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

“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’s 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 what Yogi Bhajan says about this.

Try this meditation:

Meditation: KYB117-19860822 – Achieve an Experience of God

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

There is no God outside you. Neither was, nor is, nor shall be. It is all in you. The very breath of life is Divine. – YB

LECTURE:
At that moment that person through the crises became Christ because he could forgive unforgivable done to  him  and  that’s  the  reality.    When  you  can  do  which  is  impossible  to  do  you  have made the impossible possible  that is called divine rest is all nonsense. When you can take a cup of poison drink it and make it turn into a nectar what is the medicine, all poisons given to body to kill the disease and bring the health and when you take a social poison and turn into a divine excellence, that is what spirituality is about. Your concept of spirituality may be different than mine and I am not here to impose mine on you, neither I am going to accept yours for me. I am not asking you to follow me, I am not asking you to walk with me, I am
not asking you to respect me, I am not asking you have any reverence you can live in your nuisance rest of your life it will never make a sense. The sense is only in one virtue where impossible hits you with possible
you can deal with it. Am I clear? Then impossible hit you and you turn out with possible of you possible of you  and  deal  with  it  and  don’t  become  a  monkey  all  crack  down  or  fall  apart  then  you  show  the  strength  of
God, the infinity. When the finite gets to you and you show the infinity that is what divinity is. The difference between duality and divinity is very simple in duality when time hits you, you fall apart you split and if you have any divinity I am not talking A divinity B divinity C divinity I am not branding it any divinity then when impossible hits you, time hits you, space hits you, you are just divine, you are not divided.
Duality and divinity are the two sides of the same coin called God and you want to achieve that, take the sun finger take the Surya Mudra and just like this as I am sitting straight and simple calm and quite straight up.
Hey  Rakhe  Rakhan  Har…
Calm down yourself put your eyes close them down and go through your oneness consider you are a figure one.
(The Rakhe Rakhan Har tape is played).
YB (Over the tape): Beauty is to keep those three fingers straight and let the sun energy circulate which will make it little difficult, but if you just consolidate your energy it will work out perfect.
Enough now this exercise which you have done this mudra can make the dead to rise and walk, if you perfect this mudra it is call surya mudra and that is the surya shabad. When that word and the body put it together   that’s   what   power   it   will   give   you   put   your   hand   and   say   rise   the   dead   man   will   rise,   it’s   not impossible,  it’s  conquering  the  life  breath  of  life  the  sun  energy.    And  last  of  all  which  I  like  to  deal  right
now some people have communication problem and many of you do have and we need to deal with it. You see   this   mudra   you   won’t   find   it   in   any   book   that’s   why   I   am   trying   to   relate   to   you.     The   sun   finger   is together  mercury  here  but  they  don’t  meet  normally  they  get  to  like  that  but  this  is  the  right  way  to  do  it, bent them keep them separate two fingers and  the  hand  meet  straight  just  like  that  is  the  mudra  and  that’s how the heart is. Correct?
And put that that peace lagoon of some Kaur.
Student: (—)
YB: No that peace first song of her, first song from Peace lagoon. You have that version?
Student: (—)
Okay  that’s  all  right  they  can  do  that.
Kindly concentrate get into posture calm down yourself let yourself go, neither the sun fingers meet not the index and the Saturn finger meet they are separate only the pinky that meet. is the first tape, first tape is
peace lagoon.
(The tape is played).
YB: It is all right this is to involve in us the mercury power the communication which, which if penetratingly is used and exercised give you lot of headway and that wake up Har Har Mukunde you have that? . Okay now when you are not in a position to work it out and you do not know what to do it is called zero point of self-confidence   to   get   it   back   to   normal   first   don’t   do   this   do   it   as   wide   as   you   can,   it’s   very
comfortable put your head on your hands and just go like this, correct. Close down your eyes concentrate on your navel and go for it.
(The tape is played).
(Over the tape)
YB:    (Over  the  tape)  Pump  the  navel  at  the  sound  of  Har,  when  you  hear  it.    That’s  enough.
(End of the tape)
So we are trying to give you different mudras to let the energy be regenerated in a different state of stress
and strife  in  life,  trial  triumph  to  avoid  the  tragedies,  that’s  the  purpose  of  the  Kundalini  yoga  not  to  live very long, not to live very healthy, not to be very excellent, not to be very down up, just be ready whatever it  takes.    It’s  a  very  great  concept  very  misunderstood  by  students  and  the  practitioners  of  yoga  they  don’t know what a Kundalini is. Kundalini is very simple when the time wants it the energy spins up and make you to face it and you face it good. So that excellence human excellence in performance, in achievement is called Kundalini awareness, consciousness, divinity, Godliness, whatever you want to call it, but that is the basic reality, it cannot be  changed.    And  that’s  what  all  this  about  is,  this is the science  in  which  shortest possible  time  you  can  balance  yourself  to  get  going,  get  going,  keeping  up.    Keeping  up  doesn’t  mean  to  pull yourself up. No, keeping up is absolutely balance in confrontation,  that’s called  keeping  up.    Keeping  up  not, when  you  don’t  give  in.    Now  if  something  is  wrong  and  you  have  to  give  in  you  give  in  but  you  don’t  give  in to   any   stupid   pressure.     You   don’t   give   in   to   wrong,   you don’t give in to betrayal, you   don’t   give in to tragedy.    If  you  don’t  give  in  to  exploitation  don’t  give  into  anything  you  are  you.    You  want  give  you  want to  give.    You  gave  you  gave.    It’s  a  conscious  living.    So  what  I  have  to  tried  to  cover  with  you  these,  these tapes are about thirty-one minutes, twenty-seven to thirty-one minutes something like that and with that music going with that mudra with that stimulation with that balance try it sometime by your own self. If it work for you share with others, it work for others tell them to share for everybody there is no secret there is no possibility of any reaction and then no possibility of any danger or damage, all good will come out of it.
I hope within the shortest possible time I have covered the maximum this are the things which you need in life if God willing and time permitting space granting the humanity to live we will see you again.

The  class  sings:    May  the  long  tine  sunshine  upon  you….

 

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

Today: I Ching – Previous previous reading – “Behave as a guest visiting, not knowing, witnessing, acting politely with caution. In experience, all things come together and again separate. Relate appropriately in the moment.”

See related posts.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 76 – Men are born soft and supple; dead, they are stiff and hard. Plants are born tender and pliant; dead, they are brittle and dry.

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

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
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: “You have come from the Perfect to be perfect. ” Yogi Bhajan

“You have come from the Perfect to be perfect. It is not that you have come from the Perfect and you have been put here as imperfect, and you have to become perfect.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: KYB117-19860822 – Achieve an Experience of God

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Tao Te Ching – Verse 76 – Men are born soft and supple; dead, they are stiff and hard. Plants are born tender and pliant; dead, they are brittle and dry.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 76

Men are born soft and supple;
dead, they are stiff and hard.
Plants are born tender and pliant;
dead, they are brittle and dry.

Thus whoever is stiff and inflexible
is a disciple of death.
Whoever is soft and yielding
is a disciple of life.

The hard and stiff will be broken.
The soft and supple will prevail.

(translation by Stephen Mitchell, 1995)
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While alive, the body is soft and pliant
When dead, it is hard and rigid
All living things, grass and trees,
While alive, are soft and supple
When dead, become dry and brittle
Thus that which is hard and stiff
is the follower of death
That which is soft and yielding
is the follower of life
Therefore, an inflexible army will not win
A strong tree will be cut down
The big and forceful occupy a lowly position
While the soft and pliant occupy a higher place

(translation by Derek Lin, 2006)
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Be soft and be immortal.
Be the bully and be destroyed.
How many times must this lesson be taught?

(translation by Jeremy M. Miller, 2013)
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“Be reserved in your actions, not calling attention to yourself.  Enjoy small successes.  Do not fly too high.” – Today’s Reading

Be reserved in your actions, not calling attention to yourself.  Enjoy small successes.  Do not fly too high.

See Yogi Bhajan’s quote for today

Tao Te Ching – Verse 75 – When taxes are too high, people go hungry. When the government is too intrusive, people lose their spirit

Try these meditations:

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

Meditation:  LA015 780227 – To Bring Swift and Powerful Change

Today: I Ching – Previous Reading – “Behave as a guest visiting, not knowing, witnessing, acting politely with caution. In experience, all things come together and again separate. Relate appropriately in the moment.”

Today: I Ching – Previous previous reading – “Keep the relations that have sustained rather than pursuing new ones that promise favor.”

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Meditation: NM374 – 20001128 – Patience and Intuition

Meditation:  LA588 890411 Silver Grain Meditation 

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
62 – Sixty-Two.  Hsiao Kuo / Lying Low

Thunder high on the Mountain, active passivity:
The Superior Person is unsurpassed in his ability to remain small.
In a time for humility, he is supremely modest.
In a time of mourning, he uplifts with somber reverence.
In a time of want, he is resourcefully frugal.

When a bird flies too high, its song is lost.
Rather than push upward now, it is best to remain below.
This will bring surprising good fortune, if you keep to your course.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

There is no profit to striving here.
To be content with oneself is the greatest success imaginable.
The enlightened person has nothing to prove to himself or others, and thus may always operate from a position of sincerity, with no pretense or posturing.
His humility is guileless simplicity.
His mourning is selfless compassion.
His frugality is an unshakeable faith that he is but a conduit, letting what is needed flow through him to others, with no loss to himself.

yin
yin above: Chên / The Arousing, Thunder
yang
yang
yin below: Kên / Keeping Still, Mountain
yin

 

While in the hexagram Ta Kuo, PREPONDERANCE OF THE GREAT (28), the strong lines preponderate and are within, inclosed between weak lines at the top and bottom, the present hexagram has weak lines preponderating, though here again they are on the outside, the strong lines being within. This indeed is the basis of the exceptional situation indicated by the hexagram. When strong lines are outside, we have the hexagram I, PROVIDING NOURISHMENT (27), or Chung Fu, INNER TRUTH, (61); neither represents an exceptional state. When strong elements within preponderate, they necessarily enforce their will. This creates struggle and exceptional conditions in general. But in the present hexagram it is the weak element that perforce must mediate with the outside world. If a man occupies a position of authority for which he is by nature really inadequate, extraordinary prudence is necessary.

THE JUDGEMENT

PREPONDERANCE OF THE SMALL. Success.
Perseverance furthers.
Small things may be done; great things should not be done.
The flying bird brings the message:
It is not well to strive upward,
It is well to remain below.
Great good fortune.

Icarus

Exceptional modesty and conscientiousness are sure to be rewarded with success; however, if a man is not to throw himself away, it is important that they should not become empty form and subservience but be combined always with a correct dignity in personal behavior. We must understand the demands of the time in order to find the necessary offset for its deficiencies and damages. In any event we must not count on great success, since the requisite strength is lacking. In this lies the importance of the message that one should not strive after lofty things but hold to lowly things.
The structure of the hexagram gives rise to the idea that this message is brought by a bird. In Ta Kuo, PREPONDERANCE OF THE GREAT (28), the four strong, heavy lines within, supported only by two weak lines without, give the image of a sagging ridgepole. Here the supporting weak lines are both outside and preponderant; this gives the image of a soaring bird. But a bird should not try to surpass itself and fly into the sun; it should descend to the earth, where its nest is. In this way it gives the message conveyed by the hexagram.
 

I Ching Online

Thunder on mountain

THE IMAGE

Thunder on the mountain:
The image of PREPONDERANCE OF THE SMALL.
Thus in his conduct the superior man gives preponderance to reverence.
In bereavement he gives preponderance to grief.
In his expenditures he gives preponderance to thrift.

Thunder on the mountain is different from thunder on the plain. In the mountains, thunder seems much nearer; outside the mountains, it is less audible than the thunder of an ordinary storm. Thus the superior man derives an imperative from this image: he must always fix his eyes more closely and more directly on duty than does the ordinary man, even though this might make his behavior seem petty to the outside world. He is exceptionally conscientious in his actions. In bereavement emotion means more to him than ceremoniousness. In all his personal expenditures he is extremely simple and unpretentious. In comparison with the man of the masses, all this makes him stand out as exceptional. But the essential significance of his attitude lies in the fact that in external matters he is on the side of the lowly.

Today: “Only a good student can become a great master. It’s the goodness of the heart.” Yogi Bhajan

“Only a good student can become a great master. It’s the goodness of the heart.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: NM327-990930 Know Your Heart

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Tao Te Ching – Verse 75 – When taxes are too high, people go hungry. When the government is too intrusive, people lose their spirit

Tao Te Ching – Verse 75

When taxes are too high,
people go hungry.
When the government is too intrusive,
people lose their spirit.

Act for the people’s benefit.
Trust them; leave them alone.
Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 75 – When taxes are too high, people go hungry. When the government is too intrusive, people lose their spirit”

“Behave as a guest visiting, not knowing, witnessing, acting politely with caution.  In experience, all things come together and again separate.  Relate appropriately in the moment.” – Today’s Reading

Behave as a guest visiting, not knowing, witnessing, acting politely with caution.  In experience, all things come together and again separate.  Relate appropriately in the moment.

See Yogi Bhajan’s quote for today

Tao Te Ching – Verse 74 – If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to.

Try these meditations:

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

Meditation:  LA015 780227 – To Bring Swift and Powerful Change

Today: I Ching – Previous Reading – “Keep the relations that have sustained rather than pursuing new ones that promise favor.”

Today: I Ching – Previous previous reading – The main thing is to remain safe from the danger around us without panic. Follow the path of least resistance toward safety in your affairs and you will be OK.”

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Meditation: LA088 790222 Egyptian Meditation

M0512-890312-ForMasteryOfTimeAndSpace

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
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.

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

 

THE MOUNTAIN, Kên, stands still; above it fire, Li, flames up and does not tarry. Therefore the two trigrams do not stay together. Strange lands and separation are the wanderer’s lot.

THE JUDGEMENT

The Wanderer. Success through smallness.
Perseverance brings good fortune
To the wanderer.

WHEN A man is a wanderer and stranger, he should not be gruff nor overbearing. He has no large circle of acquaintances, therefore he should not give himself airs. He must be cautious and reserved; in this way he protects himself from evil. If he is obliging toward others, he wins success.
A wanderer has no fixed abode; his home is the road. Therefore he must take care to remain upright and steadfast, so that he sojourns only in the proper places, associating only with good people. Then he has good fortune and can go his way unmolested.

I Ching Online

THE IMAGE

Fire on the mountain:
The image of THE WANDERER.
Thus the superior man
Is clear-minded and cautious
In imposing penalties,
And protracts no lawsuits.

 

Fire on Sugarloaf mountain

 

Fire on Sugarloaf mountain, in Chiricahua National Monument, 2011

When grass on a mountain takes fire, there is bright light. However, the fire does not linger in one place, but travels on to new fuel. It is a phenomenon of short duration. This is what penalties and lawsuits should be like. They should be a quickly passing matter, and must not be dragged out indefinitely. Prisons ought to be places where people are lodged only temporarily, as guests are. They must not become dwelling places.

Today: “The hammer and chisel have to carve the stone. If the stone can carve the chisel, there’s no need of a chisel.” Yogi Bhajan

“The hammer and chisel have to carve the stone. If the stone can carve the chisel, there’s no need of a chisel. Then the stone is the chisel. If a teacher depends upon the student, he’s not a teacher to begin with. Then it’s a commercial situation.” Yogi Bhajan

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Tao Te Ching – Verse 74 – If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 74

If you realize that all things change,
there is nothing you will try to hold on to.
If you aren’t afraid of dying,
there is nothing you can’t achieve.

Trying to control the future
is like trying to take the master carpenter’s place.
When you handle the master carpenter’s tools,
chances are that you’ll cut your hand.
Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 74 – If you realize that all things change, there is nothing you will try to hold on to.”

“Keep the relations that have sustained rather than pursuing new ones that promise favor.” – Today’s Reading

Keep the relations that have sustained rather than pursuing new ones that promise favor.

See Yogi Bhajan’s quote for today

Tao Te Ching – Verse 73 – The Tao is always at ease.

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Today: I Ching – Previous Reading – “The main thing is to remain safe from the danger around us without panic. Follow the path of least resistance toward safety in your affairs and you will be OK.”

Today: I Ching – Previous previous reading – “Stay true to your path regardless of the folly, chaos and insanity presented by those around you.”

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Meditation: LA088 790222 Egyptian Meditation

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
28 – Twenty-Eight. Ta Kuo / Critical Mass

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

Any direction is better than where you now stand.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

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

Nine in the fifth place means:

The withered willow blossoms.
An older woman takes a young husband.
No blame, no praise.

A withered poplar puts forth flowers.
An older woman takes a husband.
No blame. No praise.

Poplar forest

Poplar forest

A withered poplar that flowers exhausts its energies thereby and only hastens its end. An older woman may marry once more, but no renewal takes place. Everything remains barren. Thus, though all the amenities are observed, the net result is only the anomaly of the situation.

Applied to politics, the metaphor means that if in times of insecurity we give up alliance with those below us and keep up only the relationships we have with people of higher rank, an unstable situation is created.

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.

Today: “Be straight, talk straight, and live straight.” Yogi Bhajan

“Be straight, talk straight, and live straight.” Yogi Bhajan

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

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Tao Te Ching – Verse 73 – The Tao is always at ease.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 73

The Tao is always at ease.
It overcomes without competing,
answers without speaking a word,
arrives without being summoned,
accomplishes without a plan.

Its net covers the whole universe.
And though its meshes are wide,
it doesn’t let a thing slip through.
Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 73 – The Tao is always at ease.”

“The main thing is to remain safe from the danger around us without panic.  Follow the path of least resistance toward safety in your affairs and you will be OK.” – Today’s Reading

The main thing is to remain safe from the danger around us without panic.  Follow the path of least resistance toward safety in your affairs and you will be OK.

See Yogi Bhajan’s quote for today

Tao Te Ching – Verse 72 – When they lose their sense of awe, people turn to religion. When they no longer trust themselves, they begin to depend upon authority.

Try these meditations:

Meditation: LA860-960131-Increase the Flow of Earth Within You

Meditation: LA741 – 921125 – Dance of Shiva

Today: I Ching – Previous Reading – “Stay true to your path regardless of the folly, chaos and insanity presented by those around you.”

Today: I Ching – Previous previous reading – “Beware of cult like behavior. The leader disdains the follower and the follower seeks favors. Both will fail.”

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Meditation: LA088 790222 Egyptian Meditation

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
29 – Twenty-Nine.  K’an / Dangerously Deep

Water follows Water, spilling over any cliff, flowing past all obstacles, no matter the depth or distance, to the Sea.
The Superior Person learns flexibility from the mistakes he has made, and grows strong from the obstacles he has overcome, pressing on to show others the Way.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

You are facing a crucial trial along your Journey.
The danger of this challenge is very real.
It is a test of your mettle.
If you can maintain your integrity and stay true to your convictions, you will overcome.
That’s not as easy as it seems when you are faced with the sacrifice of other things you’ve come to depend upon or hold dear.

Nine in the fifth place means:

The dark waters of this pit will rise no higher.
Your greatest danger now lies in panic.
Keep your wits and you will escape.

The abyss is not filled to overflowing,
It is filled only to the rim.
No blame.

Abyss Pool

Danger comes because one is too ambitious. In order to flow out of a ravine, water does not rise higher than the lowest point of the rim. So likewise a man when in danger has only to proceed along the line of least resistance; thus he reaches the goal. Great labors cannot be accomplished in such times; it is enough to get out of the danger.

Abyss Pool

Abyss Pool is the deepest hot spring in Yellowstone, at 53 feet.
It was named because this great depth makes it seem like the pool has no bottom… like an abyss…

2 – Two   K’un / Receptive Force

Earth above and Earth below:
The Earth contains and sustains.
In this situation, the Superior Person should not take the initiative; he should follow the initiative of another.
He should seek receptive allies in the southwest; he should break ties with immovable allies in the northeast.

Responsive devotion.
Receptive influence.
Sublime Success if you keep to your course.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

This is a time for dealing with reality as it is, not as you would have it be.
If you realize that in this situation you are the receptor, not the transmitter of the stimulus, you will find yourself reaching goals that seemed unattainable under your own steam.
If you persist in futile efforts to be the Shaper rather than the Shaped, you will completely miss this unique opportunity.

Today: “Whatever you are, you’re a piece of garbage if you have not awakened your own dormant power to become totally excellent.” – Yogi Bhajan

“I hope you fully understand. If you see you are rich, you are rich. If you see you are poor, you are poor. If you see you are great, you are great. If you see you are not, you are not. If you are a pimp and a prostitute, bless you. And if you are very saintly and divine and humble and great, fine. Whatever you are, you’re a piece of garbage if you have not awakened your own dormant power to become totally excellent. By rowing a boat you can reach the ocean, but you will never know the power of swimming through it. That is what it is.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: NM0413 – Intuition and the Strength of Excellence

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Tao Te Ching – Verse 72 – When they lose their sense of awe, people turn to religion. When they no longer trust themselves, they begin to depend upon authority.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 72

When they lose their sense of awe,
people turn to religion.
When they no longer trust themselves,
they begin to depend upon authority.

Therefore the Master steps back
so that people won’t be confused.
He teaches without a teaching,
so that people will have nothing to learn.
Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 72 – When they lose their sense of awe, people turn to religion. When they no longer trust themselves, they begin to depend upon authority.”