Today: “You are true now, you were true then, and you shall ever be true” – Yogi Bhajan

SSSYWa“You are true now, you were true then, and you shall ever be true – that is all you have to know, and you will be free.” Yogi Bhajan

Sat Nam!
Ram Anand

 

Meditation:  NM0426 – 20011117 – Self Transformation

Today: “In the social order, divisions  are beginning to dissolve and tensions are easing.” – from the I Ching

In the social order, divisions  are beginning to dissolve and tensions are easing.  It took an existential threat to everyone to bring about significant cooperation

Meditation: Release obstacles in your path

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Today: I Ching – Previous Readings

Personal I Ching readings

Read the text from Richard Wilhelm's, Thomas Cleary's, Brian Arnold's and other translations of the I Ching
13 – Thirteen  T’ung Jên / Social Mechanism

Heaven reflects the Flame of clarity:
The Superior Person analyzes the various levels and working parts of the social structure, and uses them to advantage.

Success if you keep to your course.
You may cross to the far shore.  

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

This is a matter of Positioning — not only yourself, but others as well.
There are niches to be filled, potentials to be realized, right livelihoods to be found.
You are not building a new organization, but shoring up an existing infrastructure.
It’s worth the effort, because it will provide union, community, and an ironclad alliance.

Nine in the fourth place means:

He climbs up on his wall; he cannot attack.
Good fortune.

Here the reconciliation that follows quarrel moves nearer. It is true that there are still dividing walls on which we stand confronting one another. But the difficulties are too great. We get into straits, and this brings us to our senses. We cannot fight, and therein lies our good fortune.

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?


Today: “You belong to only one thing, and that is Truth” – Yogi Bhajan

SSSYWa“You belong to only one thing, and that is Truth; and you have got to be delivered to only one thing, and that is Truth.” Yogi Bhajan

Sat Nam!
Ram Anand

 

Meditation: NM190-19951031-Connect Yourself to the Reality

Today: “The barbarians are at the gate.  Be still and do everything you can to protect yourself from them.” – from the I Ching

The barbarians are at the gate.  Be still and do everything you can to protect yourself from them.  These are people who would harm you in insidious ways.  Contract your sphere of engagement and lie low.
Caution:  “The power of the inferior people is growing. The danger draws close to one’s person; already there are clear indications, and rest is disturbed. Moreover, in this dangerous situation one is as yet without help or friendly advances from above or below. Extreme caution is necessary in this isolation. One must adjust to the time and promptly avoid the danger. Stubborn perseverance in maintaining one’s standpoint would lead to downfall.”

Meditation: LA950 A00214 20000214 Develop Self-Reliance

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Today: I Ching – Previous Readings

Personal I Ching readings

Read the text from Richard Wilhelm's, Thomas Cleary's, Brian Arnold's and other translations of the I Ching
23 – Twenty-Three  Po / Splitting Apart

The weight of the Mountain presses down upon a weak foundation of Earth:
The Superior Person will use this time of oppression to attend to the needs of those less fortunate.

Any action would be ill-timed.
Stand fast.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

This is a situation easily mistaken for Stagnation (Hexagram 12) or Revolution (Hexagram 49).
It just depends on which side you’re on.
During a time of Stagnation, human worms invade to feed on the decay.
During a time of Revolution, oppression is being overthrown.
But in this situation, oppressors are violently seizing power.
Pay special heed when you receive this hexagram, because the oracle is often warning you of a situation of which you are totally unaware.
You are about to be blindsided.

Six in the second place means:

The bed is split at the edge.
Those who persevere are destroyed.
Misfortune.

The power of the inferior people is growing. The danger draws close to one’s person; already there are clear indications, and rest is disturbed. Moreover, in this dangerous situation one is as yet without help or friendly advances from above or below. Extreme caution is necessary in this isolation. One must adjust to the time and promptly avoid the danger. Stubborn perseverance in maintaining one’s standpoint would lead to downfall.

41 – Forty-one  Sun / Decrease

The stoic Mountain drains its excess waters to the Lake below:
The Superior Person curbs his anger and sheds his desires.

To be frugal and content is to possess immeasurable wealth within.
Nothing of value could be refused such a person.
Make a portion of each meal a share of your offering.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

This is an occasion for downsizing to fighting trim.
Simplicity and economy are strong defenses against the slings and arrows of Outrageous Fortune.
Whether this is a time of want or a time of plenty, it is an auspicious time to shed a dependency.


Today: “When you know that all is light, then you are enlightened” – Yogi Bhajan

SSSYWa“When you know that all is light, then you are enlightened. What is enlightened? When you recognize the light. Where? Within you.” Yogi Bhajan

Sat Nam!
Ram Anand

Meditation: KWTC-980710 – Life Is Lift To Infinity

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Today: “As obstacles pile up, friends understand how everyone is affected and will come to help. ” – from the I Ching

As obstacles pile up, friends understand how everyone is affected and will come to help.

see Yogi Bhajan’s quote for the day

Meditation: NM0420-20011015 – The Power of Memories – Remember the Saint Within

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Today: I Ching – Previous Readings

Personal I Ching readings

Read the text from Richard Wilhelm's, Thomas Cleary's, Brian Arnold's and other translations of the I Ching
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 fifth place means:

In the midst of the greatest obstructions,
Friends come.

Here we see a man who is called to help in an emergency. He should not seek to evade the obstructions, no matter how dangerously they pile up before him. But because he is really called to the task, the power of his spirit is strong enough to attract helpers whom he can effectively organise, so that through the well-directed co-operation of all participants the obstruction is overcome.

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.


Today: “There is a law of the golden chain” – Yogi Bhajan

SSSYWa“There is a law of the golden chain. Whatever you shall do to me, however you shall treat me as a teacher, so others will treat you. If you shall do it to me, it shall be done to thee. When you say, I can do it or I cannot do it, you are fooling yourself. Instead you should say, as is the Will of the Divine, it is being tried through me. If I am successful it is his grace; if not, it is his Will. How much a man understands God is measured by this realization.” Yogi Bhajan

Sat Nam!
Ram Anand

Meditation: LA589-890412-GoldenGrain

See Meditation: LA589-890412-GoldenGrain

Today: “Do not be distracted by the drama and chaos around you.  Focus on your inner truth, maintain your inner calm.” – from the I Ching

Do not be distracted by the drama and chaos around you.  Focus on your inner truth, maintain your inner calm.

see Yogi Bhajan’s quote for the day

Meditation: NM0420-20011015 – The Power of Memories – Remember the Saint Within

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Today: I Ching – Previous Readings

Personal I Ching readings

Read the text from Richard Wilhelm's, Thomas Cleary's, Brian Arnold's and other translations of the I Ching
51 – Fifty-One  Chên / Thunder

Thunder echoes upon Thunder, commanding reverence for its father Heaven:
In awe of Heaven’s majestic power, the Superior Person looks within and sets his life in order.
Thunder mingles with startled screams of terror for a hundred miles around.
As the people nervously laugh at their own fright, the devout presents the sacrificial chalice with nary a drop of wine spilt.
Deliverance

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

A thunderbolt of Cosmic judgement crashes to earth.
For the common person, it’s just a momentary fright soon forgotten, its warning unfathomed and unheeded.
But to one who understands its significance, this thunder is a signal to repent.
Centering the Self, seeking balance, the enlightened person will respect and align himself with this Higher Power, while his fellows remain subject to the whims of every passing storm.

The hexagram Chên represents the eldest son, who seizes rule with energy and power. A yang line develops below two yin lines and presses upward forcibly. This movement is so violent that it arouses terror. It is symbolised by thunder, which bursts forth from the earth and by its shock causes fear and trembling.

THE JUDGEMENT

SHOCK brings success.
Shock comes – oh, oh!
Laughing words – ha, ha!
The shock terrifies for a hundred miles,
And he does not let fall the sacrificial spoon and chalice.1

The shock that comes from the manifestation of God within the depths of the earth makes man afraid, but this fear of God is good, for joy and merriment can follow upon it.
When a man has learned within his heart what fear and trembling mean, he is safeguarded against any terror produced by outside influences. Let the thunder roll and spread terror a hundred miles around: he remains so composed and reverent in spirit that the sacrificial rite is not interrupted. This is the spirit that must animate leaders and rulers of men – a profound inner seriousness from which all terrors glance off harmlessly.

THE IMAGE

Thunder repeated: the image of SHOCK.
Thus in fear and trembling
The superior man sets his life in order
And examines himself.

The shock of continuing thunder brings fear and trembling. The superior man is always filled with reverence at the manifestation of God; he sets his life in order and searches his heart, lest it harbour any secret opposition to the will of God. Thus reverence is the foundation of true culture.


1. The priest and the people together recall the mystery of the death and resurrection of Christ, which is made present in all its saving power, while they look forward to the second coming of Christ, for which this mystery prepares them.
The spoon and chalice are lifted up and placed on the left side of the Thronos (Altar).
The priest lifts them over head in his right hand quickly, signifying the second coming of the Lord on the last day, which will be like a flash of lightning. “For just as lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be”
(Matthew 24:27).

 


Today: “Whatever challenge presents itself, be yourself.  The self cannot be taken from you.” – from the I Ching

Whatever challenge presents itself, be yourself.  The self cannot be taken from you.  Do not be distracted by promises from external sources.

Meditation: LA950 A00214 20000214 Develop Self-Reliance

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Today: I Ching – Previous Readings

Personal I Ching readings

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

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.

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.

44 – Forty-Four  Kou / Compulsion

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.

 


Today: “Angel is a transparent guidance ” – Yogi Bhajan

SSSYWa“Angel is a transparent guidance manufactured out of compassion in God-consciousness.” Yogi Bhajan

Sat Nam!
Ram Anand

 

Meditation: Listening to Angelic Whispers – from the Mind

Today: “Use your talents and skills for the good of all with few words and a good example.” – from the I Ching

Use your talents and skills for the good of all with few words and a good example.  There is no need to take credit for results.  Let what you set in motion play out.

Meditation: NM0365-20001024-On Communication II

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Thoughts on Keynsian Economics

Today: I Ching – Previous Readings

Personal I Ching readings

Read the text from Richard Wilhelm's, Thomas Cleary's, Brian Arnold's and other translations of the I Ching
57 – Fifty-Seven  Sun / The Penetrating Wind

Wind follows upon wind, wandering the earth, penetrating gently but persistently:
The Superior Person expands his influence by reaffirming his decisions and carrying out his promises.

Small, persistent, focused effort brings success.
Seek advice from someone you respect.  

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

Gentle persuasion is the key in this instance.
Though the words are soft, their speaker must be firm, calm and confident.
Gentle words are worthless if spoken with trepidation.
Wordless influence by example is also effective in this situation.
All persuasion should be almost unfelt, yet consistent and persistent.
Ask for feedback from someone you know to be an effective persuader.

Six in the fourth place means:

Remorse vanishes.
During the hunt
Three kinds of game are caught.

When a responsible position and accumulated experience lead one to combine innate modesty with energetic action, great success is assured. The three kinds of animals referred to served for offerings to the gods, for feasting guests, and for everyday consumption. When the catch answered all three purposes, the hunt was considered especially successful.

33 – Thirty-Three  Tun / Retreat

The tranquil Mountain towers overhead, yet remains this side of Heaven:
The Superior Person avoids the petty and superficial by keeping shallow men at a distance, not in anger but with dignity.

Such a retreat sweeps the path clear to Success.
Occupy yourself with minute detail.  

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

Retreat in this instance is not a desperate flight in disarray, but a conscious choice to distance yourself from forces that would rob you of your peace.
It is not a surrender, but a regrouping.
Retreat from this conflict is actually an advance toward your own center.
You move toward balance, and thus a much stronger position.

 


 


Today: “Those who continue to live in the past always throw their future into the gutter” – Yogi Bhajan

SSSYWa“Those who continue to live in the past always throw their future into the gutter. Those who live to their word are honored in the court of the world, and those who do not are not honored.” Yogi Bhajan

Sat Nam!
Ram Anand

Meditation

Today: “Be grateful for God’s grace.” – from the I Ching

Be grateful for God’s grace.  Remember when you see someone less fortunate:  “There, but for the grace of God, go I”.

Musings on Grace and Gratitude

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Today: I Ching – Previous Readings

Personal I Ching readings

Read the text from Richard Wilhelm's, Thomas Cleary's, Brian Arnold's and other translations of the I Ching
54 – Fifty-Four  Kuei Mei / A Loveless Marriage

The Thunderstorm inseminates the swelling Lake, then moves on where the Lake cannot follow:
The Superior Person views passing trials in the light of Eternal Truths.
Any action will prove unfortunate.
Nothing furthers.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

This is at best a Marriage of Convenience.
You have found yourself in desperate straits, a position of weakness, and you are tempted to pay dearly for a remedy.
A drowning man isn’t picky about who throws him a rope.
The rescue offered to you now is undesirable.
It may pull you out of this sticky situation, but it will cause even greater predicaments down the road.
Don’t obligate yourself in this way.
You are selling your future for a quick fix today.

Six in the fifth place means:

The sovereign I gave his daughter in marriage.
The embroidered garments of the princess
Were not as gorgeous
As those of the serving maid.
The moon that is nearly full
Brings good fortune.

The sovereign I is T’ang the Completer. This ruler decreed that the imperial princesses should be subordinated to their husbands in the same manner as other women (cf. Hexagram 11, six in the fifth place). The emperor does not wait for a suitor to woo his daughter but gives her in marriage when he sees fit. Therefore it is in accord with custom for the girl’s family to take the initiative here.
We see here a girl of aristocratic birth who marries a man of modest circumstances and understands how to adapt herself with grace to the new situation. She is free of all vanity of outer adornment, and forgetting her rank in her marriage, takes a place below that of her husband, just as the moon, before it is quite full, does not directly face the sun.

58 – Fifty-Eight  Tui / Empowering

The joyous Lake spans on and on to the horizon:
The Superior Person renews and expands his Spirit through heart-to-heart exchanges with others.

Success if you stay on course.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

This is the sign of true companionship.
The principals in this situation exchange energy, ideas and feelings, constantly invigorating and encouraging each other to new heights of Spiritual achievement and Self-discovery.
This exchange is not for the glory of the Team, but for furthering the process of each individual’s ‘Te’, or pure potentiality.


 


Today: “The mind is not subject to time and place” – Yogi Bhajan

SSSYWa“The mind is not subject to time and place. The mind cannot be subject to time and place, but there is a relationship of mind and body. If you have the technical know-how and you use that technique, mind and body can become one. The moment you can bring mind and body into one, then there is only one alternative left. When mind and body become one, then universality and creativity of the self can be recognized. This is very important.” Yogi Bhajan

Sat Nam!
Ram Anand

Meditation: M0512-19890312 – For Mastery of Time and Space

Meditation: Breath to Conquer Time Space and Destiny

Some thoughts on my friend’s message before vision quest

Even our own utterances stimulate ourselves and each other to give attention to the flow of experience.  Nothing is random, everything is for us.  When we include everything, we love.

Our subconscious also exists within that flow to give attention to the “movie” that we are replaying in order to “work things out” and live a conscious life in love.

Physical work in devoted service, samu, karma yoga, or simply, “chopping wood and carrying water” puts us in touch with the subconscious where we can begin the process.

We can replace the movie with mantra in our conscious awareness to redirect our attention towards the infinite.  That’s Japa.  

We can learn to see within and behind the movie with daily meditation, sadhana.  The meditations we practice come from the tantric tradition of our lineage.

“Chop wood, carry water”  is a practice that creates a mini retreat that directs our attention to the flow of our subconscious, so we can hear it.  Our awareness exists as original mind far beneath the differentiation that our subconscious stimulates.  The subconscious is our personal predisposition  to translate our experience from the depths of our unconscious awareness in terms that we can relate with.  Giving attention (listening) to the silence within the sound of the subconscious can deconstruct its story and merge the experience with its origin, original mind.

Our life is our retreat.  Maybe we can see what’s behind it all.  Then what?

We share a common awareness with everything in the unconscious. Our subconscious stimulates a direction to our awareness in the flow.  When we give expression we don’t need to separate it from the source of that  expression.  We can learn to live without a translator.

Doing 120 days of sadhana is a form that directs our attention beneath the subconscious into the unconscious and guides our attention within that level of awareness.

Somebody interviewed a Tibetan monk who had just completed decades of meditation in self isolation.  When asked to comment on his experience, the monk responded “I witnessed all of my lifetimes from the very beginning to the end.  Commenting on that experience would only serve to mislead you.” 

Communicating verbally or in writing gives us a view and invites each other into our mind.  A literal translation could only mislead.  That is why we have to put some magic into what we say and what we write.  When I was young, reading the writings of the early Zen masters led me into their mind.

The rules are:  We are speaking, sharing experience now, today, tomorrow, whenever the words land and wherever the words land. That is the nature of the medium of consciousness.  We must make it count.

Here are some meditations on the subconscious and sharing:

Meditation: LA082-790123 Telescopic Infinity

Meditation: NM0365-20001024-On Communication II

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

Meditation: LA031 19780423 – Ad Nad Kriya – Gupt Gian Shakti the Secret Power of the Knowledge

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Meditation:  LA372 831212 Corruption and character

Today: “Breaking the barriers of the subconscious mind is the union of the unit consciousness with supreme consciousness” Yogi Bhajan

Lecture: LA907 970311 burn the subconscious “Life is Love”

Meditation: LA004 780109 Experience the Experience

Meditation: LA741 – 921125 – Dance of Shiva

Meditation: 881026 Removing Fear of the Future

Meditation: NM335 – A00111 Connect Up to Infinity

 

Today: “Operate behind the scenes.   Consolidate and communicate from a safe place.” – from the I Ching

Operate behind the scenes.  Consolidate and communicate from a safe place.

Meditation: LA031 19780423 – Ad Nad Kriya – Gupt Gian Shakti the Secret Power of the Knowledge

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Today: I Ching – Previous Readings

Personal I Ching readings

Read the text from Richard Wilhelm's, Thomas Cleary's, Brian Arnold's and other translations of the I Ching
33 – Thirty-Three  Tun / Retreat

The tranquil Mountain towers overhead, yet remains this side of Heaven:
The Superior Person avoids the petty and superficial by keeping shallow men at a distance, not in anger but with dignity.

Such a retreat sweeps the path clear to Success.
Occupy yourself with minute detail.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

Retreat in this instance is not a desperate flight in disarray, but a conscious choice to distance yourself from forces that would rob you of your peace.
It is not a surrender, but a regrouping.
Retreat from this conflict is actually an advance toward your own center.
You move toward balance, and thus a much stronger position.

Six in the second place means:

He holds him fast with yellow oxhide.
No one can tear him loose.

Yellow is the color of the middle. It indicates that which is correct and in line with duty. Oxhide is strong and not to be torn.
While the superior men retreat and the inferior press after them, the inferior man represented here holds on so firmly and tightly to the superior men that the latter cannot shake him off. And because he is in quest of what is right and so strong in purpose, he reaches his goal.  Thus the line confirms what is said in the Judgement:
“In what is small” – here equivalent to “in the inferior man” – “perseverance furthers.”

57 – Fifty-Seven  Sun / The Penetrating Wind

Wind follows upon wind, wandering the earth, penetrating gently but persistently:
The Superior Person expands his influence by reaffirming his decisions and carrying out his promises.

Small, persistent, focused effort brings success.
Seek advice from someone you respect.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

Gentle persuasion is the key in this instance.
Though the words are soft, their speaker must be firm, calm and confident.
Gentle words are worthless if spoken with trepidation.
Wordless influence by example is also effective in this situation.
All persuasion should be almost unfelt, yet consistent and persistent.
Ask for feedback from someone you know to be an effective persuader.