogi Bhajan

Lecture and Meditation: Patience Pays – LA-19831020

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What else Yogi Bhajan said

Today: “Develop a strong discipline.  Be careful that it does not become obsession.” – from the I Ching

Develop a strong discipline.  Be careful that it does not become obsession.

Meditation: LA714-19920219

See Yogi Bhajan’s quote for today

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Today: I Ching – Previous Readings

Personal I Ching readings

Read the text from Richard Wilhelm's, Thomas Cleary's, Brian Arnold's and other translations of the I Ching
60 – Sixty  Chieh / Limitations

Waters difficult to keep within the Lake’s banks:
The Superior Person examines the nature of virtue and makes himself a standard that can be followed.

Self-discipline brings success; but restraints too binding bring self-defeat.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

Cultivating the proper disciplines and the proper degree of discipline are the concerns of this hexagram.
By limiting options, you may give more attention to priorities.
One who is all over the map is no less lost than one without a map.
Avoid asceticism, however.
Deprivation is not wise discipline.
The key here is regulation, not restriction.

A lake occupies a limited space. When more water comes into it, it overflows. Therefore limits must be set for the water. The image shows water below and water above, with the firmament between them as a limit.
The Chinese word for limitation really denotes the joints that divide a bamboo stalk. In relation to ordinary life it means the thrift that sets fixed limits upon expenditures. In relation to the moral sphere it means the fixed limits that the superior man sets upon his actions- the limits of loyalty and disinterestedness.

THE JUDGEMENT

LIMITATION. Success.
Galling limitation must not be persevered in.

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. 

THE IMAGE

Water over lake: the image of LIMITATION.
Thus the superior man
Creates number and measure,
And examines the nature of virtue and correct conduct.

A lake is something limited. Water is inexhaustible. A lake can contain only a definite amount of the infinite quantity of water; this is its peculiarity. In human life too the individual achieves significance through discrimination and the setting of limits. Therefore what concerns us here is the problem of clearly defining these discriminations, which are, so to speak, the backbone of morality. Unlimited possibilities are not suited to man; if they existed, his life would only dissolve in the boundless. To become strong, a man’s life needs the limitations ordained by duty and voluntarily accepted. The individual attains significance as a free spirit only by surrounding himself with these limitations and by determining for himself what his duty is.