Tao Te Ching – Verse 5 – The Tao doesn’t take sides; it gives birth to both good and evil.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 5

The Tao doesn’t take sides;
it gives birth to both good and evil.
The Master doesn’t take sides;
she welcomes both saints and sinners.

The Tao is like a bellows:
it is empty yet infinitely capable.
The more you use it, the more it produces;
the more you talk of it, the less you understand.

Hold on to the center. Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 5 – The Tao doesn’t take sides; it gives birth to both good and evil.”

“We should appreciate experience as our enduring source of faith and growth and all those who have grown with us.  We are the teachers now.” – Today’s Reading

We should appreciate experience as our enduring source of faith and growth and all those who have grown with us.  We are the teachers now.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 4 – The Tao is like a well: used but never used up.

Today: “It is the first thankless job of the teacher to create environments which the student cannot understand right away. If the student understands right away, he will just go through it.” Yogi Bhajan

Try these meditations:

Meditation: NM0364-20001023-On Communication I

Meditation: NM0365-20001024-On Communication II

The teacher

Previous Readings:

Today: I Ching – Previous Reading – “You can coexist and even ally with powerful allies and neighbors. Use discretion so that you don’t incur wrath.”

Today: I Ching – Previous previous reading – “Be careful not to be caught up in destructive winds of chaos, often crafted by unseen agents of evil. Instead, follow your intuitive intellect. Listen to your heart. Be clear in your own path and identity. Shape your own destiny.”

See Meditation: NM0364-20001023-On Communication I.

A letter to a friend

Read the texts translated from the I Ching for today's reading
26 – Twenty-Six.  Ta Ch’u / Recharging Power

Heaven’s motherlode waits within the Mountain:
The Superior Person mines deep into history’s wealth of wisdom and deeds, charging his character with timeless strength.

Persevere.
Drawing sustenance from these sources creates good fortune.
Then you may cross to the far shore.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

There are important precedents in this situation.
Others have trodden this Path before you, overcoming the same obstacles facing you now, and making crucial decisions at the same crossroads.
Study their journals, watch for their trail markings.
Gain inspiration and wisdom from the heroes and learn from the mistakes of those who chose a sidepath.
All were Seekers, explorers whose daring mapped a course you can follow.
The words and deeds of the finest can imbue you with the courage necessary to face what lies before you.

Nine in the third place means:
A good horse that follows others.
Awareness of danger,
With perseverance, furthers.
Practice chariot driving and armed defense daily.
It furthers one to have somewhere to go.

Scene form Ben Hur

Scene form Ben Hur, the movie

The way opens; the hindrance has been cleared away. A man is in contact with a strong will acting in the same direction as his own, and goes forward like one good horse following another. But danger still threatens, and he must remain aware of it, or he will be robbed of his firmness. Thus he must acquire skill on the one hand in what will take him forward, and on the other in what will protect him against unforeseen attacks. It is good in such a pass to have a goal toward which to strive.

4 – Four.  Mêng / Inexperience

A fresh Spring at the foot of the Mountain:
The Superior Person refines his character by being thorough in every activity.
The Sage does not recruit students; the students seek him.
He asks nothing but a sincere desire to learn.
If the student doubts or challenges his authority, the Sage regretfully cuts his losses.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

This is a time of interchange between a mentor and pupil.
Whether you are the teacher or the student, it is a time of companionship along a mutual path.
This hexagram also emphasizes the eternal, cyclical nature of the mentor/student relationship — a mentor is merely a more seasoned pupil, further along on the journey.
A pupil holds within himself the seed of a future Master.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 4 – The Tao is like a well: used but never used up.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 4

The Tao is like a well:
used but never used up.
It is like the eternal void:
filled with infinite possibilities.

It is hidden but always present.
I don’t know who gave birth to it.
It is older than God. Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 4 – The Tao is like a well: used but never used up.”

“You can coexist and even ally with powerful allies and neighbors.  Use discretion so that you don’t incur wrath.” – Today’s Reading

You can coexist and even ally with powerful allies and neighbors.  Use discretion so that you don’t incur wrath.

Today: “The difference between you and an animal is that the animal has limited compassion and you can have unlimited compassion.” Yogi Bhajan

Tao Te Ching – Verse 3 – The Master leads by emptying people’s minds and filling their cores

Try these meditations:

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

Meditation: TCH2012 960727 – Warrior’s Exercise for Opening the Energy into the Shushmana & Balancing the Hemispheres of the Brain

Previous Readings:

Today: I Ching – Previous Reading – “Be careful not to be caught up in destructive winds of chaos, often crafted by unseen agents of evil. Instead, follow your intuitive intellect. Listen to your heart. Be clear in your own path and identity. Shape your own destiny.”

Today: I Ching – Previous previous reading – “What seem to be unsurmountable obstacles are coming from without. Keep a steady course and you will prevail.”

See related posts.

A letter to a friend

Read the texts translated from the I Ching for today's reading
10 – Ten.  Lü / Worrying the Tiger

Heaven shines down on the Marsh which reflects it back imperfectly:
Though the Superior Man carefully discriminates between high and low, and acts in accord with the flow of the Tao, there are still situations where a risk must be taken.

You tread upon the tail of the tiger.
Not perceiving you as a threat, the startled tiger does not bite.
Success.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

You have reached a perilous point in your journey.
This is a real gamble — not a maneuver, not a calculated risk.
The outcome is uncertain.
If it goes as you hope, you will gain — but if it turns against you it will cause serious injury, at least to your plans.
The best tack is extreme caution and a healthy respect for the danger involved.

yang
yang above: Ch’ien / The Creative, Heaven
yang
yin
yang below: Tui / The Joyous, Lake
yang

 

The name of the hexagram means on the one hand the right way of conducting oneself. Heaven, the father, is above, and the lake, the youngest daughter, is below. This shows the difference between high and low, upon which composure, correct social conduct, depends. On the other hand, the word for the name of the hexagram, TREADING,1 means literally treading upon something. The small and cheerful [Tui] treads on the large and strong [Ch’ien]. The direction of movement of the two primary trigrams is upward. The fact that the strong treads on the weak is not mentioned in the Yi Jing, because it is taken for granted. For the weak to take a stand against the strong is not dangerous here, because it happened in good humor [Tui] and without presumption, so that the strong man is not irritated but takes it all in good part.

THE JUDGEMENT

TREADING. Treading upon the tail of the tiger.
It does not bite the man. Success.

Worrying the Tiger

Yin and Yang

The situation is really difficult. That which is strongest and that which is weakest are close together. The weak follows behind the strong and worries it. The strong, however, acquiesces and does not hurt the weak, because the contact is in good humor and harmless.
In terms of a human situation, one is handling wild, intractable people. In such a case one’s purpose will be achieved if one behaves with decorum. Pleasant manners succeed even with irritable people.

THE IMAGE

Heaven above, the lake below:
The image of TREADING.
Thus the superior man discriminates between high and low,
And thereby fortifies the thinking of the people.

Tiger in water

Heaven and the lake show a difference of elevation that inheres in the natures of the two, hence no envy arises. Among mankind also there are necessarily differences of elevation; it is impossible to bring about universal equality. But it is important that differences in social rank should not be arbitrary and unjust, for if this occurs, envy and class struggle are the inevitable consequences. If, on the other hand, external differences in rank correspond with differences in inner worth, and if inner worth forms the criterion of external rank, people acquiesce and order reigns in society.


1. [Auftreten, the German word used for the name of the hexagram, means both “treading” and “conduct.”]

“Be careful not to be caught up in destructive winds of chaos, often crafted by unseen agents of evil.  Instead, follow your intuitive intellect.  Listen to your heart.  Be clear in your own path and identity.  Shape your own destiny.” – Today’s Reading

Be careful not to be caught up in destructive winds of chaos, often crafted by unseen agents of evil.  Instead, follow your intuitive intellect.  Listen to your heart.  Be clear in your own path and identity.  Shape your own destiny.

Today: “Poke, provoke, confront, and elevate. That is how your life must be.” Yogi Bhajan

Tao Te Ching – Verse 2 – When people see some things as beautiful, other things become ugly. When people see some things as good, other things become bad. Being and non-being create each other.

Try these meditations:

Meditation: Listening to Angelic Whispers – from the Mind

Meditation: LA031 19780423 – Ad Nad Kriya – Gupt Gian Shakti the Secret Power of the Knowledge

Previous Readings:

Today: I Ching – Previous Reading – “What seem to be unsurmountable obstacles are coming from without. Keep a steady course and you will prevail.”

Today: I Ching – Previous previous reading – “We can rely on the source from which we are made for our sustenance and our support for each other. What nourishes us is also our connection with everything and everyone.”

See related posts.

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

A letter to a friend

Read the texts translated from the I Ching for today's 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.

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.

“What seem to be unsurmountable obstacles are coming from without.  Keep a steady course and you will prevail.” – Today’s Reading

What seem to be unsurmountable obstacles are coming from without.  Keep a steady course and you will prevail.

Today: “You have to learn the art and science of giving yourself your own excellence.” Yogi Bhajan

Tao Te Ching – Verse 1 – The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao The name that can be named is not the eternal Name.

Try these meditations:

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

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

Previous Readings:

Today: I Ching – Previous Reading – “We can rely on the source from which we are made for our sustenance and our support for each other. What nourishes us is also our connection with everything and everyone.”

Today: I Ching – Previous previous reading – “Include everyone and everything in your relations. Appreciate close connections without allowing them to separate you from distant ones.”

See related posts.

A letter to a friend

Read the texts translated from the I Ching for today's reading
38 – Thirty-Eight.  K’uei / Estrangement

Fire distances itself from its nemesis, the Lake:
No matter how large or diverse the group, the Superior Person remains uniquely himself.

Small accomplishments are possible.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

You are working at cross-purposes with another.
The distance between you is very wide.
The gap can be closed, however, with no compromise of your integrity.
You are not adversaries in this case — just two persons addressing individual needs.
Ask yourself: are these needs mutually exclusive?
Is there common ground here?
Must there be one winner and one loser?
Could you become partners in seeking a solution that would allow for two winners?

Six in the third place means:

Bandits stop his oxen team and board his wagon.
He is scalped, his face is disfigured, and he is left to die.
Not only will he survive — he will endure and triumph.

One sees the wagon dragged back,
The oxen halted,
A man’s hair and nose cut off.
Not a good beginning, but a good end.

Sphinx Giza

Sphinx Giza

Often it seems to a man as though everything were conspiring against him. He sees himself checked and hindered in his progress, insulted and dishonored.1 However, he must not let himself be misled; despite this opposition, he must cleave to the man with whom he knows he belongs. Thus, notwithstanding the bad beginning, the matter will end well.
34 – Thirty-Four.  Ta Chuang / Awesome Power

Thunder fills the Heavens with its awful roar, not out of pride, but with integrity; if it did less, it would not be Thunder:
Because of his Great Power, the Superior Person takes pains not to overstep his position, so that he will not seem intimidating or threatening to the Established Order.

Opportunity will arise along this course.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

The Awesome Power available in this hexagram stems from what the Taoists call your Te, a term not perfectly translated into English.
Roughly, it is your Integrity — not in the Western sense of honor — but more in the psychological definition of a full integration of Who You Are.
This Awesome Power is achieved only by fully embracing both the good and the bad, the strong and the weak, the masculine and the feminine — all polarities within you.
Such self-knowledge spawns a Mastery tempered with the humility necessary to rein in and harness this Awesome Power.


1. Cutting off of the hair and nose was a severe and degrading punishment.

“We can rely on the source from which we are made for our sustenance and our support for each other.  What nourishes us is also our connection with everything and everyone.” – Today’s Reading

We can rely on the source from which we are made for our sustenance and our support for each other.  What nourishes us is also our connection with everything and everyone.

Today: “All your soul is promised by God is one chance.” Yogi Bhajan

Tao Te Ching – Verse 81 – True words aren’t eloquent; eloquent words aren’t true.

Try these meditations:

Meditation: NM0163 – Feel God Within You, The Kindness in You

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

Previous Readings:

Today: I Ching – Previous Reading – “Include everyone and everything in your relations. Appreciate close connections without allowing them to separate you from distant ones.”

Today: I Ching – Previous previous reading – “You have lots of power. Be careful not to bluster or abuse all that power.”

See related posts.

A letter to a friend

Read the texts translated from the I Ching for today's reading
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.

yin
yang above: K’an / The Abysmal, Water
yin
yang
yang below: Sun / The Gentle, Wind, Wood
yin

The Well

Wood is below, water above. The wood goes down into the earth to bring up water. The image derives from the pole-and-bucket well of ancient China. The wood represents not the buckets, which in ancient times were made of clay, but rather the wooden poles by which the water is hauled up from the well. The image also refers to the world of plants, which lift water out of the earth by means of their fibres.
The well from which water is drawn conveys the further idea of an inexhaustible dispensing of nourishment.

Raga Kumbha

Raga Kumbha meets a young woman at a well, and asks for water.1

THE JUDGEMENT

THE WELL. The town may be changed,
But the well cannot be changed.
It neither decreases nor increases.
They come and go and draw from the well.
If one gets down almost to the water
And the rope does not go all the way,
Or the jug breaks, it brings misfortune.

In ancient China the capital cities were sometimes moved, partly for the sake of more favorable location, partly because of a change in dynasties. The style of architecture changed in the course of centuries, but the shape of the well has remained the same from ancient times to this day. Thus the well is the symbol of that social structure which, evolved by mankind in meeting its most primitive needs, is independent of all political forms. Political structures change, as do nations, but the life of man with its needs remains eternally the same-this cannot be changed. Life is also inexhaustible. It grows neither less nor more; it exists for one and for all. The generations come and go, and all enjoy life in its inexhaustible abundance.

However, there are two prerequisites for a satisfactory political or social organisation of mankind. We must go down to the very foundations of life. For any merely superficial ordering of life that leaves its deepest needs unsatisfied is as ineffectual as if no attempt at order had ever been made. Carelessness-by which the jug is broken-is also disastrous. If for instance the military defense of a state is carried to such excess that it provokes wars by which the power of the state is annihilated, this is a breaking of the jug.

This hexagram applies also to the individual. However men may differ in disposition and in education, the foundations of human nature are the same in everyone. And every human being can draw in the course of his education from the inexhaustible wellspring of the divine in man’s nature. But here likewise two dangers threaten: a man may fail in his education to penetrate to the real roots of humanity and remain fixed in convention-a partial education of this sort is as bad as none- or he may suddenly collapse and neglect his self-development.

THE IMAGE

Water over wood: the image of THE WELL.
Thus the superior man encourages the people at their work,
And exhorts them to help one another.

The trigram Sun, wood, is below, and the trigram K’an, water, is above it. Wood sucks water upward. Just as wood as an organism imitates the action of the well, which benefits all parts of the plant, the superior man organises human society, so that, as in a plant organism, its parts co-operate for the benefit of the whole.


1. The painting personifies Raga Kumbha, one of the eight sons of Sri Raga.
Kumbha refers to a pitcher filled with water, which symbolizes an auspicious omen.
A young woman is pulling a pitcher out of the well, while a young thirsty soldier, clad in a yellow choga (garment) and a white apron tied around his head draws her attention.
The painting is based on one of the folk songs of Kangra valley that essays the accidental meeting of a husband and a wife.

The soldier after his marriage to a young girl goes away on service for several long years.
On his return he visits his father in law to fetch his wife.
He meets a young woman at a well and asks for water.
He also pays compliment to her beauty.
At this she rebukes him sternly and rushes home.
On her arrival at home, her mother asks her to put on her best clothes and ornaments as her husband had come.
She attires in best of her finery, and when goes to meet him finds that he is the same person who met her at the well.
Guilty of harsh words she had spoken to him at the well she attempts reconciliation and soon all misunderstandings are dissolved and they live happily afterwards as a loving couple.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 81 – True words aren’t eloquent; eloquent words aren’t true.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 81

True words aren’t eloquent;
eloquent words aren’t true.
Wise men don’t need to prove their point;
men who need to prove their point aren’t wise.

Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 81 – True words aren’t eloquent; eloquent words aren’t true.”

“Include everyone and everything in your relations.  Appreciate close connections without allowing them to separate you from distant ones.” – Today’s Reading

Include everyone and everything in your relations.  Appreciate close connections without separating you from distant ones.

In times of prosperity it is important above all to possess enough greatness of soul to bear with imperfect people. For in the hands of a great master no material is unproductive; he can find use for everything. But this generosity is by no means laxity or weakness. It is during times of prosperity especially that we must always be ready to risk even dangerous undertakings, such as the crossing of a river, if they are necessary.
So too we must not neglect what is distant but must attend scrupulously to everything. Factionalism and the dominance of cliques are especially to be avoided. Even if people of like mind come forward together, they ought not to form a faction by holding together for mutual advantage; instead, each man should do his duty. These are four ways in which one can overcome the hidden danger of a gradual slackening that always lurks in any time of peace. And that is how one finds the middle way for action.

Today: “In my consciousness there is a support and in the support there is an equal negative and an equal positive.” Yogi Bhajan

Tao Te Ching – Verse 80 – If a country is governed wisely, its inhabitants will be content

Try these meditations:

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

Meditation: Know the Psyche of the Other

Previous Readings:

Today: I Ching – Previous Reading – “You have lots of power. Be careful not to bluster or abuse all that power.”

Today: I Ching – Previous previous reading – “Division and unity both appear. You must choose. To regain the connections, return to the traditional forms so they can once again become more than just empty ritual.”

See related posts.

A letter to a friend

Read the texts translated from the I Ching for today's reading
11 – Eleven.  T’ai / Peace

Heaven and Earth embrace, giving birth to Peace.
The Superior Person serves as midwife, presenting the newborn gift to the people.

The small depart; the great approach.
Success.
Good fortune.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

It doesn’t get any better than this.
Everything is in harmony, all obstacles are cleared from your Path, anything you could ask for is right at hand.
This is the Elysian Fields, the Garden of Eden.
The only thing wrong with Peace is that it, too, must change.
Whether you are in this state of harmony now or it is predicted for your future, recognize it as your greatest opportunity to build your resources against less harmonious times.

Nine in the second place means:

Despite his success, he is gentle to those who impose, he fords the icy stream between him and another, he does not forget his duties to those distant, he does not abandon his companions; he truly walks the Golden Mean.

Bearing with the uncultured in gentleness,
Fording the river with resolution,
Not neglecting what is distant,
Not regarding one’s companions:
Thus one may manage to walk in the middle.

Fording the Pecos River

Fording the Pecos River, showing a horse drawn wagon and a cannon crossing the river.

In times of prosperity it is important above all to possess enough greatness of soul to bear with imperfect people. For in the hands of a great master no material is unproductive; he can find use for everything. But this generosity is by no means laxity or weakness. It is during times of prosperity especially that we must always be ready to risk even dangerous undertakings, such as the crossing of a river, if they are necessary.
So too we must not neglect what is distant but must attend scrupulously to everything. Factionalism and the dominance of cliques are especially to be avoided. Even if people of like mind come forward together, they ought not to form a faction by holding together for mutual advantage; instead, each man should do his duty. These are four ways in which one can overcome the hidden danger of a gradual slackening that always lurks in any time of peace. And that is how one finds the middle way for action.

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.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 80 – If a country is governed wisely, its inhabitants will be content

Tao Te Ching – Verse 80

If a country is governed wisely,
its inhabitants will be content.
They enjoy the labor of their hands
and don’t waste time inventing
labor-saving machines.
Since they dearly love their homes,
they aren’t interested in travel. Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 80 – If a country is governed wisely, its inhabitants will be content”

“You have lots of power.  Be careful not to bluster or abuse all that power.” – Today’s Reading

You have lots of power.  Be careful not to bluster or abuse all that power.

Today: “Life is a lie if you do not find the internal truth. Life is a tragedy if you only find the external truth.” Yogi Bhajan

Tao Te Ching – Verse 79 – Failure is an opportunity

Try these meditations:

Meditation: TCH20 02 960722 – Increase the Power of the Infinite Within

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

Previous Readings:

Today: I Ching – Previous Reading – “Bad actors have been hindering all progress. That will change and your aspirations will bring success.”

Today: I Ching – Previous previous reading – “Be mindful of the current situation. Now. This moment. Free yourself from thoughts arising from the subconscious that conjure scenarios centered on the ego. Be divine, as is your nature.”

See related posts.

A letter to a friend

Read the texts translated from the I Ching for today's reading
34 – Thirty-Four.  Ta Chuang / Awesome Power

Thunder fills the Heavens with its awful roar, not out of pride, but with integrity; if it did less, it would not be Thunder:
Because of his Great Power, the Superior Person takes pains not to overstep his position, so that he will not seem intimidating or threatening to the Established Order.

Opportunity will arise along this course.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

The Awesome Power available in this hexagram stems from what the Taoists call your Te, a term not perfectly translated into English.
Roughly, it is your Integrity — not in the Western sense of honor — but more in the psychological definition of a full integration of Who You Are.
This Awesome Power is achieved only by fully embracing both the good and the bad, the strong and the weak, the masculine and the feminine — all polarities within you.
Such self-knowledge spawns a Mastery tempered with the humility necessary to rein in and harness this Awesome Power.

Nine at the beginning [yang at bottom] means:

He uses all his remaining strength to stamp his hoof and paw the ground.
If his bluff is called, it will bring misfortune.

Power in the toes.
Continuing brings misfortune.
This is certainly true.

Le Modèle Rouge III - Magritte

‘Le Modèle Rouge III’, 1937 – René Magritte

The toes are in the lowest place and are ready to advance. So likewise great power in lowly station is inclined to effect advance by force. This, if carried further, would certainly lead to misfortune, and therefore by way of advice a warning is added.
32 – Thirty-Two.  Hêng / Durability

Arousing Thunder and penetrating Wind.
Close companions in any storm:
The Superior Person possesses a resiliency and durability that lets him remain firmly and faithfully on course.

Such constancy deserves success.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

Endurance is the key to success in this situation.
However, durability is not synonymous with stone-like rigidity.
True resilience requires a flexibility that allows adaptation to any adverse condition, while still remaining true to the core.
Can you maintain your integrity under any circumstance?
Can you influence the situation without giving opposing forces anything to resist?
Then you will endure to reach your goal.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 79 – Failure is an opportunity

Tao Te Ching – Verse 79

Failure is an opportunity.
If you blame someone else,
there is no end to the blame.

Therefore the Master
fulfills her own obligations
and corrects her own mistakes.
She does what she needs to do
and demands nothing of others. Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 79 – Failure is an opportunity”

“Division and unity both appear.  You must choose.  To regain the connections, return to the traditional forms so they can once again become more than just empty ritual.  ” – Today’s Reading

Division and unity both appear.  You must choose.  To regain the connections, return to the traditional forms so they can once again become more than just empty ritual.

Try these meditations:

Meditation: NM0336 – For Inner Strength

Read the transcript of Yogi Bhajan's lecture on Reflecting Identities.

Lecture: Reflecting Identities

There is a human need to reflect your identity. You will reflect your identity so you can affect the identity. This is how we mutually talk to each other. We are social. Sometimes in this reflection the psyche gets entangled and we are deeply in love. When we cannot follow the rhythm of our own psyche, we deflect ourselves and we lose the relationship.

The relationship between two individual identities has to be decided on values. If a woman wants what she wants but has minus values, she is self-destructive. If a man wants something with no positive values, he is not going to work it out. If commotions could make emotion, and our feelings are all healing, we would be living in the heavens. If you are dealing with somebody who is insane and has emotions and commotion, who is neurotic, useless, hopeless—still that person has an identity. You have to reflect that identity when you make a decision.

Life has a simple challenge. Act, do not react. Calm yourself and claim yourself. When you reflect like a torch, it takes away the darkness for a long distance. When you reflect, your psyche takes away indifference for a long distance. When you speak for yourself, or somebody speaks for you, there is somebody else who speaks for you—your character and projection. That is yourself. Your self is the strongest thing you have. If you doubt within your self, act and react, if you answer the call of dharma and have no heart in it—you will never make sense. You need higher energy, your higher psyche, which should purify you so you can enjoy life.

An unstable man was advised to practice the one minute breath meditation for 31 minutes a day. Today he is grateful to have become successful and compassionate. He has realized himself. Why? You live by breath and die by breath. If you meditate on your breath, then through Pavan Guru, the Pranic Vidya—the knowledge of prana, of creation and creativity and of all incarnations, will dawn on you. You will start winning your self, start valuing your breath, valuing your environments, valuing your projection. And in this way everyone will in turn value you.

In the company of the holy congregation, sharing our psyche, our flow of the identity for each other, our understanding, we go across all difficulties. In doing so, we change our psyche. That enrichment which happens, those 30 trillion cells and a most booming power in the universe, creates a sense of purity and piety. The purpose of this congregation is to elevate ourselves. When you elevate, it is like the person who climbs high up a tree to escape a lion, rather than running from the lion. When calamity hits you—elevate yourself!

We must learn to meditate on our breath. Breath is God in us. Breath is life in us. Breath is us.

Review of Meditation and Sat Nam Rasayan® Healing Workshop with Hari Nam Singh 11/27/2016 – “Division and Unity”

See today’s quote from Yogi Bhajan:

Today: “It’s great to have and not to have—that’s the principle. ” Yogi Bhajan

The Tao Te Ching:

Tao Te Ching – Verse 78 – “Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water. Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible, nothing can surpass it.”

Previous Readings:

Today: I Ching – Previous Reading – “Bad actors have been hindering all progress. That will change and your aspirations will bring success.”

Today: I Ching – Previous previous reading – “Be mindful of the current situation. Now. This moment. Free yourself from thoughts arising from the subconscious that conjure scenarios centered on the ego. Be divine, as is your nature.”

See related posts.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 78 – “Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water. Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible, nothing can surpass it.”

A letter to a friend

Read the texts translated from the I Ching for today's reading
54 – Fifty-Four.  Kuei Mei / A Loveless Marriage

The Thunderstorm inseminates the swelling Lake, then moves on where the Lake cannot follow:
The Superior Person views passing trials in the light of Eternal Truths.
Any action will prove unfortunate.
Nothing furthers.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

This is at best a Marriage of Convenience.
You have found yourself in desperate straits, a position of weakness, and you are tempted to pay dearly for a remedy.
A drowning man isn’t picky about who throws him a rope.
The rescue offered to you now is undesirable.
It may pull you out of this sticky situation, but it will cause even greater predicaments down the road.
Don’t obligate yourself in this way.

Six at the top means:

he groom draws no blood from the sacrifice.
The bride’s basket remains empty.
A barren marriage.

The woman holds the basket, but there are no fruits in it.
The man stabs the sheep, but no blood flows.
Nothing that acts to further.

Sheep basket

At the sacrifice to the ancestors, the woman had to present harvest offerings in a basket, while the man slaughtered the sacrificial animal with his own hand. Here the ritual is only superficially fulfilled; the woman takes an empty basket and the man stabs a sheep slaughtered beforehand – solely to preserve the forms. This impious, irreverent attitude bodes no good for a marriage.

38 – Thirty-Eight.  K’uei / Estrangement

Fire distances itself from its nemesis, the Lake:
No matter how large or diverse the group, the Superior Person remains uniquely himself.

Small accomplishments are possible.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

You are working at cross-purposes with another.
The distance between you is very wide.
The gap can be closed, however, with no compromise of your integrity.
You are not adversaries in this case — just two persons addressing individual needs.
Ask yourself: are these needs mutually exclusive?
Is there common ground here?
Must there be one winner and one loser?
Could you become partners in seeking a solution that would allow for two winners?

Tao Te Ching – Verse 78 – “Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water. Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible, nothing can surpass it.”

Tao Te Ching – Verse  78

Nothing in the world
is as soft and yielding as water.
Yet for dissolving the hard and inflexible,
nothing can surpass it.

The soft overcomes the hard;
the gentle overcomes the rigid.
Everyone knows this is true,
but few can put it into practice.

Therefore the Master remains
serene in the midst of sorrow.
Evil cannot enter his heart.
Because he has given up helping,
he is people’s greatest help.

True words seem paradoxical.

(translation by Stephen Mitchell, 1995)
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Nothing in the world is softer or weaker than water
Yet nothing is better at overcoming the hard and strong
This is because nothing can replace it

That the weak overcomes the strong
And the soft overcomes the hard
Everybody in the world knows
But cannot put into practice

Therefore sages say:
The one who accepts the humiliation of the state
Is called its master
The one who accepts the misfortune of the state
Becomes king of the world
The truth seems like the opposite

(translation by Derek Lin, 2006)
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Water, so soft,
Was the beginning.
So powerful,
Will be the end.
Embrace the humble.

(translation by Jeremy M. Miller, 2013)
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“Bad actors have been hindering all progress.  That will change and your aspirations will bring success.” – Today’s Reading

Bad actors have been hindering all progress.  That will change and your aspirations will bring success.

See what Yogi Bhajan says.

Try these meditations:

Meditation: Release obstacles in your path

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

Read the transcript of Yogi Bhajan's lecture on this.

Yogi Bhajan on this mantra:
One day Yogi Bhajan told his students, “Now suppose something happens (in) your life which you want to move and it’s not moving. There is a block, which you want to move, and it’s not moveable.”then chant ‘Aad Sach, Jugaad Sach, Hai Bhae Sach, Naanak Hosee Bhae Sach.’ It’s a lever. It is the biggest lever available to you among mantras.” (8/14/91)Baba Siri Chand was the eldest son of Guru Nanak (the first Guru of the Sikhs). He was a very detached yogi and lived for 150 years. He did nothing but good; his strength is not only miracles, but spontaneous. We have this mantra of his, and if you do that, anything which is stopped in your life it shall flow. There is no power like it on earth. In some circumstances I have seen it make the impossible to become possible very fast. (7/28/94)Guru Arjun Dev (the fifth Guru of the Sikhs) went to Baba Siri Chand and said, ‘Sahibo, I am writing Sukhmani. I am writing the great situation and combination of words that will give people comfort. I want to produce on this earth everlasting comfort. I have finished the 16th pauri of Sukhmani and now it doesn’t proceed further. I am stuck. Seventeenth (pauri) I am to write, please say something.’ And then Baba Siri Chand said, ‘Well, wait a minute. Guru Nanak gave the Guruship to you folks, and it is your problem to write Gurbani, not mine. I just came to bless you. It doesn’t mean I have to say Gurbani for you. Guru Arjun Dev replied, ‘No, sir, this writing isn’t working for me.’ And there Baba Siri Chand wrote: Aad Sach, Jugaad Sach, Hai Bhae Sach, Naanak Hosee Bhae Sach.” This mantra became the slok of the 17th pauri of Sukhmani Sahib.

 

Today: I Ching – Previous Reading – “Be mindful of the current situation. Now. This moment. Free yourself from thoughts arising from the subconscious that conjure scenarios centered on the ego. Be divine, as is your nature.”

Today: I Ching – Previous previous reading – “Be reserved in your actions, not calling attention to yourself. Enjoy small successes. Do not fly too high.”

See related posts.

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

A letter to a friend

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

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?

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