Today: “It is a time of standstill and decay. This time demands a person of the highest integrity to lead us into the light”- from the I Ching

It is a time of standstill and decay.

In a time when most of our wants are provided, there is little need for the heroes, the artists, the great thinkers and innovators.
As they recede into the shadows, Idleness, Apathy, and Lassitude come to the forefront.
Peace has become boring, bland, unchallenging — Stagnant.
Now our attention turns to the quick fix, the instant celebrity, the fad, the one-nighter, the current buzz.
There is no room for depth.

This time demands a person of the highest integrity to lead us into the light: the [person] who is truly called to the task is favored by the conditions of the time, and all those of like mind will share in her blessing.

See Yogi Bhajan’s quote for today

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

Meditation: Drib Dhristi Lochina Karma

Today: I Ching – Previous Reading – “Faced with conflict, engage if it can be resolved quickly either by compromise or having the overwhelming advantage of truth.”

Today: I Ching – Previous previous reading – “Though it may seem that everything opposes your endeavors, just ensure that you are on the right path and seek good company. You will triumph.”

See related posts.

12 – Twelve.  P’i / Stagnation

Heaven and Earth move away from each other.
In the ensuing void, the small invade where the great have departed.
There is no common meeting ground, so the Superior Person must fall back on his inner worth and decline the rewards offered by the inferior invaders.

Difficult trials as you hold to your course.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

It is natural to assume that, if Earth above Heaven forms the hexagram for Peace and Paradise, then the opposite configuration, with Heaven over Earth would represent the antithesis of Paradise, Hell.
Not so.
This hexagram is actually the Dark side of Peace, its unsavory byproduct, Stagnation.
In a time when most of our wants are provided, there is little need for the heroes, the artists, the great thinkers and innovators.
As they recede into the shadows, Idleness, Apathy, and Lassitude come to the forefront.
Peace has become boring, bland, unchallenging — Stagnant.
Now our attention turns to the quick fix, the instant celebrity, the fad, the one-nighter, the current buzz.
There is no room for depth.
If you are a passionate soul, you must wait for a better time to find kindred spirits.
In these times, they are only curious legends, bas-relief, dead poets.

Nine in the fourth place means:
He who acts at the command of the highest
Remains without blame.
Those of like mind partake of the blessing.

Ohm

Ohm

The time of standstill is nearing the point of change into its opposite. Whoever wishes to restore order must feel himself called to the task and have the necessary authority. A man who sets himself up as capable of creating order according to his own judgement could make mistakes and end in failure. But the man who is truly called to the task is favored by the conditions of the time, and all those of like mind will share in his blessing.
39 – Thirty-Nine. Chien / Obstacle

Ominous roiling in the Crater Lake atop the Volcano:
When meeting an impasse, the Superior Person turns his gaze within, and views the obstacle from a new perspective.

Offer your opponent nothing to resist.
Let a sage guide you in this.
Good fortune lies along this course.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

The Obstacle lies in obstinance.
An insistence on only one way of proceeding has brought things to an impasse.
You may either continue banging your head with irresistible force against this immovable object, or you might step back and survey this situation from a fresh perspective.
Which is immobile here — the obstruction or your attitude?

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

Today: “If you can listen and hear the power of your own spoken word” – Yogi Bhajan

“If you can listen and hear the power of your own spoken word, you own committed language, and if it is remembered by you, it becomes you. Say it and listen to it consciously. That is the work of the mind. It should listen consciously and help you be surprisingly successful.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: NM0365-20001024-On Communication II

See related posts

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