“You do not have to have a following.  Engaging every encounter with humility and sincerity creates an exponential potentiality for new awareness and, ultimately,  peace.” – Today’s Reading

You do not have to have a following.  Engaging every encounter with humility and sincerity creates an exponential potentiality for new awareness and, ultimately,  peace.

A man withdraws from contact with people of the lowlands, who seek nothing but magnificence and luxury, into the solitude of the heights. There he finds an individual to look up to, whom he would like to have as a friend. But the gifts he has to offer are poor and few, so that he feels ashamed. However, it is not the material gifts that count, but sincerity of feeling, and so all goes well in the end.

This may be my favorite verse from the Tao Te Ching:
Tao Te Ching – Verse 13 – Success is as dangerous as failure. Hope is as hollow as fear.

Today: “Samskaras are the karmas of the past life.” Yogi Bhajan

Today: “Samskaras are the karmas of the past life.” Yogi Bhajan

Practice this:

Meditation: Melt Negativity – From the Master’s Touch 19970425

Meditation: Breath to Conquer Time Space and Destiny

M134 970325 Working on the Upper Chakras

Advanced healing:

HNS Class Golden Bridge Hollywood – 2012-06-27 – Electromagnetic Field – Secondary Chakras

Previous reading: “The warnings were there. We know what we’re getting into. It’s too late to do anything but ride the wave and wait it out. Keep up whatever practices sustain you.”

Previous previous reading: “The wrong people are gaining influence. Remember how we got here.”

Related posts

See Richard Wilhelm's translation for this reading
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.

Six in the fifth place means:

Your small roll of silk seems a shameful offering among the splendor of his gardens, yet it is your sincerity and perseverance that are truly prized.

Grace in the hills and gardens.
The roll of silk is meagre and small.
Humiliation, but in the end good fortune.

A man withdraws from contact with people of the lowlands, who seek nothing but magnificence and luxury, into the solitude of the heights. There he finds an individual to look up to, whom he would like to have as a friend. But the gifts he has to offer are poor and few, so that he feels ashamed. However, it is not the material gifts that count, but sincerity of feeling, and so all goes well in the end.

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.

Today: “Happiness comes out of contentment, and contentment always comes out of service.” – Yogi Bhajan

“Happiness comes out of contentment, and contentment always comes out of service.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: NM142 19940615 – Bless the Planet Earth and Let the Heavens Descend in You

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What else Yogi Bhajan said

Tao Te Ching – Verse 13 – Success is as dangerous as failure. Hope is as hollow as fear.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 13

Success is as dangerous as failure.
Hope is as hollow as fear.

What does it mean that success is as dangerous as failure?
Whether you go up the ladder or down it,
your position is shaky.
When you stand with your two feet on the ground,
you will always keep your balance. Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 13 – Success is as dangerous as failure. Hope is as hollow as fear.”

“The warnings were there.  We know what we’re getting into.  It’s too late to do anything but ride the wave and wait it out.  Keep up whatever practices  sustain you.” – Today’s Reading

The warnings were there.  We know what we’re getting into.  It’s too late to do anything but ride the wave and wait it out.  Keep up whatever practices  sustain you.

A man’s understanding is sufficiently penetrating. He follows up injurious influences into the most secret corners. But he no longer has the strength to combat them decisively. In this case any attempt to penetrate into the personal domain of darkness would only bring harm.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 12 – He allows things to come and go. His heart is open as the sky.

Today: “Samskaras are the karmas of the past life.” Yogi Bhajan

Today: “Samskaras are the karmas of the past life.” Yogi Bhajan

Practice this:

Meditation: NM0394 – Live Above Denial

Meditation: LA004 780109 Experience the Experience

 

Meditation: Breath to Conquer Time Space and Destiny

Previous reading: “The wrong people are gaining influence. Remember how we got here.” – Today’s Reading

Previous previous reading: “Bring grace to all of your relations. Inspire others with beauty and a pleasing presence amidst all the chaos.”

Related posts

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

See Richard Wilhelm's translation for this reading
57 – Fifty-Seven.  Sun / The Penetrating Wind

Wind follows upon wind, wandering the earth, penetrating gently but persistently:
The Superior Person expands his influence by reaffirming his decisions and carrying out his promises.

Small, persistent, focused effort brings success.
Seek advice from someone you respect.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

Gentle persuasion is the key in this instance.
Though the words are soft, their speaker must be firm, calm and confident.
Gentle words are worthless if spoken with trepidation.
Wordless influence by example is also effective in this situation.
All persuasion should be almost unfelt, yet consistent and persistent.
Ask for feedback from someone you know to be an effective persuader.

Nine at the top means:

Penetration under the bed.
He loses his property and his axe.

Perseverance brings misfortune.

The wind dies beneath the bed.
All courage to persevere is gone.
Resources are depleted, defenses are down.
To move ahead with this course would prove disastrous.

Ghost under bed

Ghost under the bed

A man’s understanding is sufficiently penetrating. He follows up injurious influences into the most secret corners. But he no longer has the strength to combat them decisively. In this case any attempt to penetrate into the personal domain of darkness would only bring harm.

48 – Forty-Eight.  Ching / The Well

Deep Waters Penetrated and drawn to the surface:
The Superior Person refreshes the people with constant encouragement to help one another.

Encampments, settlements, walled cities, whole empires may rise and fall, yet the Well at the center endures, never drying to dust, never overflowing.
It served those before and will serve those after.
Again and again you may draw from the Well, but if the bucket breaks or the rope is too short there will be misfortune.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

There is a Source common to us all.
Jung named it the Collective Unconscious.
Others hail it as God within.
Inside each of us are dreamlike symbols and archetypes, emotions and instincts that we share with every other human being.
When we feel a lonely separateness from others, it is not because this Well within has dried up, but because we have lost the means to reach its waters.
You need to reclaim the tools necessary to penetrate to the depths of your fellows.
Then the bonds you build will be as timeless and inexhaustible as the Well that nourishes them.

 

Today: “Samskaras are the karmas of the past life.” Yogi Bhajan

“Samskaras are the karmas of the past life. Your shape of body and the opportunity which comes to you are your samskaras. If man is not solid with faith within himself, he is more affected by samskaras than by karmas.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: NM0415 – 20010910 – Karma & Dharma

See related posts

What else Yogi Bhajan said

Tao Te Ching – Verse 12 – He allows things to come and go. His heart is open as the sky.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 12

Colors blind the eye.
Sounds deafen the ear.
Flavors numb the taste.
Thoughts weaken the mind.
Desires wither the heart.

The Master observes the world
but trusts his inner vision.
He allows things to come and go.
His heart is open as the sky.

(translation by Stephen Mitchell, 1995)
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The five colors make one blind in the eyes
The five sounds make one deaf in the ears
The five flavors make one tasteless in the mouth

Racing and hunting make one wild in the heart
Goods that are difficult to acquire make one cause damage

Therefore the sages care for the stomach and not the eyes
That is why they discard the other and take this

(translation by Derek Lin, 2006)
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Colors blur sight.
Sounds blur hearing.
Tastes blur the Nectar.
Chasing drives Bliss away.
Lust blurs calm.
In the Nothingness of Zero is Unimaginable Peace.

(translation by Jeremy M. Miller, 2013)
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from I Ching Online

“The wrong people are gaining influence.  Remember how we got here.” – Today’s Reading

The wrong people are gaining influence.  Remember how we got here.

The rise of the inferior element is pictured here in the image of a bold girl who lightly surrenders herself and thus seizes power. This would not be possible if the strong and light-giving element had not in turn come halfway. The inferior thing seems so harmless and inviting that a man delights in it; it looks so small and weak that he imagines he may dally with it and come to no harm.
The inferior man rises only because the superior man does not regard him as dangerous and so lends him power. If he were resisted from the first, he could never gain influence.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 11 – We work with being, but non-being is what we use.

Today: “The one yoga of all yoga is married life; a deep understanding of a woman, a deep understanding of a man…” – Yogi Bhajan

Today: “The one yoga of all yoga is married life; a deep understanding of a woman, a deep understanding of a man…” – Yogi Bhajan

Practice this:

Meditation: Contemplate in Shuniya from the Spine

Meditation: LA004 780109 Experience the Experience

 

Meditation: Breath to Conquer Time Space and Destiny

 

Previous reading: “Quiet the heart. Allow the flow of events to swirl about you as you sit in silence. Enjoy the tranquility of being fully in the present. ”

Previous previous reading: “Bring grace to all of your relations. Inspire others with beauty and a pleasing presence amidst all the chaos.”

Related posts

See Richard Wilhelm's translation for this reading
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.

yang
yang above: Ch’ien / The Creative, Heaven
yang
yang
yang below: Sun / The Gentle, Wind
yin

 

This hexagram indicates a situation in which the principle of darkness, after having been eliminated, furtively and unexpectedly obtrudes again from within and below. Of its own accord the female principle comes to meet the male. It is an unfavorable and dangerous situation, and we must understand and promptly prevent the possible consequences.
The hexagram is linked with the fifth month [June-July], because at the summer solstice the principle of darkness gradually becomes ascendant again.

THE JUDGEMENT

COMING TO MEET. The maiden is powerful.
One should not marry such a maiden.

The rise of the inferior element is pictured here in the image of a bold girl who lightly surrenders herself and thus seizes power. This would not be possible if the strong and light-giving element had not in turn come halfway. The inferior thing seems so harmless and inviting that a man delights in it; it looks so small and weak that he imagines he may dally with it and come to no harm.
The inferior man rises only because the superior man does not regard him as dangerous and so lends him power. If he were resisted from the first, he could never gain influence.
The time of COMING TO MEET is important in still another way. Although as a general rule the weak should not come to meet the strong, there are times when this has great significance. When heaven and earth come to meet each other, all creatures prosper; when a prince and his official come to meet each other, the world is put in order. It is necessary for elements predestined to be joined and mutually dependent to come to meet one another halfway. But the coming together must be free of dishonest ulterior motives, otherwise harm will result.

I Ching Online
 

Coming to meet

 

‘Contact’ – Fractal artwork by Sven Geier, 2002

THE IMAGE

Under heaven, wind:
The image of COMING TO MEET.
Thus does the prince act when disseminating his commands
And proclaiming them to the four quarters of heaven.

The situation here resembles that in hexagram 20, Kuan, CONTEMPLATION (VIEW). In the latter the wind blows over the earth, here it blows under heaven; in both cases it goes everywhere. There the wind is on the earth and symbolises the ruler taking note of the conditions in his kingdom; here the wind blows from above and symbolises the influence exercised by the ruler through his commands. Heaven is far from the things of earth, but it sets them in motion by means of the wind. The ruler is far from his people, but he sets them in motion by means of his commands and decrees.

Today: “The one yoga of all yoga is married life; a deep understanding of a woman, a deep understanding of a man…” – Yogi Bhajan

“The one yoga of all yoga is married life; a deep understanding of a woman, a deep understanding of a man, a deep understanding of human relationship, coordination, togetherness, coziness of the self and the relationship.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: M061b-19901124 – Know the structure of the mind

See related posts

What else Yogi Bhajan said

Tao Te Ching – Verse 11 – We work with being, but non-being is what we use.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 11

We join spokes together in a wheel,
but it is the center hole
that makes the wagon move.

We shape clay into a pot,
but it is the emptiness inside
that holds whatever we want.

We hammer wood for a house,
but it is the inner space
that makes it livable.

We work with being,
but non-being is what we use.

(translation by Stephen Mitchell, 1995)
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Thirty spokes join in one hub
In its emptiness, there is the function of a vehicle
Mix clay to create a container
In its emptiness, there is the function of a container
Cut open doors and windows to create a room
In its emptiness, there is the function of a room

Therefore, that which exists is used to create benefit
That which is empty is used to create functionality

(translation by Derek Lin, 2006)
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It is the gaps that define.
That definition is perfect.
Ornate vessels hold water —
So it is Nothingness which has been defined, not the vessel.
The unwise have been tricked.

(translation by Jeremy M. Miller, 2013)
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from I Ching Online

“Quiet the heart.  Allow the flow of events to swirl about you as you sit in silence.  Enjoy the tranquility of being fully in the present. ” – Today’s Reading

Quiet the heart.  Allow the flow of events to swirl about you as you sit in silence.  Enjoy the tranquility of being fully in the present.

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.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 10 – Can you coax your mind from its wandering and keep to the original oneness?

 

Today: “A man can be judged from the vibration he makes—the language he speaks and the way he relates to other people.” – Yogi Bhajan

Today: “A man can be judged from the vibration he makes—the language he speaks and the way he relates to other people.” – Yogi Bhajan

Practice this:

Meditation: Contemplate in Shuniya from the Spine

Meditation: LA004 780109 Experience the Experience

Practice this through the full moon:

Meditation: Drib Dhristi Lochina Karma

Meditation: Breath to Conquer Time Space and Destiny

 

Previous reading: “Bring grace to all of your relations. Inspire others with beauty and a pleasing presence amidst all the chaos.”

Previous previous reading: “Give close attention to your casual relations in your life. Maintain dignity without pettiness.”

Related posts

See Richard Wilhelm's translation for this reading
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.

yang
yin above: Kên / Keeping Still, Mountain
yin
yang
yin below: Kên / Keeping Still, Mountain
yin

 

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.

 
 

Still Life with Chinese Lantern flowers

 

Still Life with Chinese Lantern flowers.
Colored lithograph, H.A. Dievenbach 1

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.

Huang Shan

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.


1. Hendrikus Anthonius Dievenbach (1872 – 1946), was a Dutch artist.
In 1910 he settled in the village of Laren, North-Holland.
Henri Dievenbach was a traditional painter who was particularly inspired by his direct environment.
Apart from farmer’s interiors he made portaits of fellow-villagers. In his later life he painted especially beautiful still lifes and flower pieces, like this colored lithograph with Chinese Lanterns.

Today: “A man can be judged from the vibration he makes—the language he speaks and the way he relates to other people.” – Yogi Bhajan

“A man can be judged from the vibration he makes—the language he speaks and the way he relates to other people. You can pinpoint a person by the way he speaks one sentence. You can know how divine that person is. If he speaks a universal language he lives in a universal consciousness.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: NM0364-20001023-On Communication I

See related posts

What else Yogi Bhajan said

Tao Te Ching – Verse 10 – Can you coax your mind from its wandering and keep to the original oneness?

Tao Te Ching – Verse 10

Can you coax your mind from its wandering
and keep to the original oneness?
Can you let your body become
supple as a newborn child’s?
Can you cleanse your inner vision
until you see nothing but the light?
Can you love people and lead them
without imposing your will?
Can you deal with the most vital matters
by letting events take their course?
Can you step back from you own mind
and thus understand all things?

Giving birth and nourishing,
having without possessing,
acting with no expectations,
leading and not trying to control:
this is the supreme virtue.

(translation by Stephen Mitchell, 1995)
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In holding the soul and embracing oneness
Can one be steadfast, without straying?
In concentrating the energy and reaching relaxation
Can one be like an infant?
In cleaning away the worldly view
Can one be without imperfections?
In loving the people and ruling the nation
Can one be without manipulation?
In the heavenly gate’s opening and closing
Can one hold to the feminine principle?
In understanding clearly all directions
Can one be without intellectuality?

Bearing it, rearing it
Bearing without possession
Achieving without arrogance
Raising without domination
This is called the Mystic Virtue

(translation by Derek Lin, 2006)
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Be empty and know effulgent Zero.
Breathe softly and know Blissful Nothingness.
Stop looking, then see what was hidden.
Love in secret.
Watch without touching.
Rule All while resting in Zero.

(translation by Jeremy M. Miller, 2013)
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from I Ching Online

“Bring grace to all of your relations.  Inspire others with beauty and a pleasing presence amidst all the chaos.” – Today’s Reading

Bring grace to all of your relations.  Inspire others with beauty and a pleasing presence amidst all the chaos.

This hexagram shows a fire that breaks out of the secret depths of the earth and, blazing up, illuminates and beautifies the mountain, the heavenly heights. Grace-beauty of form-is necessary in any union if it is to be well ordered and pleasing rather than disordered and chaotic.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 9 – Better to stop in time than to fill to the brim

Today: “The only value in old age is wisdom.” – Yogi Bhajan

Today: “The only value in old age is wisdom.” – Yogi Bhajan

Practice this until the full moon:

Meditation: Drib Dhristi Lochina Karma

Meditation: Breath to Conquer Time Space and Destiny

 

Previous reading: “The aggressors are violently seizing power. Avoid the danger. Do what you must. Be flexible.”

Previous previous reading: “Good character and diligence are being rewarded. Enjoy your success without pressing for more. Be content.”

Related posts

See Richard Wilhelm's translation for this reading
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.

yang
yin above: Kên / Keeping Still, Mountain
yin
yang
yin below: Li / The Clinging, Flame
yang

 

This hexagram shows a fire that breaks out of the secret depths of the earth and, blazing up, illuminates and beautifies the mountain, the heavenly heights. Grace-beauty of form-is necessary in any union if it is to be well ordered and pleasing rather than disordered and chaotic.

THE JUDGEMENT

GRACE has success.
In small matters
It is favorable to undertake something.

Grace brings success. However, it is not the essential or fundamental thing; it is only the ornament and must therefore be used sparingly and only in little things. In the lower trigram of fire a yielding line comes between two strong lines and makes them beautiful, but the strong lines are the essential content and the weak line is the beautifying form. In the upper trigram of the mountain, the strong line takes the lead, so that here again the strong element must be regarded as the decisive factor. In nature we see in the sky the strong light of the sun; the life of the world depends on it. But this strong, essential thing is changed and given pleasing variety by the moon and the stars. In human affairs, aesthetic form comes into being when traditions exist that, strong and abiding like mountains, are made pleasing by a lucid beauty. By contemplating the forms existing in the heavens we come to understand time and its changing demands. Through contemplation of the forms existing in human society it becomes possible to shape the world.1

Fire on the mountain

‘Fire On The Mountain’ – David Pantuso

THE IMAGE

Fire at the foot of the mountain:
The image of GRACE.
Thus does the superior man proceed
When clearing up current affairs.
But he dare not decide controversial issues in this way.

Confucius

Confucius

Mount Rainier Snow Sunrise

Mount Rainier Snow Sunrise – photo Ron Coscorrosa

The fire, whose light illuminates the mountain and makes it pleasing, does not shine far; in the same way, beautiful form suffices to brighten and to throw light upon matters of lesser moment, but important questions cannot be decided in this way. They require greater earnestness.


1. This hexagram shows tranquil beauty – clarity within, quiet without. This is the tranquillity of pure contemplation. When desire is silenced and the will comes to rest, the world-as-idea becomes manifest. In this aspect the world is beautiful and removed from the struggle for existence. This is the world of art. However, contemplation alone will not put the will to rest absolutely. It will awaken again, and then all the beauty of form will appear to have been only a brief moment of exaltation. Hence this is still not the true way of redemption. For this reason Confucius felt very uncomfortable when once, on consulting the oracle, he obtained the hexagram of GRACE.

Today: “The only value in old age is wisdom.” – Yogi Bhajan

“Why in old age are we frustrated? Because there is not a lot of wisdom for us to share. The only value in old age is wisdom. So, in your life train your mind with the knowledge of perfect harmony in every relationship. Communicate freely and learn from everything the art of living. This, the highest art of this planet, must be mastered so that you can live realized.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: NM374 – 20001128 – Patience and Intuition

See related posts 

What else Yogi Bhajan said

Tao Te Ching – Verse 9 – Better to stop in time than to fill to the brim

Tao Te Ching – Verse 9

Better to stop in time than to fill to the brim.
Hone a blade to the sharpest point, and it will soon be blunt.
Fill your house with gold and jade, and no one can protect it.
Be prideful about wealth and position, and you bring disasters upon yourself. Retire when the work is done.
This is the way of heaven.

from the Tao Te Ching

Translation by Tolbert McCarroll Comments and layout by Thomas Knierim

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from I Ching Online

 

“Give close attention to your casual relations in your life.  Maintain dignity without pettiness.” – Today’s Reading

Give close attention to your casual relations in your life.  Maintain dignity without pettiness.

A wanderer should not demean himself or busy himself with inferior things he meets with along the way. The humbler and more defenseless his outward position, the more should he preserve his inner dignity. For a stranger is mistaken if he hopes to find a friendly reception through lending himself to jokes and buffoonery. The result will be only contempt and insulting treatment.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 8 – The supreme good is like water, which nourishes all things without trying to.

Today: “You must accept that you are you ” Yogi Bhajan

Practice this for the next two days until the full moon:

Meditation: Drib Dhristi Lochina Karma

Meditation: Breath to Conquer Time Space and Destiny

 

Previous reading: “The aggressors are violently seizing power. Avoid the danger. Do what you must. Be flexible.”

Previous previous reading: “Good character and diligence are being rewarded. Enjoy your success without pressing for more. Be content.”

Related posts

See Richard Wilhelm's translation for this reading
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.

Six at the beginning [yin at bottom] means:

A traveler with petty complaints and too many demands soon wears out his welcome.

If the wanderer busies himself with trivial things,
He draws down misfortune upon himself.

Wanderer

‘The Wanderer’ by German artist George Seir, 1934

A wanderer should not demean himself or busy himself with inferior things he meets with along the way. The humbler and more defenseless his outward position, the more should he preserve his inner dignity. For a stranger is mistaken if he hopes to find a friendly reception through lending himself to jokes and buffoonery. The result will be only contempt and insulting treatment.

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.