“Is yoga a religion? It is and it is not. In religion you have to believe something and in yoga you have to experience what you want to believe.” Yogi Bhajan
Meditation: KYB117-19860822 – Achieve an Experience of God
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Tag: Tao
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.”
“Meeting with danger, keep with those you are committed to protect. Together, you will prevail.” – Today’s Reading
Meeting with danger, keep with those you are committed to protect. Together, you will prevail.
Tao Te Ching – Verse 71 – Not-knowing is true knowledge. Presuming to know is a disease.
Try these meditations:
Kriya: Awakening Yourself to Your Ten Bodies
See Meditation: Breath of Fire
See Richard Wilhelm's translation for this reading
39 – Thirty-Nine. Chien / Obstacle
Ominous roiling in the Crater Lake atop the Volcano:
When meeting an impasse, the Superior Person turns his gaze within, and views the obstacle from a new perspective.
Offer your opponent nothing to resist.
Let a sage guide you in this.
Good fortune lies along this course.
SITUATION ANALYSIS:
The Obstacle lies in obstinance.
An insistence on only one way of proceeding has brought things to an impasse.
You may either continue banging your head with irresistible force against this immovable object, or you might step back and survey this situation from a fresh perspective.
Which is immobile here — the obstruction or your attitude?
Nine in the third place means:
Advance will meet with breathtaking obstacles.
Remaining will meet with criticism from family and friends.
Going leads to obstructions;
Hence he comes back.
Life in old China
While the preceding line shows the official compelled by duty to follow the way of danger, this line shows the man who must act as father of a family or as head of his kin. If he were to plunge recklessly into danger, it would be a useless act, because those entrusted to his care cannot get along by themselves. But if he withdraws and turns back to his own, they welcome him with great joy.
8 – Eight. Pi / Bonding
Deep Waters on the face of the Earth:
Surface waters flow together.
The Superior Person recognizes the situation calls for joining together.
Thus he cultivates friendly relations with all.
Good fortune is possible.
Cast the coins again to discover if you have the qualities needed to lead such a group.
Then there will be no error.
Those uncertain will gradually join.
Those who join too late will meet with misfortune.
SITUAT ION ANALYSIS:
This is a time of connection with another or others — not just an alliance, but a melding of parts into a new whole.
Such a connection may be too close, too intense for some.
Consult the oracle again to see if you have the qualities needed to strengthen and withstand such an intense synthesis.
Today: “Teaching is not a verbalization or a communication; teaching is also not a direction; teaching is to be.” – Yogi Bhajan
“Teaching is not a verbalization or a communication; teaching is also not a direction; teaching is to be.” Yogi Bhajan
Meditation: NM345- Strengthen and enhance the radiant body
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Tao Te Ching – Verse 71 – Not-knowing is true knowledge. Presuming to know is a disease.
Tao Te Ching – Verse 71
Not-knowing is true knowledge.
Presuming to know is a disease.
First realize that you are sick;
then you can move toward health.
The Master is her own physician.
She has healed herself of all knowing.
Thus she is truly whole.
Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 71 – Not-knowing is true knowledge. Presuming to know is a disease.”
“Modest yet firm resistance against an oppressor will end the aggression and win concessions. Sometimes you have to show your strength.” – Today’s Reading
Modest yet firm resistance against an oppressor will end the aggression and win concessions. Sometimes you have to show your strength.
Modesty is not to be confused with weak good nature that lets things take their own course. When a man holds a responsible position, he must at times resort to energetic measures. In doing so he must not try to make an impression by boasting of his superiority but must make certain of the people around him. The measures taken should be purely objective and in no way personally offensive. Thus modesty manifests itself even in severity.
Tao Te Ching – Verse 70 – My teachings are easy to understand and easy to put into practice.
Today: “What is a human being? A magnetic field, that’s all he is. ” – Yogi Bhajan
Try these meditations:
Kriya: Awakening Yourself to Your Ten Bodies
See Meditation: Breath of Fire
Previous reading: “Even in this difficult time, you can enjoy blessings and enrichment.”
See Richard Wilhelm's translation for this reading
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.
ix in the fifth place means:
Modest yet firm resistance against an oppressor will end the aggression and win concessions.
No boasting of wealth before one’s neighbor.
It is favorable to attack with force.
Nothing that would not further.
‘1951 Buick Roadmaster’ Painting by Ron Patterson
Modesty is not to be confused with weak good nature that lets things take their own course. When a man holds a responsible position, he must at times resort to energetic measures. In doing so he must not try to make an impression by boasting of his superiority but must make certain of the people around him. The measures taken should be purely objective and in no way personally offensive. Thus modesty manifests itself even in severity.
Buick taillight
Today: “What is a human being? A magnetic field, that’s all he is. ” – Yogi Bhajan
“What is a human being? A magnetic field, that’s all he is. What kind of magnetic field is it? It vibrates on its own nucleus and in proportion with its existence with the entire universe. And there are many magnetic fields, millions of them. Without your talking with somebody, you communicate.” Yogi Bhajan
Meditation: LA847-19950816-Unity-Your Magnetic Field of the Total Self Will Become One
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Tao Te Ching – Verse 70 – My teachings are easy to understand and easy to put into practice.
Tao Te Ching – Verse 70
My teachings are easy to understand
and easy to put into practice.
Yet your intellect will never grasp them,
and if you try to practice them, you’ll fail.
My teachings are older than the world.
How can you grasp their meaning?
If you want to know me,
look inside your heart. Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 70 – My teachings are easy to understand and easy to put into practice.”
“Even in this difficult time, you can enjoy blessings and enrichment.” – Today’s Reading
Even in this difficult time, you can enjoy blessings and enrichment.
A time of blessing and enrichment has such powerful effects that even events ordinarily unfortunate must turn out to the advantage of those affected by them. These persons become free of error, and by acting in harmony with truth they gain such inner authority that they exert influence as if sanctioned by letter and seal.
Try these meditations:
Meditation: NM142 19940615 – Bless the Planet Earth and Let the Heavens Descend in You
Meditation: NM0406 – Know the Best of You – Share the Best with Others
Kriya: Awakening Yourself to Your Ten Bodies
See Meditation: Breath of Fire
Previous reading: “Quiet your heart. Do not be moved by activity around you. Be perfectly still.”
See Richard Wilhelm's translation for this reading
42 – Forty-Two. I / Expansion
Whirlwinds and Thunder:
When the Superior Person encounters saintly behavior, he adopts it; when he encounters a fault within, he transforms it.
Progress in every endeavor.
You may cross to the far shore.
SITUATION ANALYSIS:
Get ready to ride a tide of accelerated growth toward self-actualization.
A joyful awareness of the best within you, coupled with an acceptance of your Shadow, will provide a greater repertoire, a much bolder vision, and new depth and clarity that will compel you to expand your horizons.
Six in the third place means:You are enriched by another’s misfortune. One is enriched through unfortunate events.
Single letter wax seal |
| A time of blessing and enrichment has such powerful effects that even events ordinarily unfortunate must turn out to the advantage of those affected by them. These persons become free of error, and by acting in harmony with truth they gain such inner authority that they exert influence as if sanctioned by letter and seal. |
Today: “It is easy to be God because you have all the power. But it is more difficult to be a guru because you have no power of a god.” – Yogi Bhajan
“It is easy to be God because you have all the power. But it is more difficult to be a guru because you have no power of a god. When you direct a person in the right consciousness, it becomes the direct clash of the ego with another person.“ Yogi Bhajan
Meditation: NM0390-20010320 – Provoke Your Higher Self
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Tao Te Ching – Verse 69 – Rather than make the first move it is better to wait and see.
Tao Te Ching – Verse 69
The generals have a saying:
“Rather than make the first move
it is better to wait and see.
Rather than advance an inch
it is better to retreat a yard.”
This is called
going forward without advancing,
pushing back without using weapons. Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 69 – Rather than make the first move it is better to wait and see.”
“Quiet your heart. Do not be moved by activity around you. Be perfectly still. – Today’s Reading
Quiet your heart. Do not be moved by activity around you. Be perfectly still.
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.
Try these meditations:
Meditation: Shuniya Meditations as Taught by Yogi Bhajan, Yoga West, 1994
Kriya: Awakening Yourself to Your Ten Bodies
See Meditation: Breath of Fire
Share The Magical Story of Mushkil Gusha over a meal with friends today.
See Richard Wilhelm's translation for this reading
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.
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above: Kên / Keeping Still, Mountain | |
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below: Kên / Keeping Still, Mountain | |
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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 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. |
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Still Life with Chinese Lantern flowers. |
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THE IMAGE Mountains standing close together:
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. |
Today: “When you fold hands, you neutralize yourself energywise, and when you bow, your whole blood circulation goes toward the head.” – Yogi Bhajan
“When you fold hands, you neutralize yourself energywise, and when you bow, your whole blood circulation goes toward the head. When the magnetic field is neutral and the circulation goes to the head, the brain functions very well, even the dullest brain starts, becomes bright and active; that’s why in India, it was a custom that when you went to meet your great master or guru or beloved yogi, it was customary to bow to him and it was customary until he tapped on your back that you did not lift your head. What the great gurus used to do was when somebody came and bowed to them, they would take a friend and go on a long walk, and come back after six hours. If the person was still there, they would come and tap his back. They would say, “How are you?” He would say, “I am enlightened.” Naturally, six hours, six hours in that position could enlighten a dead person.” Yogi Bhajan
Meditation: NM0337-Bujung Kriya – For Wisdom and Understanding
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Tao Te Ching – Verse 68 – The best athlete wants his opponent at his best. The best general enters the mind of his enemy. The best businessman serves the communal good. The best leader follows the will of the people.
Tao Te Ching – Verse 68
The best athlete
wants his opponent at his best.
The best general
enters the mind of his enemy.
The best businessman
serves the communal good.
The best leader
follows the will of the people. Continue reading “Tao Te Ching – Verse 68 – The best athlete wants his opponent at his best. The best general enters the mind of his enemy. The best businessman serves the communal good. The best leader follows the will of the people.”
“You are being liberated. Danger has been averted, differences are resolved. If there remains anything else to do, resolve it quickly.” – Today’s Reading
You are being liberated. Danger has been averted, differences are resolved. If there remains anything else to do, resolve it quickly.
Here the movement goes out of the sphere of danger. The obstacle has been removed, the difficulties are being resolved. Deliverance is not yet achieved; it is just in its beginning…
Tao Te Ching – Verse 66 – If you want to govern the people, you must place yourself below them.
Try these meditations:
Meditation: NM360-20000913 – Making a Mold – White Hole Mudra
Kriya: Awakening Yourself to Your Ten Bodies
See Meditation: Breath of Fire
See Richard Wilhelm's translation for this reading
40 – Forty. Hsieh / Liberation
A Thunderous Cloudburst shatters the oppressive humidity:
The Superior Person knows the release in forgiveness, pardoning the faults of others and dealing gently with those who sin against him.
It pays to accept things as they are for now.
If there is nothing else to be gained, a return brings good fortune.
If there is something yet to be gained, act on it at once.
SITUATION ANALYSIS:
The relief you experience here is not your own personal pardon, but the release of others from your rigid expectations.
Like a hot air balloon, you will rise to new heights as you cast the heavy sandbags of resentments and restrictions away from you.
Feel the lightness of being that results from forgiving others and accepting them as they are.
Free yourself of the endless vigil of policing the behavior of others.
See them for who they are, not what they can or can’t do for you.
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above: Chên / The Arousing, Thunder | |
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below: K’an / The Abysmal, Water | |
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| Here the movement goes out of the sphere of danger. The obstacle has been removed, the difficulties are being resolved. Deliverance is not yet achieved; it is just in its beginning, and the hexagram represents its various stages.
THE JUDGEMENT DELIVERANCE. The south-west furthers. This refers to a time in which tensions and complications begin to be eased. At such times we ought to make our way back to ordinary conditions as soon as possible; this is the meaning of “the south-west.” These periods of sudden change have great importance. Just as rain relieves atmospheric tension, making all the buds burst open, so a time of deliverance from burdensome pressure has a liberating and stimulating effect on life. One thing is important, however: in such times we must not overdo our triumph. The point is not to push on farther than is necessary. Returning to the regular order of life as soon as deliverance is achieved brings good fortune. If there are any residual matters that ought to be attended to, it should be done as quickly as possible, so that a clean sweep is made and no retardations occur. |
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THE IMAGE Thunder and rain set in: |
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| A thunderstorm has the effect of clearing the air; the superior man produces a similar effect when dealing with mistakes and sins of men that induce a condition of tension. Through clarity he brings deliverance. However, when failings come to light, he does not dwell on them; he simply passes over mistakes, the unintentional transgressions, just as thunder dies away. He forgives misdeeds, the intentional transgressions, just as water washes everything clean. |
Today: “If you can sacrifice your limited ego, you will always get in return unlimited spirit.” – Yogi Bhajan
“If you can sacrifice your limited ego, you will always get in return unlimited spirit.” Yogi Bhajan
Meditation: LA792 931214 – Experience and Ecstasy
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