Tag Archives: meditation

My Dream – 020421

Late Saturday night, the final day of January, I woke up from a vivid dream that asked to be remembered. I picked up the mini-recorder at my bedside to capture the memory, still fresh.

The original dream triggered a flow of thoughts. I kept recording.

The following day, I transcribed the entire flow. There was enough for several posts, even a little book along the lines of What Is the Freedom You Want? or Be Careful What You Dream Of.

For today, I’ll just tell you about that late night dream and my conclusion. I get back to the steps leading from point A to Z later.

In the dream, I had an urgent message for multi-talented, multi-millionaire Patrick Byrne. His well-known mentors include Warren Buffet and Milton Friedman, proponent of school choice — close cousin to the alternative school I credentialed myself to create.

In contrast, we knew my hidden but vastly more attained teacher as, simply, “Old Avatar.”

In the dream, I was sent to warn Patrick of things OA taught me probably outside his teachers’ range of experience. I urged him to understand that good intentions, a steel-trap mind and even a martial arts black belt aren’t enough. Bad guys are broadcasting from the invisible e=energy level of the Life Wheel (called the bardo, dream field, or subconscious) – affecting the masses at an unconscious level. Accordingly, psychic shielding is essential to spiritual warfare.

Unfortunately, schools don’t teach from a paradigm that includes energy dynamics, much less their abuse. Bad guys exploit this blind spot. To prevail, good guys must become more aware and skillful in the full-spectrum of quantum potentials.

My conclusion: 21st century institutional resets across the board all depend upon first restoring the complete, accurate Quantum Paradigm to common public knowledge. All else follows.

Today I’ll ask the Book of Change for feedback on this preliminary paradigm shift. Supporting details will follow in future posts.

PERMANENCE is the original, dynamic answer to today’s basic question, “What is the I Ching’s view of building future institutions consistent with the Quantum Paradigm?”

First I thought, I’ve seen this answer before. Recently. When I checked my notes, all the variables appear in the last two readings, repeating yet again from earlier 2020 posts. But their placements are different, making the immediate answer unique to this question.

In fact, at first the question was more detailed. “Institutions” was qualified to include governments, military, media, schools and healthcare, as well as legal and economic systems. The paradigm was qualified as one which balances reason and compassion with faith.

The starting point of the reading is:

Search for PERMANENCE in the timeless wisdom of all ages. Human events repeat themselves in well-ordered patterns over many generations. Although the actors change, the values they pass on through their examples endure. Nothing of permanent value is ever lost. Live worthy of your heritage. Avoid disrespect for traditions.

My first thought: at the start this shift, we need to recognize there’s no necessary conflict between the Quantum Paradigm and traditional teachings. It’s not an either/or choice. To the extent that Truth is eternal and unchanging, by definition its expressions old and new will confirm and reinforce each other. Only to the extent that they aren’t consistent are choices required.

Here’s an example. The Shema is a three-part Torah command intoned by Jews in synagogue: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

It’s echoed in the triad of the Lord’s Prayer taught by Christ. As I repeat every night, Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever.

The same triad repeats as energy centers in Chinese and Sanskrit yogas. In turn, they’re compatible with the variables of Einstein’s formula and with the levels of the archetypal Life Wheel. (Later on, I’ll give you a simple picture to help visualize this unifying theme.)

* * *

Advice of the fourth line reads, “To find what you seek, look in the right place.” This is the converse of poetic I Ching wisdom, “Don’t hunt for deer in a forest where none dwell”

In my dream, I warned Patrick that tangible results on the material 3D surface of the Life Wheel cannot be not changed at the same level. Surface events flow from and are effectively improved upon only from deeper levels of 4D and 5D quantum reality.

As Einstein put it, problems cannot be solved on the same level at which they occur. To expect they could be is a form of insanity.

Put another way, corrupt political/economic practices on the surface, material plane of the Life Wheel are symptoms. The root cause and cure cannot be found except by going deeper. The paradigm which economists like Buffet and Friedman represent does not speak to 1) the e=energy, subconscious level where corruption festers; or 2) still deeper, the c=light, superconscious level from which creative innovations arise.

When advice is heeded and a complete, correct approach to creating institutional structures is accepted, the line changes to Promotion, which reads:

Promotion will come from steady, positive improvement over time. Rising to meet new challenges results in emotional maturity. Advancing on the job puts one in the position to serve those who are in need. Quiet, persistent self-discipline wins the confidence of others. Make the most of opportunities. Avoid hesitation.

Forward motion toward a positive shift will not succeed over night, but is well-worth our consistent, positive action towards this goal.

* * *

Advice of the fifth line reads, “Choose methods by purpose. Visionary projects require creativity and courage.” Quantum theory is not enough. We also need awareness methods and tools for invoking direct experience. Meditation and working with the I Ching are premier practices to this end.

When advice is heeded and balance achieved, the line changes to Inner Strength, which reads:

When difficult situations come to a head, rely on INNER STRENGTH to endure. If it becomes necessary to retreat, do so with courage and self-confidence. Make sure your inner and outer resources are secure. If you must begin a new life, you will have to depend on them. Avoid helplessness.

In geometry, a triangle is the most stable form. This strength is compounded by the intersection of opposite, complimentary strengths.

In the short term, however beneficial the outcome of simplification, it won’t happen quickly or easily. Resistance to the new by entrenched power holders will predictably be fierce and merciless. The courage and strength of solar system, “hara,” lower tan tien . . “true grit”. . . is required in full measure to see us through to the positive results of this blessed paradigm shift.

* * *

When the advice of the changing lines is heeded, Origin is their combined outcome. It reads:

All people thirst to know the roots their ORIGIN. At one level, learning about family and cultural traditions fills this need. At another level, this quest is satisfied by seeking for deeper knowledge. The vitality of all races flows from a single source which never runs dry. Avoid narrow-mindedness.

Right now, the majority are stuck on the narrow-minded surface of the Life Wheel. The prevailing false paradigm prevents humanity from accessing the deepest level for which we all thirst.

It’s like the patient’s picture in Jung’s Alchemical Studies. A bird stands before a closed door in the trunk of a large tree and weeps. The tree is the Tree of Life. The bird is the human spirit. Its soul weeps because it cannot enter.

The quest for fulfillment at deeper levels of the Life Wheel is stuff of the archetypal hero’s journey. Odysseus adventures to find his way home. The prodigal son returns to the father.

As we each repeat the pattern, one person at a time, the larger civilization as a whole will begin to reflect the sum of our individual achievements.

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The Great Reset Starts Today – IC – 122120

Can it be coincidence that, hosting the Student Action Summit – Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk speaks of a Reset? Is he aware that, according to astrologers, today’s winter solstice marks the long-heralded Cosmic Reset of the Ages as Jupiter and Capricorn simultaneously join and together exit heavy-handed Capricorn to enter into the radically different, enlightened sign of Aquarius?

Does it matter? Either way, Charlie, his generation and those who support them are perfectly in synch with the incoming wave of a positive, better future.

Often, I don’t know until “day of” what the content of a post will be. Lessons of 2020 is writing itself, one day at a time. I’m just an observer, a humble instrument, waiting for messages to come through. Saturday the 19th was no exception.

I “just happened” to randomly click on the the event just in time to hear Charlie’s opening comments. As I listened to presenters, I took notes to quote them here. They voiced exactly the same messages that China’s Lao Tze gave the world centuries ago during an earlier Fourth Turning. As coincidence would have it, Passage 54 was the pre-planned content scheduled as commentary on today’s I Ching reading.

Here are a few samples, spoken as if taken directly from my earlier posts.

  • Sara Carter: We are at a crossroads, a turning point. We have a choice.
  • Kristi Noem: America is not about fear. It is about hope for the future.
  • Tucker Carlson: Never betray your conscience. Be true God, yourself and the ones you love. You are still in charge of what is going on in your head and with the people you love. . . Corporate overlords are fundamentally at war with nature. This system has run its course.
  • Jeff Meyers: Universities are misleading students with three counterfeit maps of reality: Marxism, secularism, and post-modernism. The first blames wealth, the second religions, and the third truth seekers.
  • Mike Lindell:Learn from your mistakes. It will get you where you need to go.
  • Dinesh D’Souza: Ally wisdom with courage and deep faith and we become invincible.

Speakers spanning several generations all honored Charlie’s audience as custodians of the future, recognizing challenges to be overcome. I’ve long agreed. For example, because it speaks volumes, I quote the dedication to Two Sides: Lao Tze’s Common Sense Way of Change:

DEDICATION

The 2014 edition of Two Sides is dedicated to the Millennial Generation. Though it may seem as if they’ve been economically disenfranchised by their elders, material misfortune on the surface of the Life Wheel contains within it the hidden seeds of humanity’s long-term survival.

Ours isn’t the first time in the repeating cycles of history that leaders have squandered national resources. But in the context of Lao Tze’s larger reality, material resources aren’t that significant when compared to the intelligence, inner strength and inexhaustible vitality available to those whom circumstances oblige to return to the less tangible but very real levels of inner experience.

Millennials are the ones for whom the results of the materialistic, conflict-paradigm are so catastrophic that they have no vested interests to protect. They’re the ones prepared to move forward once again into the past, recovering the timeless treasure of the Quantum Paradigm buried deep within the Tao Te Ching’s wisdom.

They’ve been given the greater opportunity to dig deep, rediscover their inalienable inner resources and become the truly radical agents of substantive, positive change.

Also, because it speaks volumes, I offer one of the 81 passages for your careful, thoughtful attention.

We’re not taught to look to the Book of Change for answers to our deepest questions. That’s why I’m bringing the book to you. Through the end of 2020, bi-weekly posts are intended make what was once unfamiliar now familiar.

STILLNESS is the original answer to today’s question, “What should we be aware of NOW?” It reads:

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.

While SAS celebrates the potential of millennial leaders, the outside world remains in chaos. At the lowest-ebb of 2020, it’s important restore the balance of inner quiet.

Advice of the 2nd line reads, “If you have acted out of turn, unhappiness will follow.”

“Out of turn?” I hear you ask. “How so?”

On many levels. In the world, prematurely certifying blatantly, defiantly corrupted election results would end in widespread misery. Whether the U.S. Republic stands or falls depends on our combined wisdom, courage and faith to right egregious theft before it’s too late.

On a deeper level, people persist in seeking peace in the wrong place, in the wrong ways. Looking for it on the ever-changing surface of the Life Wheel is futile. As Lao Tze told us thousands of years ago, lasting peace starts only from within, and one person at a time. It radiates outwards with a ripple effect, first influencing close relationships, then communities, spreading to countries and then the world.

Only when one operates from a complete, accurate reality map that shows where peace begins and how it radiates from Center to the surface does the line change, making a Fresh Start leading to a better future possible:

Even when it seems that all has been spoiled, it is possible to make a FRESH START. Be willing to face your faults. Find out how to correct them. The situation will gradually improve if you are sincere and work hard. Be sure you know what you want. Avoid delay.

It’s now or never. Our endangered Republic will be rescued, redeemed, healed and restored NOW or not at all. AVOID DELAY.

Whatever comes to pass, a better future begins with committing on a personal level to achieving self-mastery. It’s the first, necessary step we can take today as the best, in fact only insurance we can have for prevailing in the face the unknowns which lie ahead.

WHAT IF, God forbid, the grid went down? WHAT IF there were no connection with endless information streaming over toxic 5G? WHAT IF you couldn’t hear the encouraging words of SAS speakers each in their own way confirming what Lao Tze taught at an earlier Fourth Turning, or what the text he worked with, the Book of Change, advises?

I know what I would choose to have close by. It would be the Book of Change itself, serving to reconnect me with angelic realms and Source, confirming the wisdom of my True Self, linking the eternal with the immediate circumstances I face, day in and out. Amen.

If this resonates, please like, share and magnify the benefit of the Reset message.

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.

Take the Best, Leave the Rest – IC -112320

Unlike any kind of fortune-telling, prophecy, or magic, the I Ching does not tell the future, it can only analyze the present. Its use does not allow one to make forecasts, only diagnoses. If there were a comparison possible with a Western equivalent, it would not be to the crystal ball but to a chess playing computer program that analyzes the current situation in order to choose one of a number of options.

Cyrille Javary’s description of the Book of Change is my favorite. It spells out exactly why, in 2020’s year of challenging choices, the book is so potentially valuable.

Working with it offers a meditative approach to problem-solving. Take a deep breath. Step back from the fray. Be the observer. Instead of getting caught up in one side or another, see how they dance together. Then consciously, carefully choose the best course of action.

That’s far better than getting sucked into conflict, engaging in blame, anger or despair, or being confused to the point of paralysis.

With I Ching wisdom, you won’t be fooled by false either/or choices. You’ll know that in duality, there are two sides to every coin. “Whatever has a front has a back.” Further, “the larger the front, the larger the back.”

Thousands of years experience confirm that nothing is only what it seems. Even more, as a Law of Nature, every extreme changes into its opposite. That’s why sages warn us to avoid extremes; 2020’s year of extremes is painful proof of the Law in action.

In Take the Best, I wrote.

In reading opinion and even “how to” pieces, I recommend the 30/70 principle. With careful attention and a little bit of luck, it’s possible to extract the 30% value from the 70% rubbish in which its embedded.

Ferreting out fact from falsehood takes Sherlock-like attention to detail. It requires conscious discrimination, in the positive sense. It demands active investigation, not passive acceptance of what appears on the front-side of the coin.

So which will it be? Do you want to be a conscious player in the chess-game of life, or simply a pawn moved around the board at the whim of others?

We’re not taught to look to the Book of Change for answers to our deepest questions. That’s why I’ve chosen to bring the book to you. Through the end of 2020, bi-weekly posts are intended make what was once unfamiliar now familiar.

Today’s reading is the most dynamic and perhaps challenging of 2020. GAIN, the original outcome, changes four times – moving through FAMILY, CLARITY, GROWTH, and PROBLEMS — before arriving at its final outcome, PROSPERITY.

At the beginning of Thanksgiving week, the deeply desired return of Prosperity come only after patiently going through the step-by-step process it takes to get from here to there. And at each step along the way, a consistent theme emerges:

GAIN is the initial answer to today’s question, “What should we be aware of NOW?” It reads:

GAINS can be made after analyzing the situation correctly. When a person’s life goals are kept firmly in mind, no time is wasted. A way can be found to use whatever resources are at hand to serve one’s purpose. Serving others can be compatible with personal gain. Avoid smug self-satisfaction.

During conflict-filled, end-stage 2020, it’s important to step back and take a deep breath. Analyze what’s going on, define our goals and how best to meet them. Accept that personal gain is inseparably connected with showing respect for others needs.

* * *

The advice of Line 3 represents a flip side of today’s theme. It reads, “Sometimes insincere people can help others without meaning to.”

Often selfish people who don’t respect others “coincidentally” fulfill nature’s plan. Ironically, in this season, power abusers have grown so bold that they’ve shown their hand. Pay attention to reap the unintended benefits. When this advice is taken to heart, the 3rd line changes to:

Inside the FAMILY one learns to play out given roles. This makes later success in roles on the job and in the larger community possible. Clearly defined relationships make communication easy. Respectful cooperation with others earns trust and acceptance from the human family. Avoid roles not suited to your nature.

Respect, trust and acceptance are integral to today’s consistent theme.

As for roles, although I greatly respect Steve Bannon and Sebastian Gorke, and am profoundly grateful to President Trump’s legal supporters (Rudy Giuliani and Genna Ellis, as well as the noble Sidney Powell), I’m neither by temperament nor training a street fighter.

As they fulfill their destined roles in the human family’s critical war for truth and justice, I accept a modest, complimentary role. My part is fulfilled by adding a book of wisdom to the mix.

It’s my job to urge humans to remember our common humanity. Don’t continue down the divide-and-conquer path of conflict which serves only the dark-side Evil Emperor. Instead of going at each others throats, we must join forces to cut off the head of the snake that plays us against each other — to our mutual destruction.

Similarly, all of us need to step back and decide how as individuals we’re best qualified and able to contribute.

* * *

Repeating the common theme, advice of Line 4 reads, “Conflict between helping yourself and helping others is not necessary.” This advice being thoughtfully applied to one’s own life, the fourth line changes to Clarity:

Cultivate CLARITY. Listen to the pure and childlike voice of your inner being. Even if this results in new and unexpected experiences, you will benefit. Take joy in being true to your Self. Modified by consideration for others, this will give you creative abilities. Avoid fearful attachment to the familiar.

According to theme, consideration for others tempers personal joy and enhances effectiveness.

* * *

Again on theme, advice of Line 5 reads, “Worthwhile goals and practical purposes can be linked. Be sincere.” It reinforces the wisdom of the original reading, Gain. “Serving others can be compatible with personal gain.”

No either/ors! Here’s the shadow side of our theme: Taking advantage of others is a super bad idea. One way or another, it will backfire, big time. When we internalize this advice, putting it into action, the 5th line changes to Growth.

People seek help according to what they need for their own GROWTH. Unless hunger is fed with the right food, no amount of input will satisfy. To understand others, watch how they nourish themselves. Nature provides for all. Leaders promote those who have the ability to serve many. Avoid greed.

The resonant theme repeats: “Nature provides for all.” For thousands of years, the Book of Change has taught what psychologists now say. Humanity is starved for wisdom. Lacking awareness of our inalienable, inborn okayness, people fall prey to every imaginable disease, addiction and vice. Violence, over-eating, drugs and indiscriminate sex don’t feed the real hunger. Wisdom, self-compassion and human kindness do.

***

Advice of the Top Line reads, “Laziness and greed repel people. Don’t take advantage of others.” It’s part of the theme’s flip side. When taken to heart, the line changes to:

When a new life is struggling to emerge, there will be PROBLEMS in the beginning. Seek help from people whose ideas and methods can help to create inner and outer stability. Take an active part in the growing process. This will help you to define your own identity. Avoid helplessness.

This reading reinforces the need for positive, fulfilling Growth. Like it or not, 2020 has been a watershed year of 2020 and of reset. After enduring extremes of loss and chaos, we need to bring ourselves back to balance, redefine ourselves and make a Fresh Start. Again,

Choose to be

an active chess player,

not a passive pawn.

***

After the changing lines are honored, each in turn, in combination they lead to in a final outcome, Prosperity:

Use the time of PROSPERITY as the opportunity to benefit as many as possible. Hoarding wealth of any kind hastens loss. Nature acts to distribute resources equally. Therefore, the way to prevent poverty is to live modestly in the present. Share wisely, without prejudice. This secures continued well-being. Avoid possessiveness.

Prosperity is the end result of mastering the lessons of family, clear thinking, nurturing the best in ourselves and others, and seeking wisdom when faced with problems. True to the consistent theme, it emphasizes the wisdom of acting like nature. Going forward, benefiting as many as possible without prejudice will be the way to secure good fortune.

For most of us, 2020 has been intense and harsh. But it also brought important lessons – blessings in disguise. From now to mid-December, when we’re slated to see major reversals, the wisest use of down time is to sort out the best of 2020. Leave the rest behind as we prepare to enter 2021 with its promise of a new set of interesting challenges/opportunities.

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.

Shifting Gears – IC – 100520

Today’s reading begins where last one ended:

At this crossroads, there’s a choice.

Either we can get sucked into the drama. Play out the anger. Drown in despair.

Or . . . we can use the opportunity of chaotic times to shift gears. Take a deep breath. Go within. Shift our minds to a higher level of consciousness. Change the way we think. Get better results.

The key phrase here is “SHIFT OUR MINDS.” What does that mean? How is it done? If there’s a shift, what are we leaving behind? Where are we headed?

Is a shift – a change in the way we think – really necessary?

Einstein thought so: “You cannot solve a problem from the same level of consciousness that created it.”

This needs unpacking. It’s really important.

***

Q. What problem are we talking about?

A. The problem of human survival. Einstein warned it can no longer be taken for granted. At end-stage 2020, we’re talking about conflict, within and without. Internal fear, anger and hatred is driving explosive external violence, tearing the world apart.

***

Q. At what level of consciousness was this conflict created?

A. On the outer m=mass, material rim of the Life Wheel. Conflict is the result of being cut off from the inner levels, separated from Source.

***

Q. At what level can the problem of conflict be solved?

A. At the innermost levels of intuition (Einstein’s good friend) and Creative Power.

***

Q. How do I get from here to there?

A. It starts with a paradigm shift, first personally, then collectively. Problems can’t be solved without a complete and accurate reality map that shows 1) where problems start and 2) the higher levels of consciousness where the Source of solutions resides.

***

As a matter of human survival, we urgently need to shift the way we think from the exclusively materialistic paradigm of empirical science to the Unified Field paradigm pictured below.

So. Here’s another picture worth 10,000 words. It shows that the called-for shift is one of focus, away from the M=Mass material world of drama and the e=energy level the emotions (fear, anger, and hatred). It’s a shift of attention towards the deeper realms where healing, solace and solutions are found.

So. How do I get from here to there?

Early on, my beloved teacher said it was my choice.“You can make it as easy or hard as you like.”

The easy way is to repent (admit mistakes) and atone (change). Increasing self-awareness with introspective tools, including scriptures and/or the Book of Change, helps. Meditation, especially Joe Dispenza’s dogma-free, science-based approach, is a fast track.

In each case, the purpose is to restore original UNITY to our lives. For this, we need to honor all levels of the Life Wheel. They need to be prioritized, aligned and integrated. Like the gears of a finely tuned mechanical clock designed to tell the correct time, they have to be in synch.

That’s the short story. : )

But then . . . . there’s the hard way. Sadly, it’s the path most often traveled – the fractured one of attachment, denial and resistance.

Another OA story makes the point. It starts with a man who sold a mule, guaranteeing it was a hard worker. But the purchaser returned it, disgusted. Wouldn’t do a thing.

No problem. The seller picked up a 2’x4’ and whacked the mule, hard, right on top of the head. Instantly, it perked up and did whatever it was told.

He chided the purchaser, “All you had to do was get its attention.”

It seems to me that, to get our attention, life is whacking the world with a 2’x4’. . . hard.

Since the vast majority has ignored calls to change that could have been answered the easy way, it’s happening now . . . the hard way.

The I CHING READING

Because we’ve never been taught about The Book of Change, it’s unfamiliar. Along with most of what belongs to the “taboo” inner level of e=energy, its ways remain a mystery, its value forfeit. That’s why I’ve chosen to bring the book to you. Let these bi-weekly readings serve as an opportunity to make what was unfamiliar more familiar.

The answer to today’s question, “What should we be aware of NOW?” is unusual in this way. For the first time in this series, there are no changing lines. OVERCOMING stands unchanged as the consistent, recommended way to Shift Gears:

The harmonizing arts are useful tools for OVERCOMING the forces which block and separate. Inspired music, drama and art express the common light which guides all. Community celebrations remind participants to cooperate in seeking prosperous peace. Rituals celebrating the changes of life affirm the unity of all beings. Avoid isolation.

The vibrations of music evoke and release emotions. Through resonance, inspired art touches and uplifts the soul.

When we immerse ourselves in any kind of creative work, however humble, the inner levels of our personal life wheels open and align.

Music is said to be the easiest, most joyous path to enlightenment. Sufi Inayat Khan (a master musician) wrote:

The art of music has been especially considered divine, because it is the exact miniature of the law working through the whole universe. . .

Exactly. Einstein most certainly experienced this mystery first-hand. He was a violinist, especially attracted to Mozart. When he got stuck, like Sherlock Holmes, he took out his fiddle. Music relaxed him. And inspiration would flow.

Like the I Ching, sacred art that mirrors “the law working through the whole universe” reminds us of our divine origins. It speaks to the universal truths we share in common, but too often forget. Here are variations on the wheels-within-wheels theme of life:

NB. A pattern is forming here. Today’s post builds on earlier ones, systematically, as if it’s all preplanned. Synchronicity at work. I look forward to finding out where it leads next. I hope you do too.

Collected readings 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 your very own copy of the CSBOC, to answer your unique questions at your own convenience, or want extras to give others, click here.

Two Sides of a Coin: Lao Tze’s Common Sense Way of Change is a yoga-based version of the Tao Te Ching, the ever popular, poetic and practical expression of IC Natural Law.To order a copy, click here.

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

Bringing Balance – IC – Sept. 21, 2020

Today’s reading is a perfect example of timing – synchronicity, if you will. Because BALANCE describes the equinox energy of Friday, the 22nd of September.

Spring and fall equinoxes occur when the sun crosses the equator, making day and night equal in length.

In the northern hemisphere, September’s equinox marks the first day of fall, a momentary crossroads of balance before beginning the gradual decline into winter.

Many meanings are assigned to the change of seasons. On a practical level, autumn is the time of harvest – and storage, preparing for the winter ahead.

Spiritually, the fall equinox is seen as a time for gratitude and internal reflection. The cycle of seasons is associated with the cycle of human life, birth to death, as well as the eternal struggle between light and darkness.

Natural Law recognizes the world as a place of duality. Day opposes night. Summer’s heat and abundance stands in contrast to winter’s cold and hardship. Infinite pairs of similar opposites repeat everywhere, on all levels. Love – hate, peace – war, wealth – poverty, success – failure.

In this context, BALANCE emphasizes the vital importance of knowing when and how to moderate extremes.

Mind you, moderation is NOT non-committal, middle-of-the-road, boring blandness!

It’s disaster prevention.

Sages were keenly aware that, as a law of nature, every extreme changes into its opposite. Extreme passion lapses into disgust and aversion. Extremes of power, whether physical or social, change to impotence. Violent anarchy triggers opposite and equal repression.

They knew for a certainty that in duality, nothing is endless or timeless. So, those close to nature respect the survival implications of the equinox. They live moderately in times of plenty to prevent future times of hardship. Similarly, effective leaders exercise their power wisely to prevent future revolt.

Today’s Book of Change Reading

Whenever working with the Book of Change, to assure protection and attract benevolent guidance, we begin with an invocation. Next, we quiet the mind and focus intention. In fact, to get the most out of today’s dynamic reading, you might want settle the noisy mind a bit before continuing.

BALANCE is the original answer to the question, “What do we need to be aware of now?” But it’s qualified by two changing lines. In combination, these result in a second outcome, DEVELOPMENT.

Here’s the initial hexagram:

Given the intense toxicity of current events, the final warning, “avoid extremes,” is right on point!

For the consequences of polarizing extremes are upon us, full force. We’re reaping the rewards of imbalance — in the economy and in politics. The repercussions of unbalanced attitudes and lifestyles reverberate everywhere around us – starting with our personal relationships and social lives.

But at this pivotal moment, the equinox offers an opportunity to recognize the benefits of bringing balance back into our lives. . . . restoring harmony to our beliefs, actions, and relationships.

Next, the changing lines offer further insight. Heeding them opens possible avenues of change. In the notebook, they’re marked this way:

(If you have questions about changing lines, here’s a helpful link. In particular, see Section 11 – Method and Section 13 – Sample Reading.)

The advice of Line 5 says, “Do not confuse humility with weakness. Act decisively when necessary.”

On a personal level, I take it as a reminder to stand my ground with folks who take advantage of my gentleness. (“Don’t mistake this gentle Leo for a wimp!”)

On a national scale, it resonates with U.S. politics. For example, owning up to past racism isn’t grounds for allowing rioters to destroy inner cities. Two wrongs don’t make things right. Pitting hate against abuse of power doesn’t balance the scales of justice.

Line 5 changes to RESISTANCE. This dynamic repeats through to the end of 2020. I’ll let you decide how it applies to your own experience.

Then, the top line warns, “Take steps to remove flaws in your character. Exercise self-responsibility.”

This advice reflects a basic law of nature. Positive change happens only from the inside out, and one person at a time. Put another way, I can’t expect others to act responsibly towards me unless I first take responsibility for my own attitudes and behavior. That’s why Gandhi told us, “Be the change you want to see.”

This line changes to STILLNESS, another recurrent theme through the end the year:

Again, in perfect synch with the season, STILLNESS plays a central part in equinox celebrations. Practicing meditation is universally recognized as an important step to take towards removing personal flaws.

Also, though STILLNESS is the flip-side of RESISTANCE, both are offshoots of the same rule. Change happens from the inside out, and from smallest to largest.

For this reason, I commented on a video where Pam Gregory describes hellacious astrological influences over the next few months:

. . . after receiving “change” readings from now to year’s end (especially in light of this video’s info), I urge anyone involved in organizing worldwide vigils praying for peace to schedule as many group meditations as possible before the US election.

Rest confident. Even when there’s no physical way to change the world, by stilling the mind and achieving inner peace, we always have the power — individually and collectively — to make a difference.

Finally, when the advice of both changing lines is heeded, the end result is DEVELOPMENT. It looks like this:

In sum: nothing’s going to change over night. There’s no “magic pill.”

Take things one day at a time — consistently, calmly and gently (another recurring theme). Bringing balance back, first inside and then out, is the necessary way out of 2020’s madness.

Again, to repeat from We’re At Critical Mass: 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 doubt.

If you want your very own copy of the Common Sense Book of Change 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.

Redeeming Einstein

After my affinity with Einstein came up at a recent lunch date, the post dedicated to Dr. Joe Dispenza morphed. The new title reflects that change, but the promised subjects of Creativity and Genius fit in perfectly. I promise.

At the Sportman’s Bar in Muscoda, I was telling Courtney, a friendly banker, about my early fascination with Einstein. He was a violinist, as was I. The violin is an instrument that mirrors human anatomy. Names given to its parts reflect this – the neck, back, belly and spine. I grew up thinking of myself as an instrument of consciousness; tuning that instrument has been a life-long quest. And I was certain Einstein resonated with the instrument, that his famous formula reflected this mindset.

The conversation with Courtney went from meditation, to energy centers, to mental metabolism. She intuitively understood what I was saying. It wasn’t all that complicated, I told her. Many teachers express the same basics, but in different ways.

Then it clicked on me. I said, “The greatest, most important ideas can be stated clearly. Simply.”

I was thinking of Einstein’s Unified Field Theory. It perfectly meets Occam’s razor standard of maximum inclusiveness with greatest simplicity.

So I opened to the blank side of a page and sketched the picture of The Unified Field Theory for her. He didn’t recognize what he’d been given, I said, because his thinking was linear. He lacked yoga training and the concept of concentric circles unified around a central core, linked by an infinity sign:

Unified Field Theory

This is how Creativity and Genius are explained, as well as our ability to access them through the quantum field during profound meditation.

The inward path leads towards stillness. Linking with the Universal Mind, one taps into the mind of the Creator and takes a sip of that creativity. The return, outward path manifests what was received in silence. That expression is recognized as a work of genius.

Here’s a modification of the basic Wheel, which to me looks strikingly like a flower:

Wisdom Overcomes Fear

The left-hand side represents the materialist mindset of empirical science. That’s the surface, m = mass level of the Life Wheel. Only what’s observable and measurable is allowed in this reality. The middle, e = energy level associated with emotions and subconscious programming as well as the innermost levels of light and Source are taboo. Ruled out. Which is why Einstein missed it.

Whereas the right-hand side represents the complete experience of a creative, holistic worldview. All the levels are allowed, linked, prioritized and in harmonious, infinite exchange. This is the reality paradigm acknowledged by the ancients.

Now, though by cultural conditioning, Einstein was cut off from a deliberate, consistent experience of wholeness, through music he had flashes of in-sight. When he got stuck, he’d take out his fiddle. The genius of Mozart relaxed and opened his mind. He honored those rare and precious flashes of intuition. He freely admitted that the famous formula came from inspiration, not reason.

I told Courtney how dearly I want this Unified Field Theory with all its implications and applications to reach the general public. And that I recognize the “three amigos” (Joe Dispenza, Gregg Braden and Bruce Lipton) as the ones best qualified to make this happen: their work resonates in wonderfully synchronous ways with the wisdom of the Universal Avatar whom I served.

I owe it to Einstein, I told her, to complete his work. I can only imagine the grief and regret — the absolute horror — he felt when when his work was used to destroy life.

Along parallel lines, working in the corporate world instilled in Gregg Braden a foreboding of annihilation so powerful that he changed careers, in essence to honor Einstein’s warning:

“Our task must be to free ourselves from the prison [of illusory separateness] by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. . . . We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive.”

To redeem the catastrophic misuse of Einstein’s work, the  opposite and equal, unifying and creative uses of his formula must become universally well-known.  

We owe it to Einstein and to ourselves to include this simple, elegant explanation of how meditation works, as well as its potential risks, when teaching others.

And I’ll give you another picture, in OA’s honor, because he was closely aligned with Christ and deeply deplored rampant abuse of biblical teachings. Just as OA was so far beyond human understanding that those who loved him could only accept and gratefully follow him, he told us that the original disciples of Jesus could barely fathom him.

One of the later teachers (forgive me for not doing a Bible search) . . . it was probably Paul . . . likened Christ’s essence to the matrix. That’s the exact word. And this is how I pictured it in Life Wheel context:

Christ Broadcasts

This image likewise suggests the possibility of rebirth in the same lifetime open to meditators with the self-honesty, discipline and grit to overcome limitations of the past.

For the sake of the message, please forgive imperfect presentation. These images were created early on, while I was still teaching myself the basics of blogging and photo-shopping.

But they suffice to give an inkling of how, as old paradigms no longer serve, we can return to this model of creation to envision future sciences that will serve us better . . . new approaches to healing, education, law, community, governance, etc. etc.

Given the opportunity, I would gladly participate in this work. If a more hospitable work environment and resources were made available, there’s so much that could be accomplished. In any case, I invite the three amigos to OWN the UFT. Modify it in as many creative ways as possible. Disseminate it . . . “for the good of all.”

So be it.

Angel Calling

Knowledge, Information & Genius

e = mc2

Where did Einstein’s famous formula e = mc2 come from?

He freely admitted it wasn’t the everyday, rational mind. It came to him unexpectedly, in a moment of revere. He was inspired.

So, what is inspiration? And can the rest of us tap into that level of awareness? If so, how?

Break the word down into its parts. In-spire. Surely breathing in and spiraling upwards has something to do with it.

Dr. Joe Dispenza’s Becoming Supernatural offers practical, science-based methods for tapping in to inspiration. With breathing and meditative practices based Einstein’s vision of quantum reality, he teaches students how to access the field of energy and information. When scientists began studying the sub-atomic world, he says:

They found that atoms, the building blocks of everything in the physical universe, are made up of a nucleus surrounded by a large field containing one or more electrons. This field is so large in comparison with the tiny electrons that it appears to be 99.99999999999 percent empty space.

But, he continues,

The space isn’t actually empty. It’s made up of a vast array of energetic frequencies that make up an invisible, interconnected field of information. . . So everything in our known universe, although it may appear to be solid, is actually 99.99999999999 percent energy or information. {my emphasis}

Now, wrap your head around that one for a minute. The awesome implications packed into this statement have been left pretty much up to our imagination.

Let’s explore. (Please stay with me to the end. I guarantee it’s worth it.)

I want to know, What kinds of information? Where does it come from? What is its source? How are we able to receive and then transform it into language and understanding?

Leaving these questions aside, Dr. Joe directs his attention towards meditative practices designed to raise and transform energy. The purpose is get tangible results that change the future.

I’ve watched numerous of the fascinating testimonials available on Youtube. Students of all ages, genders and many nationalities tell emotional stories of life-changing healings experienced during his week-long workshops. Their reports fill in some of the blanks, answering some of my questions.

More than once, participants described the presence of angels actively participating in miraculous healings. The comment was made that Dr. Joe’s work is making waves “out there,” creating interest and attention from the “higher ups.”

My understanding is that angels serve as messengers. Various on-line dictionaries I checked are more specific. An angel is a “spiritual being superior to humans in power and intelligence.” Angels, they say, act as messengers from God to men, or as agents who carry out His will.

It would seem that the vast amount of information moving about in the quantum field gets channeled or directed, if you will, via intelligent non-physical beings attracted by our desires, prayers, or conscious intention. The ordinary mind images this transfer of information in terms of the familiar– radiant beings with wings.

I’m not too keen on the theology side of this. But the messenger idea seems right. Einstein was visited by an angel who heard his prayers and supplied answers to passionately asked questions during a quiet moment when he was open to receive them.

Angel Calling

Now. Do you believe in angels?

I do.

I didn’t always.

Even into my middle twenties, I didn’t believe in God, much less angels. I didn’t disbelieve. I simply had no direct experience. Nor did it seem to matter much. I was satisfied to live by the old saying, “The reward for a good life is a good life.”

I was trusting and fearless back then, probably more than was wise. As a violinist, I traveled alone to classes and concerts throughout the United States and Europe. It was quite the adventure! Wherever I went, people always appeared to supply the directions, assistance and company I needed to get where I was going safely and enjoyably.

Later, when I later told OA (the one we respectfully called Old Avatar), about these adventures, he smacked his forehead in disbelief. “Your guardian angels were working overtime,” he said.

Though I remembered his words, the implications didn’t register right away. I didn’t take him literally, nor did I ask what he meant.

Today, looking back, I’m sure that during the years when I didn’t know better, my guardian angels used the I Ching, the Chinese Book of Change, to get through to me. What I called intuitive knowing received during quiet-time readings got me safely through the dangerous, hard times. Angelic help came to me in the familiar form I respectfully accepted. (Being free of human ego issues, they’re not interested in receiving credit, only in helping as they’re allowed.) I have no doubt angels communicate through whatever means they can to reach us . . . the Bible, teachers, adventure movies, nature walks . . whatever grabs our willing, open attention.

angel-sized

Now, can we assume, as I did, that the invisible agents supplying information are friendly? That was certainly my early experience.

In fact, once I started reading the Bible, I posted Psalm 91, attributed to my healer-warrior-king ideal, King David, in my notebooks, over my work desk and on the wall by the drawing table to imprint his powerfully protective words indelibly in my mind. Angels are integral to his reality:

9. Because thou has made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation;

10. There shall no evil befall thee, neither any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

11. For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

But OA, my warrior-teacher-best friend, gave me stern caution, reminding me of the flip side possibilities:

11. Put on the whole amour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

12.  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians

The war in heaven playing out, fractile-like, on Earth, was intensely real to him. His connection with Jesus the Christ was profoundly deep, personal and direct. OA confirmed the biblical account of a rebellious faction that refused to acknowledge Christ’s rulership over the angels. Given this division, we can’t safely assume angels are friendly. There are also demons.

Surely the angels attracted to Dr. Joe’s healing sessions love Christ. And healing is central to his legacy. During his life time, Christ drove demons out of afflicted humans to heal them of disease:

18. And they that were vexed with unclean spirits . . . were healed.

19. And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all. Luke 6

Dr. Joe speaks to a broad, international audience, many of whom work in the medical field. Most are unfamiliar, as I long was, with the experience of angels. So, prudently, he speaks about accessing information available in the quantum field without using the “angel” word. Students also speak in terms borrowed from literature and psychology.

For example, Norbert, who attended a workshop in Berlin, wanted to get free of violent, uncontrollable behavior that dismayed and embarrassed him. Sometimes, he said, he was a nice, kind person. Other times, he was consumed with rage. Referring to Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella, he described himself as a Jekyll and Hyde. Snarling, he bared his teeth. It was scary.

But in working to increase self-awareness, he identified an early experience that had been distorted and magnified into a gigantic, tumor-like trauma which generated unbearable feelings of unworthiness and vengefulness. Releasing misinformation and childish emotions from his quantum field restored peace and unity to his life.

Zadkiel - sized

In less optimal situations, when angels and guides present themselves, OA told me to ask, “Whom do you serve?” If they don’t answer saying “Christ,” if they shrink from that name, then you know they aren’t good guys. Without hesitation, send them packing on their way. Command them, “Get thee behind me.” Walk away and don’t look back.

Michael - sized

In conclusion, I’ll offer four brief points to round out the subject of “knowledge and information.”

First, many whose loved ones have crossed over receive comforting information or even warnings from them. This experience confirms traditional beliefs that after separating from the physical shell, soul essence continues to exist in the quantum field. (Think of Demi Moore, Patrick Swayze and Whoppi Goldberg in the 1990 movie Ghost).

One Dispenza student testified that she came to his workshop to open her mind. Unable to communicate with her deceased husband, she dearly wanted make contact. Eventually, she was joyfully able to establish a loving, supportive connection.

I know this to be a very real possibility. OA recently returned home to work directly with his “drinking buddies,” the archangels. From the far side, he continues his work, making just a little bit more time for those committed to completing the work on this side. He’s present with me in all I do, most especially in the writing.

Second, don’t worship angels. That is a mistake. They are only messengers. Suffice it to say here that they aren’t the source of information or blessings, just conduits. We can thank them for their service with gratitude. But they’re not to be defied.

Third, Dr. Joe speaks to a general audience, many of whom work within the medical field and are unfamiliar, as I long was, with the existence of angels. So he speaks and writes in terms of the familiar. However, others teachers doing similar work are in a position to be more up front about their contact with healing angels. Two shining examples are Melanie Tonia Evans and Sarah Hall.

Melanie Tonia Evans has done a remarkable job of working with empaths. She’s a close associate of Dr. Christiane Northrup, but her specific mission is to heal and empower victims of narcissistic abuse. In addition to offering many insightful Youtube videos, she offers a complete course called the Narcissistic Abuse Recover Program (NARP) and membership in her Thriver Community. She speaks freely of receiving divine inspiration from her inner core, and refers to the healing presence of angels throughout her work modules. Thousands world-wide offer high praise for her compassionate, life-saving work.

For those already engaged in spiritual practices and comfortable with angel work, Youtube videos offered by Sarah Hall are powerfully helpful. In them, she recommends routine practices of energetic self-maintenance. These include chakra cleansing, cord cutting, and shielding. With these in mind, I recommend Meditation for Self Love, Psychic Protection with Archangel Michael, and Meditation for Healing with Archangel Raphael.

Fourth, although the two words Knowledge and Information are often paired, technically, they aren’t the same. The differences are important. Knowledge is acquired externally, from the outside world. It fits within the outermost rim — material facts layer of the multi-dimensional Life Wheel. Knowing (information) is internally received. It comes from and resides deeper within the Energy and Light levels of the Life Wheel.

When our energy centers (chakras) are aligned and balanced, it becomes possible to transform intuitive non-verbal knowing received in silence into language — articulate knowledge. This ability is called Genius. Einstein had occasional flashes of this gift.

If you’d like to know more, I wrote a guest article on the difference . Here’s a snippet from it:

Inspired authors are well aware of the important difference between Knowledge and Knowing.

Knowledge most often comes from daily experience, and is subject to change.

Growing up, we first gain what we know about the world from parents or guardians. Later, school teachers, neighbors and peers are added to the knowledge mix. Books and media are also important influences. In combination, these forces solidify to form a mental box of ‘cultural conditioning.’

Knowing, on the other hand, comes from an inner connection with the Universal Source (call it by whatever name – or no name – works best for you).

Knowing can be experienced as intuition, guidance, or conscience. It is a close cousin to the common sense or gut feelings which instinctively warn us to think twice about information supplied by expert authorities. Fluid thinking outside the box comes from the perspective of inner knowing.

book header bird

I hope you’ve found this helpful. At least, let it plant a seed in your mind, making you more open to and aware of what’s possible when you dare to enter the quantum field of reality.

Truth IS . . .

Dr. Jordan B. Peterson says, “Truth is the handmaiden of love. Dialogue is the pathway to truth.”

I say, “Dialogue may be the instrument of coming to common understanding between individuals and amongst groups. But Truth has many levels.”

TruthLevels021713

At the center of the Life Wheel, Truth partakes of the absolute, unchanging source. But ephemeral manifestations of truth depend upon the focus and direction of travel – the inward or outward pathway – within the Life Wheel.

These distinctions serve to solve much confusion. Understanding them simplifies and clarifies experience.

“Hard evidence” partakes of facts and data verifiable by standard research methods. It lives on the ephemeral surface of the Wheel.

The truth of subjective opinions and feelings/emotions is also subject to continuous change. They reside at the middle level.

Absolute, unchanging Truth rests within the innermost center of the Life Wheel. Several bible study blogs elaborate on Truth at this level:

If we ever hope to determine if there is such a thing as truth apart from cultural and personal preferences, we must acknowledge that we are then aiming to discover something greater than ourselves, something that transcends culture and individual inclinations.  To do this is to look beyond ourselves and outside of ourselves.  In essence, it means we are looking for God.  God would be truth, the absolute and true essence of being and reality who is the author of all truth.  If you are interested in truth beyond yourself, then you must look to God.

References include:

Proverbs says, “one who speaks the truth gives honest evidence. (12:17)

Truth is also a quality used to describe utterances that are from the Lord. The psalmist tells God to “guide me in your truth” (25:5); the psalmist asks God to “send forth your light and your truth.” (43:3)

Ultimately, Jesus said,”I am the way, the truth, and the life…” (John 14:6)

Now, the absolute truth experienced and then described in scripture is unfathomable to most of us. As written elsewhere:

“The bad news is, it’s like trying to explain what colors look like to a blind person, or how chocolate tastes to someone who’s never had any.

“The good news, however, is that inner truth can be known by direct experience. And there are means and methods for getting from here to there.”

Were you to ask a Zen master how to achieve enlightenment, the simple answer you’d probably get is: “SHUT UP!”

In gentler form, the Yoga Sutras of Patajani offer the same solution.

As I’ve also written elsewhere, the path of a Truth is a two way street.

To know the truth, be quiet. “Shut Up.” “Be still and know that I AM God.” Travel the inward path from surface to center of the Life Wheel to reunite with the Creative Source experienced as Conscience.

If you want know the world, then reverse course. Move in the opposite direction. Extend outwards from stillness towards the manifest world on the hub of the Wheel.

Lao Tze puts it this way:

01

Phoenix - sized

On another tack, in two separate posts, I’ve written about truth as game. Popular shows you’re probably familiar with include TO TELL THE TRUTH and TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES.

In Yes, AND. . . I wrote:

Bogus claims . . . remind me of the long-running TV game show, “To Tell the Truth.” In this format, three challengers are introduced to a celebrity panel, each claiming to be the featured guest. Impostors can lie and pretend to be the central character. Only the real one is sworn to tell the truth. Panelists are challenged to ask penetrating questions, see through deceptions, and correctly identify the truth teller.

In this game reality, the best liars are rewarded. But that’s not how it works in the real world. There’s nothing entertaining or ultimately rewarding about deceiving the public. Yet, at this stage of history, it’s nigh unto impossible for all but the most discriminating (in the positive sense) to tell the difference between imitators and the “real deal.” Shameless parodies of wisdom traditions abound.

As for Truth or Consequences, it may be well worth your while to check out the entire post. Here’s a snippet:

I remembered this experience while writing about Terry Silver’s three rules for winning an unfair fight. He advised Daniel-san, the Karate Kid:

  • If a man can’t stand, he can’t fight. So break his knees.
  • If a man can’t breathe, he can’t fight. So break his nose.
  • If a man can’t see, he can’t fight. So gouge out his eyes.

Granted, I appreciate what the monkey prohibitions were getting at originally. It has to do with the meditative discipline of Stillness. If the bans are a warning not to get entangled in negative situations that poison mental clarity, not to speak impulsively or slander others, and not to project dark side urges onto others, then fine. Otherwise not.

 

Angel Calling

The Heart Doesn’t Lie

Here’s the dilemma.

The education/information business is an overwhelmingly noisy market place. How can a humble writer with a calling hope to be heard? Is there a way to cut through the cluttered field of competitors out merely to make a big name and bigger buck?

The dark-side method to media madness is that mind-numbing clutter shuts intelligence down. Technology has made it too easy for anyone with a political ax to grind – any agenda however nonsensical or vicious – to build a platform.

The protective, instructive voice of conscience, however, resides in stillness. If people don’t value and have the skills to cultivate peace of mind, they can’t hear conscience. They forfeit the ability to practice conscious discrimination in the original, pristine and positive meaning of the term. They’re rendered helpless, unable to know the difference between true and false messengers.

The logical balance to extreme complexity is to return to utmost simplicity. Scriptures advise, Be still and KNOW, I am God. Listen to the heart of hearts. Not noisy, needy emotions, mind you. But the silent unerring voice of Conscience. It never lies.

You can run. Hide. Deny it. Deceive yourself. But the heart of hearts . . if you have the courage and self-honesty to listen . . . really listen . . never lies. It can’t. It is at one with the truth. Always was. Always will be.

listen with the heart

So this is a call to conscience. Listen with your heart. It will not fool you as to who is who, or what is what.

My immediate dilemma is this. I need to effectively persuade Jordan B. Peterson that I continue to extend cordial greetings him in good faith. That I am a messenger come to meet him half way in good will, offering hard-earned and extraordinarily useful information that completes (neither challenges, competes with nor diminishes) his admirable accomplishments.

That, from opposite sides a perceptual continuum, each us working to complete the same good work. That I persist in communicating because I am listening, without projecting or anticipating outcomes. Simply because it seems like the thing to do.

Naturally, he must be suspicious. And, being very busy, is a bit too quick to judge, assuming the usual worst. Surely his twitter account is inundated with off-the-wall comments.

After a recent post, Fresh Start, I tweeted to Dr. Peterson,“Young women are just as much at risk as young men!” together with the link.

Apparently he didn’t look at my post, but instead on September 27th posted to his account the link to a video I’d already seen, as if to refute a perceived criticism. The header: “More than half a million people have watched this clip: Every young woman needs to see this!”

The video speaks to the idealized mother-child relationship as foundational to civilization, one that is being undermined by demanding careers.

Had he taken my sentence in the context of the full paragraph, the motherhood vs. career issue wouldn’t have seemed the right response.

Here’s the sentence in context:

Though hardly the masculine role model young men crave, I too grieve for their plight. But young women are just as much at risk! For many of them, a gentler, yin perspective on his intensely yang presentation of universal truths is what’s needed to bring his skewed audience numbers into balance.

So I responded, “Yes, BUT . . .”

Among others, one woman commented: “. . you would have a bigger female following if you made more aimed at women.”

A masculine comment reads: “You’re a warrior Prof. An example for us all, keep fighting the good fight.”

My point: Dr. Peterson has tapped into a crying unanswered need. He speaks to it admirably, but only partially. Nor could more be expected of any one person.

I didn’t say there’s no discussion about women. Rather, that the perspective is intensely yang in presentation. From a young man’s point of view, the professor is “an example for us all” (meaning all young men?) of fighting the good fight. Great. We need that.

The woman’s comment, however, also carries weight. More attention to women’s needs would attract a larger female following. Just not from the same, intensely yang perspective, please. It’s not female bodies that are underrepresented so much as the calm, quiet state of mind which is receptive to inner knowing – an energy valence, if you will, which Asians call “yin.”

When I responded with “Yes, BUT . . ,” what I meant to say is that there’s more to women [and men] than the either/or choice between reproduction/family versus lucrative careers. There’s whole universes of other options to choose from, not just the extremes of virgin mothers versus snake-headed monsters. I can tell you this from personal experience, having traded all other opportunities and resources to put the books on the shelves for others that were missing when I dearly needed them.

As a woman, I’ve experienced first hand the consequences of being given equally false either/or choices. But the fact remains, no matter how punitively society dictates to the contrary, like some men, some women are truth seekers. Philosophers. Fascinated by history and alarmed at the course of current events. Who speaks to them? What are their options?

Sigh. I didn’t even bother to tweet out the last post, Be an Instrument of Light, even though I thought it one of my best.

My ordinary rational mind asks, Why bother? Why not focus on winning a lottery? Carry on with daily routines without the fuss and frustration of writing. The odds of a breakthrough are probably about the same, if not better.

But then that pesky inner voice (Dr. Peterson likens it to Pinocchio’s Cricket) answers me back. “Why bother? Because to survive what’s roaring down the pike at breakneck speed, young people, male and female alike, desperately need the complementary view which balances Dr. Peterson’s example, without which results (like the percentages of his following) would continue to be skewed.” (More on this later, in a separate post, Yes, AND . . )

For now, let me share the ongoing dilemma expressed from anther, earlier angle.

To tell the truth - image

Bogus claims . . . remind me of the long-running TV game show, “To Tell the Truth.” In this format, three challengers are introduced to a celebrity panel, each claiming to be the featured guest. Impostors can lie and pretend to be the central character. Only the real one is sworn to tell the truth. Panelists are challenged to ask penetrating questions, see through deceptions, and correctly identify the truth teller.

In this game reality, the best liars are rewarded. But that’s not how it works in the real world. There’s nothing entertaining or ultimately rewarding about deceiving the public. Yet, at this stage of history, it’s nigh unto impossible for all but the most discriminating (in the positive sense) to tell the difference between imitators and the “real deal.” Shameless parodies of wisdom traditions abound.

Hucksters out to make a quick fortune while basking in their 15-minutes of fame misrepresent both their intentions and abilities. The sure-fire get-rich formula “spiritual” entrepreneurs use is to tap into people’s deepest desires and fears. Associate your product with an accepted wisdom tradition to piggy-back on its credibility. On the one hand, offer gullible marks whatever they want; on the other, guarantee protection from the consequences of stupidity.

In a crowded market place full of unscrupulous pretenders, how do messengers of substance and integrity stand out from the noisy crowd? Even screaming isn’t heard over the ruckus.

The only option is to play by the rules – quietly, persistently Tell the Truth.

…

“To Tell the Truth” is the longest-running show in history. It’s not a game, however, nor is it for the faint of heart and spirit. But human survival is at stake.

11th hour

From another angle, I’m concerned that generosity to a fault puts our good warrior Prof at risk of distraction, if not burnout. I’m mindful of a Sufi saying that I’ve found useful as a standard for allocating positive attention:

Sufi saying sized

Put another way, after a certain point, debating noisy protesters and exposing seemingly endless corruption is a bit like wading in quicksand. It’s not good for peace of mind. There are far more important things to do, more productive uses of precious time and attention.

Ah! Perhaps this is what you mean by refusing to play their game.

Ain’t Playing Their Game

Angel Calling

Stillness and Peace

Sometimes words fail me. Keeping quiet seems the better way. To share my immediate preference for silence, I’m offering two earlier approaches to Stillness. The simplest comes from the Common Sense Book of Change. The second elaborates on the first, and as a compliment may prove helpful.

Hexagram 52. STILLNESS

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.

Essay 47 from Conscience offers alternative perspectives on the meditative tradition, practiced throughout the ages around the globe.

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Essay 47. STILLNESS

Knowing where and how to settle the mind, one will become calm.

Having attained calmness, one will be undisturbed.

Having attained an undisturbed mind, one will have peace.

Having attained peace, one’s mind will respond correctly to all situations.

One who responds correctly to all situations will find the way.

— Confucius, Great Commentary. [emphasis added]

“I suggest you begin with such a primary procedure as simply the practice of keeping physically still. . . In developing a calm control it is necessary to think calmness, for the body responds sensitively to the type of thoughts that pass through the mind. It is also true that the mind can be quieted by first making the body quiet. That is to say, a physical attitude can induce desired mental attitudes.” — Norman Vincent Peale, The Power of Positive Thinking

“Taoism advises us to try neither to win nor lose, to seek neither resolution nor impasse, but to study the rising and falling of the way as it moves through the field of our conflict. . . At all times, we search for the center, the fulcrum that creates balance. We stay within the eye of the hurricane. We look for the center, for that is where truth is to be found.” — Brian Muldoon, The Heart of Conflict

THE FRONT

The root of “still” means immobile. By extension, the quality of stillness means being without sound; quiet, silent. It means not moving, stationary, at rest, motionless. It is characterized by little or no commotion or agitation, being tranquil, calm, and serene, like the still water of a lake.

The “where” Confucius refers to in the Great Commentary is the point of focus, called the ajna center, known as the third eye – Muldoon’s “eye of the hurricane.”

The “how” refers to meditative breathing and exercise practices which direct the flow of energy (chi). The intent is to circulate chi freely throughout the subtle nervous system and energy centers, thus linking and harmonizing the interrelated functions of mind and body.

“Peace” refers to inner equilibrium, regardless of whether the external world is in harmony or conflict. “Correctly” refers to behavior in accord with natural and divine law. “The way” refers to the unfathomable Tao, the undivided source of creation.

In the Bible, we’re told, “Be still and know that I am God.” Similarly, in Asian traditions, meditators cultivate a quiet heart through physical stillness to experience the supreme ultimate, Tai Chi.

The practical methods outlined in Patanjali‘s Yoga Sutras are helpful in this regard. This classic lists sequential stages of development, as well as obstacles to be avoided. When the beginner first starts the process of calming and disciplining the mind, temptations arise.

One, for example, is the quicksand of astral experience. Others include “siddhis,” or “powers” – sometimes offered by the “dark side of the force.” The beginner is warned to recognize the important difference between between the multitude of seductive astral voices and the quiet, still voice of conscience.

During initial stages of training, distracting voices are silenced. Discrimination is cultivated. helping meditators recognize the difference between fantasies, old mental impressions and genuine intuition. The goal is to penetrate the clouds of the middle astral/energy level of the Life Wheel in order to access the still, timeless center.

THE BACK

Information overload is the opposite of stillness. Visual and audio clutter pull attention in thousands of fragmenting directions, diminishing personal integration and mental cohesion. In extreme situations, the mind and nervous system shut down in self-defense, going catatonic to close out mind-shattering external influences.

Rigid tension, blocking out whatever was seems threatening or inconvenient, obstructs the relaxed, receptive attitude of genuine stillness. Those who ignore the still voice of inner calling and the good advice of true friends can’t receive help. Impervious minds, deaf ears and hard hearts are perversions of stillness.

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Healing the Past

I highly recommend Brain Longevity by Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D. with Cameron Stauth. They explain how meditation-as-medicine (the “magic bullet”) opens windows to personal transformation. It’s relevant to my LinkedIn post on the nature of Time. So I’ll give you an example of how medical “matter over mind” leads to its compliment, “mind over matter.”

People get “stuck” when they constantly relive the traumas that occurred when they really didn’t have much control over their lives. Specifically, many people can’t “get over” their childhoods, mostly because they suffered painful events then that they really couldn’t control.

Many continuously revive past traumas by recreating similar situations throughout later adult life. However, rather than “acting out” painful memories, some choose to confront their fears under the safe supervision of a therapist. The goal is to recognize unconscious negative patterns and replace them with intentional, positive action.

Meditation, however, takes healing the past to a whole new level.

. . . mind and spirit can heal. . . the space between our thoughts – what the Asian healers “the sacred space” – is where most spirit-directed healing originates.

They continue:

When you meditate and elicit the relaxation response, your mind stops racing with thoughts, and there are longer spaces between your thoughts. The space between thoughts usually feels “timeless.”

The concept of a fourth time/space dimension is familiar from Chinese yoga as well as Einstein’s physics. It repeats in the 1913 classic Sadhana: The Realization of Life by Indian mystic, musician, poet, novelist, painter, teacher, political activist and Einstein contemporary Rabindranath Tagore.

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He wrote:

Yes, we must know that within us we have that where space and time cease to rule and where the links of evolution are merged in unity.

Here then, is the original article:

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ALTERING TIME

The pattern repeats. Three strands emerge and merge to show how the apparently abstract and universal can be importantly relevant in an immediately personal way.

The subject of Time isn’t new. I’ve approached it twice before, both “times” from a practical point of view. Since then, however, I’ve been looking at Time from another perspective to find out how Einstein, experienced sages past and present, as well as science fiction writers describe its nature. Their views are in some ways similar, but in others importantly different.

Above all, what does all this mean to every day people like you and me? And why does it matter NOW?

If matters a great deal, for example, whether what we regard as the past is immutable/unalterable as if cast in stone. Or if, instead, as some say, it is possible to alter – even heal – a fluid past and thereby create a more hopeful, alternative future. If this truly is possible, HOW can we – you and I – alter at least a few minuscule threads in the fabric of time?

Strand ONE. If we compare Einstein’s comments regarding time, it seems he was of two (or more) minds about it. In his last years, consistent with ancient scriptures, he concluded that past, present and future exist simultaneously. In his 1952 book, Relativity, he wrote:

It appears therefore more natural to think of physical reality as a four dimensional [time-space] existence, instead of, as hitherto, the evolution of a three dimensional existence.

This conclusion, however, is the objective overview of a reflective senior scientist. In contrast, and not necessarily a contradiction, he earlier described a highly subjective and situational aspect to perceived time:

When you sit with a nice girl for two hours, you think it’s only a minute. But when you sit on a hot stove for a minute, you think its two hours. That’s relativity.

Strand TWO. In the context of writing an invited article for the international journal Prabuddha Bhrata, I was so bold as to speculate about the prophecized End of Times:

. . . We are now enduring the decline described as the Kali Yuga. Christ similarly foretold the End of Times. . . . [Yet] Time does not exist for accomplished sages who dwell in the changeless center of the Life Wheel. To enlightened beings, it is but an illusion. They experience themselves as eternal, at one with the Creator. For them, life will go on whether or not the world as we now know it continues.

To the point, in an post to my personal website, I quoted a marvelously articulate and entertaining book, The Tao of Meditation:Way to Enlightenment, by Tsung Hwa Jou. Experienced practitioner as well as author of a balanced tripod of books on Tai Chi and the I Ching as well as meditation, Mr. Jou describes the difference between three- versus four-dimensional experiences of time in terms of tadpoles and frogs.

A mother frog, so the story goes, answered her babies’ questions about sunlight, trees and land by telling them they must wait until they mature, shed their tails and swim to the surface of the pond to experience the beyond for themselves:

We who philosophize about time, we who are limited to three dimensions are like a school of tadpoles wondering about another world. Until we too are able to “drop our tails” and step into that dimension, time must remain a subject of speculation to us, as a drinking glass is to a shadow. Until we can experience time as a dimensional context, it must remain a flat reflection to us as the upper world is to the water-bound tadpole.

With Einstein at the end of his years, Mr. Jou agrees that time cannot be measured in discrete units, but rather, is a unified a fabric, a continuum in another dimension complete unto itself. But whereas Einstein arrived at his conclusion through abstract deduction, Mr. Jou was an experienced practitioner.

In sum, he agrees with other accomplished meditators. The concept of beginnings and endings is the subjective perception of limited, three-dimensional experience. Without making claims, he modestly asks:

What is the shape of life from a four-dimensional point of view? . . . Suppose there are sentient beings who have a natural capacity to see the four-dimensional shape of things. They could tell us what the shape of our life is; that is, they could see all at once what to us is separated as past, present and future.

Why does he bother to share this information? Mr. Jou’s Motive, his WHY appears to be a kindhearted desire to share wisdom received from direct experience, for which he is infinitely grateful. His Purpose, the HOW is to detail in a book the methods and benefits of meditation along with the supporting science which explains its effectiveness. His Intended end result, the WHAT, is to give readers a time-tested way to improve the quality of daily life for both individuals and their social combinations:

If people began to think past [sic. beyond] the limitation of three-dimensions, there would be more respect between men in the business of living together for the common good. Three-dimensional tensions would dissolve, and a spirit of cooperation and mutual generosity would spring up in human affairs.

To repeat, as Einstein warned, “We shall require a substantially different manner of thinking if mankind is to survive.” Perhaps that manner of thinking requires the courageous willingness and competence to enter an entirely different dimension of experience — a Star Trek-like journey through inner rather than outer space. This requires not only acquiring the theoretical concept of four-dimensional time which Einstein held, but further, its immediate, direct experience as consistently reported by accomplished meditators.

To take this the next step, however, even immediate personal experience is not enough. For completion of the infinite loop, inner attainment then requires application of awareness to the outer world of experience, changing relationships and even institutional governance for the better. Sound like science fiction? For the most part, Yes. Which leads to:

Strand THREE. By coincidence (if there is such a thing), I was recently lent a science fiction book, Beth Benrobich’s The Time Roads. I chose to read it simply as a diversion.

Science fiction generally treats time travel as a hybrid of three- and four-dimensional experience. Past, present and future are understood to be happening simultaneously. However, the characters are only capable of being in one place “at a time.” Moving from a current time location to a different one requires machines.

The premise of this particular story was familiar from Amelia Pond’s dilemma in Dr. Who episodes, where dangerously expanding cracks in Time threaten to shatter and END it altogether. Scientists specializing in math and physics explore the mechanical possibility of traveling to either the past or future by moving along tears in the fabric of time. Political motives to alter history contaminate scientific inquiry. Madness, grotesque murders, bazaar explosions and scrambled perceptions of violent events follow. So far, nothing unusual to this genre.

But then, an unexpected surprise. (Spoiler alert!) A reconciliation occurs. A brief visit to the future allows the heroine to discover a plot in time to confront would-be traitors and redirect their plans. For reasons equally compassionate and astute, the red-haired Queen of Ēire extends mercy instead of retribution, and in so doing forges new pathways to a hopeful future. Long story short, in the end, the murders and violent upheavals never happened. Time lines are healed. In the process, both past and future are altered.

This surprise ending is a filled with fascinating implications, suggestive of radically important possibilities, directly relevant to the immediate discussion.

NOW, how do these strands weave together, and how might this information be usefully applied on a personal level? How can tadpole-like humans limited to three-dimensional consciousness bridge the illusory disconnects of time without the aid of high-tech machines?

I confess that, although familiar with political and fiction fascination for travel through both time and outer space, I find the very real inner possibilities closer to home much more interesting. For time as a quantifiable third-dimension experience remains plastic insofar as that, by changing subjective perceptions of the our personal past, we each have the possibility to heal that past and thereby alter the future.

In this, forgiveness is an important key. I know, for example, that whenever I hold a grudge, it distorts and even fractures the fluidity of present time. The baggage of fear, resentment and negative expectations layered onto an initial awful experience locks me in the time of the perceived injury. This seriously distorts my possible futures.

By letting go of injuries (naming them would only confirm and magnify the undesirable “reality” to be left behind), I can return my exclusive focus to the present moment and thereby expand the range of my possible positive futures.

Is this possible on larger scales of magnitude as well? I suspect so. Skeptics ridicule dire End of Times warnings. Repeatedly, disasters seem to loom, only to elude us as deadlines pass without catastrophe. But – just may be – white magicians are continuously working behind the scenes in the fourth dimension to heal the past- present-future as did the Queen of Ēire in science “fiction,” unrecognized and unrewarded except for the satisfaction of having ensured human survival – at least for a short while longer.

I think perhaps, just perhaps, every time every one of us forgives, releases the past, and alters our attitudes for the better, we are contributing, one person at a time, to an extension of the future we’ve been mercifully granted in which to improve our ways, thereby entering the fourth dimension before it’s too late and Einstein’s warning is fulfilled for those who fall between the cracks.

What do you think?

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Happy One-Year Anniversary

October marks the one-year anniversary of the +A Positive Action Press WordPress website, RethinkingSurvival.com. Looking back, I’m amazed at the way daily, incremental baby-steps have added up.

With the help of (sometimes) forbearing computer savvy friends, I’ve gone from cut-and-paste technology to working with a photo-shop clone to produce illustrations. Starting with no marketing skills and less interest, I’ve swallowed my pride and actually gotten interested in the process. From being overwhelmed by Twitter, I now really enjoy direct messaging with savvy, fun new folks. Certainly limiting myself to messages of 140 characters or less has significantly altered my writing style for the better. : )

So tonight I thought I’d take a break from my current projects to revisit the Essay on Practice from Conscience. Written in the year 2000, it’s not in my current voice. But it speaks to my immediate appreciation for the benefits of daily discipline.

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27. PRACTICE

Each T’ai Chi movement is related to a particular hexagram of the I Ching. This relationship holds vital clues to a deeper understanding of Chinese thought which, like all valid world-views, is based on knowledge of the self gleaned from the practical experience of meditation. — Dal Liu, Tai Chi Ch’uan and I Ching: A Choreography of Body and Mind

Practice is essential. Through regular practice, you will become familiar with the feeling of being relaxed. You will find that you can achieve results with shorter and shorter practice sessions. You will become like a pianist who is ready to play a beautiful Mozart sonata as soon as her hands touch the keyboard. — Kenneth S. Cohen, The Way of Qigong

One should never rush in entering Taoism. . . One must proceed step by step, never advancing to the next stage until one is ready. One need not fret. If one discharges one’s tasks and proceeds with training perseveringly, then the transitions are virtually automatic. — Deng Ming-Dao, Chronicles of Tao

THE FRONT

Practice means to do or engage in frequently, make a habit or custom. It means to do repeatedly in order to learn or become proficient; to exercise or drill oneself. Practice is using one’s knowledge, as in a profession. To practice is to adhere to beliefs or ideals. It means to teach or train through exercise. An archaic definition suggests intrigue, trickery, or scheming.

Practice is closely related to the words discipline and preparation. It implies the ability to anticipate the future and make decisions about how best to make ready for it. It was the practice of Chinese emperors to consult ministers and sages for information on how to prepare for the future. They, in turn, consulted the I Ching to decide the best ways to adjust to alternating seasons of hardship and plenty in order to maintain social, political and economic equilibrium.

By biblical account, Joseph was sold into slavery by jealous older brothers and taken to Egypt. Thus, he found himself in the right place at the right time to fulfill his destiny. By correctly interpreting Pharaoh’s dreams, he saved countless lives, including those of the brothers whom he forgave.

He foresaw coming changes in nature and drew conclusions as to how prepare for the future. The practice of disciplined conservation during seven years of plenty allowed Pharaoh to feed his people during the seven years of drought which followed, thus preventing starvation, mass suffering and social upheaval.

Applications to current economic practices should be abundantly clear. Squandering resources during times of abundance is a sure recipe for famine, widespread misery and unrest when the rhythmic pendulum of history swings, replacing times of plenty with times of hardship. Wishing and hoping current “good” times will last forever because we want them to, refusing to heed clear warning signs that they never do, foolishly puts everyone at risk.

Music is a demanding discipline which emphasizes the importance of regular practice, preparing in advance to perform well. Similarly, martial arts instill respect for regular practice, cultivating the ability to adjust quickly and skillfully to sudden danger. In this case, the body itself is the instrument and tuning it a fine art. As Chuck Norris says, “Practice, practice, practice! Practice can save your life.” God forbid you’ll ever be attacked. But be ready.

Through the daily practice of meditation balanced by Tai Chi meditation-in-action, it is possible to make teachings real through experience, fulfilling the maxim “Learn by doing.”

Then, with sustained focus and loving attention, everyday activities and relationships are transformed into spiritual and martial arts training. Practice becomes a way of life, an ongoing proof of commitment in action. It’s not just a few hours set aside from the rest of the day. Nor is it to be flaunted, foolishly attracting envy and vengeance.

In Cleary’s translation of The Taoist I Ching, meditation and action alternating in rhythmic sequence are described as equally important complements. Inner stillness develops the abode of rest. Action completes and tests the abode of rest. Progress achieved by steady, gradual, consistent efforts accomplishes far more than dramatic spurts of activity that can’t be sustained over time.

Understanding the philosophy and science of the I Ching intellectually is relatively easy. Putting it into practice is more of a challenge. It’s not like something memorized for class, and then you’ve got it forever. It requires consistent attention and renewal, applying the readings to myriad kaleidoscope changes during the ongoing process of a lifetime.

THE BACK

The opposite of practice is lack of foresight and disciplined preparation for the future. Aesop’s fable of the race between the tortoise and the hare captures the difference between making steady progress toward a goal and the lazy assumption of inevitable victory, sleeping until it’s too late.

Enforced drilling is an inadequate substitute for intelligent practice. Mechanical repetitions without understanding and involved commitment are pointless. Repeating affirmations instead of taking positive action doesn’t produce quality results.

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It Is Possible to Make A FRESH START

I started “A Fresh Start is Urgently Necessary” by saying two coincidental things happened that day. I described the first, the internet being down. (Turns out a heedless farmer severed a fiber optic cable.) The second had to wait until today. Namely, I connected the dots between an overnight YouTube music search and the challenges inherent in presenting the  timeless I Ching to the Millennial generation in a way they can identify with and own.

For starters, here’s the Common Sense Book of Change version of Hexagram 18.

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FRESH START

Even when it seems that all has been spoiled,

it is possibleto make a FRESH START.

Be willing to face your faults.

Find out how to correct them.

The situation will gradually improve

if you are sincere and work hard.

Be sure you know what you want.

Avoid delay.

The unfamiliar graph is called a hexagram. It’s an ancient short-hand method for expressing countless generations of experiential wisdom about the correspondence between chi (energy) flow in the human mind/body (the microcosm) and in the universe (the macrocosm). In yogic philosophy, these six lines correlate with six basic chakras (wheels, or subtle energy centers) located at intersections along the human spine. Each of the centers is associated with specific developmental stages. A primary purpose of yogic practices is to awaken, balance and integrate these levels of experience.

The straight and broken lines of the hexagram are a binary-digital way of expressing alternating, expanding and contracting life rhythms. In the Book of Change, any or all of the six lines can change into its opposite. This results in 64 possible permutations. It’s not coincidence that the ancient I Ching and modern DNA patterns are exact correlates. This is one explanation for the healing effects of medical sciences based on the I Ching hexagrams.

Admittedly, the specifics are beyond my comprehension, for the most part because I trust from experience in the practical results. Just as I use my computer without a deep understanding of how it operates, I have benefited greatly from working with the I Ching and its off-shots. Both sciences, modern and ancient, for many of the same reasons, simply work.

To carry forward the question — When the Lights Go Out, Who Will Millennials Call? (see wp.me/p46Y5Z-cm) — consider this. If/when today’s hospitals are rendered inoperable by grid failures, and/or healthcare as we know it is made unavailable due to social-political malfunctions (like Obama un-care, for example), where can we turn for practical health sciences that maintain health and heal dis-eases? Modern medicine as a profession and a social-political corporate conglomerate has become, for many people, for many reasons, a nightmare. We especially need a Fresh Start in this important area of our lives.

My short answer: long after grid-dependent lights go out, the same basics that work seeming magic with the I Ching will still be available to those familiar with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) methods — including Chi Kung and Tai Chi. The sooner people become fluent in the self-healing arts, the better off — for countless reasons — most of us will be.

I’ve been emphatically told by the one I most trust that “The mind will play any tune you ask it to.” When he speaks, I unpack every word. (He doesn’t waste them.) There is more meaning to this key than simply “Mind over matter” or “Beliefs generate results,” though in terms of self-healing these are included. Training the mind as a musical instrument to skillfully, deliberately apply the I Ching‘s 64-permutations of dynamic “if-then” consequences (analogous to existing computer-driven chess games) would greatly enhance one’s ability to recognize prevailing self-defeating tunes. Further, one could discover better tunes, decide which to play when, and learn how to “ask the mind” to play them.

Advanced meditators describe hearing a celestial “music of the spheres.” Just imagine, if you will, what wondrous music is available to those with “ears to hear.”

Much of I Ching-based philosophy focuses on understanding how fluctuating energy patterns affect human behavior, as well as how they can be used to create harmonious relationships and orchestrate viable institutions of governance. Much has been spoiled by lack of awareness of these patterns (tunes) and ignorance as to how to steer institutions effectively. By reintroducing this vital information, correcting what I have repeatedly described as a “fatal information deficit,” the damage resulting from such ignorance could be repaired and a Fresh Start initiated.

Unfortunately, much of this tradition has a very bad “rep.” It’s been spoiled by a complex mix of misunderstanding, misapplication, and misrepresentation. For example, when I went on YouTube looking for music (the second coincidence I mentioned earlier — see wp.me/p46Y5Z-cJ), what I had in mind was chakra/DNA healing ragas. What I found instead was a commercialized, psychedelic offering of “feel good” audio engineering. Comments likened listening to taking psychotropic drugs that induce the illusion of mind-altering experience. They raved about hallucinations experienced while tripping and listening at the same time.

My Aha: So much of what has been spoiled and cries out for a Fresh Start is the I Ching itself. Today it needs to be approached from the modern science of mind-exploration. It needs to be repackaged as a delightful, game-oriented Lumosity experience, but founded on a profoundly motivating purpose: human survival. Not unlike the Christian tradition, which has suffered greatly in the wrong hands for centuries, the timeless wisdoms must be “reinvented” and approached as if new: First time, every time.

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It’s the 11th hour, for sure. But, as it has been written, With God all things are possible –including, even, at this late hour, a Fresh Start. But the clock is ticking. God — the Tao — is infinite. Time is not.

Rethinking DISCRIMINATION

Saturday morning, May 17th, while browsing on Twitter, I happened upon the question, “Is Affirmative Action still necessary?” I tweeted straight back, “It was NEVER necessary. The goals are still valid; the legislation missed the point, triggering backlash without valid solutions.” On second thought, I tweeted “AA my thesis subject; response not made lightly; see  http://wp.me/p46Y5Z-7h. All best!”

Then, out of curiosity, I looked up the folks who asked. It’s a suspiciously faceless group using the same familiar but empty buzz words that attract all, but satisfy none. “Change is Coming. Engage. Unite. Inspire.”

It’s my ongoing work to take back and revitalize the language. Change is my subject. The Unified Theory inherent in Einstein’s famous formula is the message. Reinventing democracy by inspiring careful thinkers to Positive Action is my intended result.

Hence, today’s blog is dedicated to the history behind my answer. Take time to balance the overlooked neutral and positive meanings of “discrimination” with the overworked negative ones. It’s important.

An earlier blog posted on January 5, 2014, I spoke to a comment about discrimination made on “Off the Record” by Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren. She said racism exists and it’s terrible. But using the race card wrongfully is just as bad. Public figures who stir up the pot are dividing the nation, not healing it. They’re doing a real disservice to those with valid grievances. She called for “Real Solutions to Solve Real Racism.” I agreed whole-heartedly.

I continued, “Bottom line: exploitation is an energy dynamic, a symptom of self-destructive imbalance. To the extent that individuals operate on incomplete, inaccurate and false paradigms, they remain insecure, unconscious and functionally disconnected from their higher potentials. Out of that pain and suffering, like Kissinger, like Soros in the extreme, they will continue to feel justified in dominating, controlling and exploiting whomever they can, however they can — playing out power addictions with hypocritical talk of philanthropy.

“Affirmative Action legislation has not changed these dynamics — nor, as discussed earlier, could it. Looking in the wrong places doesn’t help. Tacking Affirmative Action legislation as an overlay on the surface level, while failing to address a deeper, divisive worldview, couldn’t help, and most likely would make matters worse.

“Blaming outside enemies as an excuse to avoid self-examination and correction is a futile waste of precious time and energy. Although venting frustration in politically motivated social movements — even terrorism and outright war — may temporarily feel good, it doesn’t address the underlying paradigm deficiency that drives hatred, violence and injustice. It therefore can’t put an end to catastrophic outcomes.”

Here then, is the supporting Essay from Conscience: Your Ultimate Personal Survival Guide.*

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19. DISCRIMINATION

“Relying more on the social scientists than on legal precedents . . the Court insisted on equality of the mind and heart rather than on equal school facilities. . . . Brown symbolizes the Good America, rather than the country that slaughtered Native Americans, subordinated women, and enslaved blacks. — Jack M. Balkin, What “Brown v. Board of Education” Should Have Said

Dealing exclusively on a rational level with an issue like discrimination which is deeply emotion-laden (sub-rational) on the one hand, and highly value-laden (super-rational) on the other, fails to acknowledge and draw on the levels where problems begin and where solutions can be found. — Patricia West, “Positive Action: The Next Generation”

Seeing and hearing are like food and drink; you need them every day, but you also need to digest and eliminate them every day. If they are not digested and eliminated thoroughly, they remain in the gut, eventually producing illness. — Taoist Meditation, trans. Thomas Cleary.

THE FRONT

Three levels of definition attribute opposite, contradictory meanings to the single word discrimination. In the last century, failure to recognize and sort out this confusion resulted in muddled perceptions of purpose, inconsistent implementation and half-hearted compliance with Affirmative Action legislation.

The Oxford English Dictionary’s rational definition of discrimination posits a neutral function of mind. To discriminate is to distinguish with the mind or intellect; to perceive, observe, or note the difference in or between. As an analytical tool, discrimination is the neutral function of mind used to dissect a situation’s parts and deduce cause/effect relationships amongst them. As a tool, effects of its use, whether creative or destructive, depend on the motives and competence of the user.

The last given definition adds a preposition: against. To discriminate against is to make an adverse distinction in regard to, to distinguish unfavorably from others. This negative definition is the sub-rational use. It describes abuse of the critical faculty of mind to separate, distance and subordinate others, and to rationalize exploitation. Discrimination as a function of biased, negative emotions such as fear, hate, envy, arrogance or greed is the polar opposite of objective analysis.

Still further from the rational meaning of discrimination is its super-rational definition. It is not included in The Oxford English Dictionary. However, in Eastern scriptures, the highest function of mind is called buddhi (hence the name Buddha), translated into English as the power of discrimination.

This usage alludes to the ability to see through deceptive illusions, to recognize the eternal in the midst of change, to be aware of all-pervading spirit operating within gross material forms. While rational discrimination is neutral and sub-rational discrimination has separatist results, the super-rational function of discrimination is unifying in effect.

Depending on the user’s mind-set, the I Ching can be used to serve rational, sub- or super-rational motives. Ideally, it’s used to facilitate the process of mental metabolism. When the senses are overloaded with impressions, the Book of Change can be approached as a discipline for settling down and organizing one’s thoughts sufficiently to define the immediate situation and ask questions about it.

As negative emotions surface, they’re named and released, not unlike the process of separating toxins from useful nutrients, eliminating them as waste. Rational thoughts are then simplified, prioritizing essentials and aligning them to basic purpose. Then, when emotions and rational mind are harmonized and stilled, the higher mind is invoked.

It is in this state of tranquil revere that one pierces the veil of ordinary thought, allowing the transcendent awareness attributed to genius to come forward. Einstein, for example, acknowledged that his famous e = mc2 formula came in a flash of inspired contemplation. He faulted his peers for what he called the “fateful fear of metaphysics,” a pernicious prejudice that’s easily as dangerous as racism or sexism.

THE BACK

Mercy and compassion ameliorate the effects of negative discrimination. Introspective activities like self-analysis and use of the I Ching promote the positive capacity to discriminate, make correct decisions, and act wisely. In human law, the opposite of discrimination is justice and equity. In an equitable society, wisdom is promoted as the foundation of harmony and order.

The discipline of positive discrimination is neglected in an unjust world. Ruthless extortionists in positions of political power will kill to prevent discriminating thinkers from recognizing and opposing their abuses. Tyrants promote negative discrimination. They exploit hatred, weakening the people by turning them against each other, conquering by dividing them.

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What “Brown v. Board of Education” Should Have Said. Ed. Jack M. Balkin. (New York

University Press: New York, 2001.) pp. 4-5.

Patricia West, Positive Action: The Next Generation of Affirmative Action. Unpublished paper. (Madison, WI, 1976).

Taoist Meditation: Methods for Cultivating a Healthy Mind and Body, trans. Thomas Cleary. (Shambhala: Boston, MA, 2000.) P. 57.

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* See the Conscience Page for illustrations, description of the structure-within-structure format of the Sixty-Four Essays, an overview of CONSCIENCE: Your Ultimate Personal Survival Guide, and an alphabetical list of the Essays.