Day: December 29, 2024

“Use your creative powers to expand your horizons.” – Today’s Reading

Use your creative powers to expand your horizons.

Get ready to ride a tide of accelerated growth toward self-actualization.
A joyful awareness of the best within you, coupled with an acceptance of your Shadow, will provide a greater repertoire, a much bolder vision, and new depth and clarity that will compel you to expand your horizons.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 77 – As it acts in the world, the Tao is like the bending of a bow.

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

Practice this:

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

Meditation: KWTC 19970630 – For Faculty of Self Engagement

Kriya: Awakening Yourself to Your Ten Bodies

Meditation:  One Minute Breath

See lecture on cold showers

See Meditation:  Breath of Fire

Previous reading: Once you understand your path and your destiny, you must conquer all of the obstacles to its completion. Keep up.”

Previous previous reading: “Be careful to balance forward progress with caution for what you may have failed to include in your view.”

Related posts

The teacher

See Richard Wilhelm's translation for this reading
42 – Forty-Two.  I / Expansion

Whirlwinds and Thunder:
When the Superior Person encounters saintly behavior, he adopts it; when he encounters a fault within, he transforms it.

Progress in every endeavor.
You may cross to the far shore.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

Get ready to ride a tide of accelerated growth toward self-actualization.
A joyful awareness of the best within you, coupled with an acceptance of your Shadow, will provide a greater repertoire, a much bolder vision, and new depth and clarity that will compel you to expand your horizons.

 yang
yang above: Sun / The Gentle, Wind
yin
yin
yin below: Chên / The Arousing, Thunder
yang

 

The idea of increase is expressed in the fact that the strong lowest line of the upper trigram has sunk down and taken its place under the lower trigram. This conception also expresses the fundamental idea on which the Yi Jing is based. To rule truly is to serve.
A sacrifice of the higher element that produces an increase of the lower is called an out-and-out increase: it indicates the spirit that alone has power to help the world.

THE JUDGEMENT

INCREASE. It furthers one
To undertake something.
It furthers one to cross the great water.

Sacrifice on the part of those above for the increase of those below fills the people with a sense of joy and gratitude that is extremely valuable for the flowering of the commonwealth. When people are thus devoted to their leaders, undertakings are possible, and even difficult and dangerous enterprises will succeed. Therefore in such times of progress and successful development it is necessary to work and make the best use of the time. This time resembles that of the marriage of heaven and earth, when the earth partakes of the creative power of heaven, forming and bringing forth living beings. The time of INCREASE does not endure, therefore it must be utilised while it lasts.

THE IMAGE

Wind and thunder: the image of INCREASE.
Thus the superior man:
If he sees good, he imitates it;
If he has faults, he rids himself of them.
 
 

Baruch Spinoza

 

Baruch Spinoza 1

Amsterdam, November 24th 1632 – The Hague, February 21st 1677
While observing how thunder and wind increase and strengthen each other, a man can note the way to self-increase and self-improvement. When he discovers good in others, he should imitate it and thus make everything on earth his own. If he perceives something bad in himself, let him rid himself of it. In this way he becomes free of evil. This ethical change represents the most important increase of personality.

1. Baruch Spinoza, born ‘Benedito de Espinosa’ (Portuguese), November 24th 1632 – February 21st 1677, later Benedict de Spinoza, was a Dutch philosopher of Sephardi Portuguese origin.
The breadth and importance of Spinoza’s work was not fully realized until many years after his death.
By laying the groundwork for the 18th century Enlightenment and modern biblical criticism, including modern conceptions of the self and the universe, he came to be considered one of the great rationalists of 17th century philosophy.
His magnum opus, the posthumous ‘Ethics’, in which he opposed Descartes’ mind–body dualism, has earned him recognition as one of Western philosophy’s most important thinkers.
In the Ethics, “Spinoza wrote the last indisputable Latin masterpiece, and one in which the refined conceptions of medieval philosophy are finally turned against themselves and destroyed entirely.” Hegel said, “You are either a Spinozist or not a philosopher at all.”

Spinoza was raised in the Portuguese Jewish community in Amsterdam.
He developed highly controversial ideas regarding the authenticity of the Hebrew Bible and the nature of the Divine.
The Jewish religious authorities issued a cherem against him, effectively excluding him from Jewish society at age 23.
His books were also later put on the Catholic Church’s Index of Forbidden Books.

Spinoza lived an outwardly simple life as a lens grinder (on this page a lens magnifies his potrait with a mouse-over), turning down rewards and honors throughout his life, including prestigious teaching positions.

Spinoza died at the age of 44 allegedly of a lung illness, perhaps tuberculosis or silicosis exacerbated by fine glass dust inhaled while grinding optical lenses.
Spinoza is buried in the churchyard of the Christian ‘Nieuwe Kerk’ in The Hague.

 

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!

See PDF

 

Tao Te Ching – Verse 77 – As it acts in the world, the Tao is like the bending of a bow.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 77

As it acts in the world, the Tao
is like the bending of a bow.
The top is bent downward;
the bottom is bent up.
It adjusts excess and deficiency
so that there is perfect balance.
It takes from what is too much
and gives to what isn’t enough.

Those who try to control,
who use force to protect their power,
go against the direction of the Tao.
They take from those who don’t have enough
and give to those who have far too much.

The Master can keep giving
because there is no end to her wealth.
She acts without expectation,
succeeds without taking credit,
and doesn’t think that she is better
than anyone else.

(translation by Stephen Mitchell, 1995)
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The Tao of Heaven
Is like drawing a bow
Lower that which is high
Raise that which is low
Reduce that which has excess
Add to that which is lacking

The Tao of heaven
Reduces the excessive
And adds to the lacking

The Tao of people is not so
It reduces the lacking
In order to offer to the excessive

Who can offer their excess to the world?
Only those who have the Tao
Therefore sages act without conceit
Achieve without claiming credit
They do not wish to display their virtue!

(translation by Derek Lin, 2006)
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Charity you say?
I say greed.
Gifts you say?
I say destruction.
Heaven and the Sage live these truths.

(translation by Jeremy M. Miller, 2013)
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“May not the Tao be compared to bending a bow? The part of the bow which was high is brought low, and what was low is raised up. So Heaven diminishes where there is superabundance, and supplements where there is deficiency.
It is the Way of Heaven to diminish superabundance, and to supplement deficiency. It is not so with the way of man. He takes away from those who have not enough to add to his own superabundance.
Who can take his own superabundance and therewith serve all under heaven? Only he who is in possession of the Tao!
Therefore the sage acts without claiming the results as his; he achieves his merit and does not rest in it: — he does not wish to display his superiority.”

Excerpt From Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
https://books.apple.com/us/book/tao-te-ching/id1436033825