Tao Te Ching – Verse 25 – There was something formless and perfect before the universe was born.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 25

There was something formless and perfect
before the universe was born.
It is serene. Empty.
Solitary. Unchanging.
Infinite. Eternally present.
It is the mother of the universe.
For lack of a better name,
I call it the Tao.
It flows through all things,
inside and outside, and returns
to the origin of all things. Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 25 – There was something formless and perfect before the universe was born.”

Today: “You are a source of inexhaustible support and wisdom.  Realize the benefit you give simply with your presence.”- from the I Ching

You are a source of inexhaustible support and wisdom.  Realize the benefit you give simply with your presence.

See Yogi Bhajan’s quote for today

Tao Te Ching – Verse 24 – He who stands on tiptoe doesn’t stand firm

Recap: Healing and Meditation Class at Yoga West with Hari Nam Singh 2018-09-18 – Inner Projection

Today: I Ching – Previous Reading – “Wherever you lack the power to be effective, be open to receiving help that comes to you.”

Today: I Ching – Previous previous reading – “You are at the mercy of the flow of events. Any changes or improvement of your situation must come from change within you.”

See related posts.

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

Six at the top means:

This well is dependable and available to all.
Supreme good fortune.

One draws from the well
Without hindrance.
It is dependable.
Supreme good fortune.

Swimming pool at sea

The well is there for all. No one is forbidden to take water from it. No matter how many come, all find what they need, for the well is dependable. It has a spring and never runs dry. Therefore it is a great blessing to the whole land. The same is true of the really great man, whose inner wealth is inexhaustible; the more that people draw from him, the greater his wealth becomes.

9 – Nine.  Hsiao Ch’u / Gentle Restraint

Winds of change high in the Heavens:
Air currents carry the weather.
Dense clouds blow in from the West, but still no rain.
The Superior Person fine tunes the image he presents to the world.

Small successes.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

No matter what you do, the fruit of your labors never seems to ripen.
Your reward remains just out of reach.
Men have gone mad from such anticipation.
Don’t lose your balance lunging for the brass ring.
While the Fates continue to restrain you, go them one better and display a self-generated restraint and grace.
Look for the humor in the situation.

Today: “Our creativity will be our sensory system” – Yogi Bhajan

“Our creativity will be our sensory system. And through this sensory system we will be overflowing with energy, touching the hearts of people, and feeling their feeling, and filling their emptiness. We will act great and our flow will fulfill the gratefulness in the hearts of others. It will be a new relationship. We will create a new humanity which will have the new sensory system, and thus we will establish the Age of Aquarius. This is the fundamental character you have to learn by heart.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: “Sniff” meditation

Tao Te Ching – Verse 24 – He who stands on tiptoe doesn’t stand firm

Tao Te Ching – Verse 24

He who stands on tiptoe
doesn’t stand firm.
He who rushes ahead
doesn’t go far.
He who tries to shine
dims his own light.
He who defines himself
can’t know who he really is.

Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 24 – He who stands on tiptoe doesn’t stand firm”

Today: “Wherever you lack the power to be effective, be open to receiving help that comes to you.”- from the I Ching

Wherever you lack the power to be effective, be open to receiving help that comes to you.

See Yogi Bhajan’s quote for today

Tao Te Ching – Verse 23 – Express yourself completely, then keep quiet

Meditation: Meditate on Nothing to Find Prosperity – 19930421

Today: I Ching – Previous Reading – “You are at the mercy of the flow of events. Any changes or improvement of your situation must come from change within you.”

Today: I Ching – Previous previous reading – “Use all that you have to for the greatest good. Channel your abundance to where it is needed.”

See related posts.

Read the text from Richard Wilhelm's, Thomas Cleary's, Brian Arnold's and other translations of the I Ching
3 – Three.  Chun / Difficulty at the Beginning

Thunder from the Deep:
The Superior Person carefully weaves order out of confusion.

Supreme Success if you keep to your course.
Carefully consider the first move.
Seek help.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

New ventures always pack along their inherent chaos.
Though this is an annoyance at best, and can even imperil or downright doom an endeavor, it is also the friction needed to polish your project to jewel brilliance.
Learn from these early obstacles.

Six in the fourth place means:

Her horses break away.
Turning back, she must learn to trust, and accept the escort of her spurned highwayman.
What seemed at first misfortune will lead to marriage.

Horse and wagon part.
Strive for union.
To go brings good fortune.
Everything acts to further.

 

 

‘The Hay Wain’ – John Constable, 1821, The National Gallery, London

We are in a situation in which it is our duty to act, but we lack sufficient power. However, an opportunity to make connections offers itself. It must be seized. Neither false pride nor false reserve should deter us. Bringing oneself to take the first step, even when it involves a certain degree of self-abnegation, is a sign of inner clarity. To accept help in a difficult situation is not a disgrace. If the right helper is found, all goes well.
55 – Fifty-Five.  Fêng / Abundance

Thunder and Lightning from the dark heart of the storm:
The Superior Person judges fairly, so that consequences are just.

The leader reaches his peak and doesn’t lament the descent before him.
Be like the noonday sun at its zenith.
This is success.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

You are in a position of authority in this situation.
Archetypally, you are the New King, returned from your quest to claim your throne.
However, you are enlightened enough to realize that you are merely a part of a cycle, and that you must someday yield your throne to the new kid in town, the younger, faster gunslinger, the young turk, the next returning hero, the next New King.
Fretting about the inevitable descent is senseless.
For now you must play your role to the hilt and use this gift of power to govern your world as best you can.
You are the best person for the job.
That’s why you were chosen.
Give it your personal best.

Today: “Start thinking right and you will become right.” Yogi Bhajan

“Start thinking right and you will become right. And that thinking about how much right I am or how much wrong decides how near or far you are from God. If you feel you are wrong, you also feel you are away from God. If you feel right, then you also feel very near to God. There is no distance between you and God; it is your thinking that puts you at a distance.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: LA041-780525- Control the Mind

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What else Yogi Bhajan said

Tao Te Ching – Verse 23 – Express yourself completely, then keep quiet

Tao Te Ching – Verse 23

Express yourself completely,
then keep quiet.
Be like the forces of nature:
when it blows, there is only wind;
when it rains, there is only rain;
when the clouds pass, the sun shines through.

Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 23 – Express yourself completely, then keep quiet”

Today: “You are at the mercy of the flow of events.  Any changes or improvement of your situation must come from change within you.”- from the I Ching

You are at the mercy of the flow of events.  Any changes or improvement of your situation must come from change within you.

See Yogi Bhajan’s quote for today

Tao Te Ching – Verse 22 – If you want to become whole, let yourself be partial. If you want to become straight, let yourself be crooked.

Meditation: LA057 780928 Change your frequency

Today: I Ching – Previous Reading – “Broaden your view. Include everything. Feel everything from the inside, merging with the outside.”

Today: I Ching – Previous previous reading – “Enjoy what has been accomplished by many small measures and its ensuing peace. Any further action may disrupt it.”

See related posts.

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

yin
yang above: Tui / The Joyous, Lake
yang
yin
yang below: K’an / The Abysmal, Water
yin

 

The lake is above, water below; the lake is empty, dried up.1
Exhaustion is expressed in yet another way: at the top, a dark line is holding down two light lines; below, a light line is hemmed in between two dark ones. The upper trigram belongs to the principle of darkness, the lower to the principle of light. Thus everywhere superior men are oppressed and held in restraint by inferior men.THE JUDGEMENT

OPPRESSION. Success. Perseverance.
The great man brings about good fortune.
No blame.
When one has something to say,
It is not believed.

Times of adversity are the reverse of times of success, but they can lead to success if they befall the right man. When a strong man meets with adversity, he remains cheerful despite all danger, and this cheerfulness is the source of later successes; it is that stability which is stronger than fate. He who lets his spirit be broken by exhaustion certainly has no success. But if adversity only bends a man, it creates in him a power to react that is bound in time to manifest itself. No inferior man is capable of this. Only the great man brings about good fortune and remains blameless. It is true that for the time being outward influence is denied him, because his words have no effect. Therefore in times of adversity it is important to be strong within and sparing of words.

Dry lake

THE IMAGE

There is no water in the lake:
The image of EXHAUSTION.
Thus the superior man stakes his life
On following his will.

When the water has flowed out below, the lake must dry up and become exhausted. That is fate. This symbolises an adverse fate in human life. In such times there is nothing a man can do but acquiesce in his fate and remain true to himself. This concerns the deepest stratum of his being, for this alone is superior to all external fate.


1. [Literally, “exhausted”.]

Today: “You can never always be happy and you can never always be unhappy.” – Yogi Bhajan

“You can never always be happy and you can never always be unhappy. You must see and understand the fluctuating pros and cons, and then live through the diagonal on the line of the soul and reality between them. A clear mind helps you walk that diagonal path and be consciously you.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: KWTC7-19910705 – Self Hypnotic Trance – Self Bliss

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Tao Te Ching – Verse 22 – If you want to become whole, let yourself be partial. If you want to become straight, let yourself be crooked.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 22

If you want to become whole,
let yourself be partial.
If you want to become straight,
let yourself be crooked.
If you want to become full,
let yourself be empty.
If you want to be reborn,
let yourself die.
If you want to be given everything,
give everything up.

Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 22 – If you want to become whole, let yourself be partial. If you want to become straight, let yourself be crooked.”

Today: “Use all that you have to for the greatest good.  Channel your abundance to where it is needed.”- from the I Ching

Use all that you have to for the greatest good.  Channel your abundance to where it is needed.

See Yogi Bhajan’s quote for today

Tao Te Ching – Verse 21 – The Master keeps her mind always at one with the Tao; that is what gives her her radiance.

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

Today: I Ching – Previous Reading – “Broaden your view. Include everything. Feel everything from the inside, merging with the outside.”

Today: I Ching – Previous previous reading – “Enjoy what has been accomplished by many small measures and its ensuing peace. Any further action may disrupt it.”

See related posts.

Read the text from Richard Wilhelm's, Thomas Cleary's, Brian Arnold's and other translations of the I Ching
15 – Fifteen.  Ch’ien / Modesty

The Mountain does not overshadow the Plain surrounding it:
Such modest consideration in a Superior Person creates a channel through which excess flows to the needy.

Success if you carry things through.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

The Cosmos is moving toward equilibrium.
Extremes are being tempered, excess is beginning to shift toward the empty.
You can use these moderating influences to strike a balance in the world around you.
Remember, though, that this Leveling will not come about through an arrogant confiscation of excess, but through subtler persuasions.
Modesty and moderation are the keys.

yin
yin above: K’un / The Receptive, Earth
yin
yang
yin below: Kên / Keeping Still, Mountain
yin

 

This hexagram is made up of the trigrams Kên, Keeping Still, mountain, and K’un. The mountain is the youngest son of the Creative (1), the representative of heaven and earth. It dispenses the blessings of heaven, the clouds and rain that gather round its summit, and thereafter shines forth radiant with heavenly light. This shows what modesty is and how it functions in great and strong men. K’un, the earth, stands above. Lowliness is a quality of the earth: this is the very reason why it appears in this hexagram as exalted, by being placed above the mountain. This shows how modesty functions in lowly, simple people: they are lifted up by it.

THE JUDGEMENT

MODESTY creates success.
The superior man carries things through.

It is the law of heaven to make fullness empty and to make full what is modest; when the sun is at its zenith, it must, according to the law of heaven, turn toward its setting, and at its nadir it rises toward a new dawn. In obedience to the same law, the moon when it is full begins to wane, and when empty of light it waxes again. This heavenly law works itself out in the fates of men also. It is the law of earth to alter the full and to contribute to the modest. High mountains are worn down by the waters, and the valleys are filled up. It is the law of fate to undermine what is full and to prosper the modest. And men also hate fullness and love the modest.
The destinies of men are subject to immutable laws that must fulfil themselves. But man has it in his power to shape his fate, according as his behavior exposes him to the influence of benevolent or of destructive forces. When a man holds a high position and is nevertheless modest, he shines with the light of wisdom; if he is in a lowly position and is modest, he cannot be passed by. Thus the superior man can carry out his work to the end without boasting of what he has achieved.

 

THE IMAGE

Within the earth, a mountain:
The image of MODESTY.
Thus the superior man reduces that which is too much,
And augments that which is too little.
He weighs things and makes them equal.

The wealth of the earth in which a mountain is hidden is not visible to the eye, because the depths are offset by the height of the mountain. Thus high and low complement each other and the result is the plain. Here an effect that it took a long time to achieve, but that in the end seems easy of accomplishment and self-evident, is used as the image of modesty. The superior man does the same thing when he establishes order in the world; he equalises the extremes that are the source of social discontent and thereby creates just and equable conditions.1 2


1. This hexagram offers a number of parallels to the teachings of the Old and the New Testament, e.g., “And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted” [Matt. 23:12]; “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain” [Isa. 40: 4]; “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble” [Jas. 4: 6]. The concept of the Last Judgment in the Parsee religion shows similar features. The Greek notion of the jealousy of the gods might be mentioned in connection with the third of the biblical passages here cited.

2. There are not many hexagrams in the Book of Changes in which all the lines have an exclusive favorable meaning, as in the hexagram of MODESTY. This shows how great a value Chinese wisdom places on this virtue.

Today: “ the mind is given to you, you are not given to the mind ” – Yogi Bhajan

“Just remember: the mind is given to you, you are not given to the mind.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: “Blow Your Mind”

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Tao Te Ching – Verse 21 – The Master keeps her mind always at one with the Tao; that is what gives her her radiance.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 21

The Master keeps her mind
always at one with the Tao;
that is what gives her her radiance.

The Tao is ungraspable.
How can her mind be at one with it?
Because she doesn’t cling to ideas. Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 21 – The Master keeps her mind always at one with the Tao; that is what gives her her radiance.”

Today: “Broaden your view. Include everything.  Feel everything from the inside, merging with the outside.”- from the I Ching

Broaden your view. Include everything.  Feel everything from the inside, merging with the outside.

See Yogi Bhajan’s quote for today

Tao Te Ching – Verse 20 – Stop thinking, and end your problems.

Meditation: Know the Psyche of the Other

Today: I Ching – Previous Reading – “Enjoy what has been accomplished by many small measures and its ensuing peace. Any further action may disrupt it.”

Today: I Ching – Previous previous reading – “If you live simply without social ambition and do your work to your satisfaction, you will be free to live as you will and unencumbered by social pressures.”

See related posts.

Read the text from Richard Wilhelm's, Thomas Cleary's, Brian Arnold's and other translations of the I Ching
20 – Twenty.  Kuan / Contemplation

The gentle Wind roams the Earth:
The Superior Person expands his sphere of influence as he expands his awareness.
Deeply devoted to his pursuit of clarity and wisdom, he is unconscious of the inspiring, positive example he is setting for others to emulate.

You have cleansed yourself; now stand ready to make your humble, devout offering.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

The situation marks a rising to new heights.
As you climb for a better view of the panorama, you make yourself more conspicuous to those below.
This hexagram is also known as the Watchtower, because the shape formed by its lines resembles the ancient guardposts manned by Chinese soldiers.
These towers were placed on mountainsides to give a better vantage point.
To those below, the watchtowers served as landmarks to help them find their way.
The quality of your search for clarity in this situation serves as such a guidepost for others along the Way.

Six in the second place means:

Peeking from behind a screen may ensure your privacy, but it offers you only a partial view.

Contemplation through the crack of the door.
Furthering for the perseverance of a woman.

Curtains

Through the crack of the door one has a limited outlook; one looks outward from within. Contemplation is subjectively limited. One tends to relate everything to oneself and cannot put oneself in another’s place and understand his motives. This is appropriate for a good housewife. It is not necessary for her to be conversant with the affairs of the world. But for a man who must take active part in public life, such a narrow, egotistic way of contemplating things is of course harmful.

59 – Fifty-Nine.  Huan / Dissolution

Wind carries the Mists aloft:
Sage rulers dedicated their lives to serving a Higher Power and built temples that still endure.

The King approaches his temple.
Success if you stay on course.
You may cross to the far shore.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

Walls meant to protect have instead separated and isolated.
Your defenses have kept you apart from those whom you most need to touch.
Whatever the reason for discord between you, it is time to lay down your arms.
Dispel the inflexible demands and fears of the Mind so that you may reunite in the Heart.
If you have begrudged, forgive.
If you have torn down, repair.
If you have injured, heal.
If you have judged, pardon.
If you have grasped, let go.

Today: “You all want to win the entire world. The world is meant to be won by you. ” – Yogi Bhajan

“You all want to win the entire world. The world is meant to be won by you. The cosmos is set up so that it is possible for an individual’s magnetic field and metal projection to imprint and prevail on the universal magnetic field. When you know this as an experience, integrity and innocence replace your intrigues.” Yogi Bhajan

Meditation: NM132-940504-Pratyahar

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Tao Te Ching – Verse 20 – Stop thinking, and end your problems.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 20

Stop thinking, and end your problems.
What difference between yes and no?
What difference between success and failure?
Must you value what others value,
avoid what others avoid?
How ridiculous!
Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 20 – Stop thinking, and end your problems.”