Tag Archives: chaos

Listen To Your Heart – IC – 110220

The camp song I’ve been humming all morning divides into rounds. The first verse starts, “Listen, listen, listen to my heart’s song.” As the first group of singers continued, “I will never forget you. I will never forsake you,” the second joined in with harmony, “Listen, Listen, Listen.”

Finding the right title for today’s I Ching reading wasn’t easy. First I called it, “For God’s Sake, Pay Attention!” That was too harsh. So I softened it: “Listen To Your Soul.” But that didn’t work either.

Here’s the problem with both titles. For those operating on a paradigm which rules out the existence of God and denies the possibility of having a soul, they simply don’t compute. They’re outside the hearing range of the programmed masses.

But . . . even those who’re tuned-out to two-thirds of the Life Wheel still experience love. We are all moved — even if unconsciously — by the call of the heart.

If it weren’t tragic, the contradiction would be funny. Earlier, I described a conversation with my deep-boonies friend, Alice. When I urged her to pray before deciding which way to vote, she objected: “The clergy are just as bad.” They’re split too.

The option I intended didn’t register. I meant, “Listen to your heart of hearts. Listen to your soul, deeper than deep.”

Why the disconnect? Alice goes to church. At the same time she believes in science. From both sides, she’s been programmed to trust “experts” — not herself.

She can’t quite put her finger on it. Alice believes in Christ, who said he and the father are One. He told his followers, “Ye must be perfect like your Father in Heaven.” Whole. Complete. Unified.

But she’s unfamiliar with the paradigm which allows us to know and be true to ourselves. The Life Wheel pictures the way Christ is at One with the Creator, how we can be too, and why the timeless essence of Christ neither forgets nor forsakes any of us. Not possible.

Now, even without the benefit of astrology, former CIA operative, politics savvy and intentional community founder Pastor Joe Fox foresees extreme violence around the Nov. 3 election date. His advice: “bug out” of cities and suburbs. Take refuge in rural locations.

Certainly there’s practical wisdom in his advice. But . . . getting the hell out of Dodge isn’t enough. Ultimately, conflict is a matter of mind, not location. As the reading below suggests, long-term improvement depends on emotional stability and inner peace.

Living a rural life doesn’t guarantee enlightenment. Sadly, Alice’s fist in my face is proof.

The I CHING READING

IMPROVEMENT is the initial answer to the question, “What do we need to be aware of now?” It changes twice before ending with STILLNESS, the essence of meditation.

With only brief comments on the progression of changes, I leave it to you to listen to your heart. Decide how they apply to your immediate situation and needs.

IMPROVEMENT is now possible if you are willing to follow the example of worthy teachers. If you have absorbed negative suggestions in the past which prevent you from expressing your higher self freely, use this time to break away from bad habits. Seek the inspiration of positive influences. Avoid pessimism.

We want our lives to improve! What would that look like? In the context this post, the worthy example to follow is Christ. Negative suggestions which prevent free expression of your higher self, come from the limiting empirical science paradigm. Especially when there’s no encouragement from others, look for inspiration from books of wisdom, including the Book of Change and Tao Te Ching.

The advice of line three reads, “The time is right for improvements. Others will assist you.”

Where in the Life Wheel are improvements most needed? Lifestyle? Finances? Location? Attitudes? All of the above? You decide.

Accepting available assistance, the 3^rd line changes to:

When you have outgrown a situation, it is time to TRAVEL on. Staying longer would prevent attainment of important goals. Commitments made now probably would not work out. In dealing with strangers exercise careful self-control. Talk little. Listen much. Learn from everyone who has information to share. Avoid dangerous exposure.

This is probably what Pastor Joe Fox was getting at. Avoid physical danger. Stay out of harms way. When times are volatile, tempers are hot and risks high, keep unwelcome opinions to yourself. Keep your emotions under careful self-control. Adopt the attitude of a meditative observer.

The advice of line four reinforces line three. “ Strong action triggers strong reaction. For better results, pace yourself.” In the 2020 year of extremes, the pinnacle blue moon Halloween weekend tops the charts. Adjust accordingly.

This done, the 4^th line changes to:

ADVERSITY is a test of fortitude. When it cannot be prevented, the wisest response is acceptance. Use times of hardship as opportunities to strengthen character and focus on inner resources. Misunderstandings are likely to occur. Remain calm, take care of yourself and support those who depend on you. Avoid despair.

The weeks following the Halloween blue moon, US elections and contentious results are, inevitably, an unavoidable test. So the refuge Pastor recommends includes inner retreat. Take care of yourself and those closest to you. Don’t despair when crazy times peak. They will pass. Your choice is whether to emerge the better for enduring them, or . . .

With the choice to keep mental distance and remain calm, the combined outcome that begins with IMPROVEMENT culminates in meditative awareness:

Peace within and harmony without come from STILLNESS. When immediate answers to important questions cannot be found, sometimes keeping still is the best way out. Burning desires produce chaotic thinking. This only clouds the issue and makes life painful. Meditation is a valuable method for finding stillness. Avoid useless activity.

The year 2020 has been harsh. Tough. Painful. No doubt. The possibility of emerging stronger and more peaceful than before is its hidden gift.

Collected posts will be published as The Lessons of 2020: Using the Wisdom of CHANGE to Build a Better Future. Look for it on amazon in January of 2021.

If you’d like a copy of the Common Sense Book of Change, or extras to give others, click here.

To order Two Sides of a Coin: Lao Tze’s Common Sense Way of Change, click here.

Okay, then. That’s all for now. Talk with you again soon. Take care, all.

We’re At Critical Mass – IC Reading – Sept. 17, 2020

When I recently queried the Common Sense Book of Change, its answer clearly wasn’t meant just for me.

I wrote the invocation often used, “Beloved Father in Heaven, thank you for using this book to show me what I need to be aware of now.”

The response was CHANGE. It was qualified by two changing lines which, combined, result in CLARITY.

For those unfamiliar with how and why the magic of synchronicity works, there are plenty of explanations elsewhere. (If you want to know more, however, you’re welcome to comment below. I’ll respond.)

But here, I’m keeping it simple and to the point. Hexagram 49 speaks to the state of planet Earth – its people and ecology– right now. We’re at critical mass.

Worldwide, the pandemic has derailed economies, along with familiar social activities and intimate relationships. In the US, political candidates and supporters hurl accusations and vile insults. Agenda-driven media inflames public fear and outrage. Riots, arson, looting and senseless murders plague major cities.

And nature mirrors this maelstrom. The basic elements of earth, air, fire and water are out of whack too, plummeting countless lives into still further chaos, grief and hardship. On the West coast, forest fires fanned by high winds are charring the land and polluting the atmosphere as far off as the East coast. Along the Southern coastline, incoming hurricanes are flooding the land.

During times of polarizing extremes,

we need the stabilizing influence

of The Book of Change

more than ever.

Working with this enduring, time-tested compendium of natural law brings calm reason and measured hope to apparently impossible situations. It shines clarity on current events, restoring perspective during times of painful confusion and self-doubt.

For example, I Ching Hexagram 49 looks like this:

Even here, a ray of eternal hope remains embedded within dire events. “. . . when degeneration reaches critical mass, regeneration follows.”

Now, between last Easter’s blog and today’s post, it seemed right for me to keep still. But, as my beloved teacher said, “Timing is everything.”

Earlier, in response to the COVID outbreak, I queried what the Book of Change had to tell us about the pandemic. The answer suggested that nothing is what it seems; further, the best response is to focus on the opportunities hidden within immediate challenges – the blessings, however well disguised.

In the interim, much of what was hidden has surfaced. But as US elections approach, we’re reaching critical mass.

Now, the Book of Change reminds us again that even during times like this (which prophets over the centuries have consistently foreseen), a kernel of hope always remains buried within change. Likewise, modern astrologers also predicted 2020’s “deconstruction of the old order.” They see 2021, however, as prelude to positive new beginnings.

According to natural law, like fractals, change repeats on every scale of magnitude, smallest to largest. This means that the same dynamic of chaos experienced by each of us, is also happening at the same time to everyone else, everywhere else. It’s going on globally inside families, small businesses, large corporations, governments at every level, industry and agriculture, the professions of education, health, and law. You name it.

As an example, at the microcosmic level, here’s my unique version of critical mass. Beloved teacher suddenly deceased. After years dedicated to looking after his needs day in and out, I was cast out my home, separated from cared for pets and relocated, friendless, to another city just in time for pandemic isolation. The streets of what used to be a thriving downtown area are deserted. Empty. Feels spooky, like a ghost town.

What’s your version? Your family’s? Your community’s?

I’m not complaining, mind you. It could be much worse. Thankfully I’m safe. There’s enough to eat. But rest assured, knowing that predicted loss arrived right on schedule (although in unexpected forms) doesn’t make it any less devastating.

Ouch. = (

But, being immersed in I Ching wisdom, I know better than to resist, deny or take change personally. Nor do I despair (or should you!) that this dark night of the soul will last forever. A new day will dawn. Always has. Always will.

So, questions which I put to the I Ching remain. What’s next? Where’s this leading? Which choices will lead to the best of possible futures?

Each of us (including leaders at every level) can take hope in this universal law of nature: “. . . after degeneration reaches critical mass, regeneration follows.”

Glimmers of hope . . of regeneration . . are already emerging. For example, prayer groups have been organizing worldwide meditations where members agree to pray together at the same time for peace and healing. Perhaps not coincidentally, peace accords in the Near East have just been brokered by the sitting US president.

Briefly, changing lines in the third and sixth place of this reading support the option of least resistance, building positive community, and being content with doing one’s best. Intentional communities . . . whether online or on the land. . . seem the most likely hope of building a better future.

In this reading, the result of choosing the recommended path of cooperation is #25 CLARITY. In essence, it consists of holding a clear and prescient overview of what has been, what is, and what might be.

I could easily write an entire book on just this one reading. In fact, one on the drawing board — The Phoenix Response: Dying To Be Reborn in the Same Lifetime – will offer much more.

But the purpose of today’s brief blog is simply encourage you. To the extent we can see it, claim it, and work together to bring it into being, there is a light at the end of this dark tunnel. To this end, as #49 advises: Welcome the new. Avoid short-sighted fear.

Timing being everything — the gift of the I Ching that works like a cosmic clock — this post couldn’t be more perfectly timed.

After deciding to post again after a dry spell, I checked the calendar. Lo! The 17^th of September “just happens” to be the date of a super new moon, a time of unusually powerful, fresh new beginnings. It’s in Virgo, the sign of healing and service. If you’re inclined to believe in divine guidance and angelic support, you’ll appreciate Sarah Hall’s inspired description of the potentials now being set in motion.

BTW, because no training in my early years supported a belief in angels, they used what I was familiar with to make contact. Mercifully, they’re not that picky. It was fine for the Book of Change to serve as my initiation into meditation and experience of angelic guidance. No problem. It doesn’t seem to matter to them whether they receive the credit. : ) So the book continues to serve anyone, anywhere who approaches universal wisdom with an open mind and open heart.

Also uncoincidentally, Rosh Hashanah follows close behind on September 19^th.. It’s the holiday when the shofar is sounded, calling the faithful to unite and shaking those who sleep into awareness. For those who’d like know more about these dynamics, here’s a link to a website that supplies details.

Bottom line. From now to the end of 2020, as a counterbalance to current chaos, I’ll be posting IC readings every Monday and Thursday.

If you’d like to know more about me or the IC, here are links to satisfy your curiosity:

The I Ching and Me

How the Common Sense Book of Change Came To Be

If you want your very own copy of the CSBOC to work with, to answer your own unique questions at your own convenience, or want extras to give others in need of insight, solace and support, it’s available here. : )

Okay, then. That’s all for now. Talk with you again soon. Take care, all.

Freedom Has Many Faces

In working on “Be an Instrument of Light,” I found it necessary to first return to a post on freedom outlined earlier but set aside as a lower priority.

Here’s why.

It appears that Jordan B. Peterson has gone all-out in his verbal war against the “bloody post-modernists” – to the point of distraction. He’s taken the high-visibility lead in controversial “transgender wars.” He ardently hammers so-called Social Justice Warriors (SJWs), defending freedom of speech as the Number ONE priority, foundational to preserving Western civilization.

In all this, his powerful arguments are admirably presented. BUT . . . however noble and technically correct, arguing is not enough.

Put another way, the initial goal of letting adversaries expose themselves for who they are has been accomplished. Now, having succeeded in persuading those of us willing and able to follow his logic, it’s time to move on. There are other, more urgent and fundamentally important battles to be fought.

I’ll explain why I say this and show you where it leads.

A Youtube video triggered the following, earlier thoughts on freedom:

In Sorting Yourself Out, Stefan Molyneux questioned Jordan Peterson. How can his libertarian followers relate to the Self-Authoring process?

Because Peterson’s answers closely parallel the premise of Rethinking Survival and its companion Handbook, I quote his comments, Molyneux’s reservations and then put the subject in Life Wheel context.

In describing the Self-Authoring process, Dr. Peterson says:

If you’re not united within yourself – united in relationship to a higher purpose – then you’re weak [fragmented]. And the world will take you apart.

He continues:

A more sophisticated approach is, you formulate a question and you wait for an answer. A prayer might be, I would like to do the best thing I could with my life now.

You have to open yourself up to that. That’s to knock so the door will open. I would like to do the best thing with my life . . What might that be?

. . . you could say you’re leaving yourself open for a revelation or an intuition, but you’re communing with whatever it is that enables you to receive wisdom.

. . . you’re really communing with the structure of the cosmos when you’re asking such a question – especially if you do it properly. It’s really necessary because it orients you properly.

So the demise of prayer – to commune with the better part of myself to determine how I should orient myself in the world . . . It’s a catastrophic loss not to do that.

Suffice it to say here that his comments presuppose the unified components of the Life Wheel whose hub centers around a creative source experienced as conscience. Reintroducing this ancient concept remedies what has truly been experienced as a catastrophic loss for the good guys, a horrific score for the bad guys.

Taking Dr. Peterson up on the question of “higher purpose,” Molyneux observes:

I think this question of a larger purpose to one’s life – I have a very libertarian-ish independence-minded audience. Whenever I talk to them about the need to subjugate mere personal will and desire to a larger mission in life, it strikes them in a very odd way.

I’ve already addressed the libertarian free-will issue in Practical Ethics. In essence, without a multi-dimensional paradigm of reality, you can’t fully and realistically define free-will or ethics:

What is fundamentally (fatally) missing from logician’s concept of ethics is the dynamic action of karma. The Law of Karma is a fact of life which can’t be argued, but rather is known through direct experience by those who pay attention. It’s axiomatic.

Here’s the kicker: Divine Law at the center of the Life Wheel allows for free will, so dear to the hearts of libertarians. We are created innately free to choose. However, this does not exempt anyone from the psychological consequences at the middle, e = energy level of Natural Law, much less karmic pay-back in the material world on the surface of the Wheel.

One of Webster’s definitions of “freedom” is “being free from the usual rules or patterns.” While it may be possible to cut loose from behavioral customs and rituals associated with the surface level of the Life Wheel, exemption from the operations of Natural Law at the middle, energy level of the Wheel is impossible. Even worse, presuming to placing oneself superior to Divine Law, as if it exists to give you what you want, is a sure recipe for total disaster.

Now, here’s where my concern with the current focus on the SJW war is leading. It’s why I chose to return to multi-layered subject of freedom sooner rather than later:

Debating with ignorant, irrational enemies whose “minds” are already made up is as effective as pissing on a forest fire. To my Sun Tze way of thinking, at this late stage, the best response to provocation is to get safely out of their reach and regroup to minimize loses. For the most part, the motives that drive protesting mobs are neither pristine nor positive. Their methods are vulgar at best, if not violently destructive.

Worse, it’s futile waste of precious time better spent on urgently important issues being overlooked.

So here’s my problem. By grabbing center stage attention, immature Luciferian Alinsky minions are serving as unwitting decoys. They’re distracting public attention away from urgent survival issues that REALLY MATTER, running out the clock on precious time left. There’s a high probability that there’s malevolent method to this madness.

The real issues they’re obscuring are ones of basic survival. For if/when our cities are demolished by natural catastrophe, the grid goes down, and the masses are on the brink of starvation, freedom of speech will be the least of their concerns.

As instruments of dark forces pulling the strings from behind the scenes, noisy SJW protesters (an ironic contradiction in terms if ever there was any) are acting as agents of evil, distracting us away from the urgently positive work to be done NOW if mankind is to survive.

As just one example, here’s a summary of James Wesley Rawles best-seller, Patriots: A Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse:

America faces a full-scale socioeconomic collapse— the stock market plummets, hyperinflation cripples commerce and the mounting crisis passes the tipping point. Practically overnight, the fragile chains of supply and high-technology infrastructure fall, and wholesale rioting and looting grip every major city.

Let’s not forget other threats: solar flares generating CMEs, asteroid strikes, earthquakes, hurricanes, tidal waves, volcanoes, and wars both civil and international. There’s also Einstein’s worst nightmare – nuclear holocaust. One or any combination are eminently possible.

You wouldn’t know it from mainstream media. Even Glenn Beck’s site featured as the #1 Story That Matters Most, “Woman who said Hobby Lobby cotton decoration is racist speaks out after widespread backlash.” But in fact, hurricane-ravaged islands in the Caribbean are already playing out worst-case disaster scenarios.

Given the seriousness and immediacy of survival issues which trump idealism, I urge JBP as well as his many friends and countless followers to conserve their resources. Focus attention and action where it will do optimal good. Teach those who are open.

There’s some macho satisfaction to be had in crushing ignorant SJWs with powerfully presented pristine logic. But it’s not a fair fight. He has them out-gunned, so to speak, in every respect. Unfortunately, if anything, being so handily humiliated just fans the flames of hatred. It ratchets up the impulse to vengeance.

Like pissing on a forest fire, winning debates is a Pyrrhic victory.

Now, character, as they say, is fate. I haven’t JBP’s strength of will to engage in verbal wars. I personally prefer not go wading in quicksand. The motto of my choice: Resist not evil; persist in the good.

Heeding lessons learned from Sun Tzu’s Art of War, it seems far better to win the battles that really count, on our own turf, in our own terms and at the time of our choosing. Not the other guys’.

Essay 40 on Freedom has already been posted, so I’m including only the most pertinent parts below. Written in the year 2000, it serves to define the middle and inner levels of freedom, expanding on a libertarian view of personal freedom.

THE FRONT

Freedom is the state or quality of being free, implying exemption or liberation from the control of other people or arbitrary powers.

It means liberty and independence.
It implies exemption from arbitrary restriction or a specified civil right.
It can mean exemption or release from imprisonment, or being able to act, move or use without hindrance or restraint.
It means being able of itself to choose or determine action freely, at will, implying ease of movement performance or facility.
It means being free from the usual rules or patterns.
It can also mean easiness of manner, or sometimes an excessive frankness and familiarity.

Like the words peace, love and unity, freedom is a state attained on the inside first, only then reflected in external circumstances. Freedom is a state of in-dependence, depending on inner resources for guidance, protection and peace. The freedom sages seek is the cessation of negative, involuntary patterns of behavior. Breaking the chains of destructive cause and effect is a function of focus combined with self-correction, forgiveness and positive action.

Those secure in themselves dedicate their lives to extending the freedom they value for themselves to others without prejudice. . .

Legal prohibitions cannot end of slavery. Nor is saying and doing whatever one wants as a puppet of blind impulse true freedom. Seeing through negative filters of fear, pride, or apathy is as limiting as literal blindness. Even in a society that calls itself democratic, to the extent we’re unaware of inner wisdom and the laws of natural change, we’re not really free.

Self-mastery attained by thinking and acting consistently from a paradigm that is simple, complete and correct is the most precious and only inalienable freedom.

THE BACK

The opposite of freedom is imprisonment or slavery. This includes not only external, physical incarceration, but internal, self-imposed limitations. Bad attitudes, negative emotions and self-destructive habits can be as addicting as tobacco, alcohol or drugs, undermining personal freedom.

Recklessness and heedlessness are perversions of freedom. If a mistrusted authority says not to drink, smoke or drive too fast, for example, the first thing a rebellious teen will do to assert “freedom” is disobey, regardless of the consequences. Sadly, this is the hard way to learn the connection between foolishness and disaster.

Hey, guys. It’s time to get real!

Restore Conscience to its central place in your decision-making process.

Return the ancient, complete and accurate reality paradigm to generally accepted, conscious awareness as your top priority.

All else follows.

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