Tao Te Ching – Verse 40
Return is the movement of the Tao.
Yielding is the way of the Tao.
All things are born of being.
Being is born of non-being.
Tag: I Ching
Today: “You have put yourself in a position where you cannot move. You must get your priorities straight. ” – From the I Ching
You have put yourself in a position where you cannot move. You must get your priorities straight.
Do not let external affairs bring you down. With challenges, carefully choose your next move. Do not sweat the small stuff. Rely on intuition rather than emotion. Do not react.
Implement the above principles. Abandon the cycle of reaction to your current situation.
This is the realm of the Shaman.
You have exhausted every alternative, spent yourself completely, taxed body and mind beyond your former limits.
Survival and salvation lie beyond your reach now.
Only transcendence to a new existence — a higher plane of being — will see you through.
The Old You is just a dry husk.
You can’t return to it.
Metamorphosis is the only grace offered.
You can only return to your homeland as a New You.
This shows a man who is restless and indecisive in times of adversity. At first he wants to push ahead, then he encounters obstructions that, it is true, mean oppression only when recklessly dealt with. He butts his head against a wall and in consequence feels himself oppressed by the wall. Then he leans on things that have in themselves no stability and that are merely a hazard for him who leans on them. Thereupon he turns back irresolutely and retires into his house, only to find, as a fresh disappointment, that his wife is not there. Kongfu (Confucius) says about this line:
If a man permits himself to be oppressed by something that ought not to oppress him, his name will certainly be disgraced. If he leans on things upon which one cannot lean, his life will certainly be endangered. For him who is in disgrace and danger, the hour of death draws near; how can he then still see his wife?
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.
Tao Te Ching – Verse 39 – In harmony with the Tao, the sky is clear and spacious
Today: “My job is to share with you knowledge. Your job is to practice…” Yogi Bhajan
Today: “My job is to share with you knowledge. Your job is to practice…” Yogi Bhajan
Practice this:
HNS Class Golden Bridge Hollywood – 2012-07-18 – Healing by Altering Perception
HNS Class Golden Bridge Hollywood – 2012-01-04 – Basic Sat Nam Rasayan
Check out the various healing workshops we have conducted over the years.
See Richard Wilhelm's translation for this reading
47 – Forty-Seven. K’un / Exhaustion
A Dead Sea, its Waters spent eons ago, more deadly than the desert surrounding it:
The Superior Person will stake his life and fortune on what he deeply believes.
Triumph belongs to those who endure.
Trial and tribulation can hone exceptional character to a razor edge that slices deftly through every challenge.
Action prevails where words will fail.
SITUATION ANALYSIS:
This is the realm of the Shaman.
You have exhausted every alternative, spent yourself completely, taxed body and mind beyond your former limits.
Survival and salvation lie beyond your reach now.
Only transcendence to a new existence — a higher plane of being — will see you through.
The Old You is just a dry husk.
You can’t return to it.
Metamorphosis is the only grace offered.
You can only return to your homeland as a New You.
Six in the third place means:
Hemmed in by stone, with nothing to climb but thorns: a trap of his own making.
Struggling home, he cannot find his wife.
Misfortune.
A man permits himself to be oppressed by stone,
And leans on thorns and thistles.
He enters the house and does not see his wife.
Misfortune.
This shows a man who is restless and indecisive in times of adversity. At first he wants to push ahead, then he encounters obstructions that, it is true, mean oppression only when recklessly dealt with. He butts his head against a wall and in consequence feels himself oppressed by the wall. Then he leans on things that have in themselves no stability and that are merely a hazard for him who leans on them. Thereupon he turns back irresolutely and retires into his house, only to find, as a fresh disappointment, that his wife is not there. Kongfu (Confucius) says about this line:
If a man permits himself to be oppressed by something that ought not to oppress him, his name will certainly be disgraced. If he leans on things upon which one cannot lean, his life will certainly be endangered. For him who is in disgrace and danger, the hour of death draws near; how can he then still see his wife?
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.
Today: “My job is to share with you knowledge. Your job is to practice…” Yogi Bhajan
“My job is to share with you knowledge. Your job is to practice, to experience the knowledge, so that it may become your knowledge.” Yogi Bhajan
Meditation: LA031 19780423 – Ad Nad Kriya – Gupt Gian Shakti the Secret Power of the Knowledge
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Tao Te Ching – Verse 39 – In harmony with the Tao, the sky is clear and spacious
Tao Te Ching – Verse 39
In harmony with the Tao,
the sky is clear and spacious,
the earth is solid and full,
all creatures flourish together,
content with the way they are,
endlessly repeating themselves,
endlessly renewed.
When man interferes with the Tao,
the sky becomes filthy,
the earth becomes depleted,
the equilibrium crumbles,
creatures become extinct.
Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 39 – In harmony with the Tao, the sky is clear and spacious”
Today: “Bringing order from chaos, assess the situation carefully to include all pertinent views of the problem. Find the prevailing forces and choose something you can use your skills to engage.” – From the I Ching
Bringing order from chaos, assess the situation carefully to include all pertinent views of the problem. Find the prevailing forces and choose something you can use your skills to engage.
The goal is that everything and everyone you visit will begin to recognize a common mode of engagement. With enough participation, mutual goals will be realized.
Fire over water:
The image of the condition before transition.
Thus the superior man is careful
In the differentiation of things,
So that each finds its place.
When fire, which by nature flames upward, is above, and water, which flows downward, is below, their effects take opposite directions and remain unrelated. If we wish to achieve an effect, we must first investigate the nature of the forces in question and ascertain their proper place. If we can bring these forces to bear in the right place, they will have the desired effect and completion will be achieved. But in order to handle external forces properly, we must above all arrive at the correct standpoint ourselves, for only from this vantage can we work correctly.
The conditions are difficult. The task is great and full of responsibility. It is nothing less than that of leading the world out of confusion back to order. But it is a task that promises success, because there is a goal that can unite the forces now tending in different directions.
Tao Te Ching – Verse 38 – The Master doesn’t try to be powerful; thus he is truly powerful.
Today: “A clarity of mind brings compassion in the heart.” Yogi Bhajan
Today: “A clarity of mind brings compassion in the heart.” Yogi Bhajan
Practice this:
Meditation: NM091 – 19921110 – Self Emboldenment, Engagement, Vision
Check out the various healing workshops we have conducted over the years.
See Richard Wilhelm's translation for this reading
64 – Sixty-Four. Wei Chi / The End In Sight
Fire ascends above the Water:
The Superior Person examines the nature of things and keeps each in its proper place.
Too anxious the young fox gets his tail wet, just as he completes his crossing.
To attain success, be like the man and not like the fox.
SITUATION ANALYSIS:
Resist the rush to completion.
Anticipation of fulfillment may cause you to be careless before you have fully absorbed the lessons of the journey.
The endpoint of this Quest will only prove to be the threshold for another.
You are short steps from Mastery on this plane, yet you stride toward Ignorance of the challenges lying beyond.
Savor this accomplishment.
Fully Become.
Take full possession of your world before embarking to discover the next one.
That voyage begins soon enough, and you will reminisce about this one.
These are the Good Old Days.
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above: Li / The Clinging, Flame |
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below: K’an / The Abysmal, Water |
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| This hexagram indicates a time when the transition from disorder to order is not yet completed. The change is indeed prepared for, since all the lines in the upper trigram are in relation to those in the lower. However, they are not yet in their places. While the preceding hexagram (63) offers an analogy to autumn, which forms the transition from summer to winter, this hexagram presents a parallel to spring, which leads out of winter’s stagnation into the fruitful time of summer. With this hopeful outlook the Yi Jing comes to its close.THE JUDGEMENT
BEFORE COMPLETION. Success.
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| The conditions are difficult. The task is great and full of responsibility. It is nothing less than that of leading the world out of confusion back to order. But it is a task that promises success, because there is a goal that can unite the forces now tending in different directions. At first, however, one must move warily, like an old fox walking over ice. The caution of a fox walking over ice is proverbial in China. His ears are constantly alert to the cracking of the ice, as he carefully and circumspectly searches out the safest spots. A young fox who as yet has not acquired this caution goes ahead boldly, and it may happen that he falls in and gets his tail wet when he is almost across the water. Then of course his effort has been all in vain. Accordingly, in times “before completion,” deliberation and caution are the prerequisites of success. |
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Snake River |
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THE IMAGE Fire over water: When fire, which by nature flames upward, is above, and water, which flows downward, is below, their effects take opposite directions and remain unrelated. If we wish to achieve an effect, we must first investigate the nature of the forces in question and ascertain their proper place. If we can bring these forces to bear in the right place, they will have the desired effect and completion will be achieved. But in order to handle external forces properly, we must above all arrive at the correct standpoint ourselves, for only from this vantage can we work correctly. |
Today: “A clarity of mind brings compassion in the heart.” Yogi Bhajan
“A clarity of mind brings compassion in the heart. Compassion in the heart brings Godlike acts, and Godlike acts bring the readiness and capacity of God in you.” Yogi Bhajan
Meditation: LA021-780319 – You Will Feel Totally Conscious
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Tao Te Ching – Verse 38 – The Master doesn’t try to be powerful; thus he is truly powerful.
Tao Te Ching – Verse 38
The Master doesn’t try to be powerful;
thus he is truly powerful.
The ordinary man keeps reaching for power;
thus he never has enough.
The Master does nothing,
yet he leaves nothing undone.
The ordinary man is always doing things,
yet many more are left to be done.
Today: “Know your heart and how you relate with the world. Where the need arises, offer assistance. Act intuitively. ” – From the I Ching
Know your heart and how you relate with the world. Where the need arises, offer assistance. Act intuitively.
You are in a position to help another.
This is a temporary situation, because your power is cyclical, seasonal.
Knowing this, you must perform your good deed without hope of reward.
When the stimulus to approach comes from a high place, and when a man has the inner strength and consistency that need no admonition, good fortune will ensue. Nor need the future cause any concern.
You lie dormant like seed beneath Winter snows now, healing and absorbing new energies in preparation for the new young Spring coming shortly to your life.
Tao Te Ching – Verse 37 – The Tao never does anything, yet through it all things are done
Today: “It doesn’t take time to open your heart and to feel the love in you.” Yogi Bhajan
Today: “It doesn’t take time to open your heart and to feel the love in you.” Yogi Bhajan
Practice this:
Meditation & Sat Nam Rasayan Healing Workshop – Shunnya Centre 2017-05-28
Check out the various healing workshops we have conducted over the years.
See Richard Wilhelm's translation for this reading
19 – Nineteen. Lin / Noble Calling
The rich, loamy Earth on the banks of the Marsh provides fertile soil for exceptional progress.
The Superior Person is inexhaustible in his willingness to teach, and without limit in his tolerance and support of others.
Supreme Success if you keep to your course.
But be aware that your time is limited; your power will wane, as Summer changes to Fall.
SITUATION ANALYSIS:
You are in a position to help another.
This is a temporary situation, because your power is cyclical, seasonal.
Knowing this, you must perform your good deed without hope of reward.
You are not furthering your own process, but another’s.
Though you may cherish this other, you will never possess.
Touch without grasping.
Take comfort in becoming a fond memory.
Nurture, then let go.
Nine in the second place means:If you approach this matter together, good fortune is certain. Joint approach.
Landscape inspired by the View of Frascati, 1822 |
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| When the stimulus to approach comes from a high place, and when a man has the inner strength and consistency that need no admonition, good fortune will ensue. Nor need the future cause any concern. He is well aware that everything earthly is transitory, and that a descent follows upon every rise, but need not be confused by this universal law of fate. Everything serves to further. Therefore he will travel the paths of life swiftly, honestly, and valiantly. |
24 – Twenty-Four. Fu / Return
Thunder regenerates deep within Earth’s womb:
Sage rulers recognized that the end of Earth’s seasonal cycle was also the starting point of a new year and a time for dormancy.
They closed the passes at the Solstice to enforce a rest from commerce and activity.
The ruler himself did not travel.
You have passed this way before but you are not regressing.
This is progress, for the cycle now repeats itself, and this time you are aware that it truly is a cycle.
The return of old familiars is welcome.
You can be as sure of this cycle as you are that seven days bring the start of a new week.
Use this dormancy phase to plan which direction you will grow.
SITUATION ANALYSIS:
You are about to experience a rebirth — about to be given another chance, a new lease on life.
You have persevered, gone the distance through an entire cycle — through the Spring of hope or new passion, through a Summer of growth and building, only to be sacrificed like the archetypal Harvest King at the Autumn reaping.
You lie dormant like seed beneath Winter snows now, healing and absorbing new energies in preparation for the new young Spring coming shortly to your life.
Today: “It doesn’t take time to open your heart and to feel the love in you.” Yogi Bhajan
“It doesn’t take time to open your heart and to feel the love in you. But when will you do it? That is what takes time.” Yogi Bhajan
Meditation: NM327-990930 Know Your Heart
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Tao Te Ching – Verse 37 – The Tao never does anything, yet through it all things are done
Tao Te Ching – Verse 37
The Tao never does anything,
yet through it all things are done.
If powerful men and women
could center themselves in it,
the whole world would be transformed
by itself, in its natural rhythms.
People would be content
with their simple, everyday lives,
in harmony, and free of desire.
When there is no desire,
all things are at peace. Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 37 – The Tao never does anything, yet through it all things are done”
Today: “A new age is happening. It has been predicted for a long time, though now we are experiencing a glimpse of the forms that are evolving. Their qualities are being shaped by we who live now. ” – From the I Ching
A new age is happening. It has been predicted for a long time, though now we are experiencing a glimpse of the forms that are evolving. Their qualities are being shaped by we who live now.
Every interaction in our relations with others introduces a potentiality beginning with one point, with a propensity for expanding exponentially from each new encounter.
In this way, the nature of the whole of humanity reflects the identity and actions of every member. What humanity sows, it will reap.
Tao Te Ching – Verse 36 – If you want to shrink something, you must first allow it to expand
Practice this:
Check out the various healing workshops we have conducted over the years.
See Richard Wilhelm's translation for this reading
64 – Sixty-Four. Wei Chi / The End In Sight
Fire ascends above the Water:
The Superior Person examines the nature of things and keeps each in its proper place.
Too anxious the young fox gets his tail wet, just as he completes his crossing.
To attain success, be like the man and not like the fox.
SITUATION ANALYSIS:
Resist the rush to completion.
Anticipation of fulfillment may cause you to be careless before you have fully absorbed the lessons of the journey.
The endpoint of this Quest will only prove to be the threshold for another.
You are short steps from Mastery on this plane, yet you stride toward Ignorance of the challenges lying beyond.
Savor this accomplishment.
Fully Become.
Take full possession of your world before embarking to discover the next one.
That voyage begins soon enough, and you will reminisce about this one.
These are the Good Old Days.
Six in the fifth place means:True to himself to the end, inner light radiates from him and warms others in the glow. Perseverance brings good fortune.
Regrowth in moist area after 1979 Beaver Heart fire; Don Despain; August 27, 1980 |
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| The victory has been won. The power of steadfastness has not been routed. Everything has gone well. All misgivings have been overcome. Success has justified the deed. The light of a superior personality shines forth anew and makes its influence felt among men who have faith in it and rally around it. The new time has arrived, and with it good fortune. And just as the sun shines forth in redoubled beauty after rain, or as a forest grows more freshly green from charred ruins after a fire, so the new era appears all the more glorious by contrast with the misery of the old. |
6 – Six. Sung / Conflict
The high Heavens over a yawning Deep chasm:
An expansive void where nothing can dwell.
Even though he sincerely knows he is right, the Superior Person anticipates opposition and carefully prepares for any incident.
Good fortune if your conflict results in compromise.
Misfortune if your conflict escalates to confrontation.
Seek advice.
Postpone your crossing to the far shore.
SITUATION ANALYSIS:
Conflict is a necessary part of life.
Tension upon the strings of a violin can make majestic music.
The critical mass of two hydrogen atoms trying to occupy the same space fuel the sun that nourishes our solar system.
Most conflicts you face in life are the result of your Path converging with another’s.
Your Path is not his, and one Path is not necessarily more right than the other.
Can you work together to remove the blockage?
Today: “If the being has not realized that giving is giving by itself and its greatness is unlimited, he has not enjoyed the essential thing.” – Yogi Bhajan
“If the being has not realized that giving is giving by itself and its greatness is unlimited, he has not enjoyed the essential thing.”
Yogi Bhajan
Meditation: NM142 19940615 – Bless the Planet Earth and Let the Heavens Descend in You
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Tao Te Ching – Verse 36 – If you want to shrink something, you must first allow it to expand
Tao Te Ching – Verse 36
If you want to shrink something,
you must first allow it to expand.
If you want to get rid of something,
you must first allow it to flourish.
If you want to take something,
you must first allow it to be given.
This is called the subtle perception
of the way things are.
The soft overcomes the hard.
The slow overcomes the fast.
Let your workings remain a mystery.
Just show people the results. Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 36 – If you want to shrink something, you must first allow it to expand”
Today: “Conflicts are inevitable and they come and go. If you consistently stand on your own integrity without seeking favor or prestige, you are rewarded by the cosmos without obligation or strings attached. You only owe it to yourself to stay on your path and keep up.” – From the I Ching
Conflicts are inevitable and they come and go. If you consistently stand on your own integrity without seeking favor or prestige, you are rewarded by the cosmos without obligation or strings attached. You only owe it to yourself to stay on your path and keep up.
Conflict is a necessary part of life.
Most conflicts you face in life are the result of your Path converging with another’s.
Your Path is not his, and one Path is not necessarily more right than the other.
Only that which has been honestly acquired through merit remains a permanent possession. It can happen that such a possession may be contested, but since it is really one’s own, one cannot be robbed of it. Whatever a man possesses through the strength of his own nature cannot be lost. If one enters the service of a superior, one can avoid conflict only by not seeking works for the sake of prestige. It is enough if the work is done: let the honor go to the other.
Your needs are coming into harmony with the requirements of the Cosmos.
Blending brilliantly with the Dance of Life, you are becoming an actual element of Cosmic Law.
Your goals will now be realized because you no longer cut against the Cosmic grain; you are no longer swimming against the flow of the Tao.
You are acquiring an intuitive sense of what can and cannot be, and aligning your efforts accordingly.
Tao Te Ching – Verse 35 – She who is centered in the Tao can go where she wishes, without danger.
Practice this:
Check out the various healing workshops we have conducted over the years.
See Richard Wilhelm's translation for this reading
6 – Six Sung / Conflict
The high Heavens over a yawning Deep chasm:
An expansive void where nothing can dwell.
Even though he sincerely knows he is right, the Superior Person anticipates opposition and carefully prepares for any incident.
Good fortune if your conflict results in compromise.
Misfortune if your conflict escalates to confrontation.
Seek advice.
Postpone your crossing to the far shore.
SITUATION ANALYSIS:
Conflict is a necessary part of life.
Tension upon the strings of a violin can make majestic music.
The critical mass of two hydrogen atoms trying to occupy the same space fuel the sun that nourishes our solar system.
Most conflicts you face in life are the result of your Path converging with another’s.
Your Path is not his, and one Path is not necessarily more right than the other.
Can you work together to remove the blockage?
Six in the third place means:
He stands on his integrity, no matter what ill winds may blast him.
Stand or fall, in the end he will remain exactly who he is.
To nourish oneself on ancient virtue induces perseverance.
Danger. In the end, good fortune comes.
If by chance you are in the service of a king,
Seek not works.
Medieval Tapestry – The King’s Court
This is a warning of the danger that goes with an expansive disposition. Only that which has been honestly acquired through merit remains a permanent possession. It can happen that such a possession may be contested, but since it is really one’s own, one cannot be robbed of it. Whatever a man possesses through the strength of his own nature cannot be lost. If one enters the service of a superior, one can avoid conflict only by not seeking works for the sake of prestige. It is enough if the work is done: let the honor go to the other.
50 – Fifty. Ting / The Caldron
Fire rises hot and bright from the Wood beneath the sacrificial caldron:
The Superior Person positions himself correctly within the flow of Cosmic forces.
Supreme Accomplishment.
SITUATION ANALYSIS:
Your needs are coming into harmony with the requirements of the Cosmos.
Blending brilliantly with the Dance of Life, you are becoming an actual element of Cosmic Law.
Your goals will now be realized because you no longer cut against the Cosmic grain; you are no longer swimming against the flow of the Tao.
You are acquiring an intuitive sense of what can and cannot be, and aligning your efforts accordingly.
Today: “If you rise in the primal hours and always meditate on the primal word, you will always be honored.” Yogi Bhajan
“If you rise in the primal hours and always meditate on the primal word, you will always be honored. You will see liberation happening to you in life. Nanak knew this is the way you can become truth and truth can become you.” Yogi Bhajan
See related posts
Tao Te Ching – Verse 35 – She who is centered in the Tao can go where she wishes, without danger.
Verse 35 – She who is centered in the Tao can go where she wishes, without danger.
She who is centered in the Tao
can go where she wishes, without danger.
She perceives the universal harmony,
even amid great pain,
because she has found peace in her heart.
Music or the smell of good cooking
may make people stop and enjoy.
But words that point to the Tao
seem monotonous and without flavor.
When you look for it, there is nothing to see.
When you listen for it, there is nothing to hear.
When you use it, it is inexhaustible.