Today: Hold firm, quietly, not giving in to slander and opinionated opposition. – from the I Ching

Hold firm, quietly, not giving in to slander and opinionated opposition.

Meditation: Release obstacles in your path

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Today: I Ching – Previous Readings

Today: I Ching – Previous Previous Readings

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Tao Te Ching – Verse 29 – Do you want to improve the world? I don’t think it can be done.

5 – Five  Hsü / Calculated Waiting

Deep Waters in the Heavens:
Thunderclouds approaching from the West, but no rain yet.
The Superior Person nourishes himself and remains of good cheer to condition himself for the moment of truth.

Great Success if you sincerely keep to your course.
You may cross to the far shore.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

You must now endure this Dangling — either a carrot before your nose, or a sword above your head.
This strange mix of apprehension and anticipation is a Purgatory.
There is nothing more you can do to affect the outcome.
You must now submit to the Fates.

Nine in the second place means:

Taking your post in the sand, ceaselessly watching the far shore for enemy movements, you must endure the taunts and contempt of your comrades.
Good fortune in the end.

Waiting on the sand.
There is some gossip.
The end brings good fortune.

Mitsuke sandbank

Mitsuke sandbank

The danger gradually comes closer. Sand is near the bank of the river, and the water means danger. Disagreements crop up. General unrest can easily develop in such times, and we lay the blame on one another. He who stays calm will succeed in making things go well in the end. Slander will be silenced if we do not gratify it with injured retorts.

15 – Fifteen  Ch’ien / Modesty

The Mountain does not overshadow the Plain surrounding it:
Such modest consideration in a Superior Person creates a channel through which excess flows to the needy.

Success if you carry things through.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

The Cosmos is moving toward equilibrium.
Extremes are being tempered, excess is beginning to shift toward the empty.
You can use these moderating influences to strike a balance in the world around you.
Remember, though, that this Leveling will not come about through an arrogant confiscation of excess, but through subtler persuasions.
Modesty and moderation are the keys.

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

Today: “there is a chance for every man to become a perfect saint” – Yogi Bhajan

“Whether you believe me or not, there is a chance for every man to become a perfect saint. If your mental attitude is perfect and security and calmness is achieved inside, everything, all the material world, will relate to you outside.” Yogi Bhajan

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

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Today: Current obstacles are a result of of thoughtless habits and careless actions.  Fix them before the they become more serious. – from the I Ching

Current obstacles are a result of of thoughtless habits and careless actions.  Fix them before the they become more serious.

Meditation: Release obstacles in your path

See Yogi Bhajan’s quote for today

Today: I Ching – Previous Readings

Today: I Ching – Previous Previous Readings

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Tao Te Ching – Verse 28 – Know the male, yet keep to the female

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.

Six in the third place means:

Hemmed in by stone, with nothing to climb but thorns: a trap of his own making.
Struggling home, he cannot find his wife.
Misfortune.

A man permits himself to be oppressed by stone,
And leans on thorns and thistles.
He enters the house and does not see his wife.
Misfortune.

Thorns and thistle

This shows a man who is restless and indecisive in times of adversity. At first he wants to push ahead, then he encounters obstructions that, it is true, mean oppression only when recklessly dealt with. He butts his head against a wall and in consequence feels himself oppressed by the wall. Then he leans on things that have in themselves no stability and that are merely a hazard for him who leans on them. Thereupon he turns back irresolutely and retires into his house, only to find, as a fresh disappointment, that his wife is not there. Kongfu (Confucius) says about this line:

If a man permits himself to be oppressed by something that ought not to oppress him, his name will certainly be disgraced. If he leans on things upon which one cannot lean, his life will certainly be endangered. For him who is in disgrace and danger, the hour of death draws near; how can he then still see his wife?

28 – Twenty-Eight  Ta Kuo / Critical Mass

The Flood rises above the tallest Tree:
Amidst a rising tide of human folly, the Superior Person retires to higher ground, renouncing his world without looking back.

Any direction is better than where you now stand.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

Several high-priority concerns demand immediate attention.
All are crucial.
None will be denied.
Yet some demand the denial of others.
Like two atoms seeking to occupy the same space, these irresistible forces and immovable objects threaten to ignite a cataclysm that could irreversibly alter your world.
This is no time for fatal heroics.
You are at Ground Point Zero.
Remove yourself from this situation without delay.
Find sanctuary.
Later you may deal with these concerns on your own terms, from a position of strength.

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

Today: “Without labor one never understands the master within himself” – Yogi Bhajan

“Without labor one never understands the master within himself.” Yogi Bhajan

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

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Today: Sometimes you just have to break with the tribe, when leadership has failed.  Separation yields reconciliation. – from the I Ching

Sometimes you just have to break with the tribe, when leadership has failed.  Separation yields reconciliation.

Meditation: Release obstacles in your path

See Yogi Bhajan’s quote for today

Today: I Ching – Previous Readings

Today: I Ching – Previous Previous Readings

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Tao Te Ching – Verse 27 – A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving

53 – Fifty-Three  Chien / Gradual Progress

The gnarled Pine grows tenaciously off the Cliff face:
The Superior Person clings faithfully to dignity and integrity, thus elevating the Collective Spirit of Man in his own small way.
Development.
The maiden is given in marriage.
Good fortune if you stay on course.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

Adaptability mixed with integrity will bring a calm, steady progress.
Move from your center, always faithful to your principles, yet with the flexibility to weather any tempest.
Yours is not a meteoric rise to the top, but the solid, confident footing of one who has a clear vision of what can be, and who is willing to climb the distance to reach it.
The oracle foresees companionship along the way — a Divine comfort on any journey.

Nine in the fifth place means:

The wild geese draw near the summit.
For three years the female has borne no young; now nothing will stop her.
Deliverance.

The wild goose gradually draws near the summit.
For three years the woman has no child.
In the end nothing can hinder her.
Good fortune.

Geese

The summit is a high place. In a high position one easily becomes isolated. One is misjudged by the very person on whom one is dependent – the woman by her husband, the official by his superior. This is the work of deceitful persons who have wormed their way in. The result is that relationships remain sterile, and nothing is accomplished. But in the course of further development, such misunderstandings are cleared away, and reconciliation is achieved after all.

23 – Twenty-Three  Po / Splitting Apart

The weight of the Mountain presses down upon a weak foundation of Earth:
The Superior Person will use this time of oppression to attend to the needs of those less fortunate.

Any action would be ill-timed.
Stand fast.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

This is a situation easily mistaken for Stagnation (Hexagram 12) or Revolution (Hexagram 49).
It just depends on which side you’re on.
During a time of Stagnation, human worms invade to feed on the decay.
During a time of Revolution, oppression is being overthrown.
But in this situation, oppressors are violently seizing power.
Pay special heed when you receive this hexagram, because the oracle is often warning you of a situation of which you are totally unaware.
You are about to be blindsided.

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

Today: “One thing you cannot copy is the soul of another person or the spirit of another person” – Yogi Bhajan

“One thing you cannot copy and that is the soul of another person or the spirit of another person. It is the spirit in you that matters.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: KWTC7-19910705 – Self Hypnotic Trance – Self Bliss

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Today: When the end seems near, there is still more to accomplish.  After straightening yourself, project your strength for justice – from the I Ching

When the end seems near, there is still more to accomplish.  After straightening yourself, project your strength for justice.

Meditation: NM132-940504-Pratyahar

See Yogi Bhajan’s quote for today

Today: I Ching – Previous Readings

Today: I Ching – Previous Previous Readings

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Tao Te Ching – Verse 26 – The heavy is the root of the light. The unmoved is the source of all movement.

30 – Thirty  Li / Igniting

Fire sparks more Flames:
The Superior Person holds an inner Fire that ignites passion in every heart it touches, until all the world is enlightened and aflame.

With so searing a flame, success will not be denied you.
Take care to be as peaceful and nurturing as the cow in the meadow; you are strong enough to be gentle.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

A Promethean flame is delivering light and heat to the situation at hand.
This radiance will cause such an alchemical transformation of circumstances that the changes will seem magical, miraculous.
Yet they are only shifts of perspective and attitude that bring clarity.
The passions kindled by this fire must be harnessed and used judiciously, or they threaten to consume your hopes and dreams.

Nine in the third place means:

Old men read the lesson in the setting sun.
Beat the cymbal and sing in this life, or wail away the hours fearing death.

Their choice is their fortune.

In the light of the setting sun,
Men either beat the pot and sing
Or loudly bewail the approach of old age.
Misfortune.

Pacific sunset

Pacific sunset

Here the end of the day has come. The light of the setting sun calls to mind the fact that life is transitory and conditional. Caught in this external bondage, men are usually robbed of their inner freedom as well. The sense of the transitoriness of life impels them to uninhibited revelry in order to enjoy life while it lasts, or else they yield to melancholy and spoil the precious time by lamenting the approach of old age. Both attitudes are wrong. To the superior man it makes no difference whether death comes early or late. He cultivates himself, awaits his allotted time, and in this way secures his fate.
21 – Twenty-One  Shih Ho / Biting Through

The merciless, searing judgement of Lightning fulfills the warning prophecies of distant Thunder.
Sage rulers preserved Justice by clearly defining the laws, and by delivering the penalties decreed.

Though unpleasant, it is best to let justice have its due.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

A terrible reckoning is due.
A wrong will be righted — and even if it has been you who has been wronged, you will tremble at the terrible power of Justice untempered by Mercy.
Pray for your oppressor, that his punishment will fit his crime.

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

Today: “Meditation is a duty toward the self” – Yogi Bhajan

“Meditation is a duty toward the self. The moment you become aware of the self, you become beautiful to self because the moment you concentrate on self, your frequency changes and the universe around you changes also. This is a cosmic law.” Yogi Bhajan

 

Meditation: LA057 780928 Change your frequency

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Today: When your works and plans fall apart, rely on the strengths that have supported you. – from the I Ching

When your works and plans fall apart, rely on the strengths that have supported you.

https://www.harinam.com/meditation-nm0336-for-inner-strength/

See Yogi Bhajan’s quote for today

Today: I Ching – Previous Readings

Today: I Ching – Previous Previous Readings

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Tao Te Ching – Verse 25 – There was something formless and perfect before the universe was born.

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.
20 – Twenty  Kuan / Contemplation

The gentle Wind roams the Earth:
The Superior Person expands his sphere of influence as he expands his awareness.
Deeply devoted to his pursuit of clarity and wisdom, he is unconscious of the inspiring, positive example he is setting for others to emulate.

You have cleansed yourself; now stand ready to make your humble, devout offering.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

The situation marks a rising to new heights.
As you climb for a better view of the panorama, you make yourself more conspicuous to those below.
This hexagram is also known as the Watchtower, because the shape formed by its lines resembles the ancient guardposts manned by Chinese soldiers.
These towers were placed on mountainsides to give a better vantage point.
To those below, the watchtowers served as landmarks to help them find their way.
The quality of your search for clarity in this situation serves as such a guidepost for others along the Way.

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

Today: “There is nothing more precious than the self” – Yogi Bhajan

“There is nothing more precious than the self. There is nothing more beautiful than the self. There is nothing greater than the self. Only with the self can you realize that there is a God, a Supreme Consciousness of the Supreme Self.” Yogi Bhajan

 

Meditation: NM091 – 19921110 – Self Emboldenment, Engagement, Vision

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Today: Representatives of dark forces are dividing and separating people from their virtue and principles and their identity.  All you can do is be you, recognize who they are, and allow them awaken or fail. – from the I Ching

Representatives of dark forces are dividing and separating people from their virtue and principles and their identity.  All you can do is be you, recognize who they are, and allow them awaken or fail.

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

See Yogi Bhajan’s quote for today

Today: I Ching – Previous Readings

Today: I Ching – Previous Previous Readings

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Tao Te Ching – Verse 24 – He who stands on tiptoe doesn’t stand firm

Recite The Magical Story of Mushkil Gusha for friends over a meal today.

23 – Twenty-Three  Po / Splitting Apart

The weight of the Mountain presses down upon a weak foundation of Earth:
The Superior Person will use this time of oppression to attend to the needs of those less fortunate.

Any action would be ill-timed.
Stand fast.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

This is a situation easily mistaken for Stagnation (Hexagram 12) or Revolution (Hexagram 49).
It just depends on which side you’re on.
During a time of Stagnation, human worms invade to feed on the decay.
During a time of Revolution, oppression is being overthrown.
But in this situation, oppressors are violently seizing power.
Pay special heed when you receive this hexagram, because the oracle is often warning you of a situation of which you are totally unaware.
You are about to be blindsided.

Six in the second place means:

The arms of the throne are split to kindling.
Those closest to the leader are slashed away.

The bed is split at the edge.
Those who persevere are destroyed.
Misfortune.

Broken bed

The power of the inferior people is growing. The danger draws close to one’s person; already there are clear indications, and rest is disturbed. Moreover, in this dangerous situation one is as yet without help or friendly advances from above or below. Extreme caution is necessary in this isolation. One must adjust to the time and promptly avoid the danger. Stubborn perseverance in maintaining one’s standpoint would lead to downfall.

41 – Forty-one  Sun / Decrease

The stoic Mountain drains its excess waters to the Lake below:
The Superior Person curbs his anger and sheds his desires.

To be frugal and content is to possess immeasurable wealth within.
Nothing of value could be refused such a person.
Make a portion of each meal a share of your offering.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

This is an occasion for downsizing to fighting trim.
Simplicity and economy are strong defenses against the slings and arrows of Outrageous Fortune.
Whether this is a time of want or a time of plenty, it is an auspicious time to shed a dependency.

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

Today: “What is man’s destiny? Man’s destiny is to merge with infinity.” – Yogi Bhajan

“What is man’s destiny? Man’s destiny is to merge with infinity. You should not only know it, you should experience it. Experiencing in yourself the vastness of infinity is the aim of human life.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: Breath to Conquer Time Space and Destiny

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Today: Awaken to the corruption of the social structure produced by narrow, selfish and wealthy  interests.  The existence of life itself on this planet is in peril. – from the I Ching

Awaken to the corruption of the social structure produced by narrow, selfish and wealthy  interests.  The existence of life itself on this planet is in peril.

Meditation:  M060 901121 Awaken Kundalini

See Yogi Bhajan’s quote for today

Today: I Ching – Previous Readings

Today: I Ching – Previous Previous Readings

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Tao Te Ching – Verse 19 – Throw away holiness and wisdom, and people will be a hundred times happier.

13 – Thirteen  T’ung Jên / Social Mechanism

Heaven reflects the Flame of clarity:
The Superior Person analyzes the various levels and working parts of the social structure, and uses them to advantage.

Success if you keep to your course.
You may cross to the far shore.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

This is a matter of Positioning — not only yourself, but others as well.
There are niches to be filled, potentials to be realized, right livelihoods to be found.
You are not building a new organization, but shoring up an existing infrastructure.
It’s worth the effort, because it will provide union, community, and an ironclad alliance.

Six in the second place means:

The clan holds tightly, armed against outsiders.
This inbreeds fear and cruelty, which can only give birth to strife and extinction.

Fellowship with men in the clan.
Humiliation.

Harvard Club

Harvard Club – London’s top private club

There is danger here of formation of a separate faction on the basis of personal and egotistic interests. Such factions, which are exclusive and, instead of welcoming all men, must condemn one group in order to unite the others, originate from low motives and therefore lead in the course of time to humiliation.

44 – Forty-Four  Kou / Compulsion

A playful Zephyr dances and delights beneath indulgent Heaven:
A Prince who shouts orders but will not walk among his people may as well try to command the four winds.

A strong, addictive temptation, much more dangerous than it seems.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

You are ignoring a clear and present danger to your well-being.
If this threat emanated from a heavy-handed oppressor, you would see it coming.
But this danger comes to you in the form of a seduction, an amusement, a diversion, an indulgence that is eating away at the fiber of your secure little world.
You are too cocksure.
You underestimate the tribute this dalliance will demand.

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

Today: “recognize your own value, your own merit, consciously” – Yogi Bhajan

“If you are told to meditate in individuality to universality, it means only to recognize your own value, your own merit, consciously; and if you can do this, then everything will be all right.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: NM0383-20010213 – Culturing the Self

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Today:Slow, steady development.  The point is not to give up. – from the I Ching

Slow, steady development.  The point is not to give up.

Meditation: The Positive Mind

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Today: I Ching – Previous Readings

Today: I Ching – Previous Previous Readings

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Tao Te Ching – Verse 19 – Throw away holiness and wisdom, and people will be a hundred times happier.

53 – Fifty-Three  Chien / Gradual Progress

The gnarled Pine grows tenaciously off the Cliff face:
The Superior Person clings faithfully to dignity and integrity, thus elevating the Collective Spirit of Man in his own small way.
Development.
The maiden is given in marriage.
Good fortune if you stay on course.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

Adaptability mixed with integrity will bring a calm, steady progress.
Move from your center, always faithful to your principles, yet with the flexibility to weather any tempest.
Yours is not a meteoric rise to the top, but the solid, confident footing of one who has a clear vision of what can be, and who is willing to climb the distance to reach it.
The oracle foresees companionship along the way — a Divine comfort on any journey.

This hexagram is made up of Sun (wood, penetration) above, i.e., without, and Kên (mountain, stillness) below, i.e., within. A tree on a mountain develops slowly according to the law of its being and consequently stands firmly rooted. This gives the idea of a development that proceeds gradually, step by step. The attributes of the trigrams also point to this: within is tranquillity, which guards against precipitate actions, and without is penetration, which makes development and progress possible.

THE JUDGEMENT

DEVELOPMENT. The maiden
Is given in marriage.
Good fortune.
Perseverance furthers.

The development of events that leads to a girl’s following a man to his home proceeds slowly. The various formalities must be disposed of before the marriage takes place. This principle of gradual development can be applied to other situations as well; it is always applicable where it is a matter of correct relationships of co-operation, as for instance in the appointment of an official. The development must be allowed to take its proper course. Hasty action would not be wise. This is also true, finally, of any effort to exert influence on others, for here too the essential factor is a correct way of development through cultivation of one’s own personality. No influence such as that exerted by agitators has a lasting effect.
Within the personality too, development must follow the same course if lasting results are to be achieved. Gentleness that is adaptable, but at the same time penetrating, is the outer form that should proceed from inner calm.
The very gradualness of the development makes it necessary to have perseverance, for perseverance alone prevents slow progress from dwindling to nothing.

 

Tree on a mountain

Tree on a mountain – from monastry of Semen Stolbnik near Aleppo – Syria

THE IMAGE

On the mountain, a tree:
The image of DEVELOPMENT.
Thus the superior man abides in dignity and virtue,
In order to improve the mores.

The tree on the mountain is visible from afar, and its development influences the landscape of the entire region. It does not shoot up like a swamp plant; its growth proceeds gradually. Thus also the work of influencing people can be only gradual. No sudden influence or awakening is of lasting effect. Progress must be quite gradual, and in order to obtain such progress in public opinion and in the mores of the people, it is necessary for the personality to acquire influence and weight. This comes about through careful and constant work on one’s own moral development.

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

Today: “Spirituality and Godhead does not mean that if I meditate all the time I am very spiritual.” – Yogi Bhajan

Spirituality and Godhead does not mean that if I meditate all the time I am very spiritual. Spirituality does mean that I am perfect in my spirit as far as my relationship is concerned on all levels of consciousness.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: LA051-780907 – Tune the Vagus Nerve to Cosmic Consciousness

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