Healer, Teacher, Yogi
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.”
“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. The teacher should be intelligent enough to create a problem which the student does not understand and then he should push the student through it and that will bring faith. This faith will move mountains and those mountains will move God. The formless will fade behind form the way cats fade behind cows.” Yogi Bhajan
You can coexist and even ally with powerful allies and neighbors. Use discretion so that you don’t incur wrath.
Tao Te Ching – Verse 3 – The Master leads by emptying people’s minds and filling their cores
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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.
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above: Ch’ien / The Creative, Heaven | |
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below: Tui / The Joyous, Lake | |
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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.
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. |
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THE IMAGE Heaven above, the lake below:
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.”] |
“The difference between you and an animal is that the animal has limited compassion and you can have unlimited compassion.” Yogi Bhajan
Meditation: NM0163 – Feel God Within You, The Kindness in You
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
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Meditation: LA031 19780423 – Ad Nad Kriya – Gupt Gian Shakti the Secret Power of the Knowledge
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Share The Magical Story of Mushkil Gusha over a meal with friends today.
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.
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above: Ch’ien / The Creative, Heaven | |
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below: Sun / The Gentle, Wind | |
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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. 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. |
‘Contact’ – Fractal artwork by Sven Geier, 2002 |
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THE IMAGE Under heaven, wind: 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. |
“Poke, provoke, confront, and elevate. That is how your life must be. If one aspect of these four is missing, you are handicapped. That’s the gist of my Ph.D. on the psychology of communication. Regardless of what we understand or do not understand, we are what we speak. That’s how we are known.” Yogi Bhajan
Meditation: NM0365-20001024-On Communication II
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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
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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. One sees the wagon dragged back,
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. |
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.
“Nobody will give you anything. You have to learn the art and science of giving yourself your own excellence. That’s the purpose of life. Life is a lie if the truth is not found. Prayer is the power for which you must reach your excellence.” Yogi Bhajan
Meditation: NM0413 – Intuition and the Strength of Excellence
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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.
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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.
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above: K’an / The Abysmal, Water | |
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below: Sun / The Gentle, Wind, Wood | |
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| 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 meets a young woman at a well, and asks for water.1 |
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THE JUDGEMENT THE WELL. The town may be changed, 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.
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. The soldier after his marriage to a young girl goes away on service for several long years. |
“All your soul is promised by God is one chance. When the soul took the body and saw the karma and the domain, and it was coming to the planet Earth for practice, the soul resisted. He said, “No, I’m not going.” God said, “Why? What’s the problem? It’s a test. Don’t you want to pass it?” He said, “I want to pass it, but I don’t have the tools.” So God gave the mind. She said, “What is this damn thing?” He said, “Well, this is something. Like a swing, it can take you towards me or away from me 180 degrees. Take it, but be its master.” Yogi Bhajan
Meditation: LA041-780525- Control the Mind
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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 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.
Tao Te Ching – Verse 80 – If a country is governed wisely, its inhabitants will be content
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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.
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, 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.
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.
“In my consciousness there is a support and in the support there is an equal negative and an equal positive. There are always two balances in each personality which balances the very rhythm of life.” Yogi Bhajan
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.
Tao Te Ching – Verse 79 – Failure is an opportunity
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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. Power in the toes.
‘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. |
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.
“Life is a lie if you do not find the internal truth. Life is a tragedy if you only find the external truth. Life is an absolute loss if you do not live to your status as a human, or your reality status or your religious status, whatever you want to call it. You can get a status, but you have to live it, and you have to experience it.” Yogi Bhajan
Meditation: LA827-19950307 – Third Eye
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