Tag Archives: self-awareness

Choose Wisely, My Friend

THE EXISTENTIAL ISSUE

It is widely held that knowledge is power.

It’s also widely known that power corrupts.

This begs the important questions, What is power? Where does it come from?

For example, Eckart Tolle tells us about The Source of True Power. Consistent with the Quantum Paradigm, he speaks of an inner light that dispels the darkness of ignorance and human suffering.

In Life Wheel context, power takes on new meanings at each, increasingly deeper level. Energy, vitality, emotional maturity, self-mastery and spiritual wisdom are all pieces of the larger power puzzle.

However, in the empirical science paradigm, only the m=mass surface of the Life Wheel exists. The inner levels of e=energy and c=light are ruled out. In this world view, power is exclusively a matter of physical strength, ownership and control. All things — including human beings and other life forms — are simply objects to be owned, dominated and controlled.

From this limited perspective, world-domination wannabes continue to make the same mistake. Like the song, Everybody Wants To Rule the World, emperors of ancient China assumed their country was the Center of the world. Outsiders were mere barbarians to be subordinated.

Not to be outdone, in the name of Christianity, Europeans later conquered “natives” in the Americas, India, China and Japan.

Coming back circle, the CCP now seeks revenge, upping the ante of the vicious circle in spades. Trading on general ignorance of Natural Law, human nature and methods of self-mastery, they play on lust, greed, pride and fear to seduce, compromise and control their enemies.

What misguided rulers everywhere overlook is that civilizations are ephemeral. They come and go on the surface of the Life Wheel while the timeless Source of power abides deep within at the Center.

Real Genius, the 1985 science fiction comedy film starring Val Kilmer and Gabriel Jarret captures the contrast. These heroes not only think like a genius. They ACT like geniuses. Set in competition against each other by greedy professors and military leaders, they join forces instead. Rather than creating a nuclear weapon, they organize a hilarious, world-class prank.

True to the Life Wheel, lyrics of the movie’s background music capture the essence of this story. “Nothing lasts for ever. Turning our backs on mother nature backfires. Creating weapons of nuclear war reflects lack of vision.”

* * *

THE ULTIMATE CHOICE

Since knowledge as power has been abused to selfish, destructive ends throughout history, wisdom traditions must be continuously be repaired and re-visioned to overcome distortions.

The age-old power question remains. Which side are you on? Do you operate from the belief that Might Makes Right? Or from the understanding that Right Makes Might?

As end-stage 2020 is at risk of erupting into orchestrated civil war, the following image and pair of verses clarify the choice before us:

CHOOSE WISELY, MY FRIEND!

In fact, it’s okay – not only possible but wise, to make both America AND China great again, each in their own way. Greatness isn’t an either/or choice.

But believing any country could ever be the Center of the world is a different subject. It’s simply stupid. Obsolete. To place any country or person above others is a mistake that cannot stand. Not possible. Depending on the seriousness and size of that false claim, it ranges from silly to deeply dangerous.

One of countless variations on that mistake is saying, “God is great,” meaning “only my religion’s concept of God is great. Death to all who follow any religion other than mine.”

To repeat: God at the Center abides without prejudice within each and every one of us. The Center of the Life Wheel is the Source of greatness for any and all who hear and honor the voice of conscience.

POWER TO THE PEOPLE

Why are truth traditions, including the I Ching, out of fashion? In part, because knowledge is power, a commodity rulers want to hide and hoard to themselves. In pristine form, made widely available, access to Source made possible through wisdom traditions gives power to the people. For example, in the last cycle, Martin Luther’s translation of the Bible, giving it to the people to read for themselves for the first time, was a major leap forward.

At end-stage 2020, truth at every level is being systematically distorted, ridiculed and suppressed to keep ordinary Hobbit deplorables in the dark. Material facts as well as religious freedom are being ruthlessly suppressed.

But two wrongs don’t make a right. Because the venerable I Ching has been forsaken by the Chinese doesn’t mean Westerners should follow suit, imitating disrespect, tit for tat.

Correctly used, the I Ching, serves as a means for reconnecting the ordinary mind with inner guidance and conscience. Too often, people use it to figure out how to get whatever it is they want. Dilutions are endless. For example, The Art of War uses the dynamics of Natural Law to win in conflict. Whether your goal is to protect innocents from harm or to destroy them is irrelevant.

Many corruptions apply I Ching principles to winning in business . . at all costs. For example, Number 10 of The 36 Stratagems is called either Hide a Knife in a Smile, Conceal a Knife Behind a Smile, or Use Kindness to Hide Cruelty. Here’s how it’s done:

Act as if you are harmless or a friend in order to get close. Then suddenly attack.

Give gifts and send formal delegations of friendship. Sign treaties. Host sumptuous parties. Show every sign of respect and concern for them until they trust you completely (or at least enough for you to achieve your goals).

Make friends with their key officials who have important information. Make these more loyal to you (or otherwise bribe or blackmail them) so they will betray their employers.

Plot your moves in deepest secret and unleash them at speed so there is no chance for reprisals, counter-attack or other ways of defending.

Sound familiar?!!!

In such perversions, deceit, back-stabbing and betrayal come highly recommended as “fair game.” In reviewing Strategy 10, it seems the CCP isn’t the only one borrowing from the book to undermine elections. Either Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and media elites have been infiltrated and become weaponized tools of anti-American censorship by communist enemies, or else they’ve voluntarily schooled themselves in the corrupt, business-as-war mentality.

American patriots at end-stage 2020 who have been targeted by exactly this kind of dark-side warfare keep good company with Julius Caesar and even Christ.

How do we protect ourselves and those we care for? Is there a remedy? Of course. Cultivate self-awareness, deeper than deep. Read your Bible. Follow the Ten Commandments. Seek refuge in truth traditions in their pristine form. They trump superficial perversions every time. In the words of General Michael Flynn spoken to the crowd gathered in Washington D.C. on 12-12-20:

We will win the spiritual battle for the heart and soul of the nation. We are in a crucible moment. The Truth will prevail. We fight with faith and courage. We will knock down the Jericho walls of the deep state with light and truth. Truth will always triumph over lies.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Links to 2020 Harvest Full Moon Videos

Research on the Aires harvest full moon took on a life of its own. Reporting at length in the October 1st blog would have missed the mark. So, for those wanting to know more about astrological implications of this crossroads full moon, I’m publishing a separate spin-off listing notable videos on the subject.

This sample of astrologers represents a wide variety of ages, locations, and personal histories. Each offers a unique approach. Even the video titles tell you as much.

British astrologist Pam Gregory is my personal favorite. She balances vast intellect with dignified sincerity, a sparkle of sweetness and deep love of nature. She applies detailed analysis of planetary and asteroid aspects to historical and political events.

A huge Joe Dispenza fan, she urges followers to use astrology as a tool for increasing self-awareness. At this crossroads of an exceptionally turbulent year, she advises listeners not to get caught up in the intense drama. Instead, focus on the better future now in the painful process of being born.

Pam recognizes 2020 as the long-foreseen “deconstruction of the old order.” Patterns repeating in the sky haven’t been seen since times of similar upheavals in Europe during the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance.

Year-long patterns are being intensified by the presence of transiting Mars challenging slower moving planets in a status quo location. At this turbulent time, we have two options. We can get caught up in the drama and repeat old mistakes — which would perpetuate the past. OR, we can shift to a higher level of consciousness, learn from ways we missed the mark, and create a better future.

She chooses a video title that’s simple and to the point: Full Moon in Aries 1st October 2020.

My next choice is an astrologer who supports ten years of professional practice with a broad background. Acyuta-bhava Dasa is the initiate name of this Bakti Yoga teacher. He was raised in the Midwest as a pastor’s son, though also refers to lessons learned during ayahuasca ceremonies performed in South America. Hhe’s married to a nutritionist and is father of two young girls.

He describes Mars transits in October as the most “monumental” time of a turbulent year.

His approach uses astrology to support yoga practice. Video content combines tech-savvy computer demos with quotes from scriptures both biblical and yogic. There’s even an occasionally mention of the I Ching. (Not my version. ☺)

Here, depth of spiritual conviction is balanced with a keen sense of humor. An impressive breadth of scholarship is off-set by devotion to family and compassion towards students.

 

The rest follow in no particular order.

Angel reader Melanie Beckler calls her reading 5 Things You Need to Know About The FULL MOON October 1st!

Melanie describes the full moon energy as a continuation of dynamics set in motion at the fall equinox of September 22nd. (Traditionally, the first full moon following the change from summer to autumn is called the “harvest” full moon.)

She focuses on the theme of balance, also the subject of my equinox blog, Bringing Balance. Using terms that evoke the Life Wheel structure, her comment reads, “The October 1st Full Moon in Aries energetically offers a key point of coming into balance and alignment with your Core Truth and highest self.”

Sarah Hall offers a Full Harvest Moon Angel Reading from October 1-15, 2020. In the comment section, she summarizes : “This full harvest moon will be ushering in an intense month of heated energy shifts. But, with the right approach, big healing and opportunity is possible!”

American astrologist Kelley Rosano describes the Aries Full Moon on October 1st as The GREAT RESET.

Mexican astrologist Nadiya Shah titles her video THE MOST IMPORTANT WEEK OF THE YEAR + Aries Full Moon Sept 27- Oct 3 2020.

British astrologer and tarot card reader Gregory Scott titles his approach Take control of your life! Full Moon in Aries 1 October 2020.

The header of Molly McCord’s YouTube reading is Oct 1 ♈ Aries Full Moon ~ New Light Codes Support Higher Healing Potentials.

Here’s an excerpt from her comment section:

October begins with a dynamic Aries Full Moon at 9 degrees that brings in new light and awareness to Chiron’s journey in your chart. The Moon is conjunct Chiron [retrograde] in Aries and providing an opening into what you’ve been healing, developing, and understanding about yourself this year.

. . . Mars [retrograde] in Aries is the ruler of this Full Moon, and he is frustrated by his ongoing squares to all three planets in Capricorn – Jupiter, Pluto, and Saturn. . . . . The push-pull between what you want and where you have to ‘stay the course’ is real – but new concepts around Self-Leadership are emerging . . .

FYI, in Greek mythology, Chiron was a centaur – half man- half horse, half human-half god. (His father disguised himself as a horse at the time of conception). Apollo, the Sun god, fostered Chiron and taught him about music, lyre, archery, medicine and prophecy. He became a great healer of others.

Ironically, in the end, wounded by Hercules, he was unable to heal himself.

In astrology, Chiron’s name and symbolism is associated with a comet/asteroid discovered in 1977 by Charles Kowal. The symbol for Chiron looks like a key. It’s made up an “O” and a “K”, which stands for “Object Kowal,” the original name assigned to his discovery. It looks like this:

On October 1st, Chiron and the moon will occupy the same position in the sky. In astrology lingo, they’re conjunct. As both Pam Gregory and Molly McCord explain, the blending of these two energies — issues of Chiron and the moon — explain in part the intensity (and opportunities) of this day.

If you want to know more, most of these astrologers offer extensive newsletters, on-line classes, and/or personal readings.

The I Ching Works Like a Cosmic Clock

Among other things, the I Ching works like a cosmic clock, telling us the time.

In the Old Testament, King Solomon expressed the natural, rhythmic alternations of time in poetic form:

To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: A time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pluck up that which is planted. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down and a time build up . . . a time to love and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

The Book of Change puts its users in touch with these pulsating, alternating rhythms of life. It connects us with inner knowing – call it intuition or conscience – that anticipates approaching changes, the better to prepare for what is to come.

It serves as a reminder that our lives change like the seasons of nature. Fall follows summer. Spring follows winter.

It lends perspective to the current times and what is likely to come next.

In I Ching context, faith is akin to trusting a highly refined sense of timing. It is an atunement with the same inner clock which guides migrating birds and informs heroic displays of virtue.

Some people experience this inner knowing as a sense of personal destiny or keen sensitivity to the zeitgeist direction of the times.

Faith guides our feet, not only towards good fortune, but away from danger. An example from the New Testament is Joseph, husband of Mary, protector of Jesus. He accepted Mary and her child on faith.

When a fearful King Herod was intent on killing new born males to thwart the prophecy of his downfall, Joseph “knew” it was time to escape from Jerusalem, thus saving the infant’s life. He also knew when danger had passed, and it was time to return the boy to his homeland.

Using the interactive Common Sense Book of Change (CSBOC) is a powerful way to get in touch with the native common sense we are all born with, but too often forget under the pressures of hectic daily life.

The text maps the natural patterns of change which trigger predictable passages from one stage to another in our lives.

Those who live close to nature are instinctively closer to their own natural rhythms, something city dwellers too often lose touch with. For those who long to remember who they truly are, but have forgotten, working the I Ching is especially rare and precious blessing.

 

The Fateful Fear of Self-Awareness

According to new research from the University of Virginia, most people would rather do something external — even hurt themselves in some cases — than sit alone with their thoughts. Why is this?

How do people of all ages get so stuck on the material surface of the Wheel that they’re unwilling (afraid!) to look inside? The researchers guessed that maybe people were born this way. But I doubt it. Powerful indeed are the social incentives for Self-avoidance, even self-harm — which is pretty much the same thing.

Here’s the picture of the exclusively empirical science world view which rules out the middle and center levels of human experience. If you’ve been taught to believe there’s nothing more to life than the material surface and have come to expect that taboos on inner experience will be enforced with punitive ridicule and rejection, then the blessing of quiet time becomes a threat.

MaterialistAthest

Contrast this with the timeless Unified Theory which is equally compatible with ancient yoga, biblical tradition and Einstein’s vision. This picture shows levels and layers of inner experience available to pioneer spirits with the courage to explore as yet unknown territories and reap the reward of their riches.

062514 Balanced World View

Scientists & Sages Can Agree on This

Today’s effort started with a most excellent blog tweeted out by Mike Lehr of Omega Z Advisors: “The essence of #leadership in a single word blog.omegazadvisors.com/?p=2696.”

It looked interesting, so I clicked on the link.

Yup. The major puzzle pieces are there. Vision. Strategy. Idea. Inspiration. Speaking directly to my subject, he states, “Leadership is about change.”

So I tweeted back, “I totally agree about inspiration and change, Mike. But then, how do we train such leaders?? I have a few suggestions. All best.”

Within a day, Mike tweeted back,“Post them somewhere, Pat . . .”

So here’s my short version of how to train leaders who are equally inspired and effective — a picture worth a thousand words.

The BEST LEADERS ARE SELF-AWARE

061614 Wheel

BE AWARE of

What You’re Doing and Why

The Life Wheel (also described as the Quantum Paradigm of Change) is a modern day descendant of the time-tested but gravely misunderstood, underrated Book of Change which leaders in every walk of life have consulted to cultivate self-awareness, make better decisions and get better results for over eight-thousand years.

It places the three variables of Einstein’s famous formula, e = mc2 mass, energy and light, on increasingly deeper levels within the Wheel. The result is the Unified Field Theory which Einstein already had — consciousness factor included — though, sadly, lacking yoga background, didn’t recognize. This archetypal wheels-within-wheels model is equally compatible with modern physics, yoga philosophy and the world’s great religions. It is a reality map upon which scientists and sages can agree. It images the in-depth experience of the quantum spacious NOW, abiding beneath the surface waves of rational thinking and everyday sensory experience described by Eckhart Tolle.

  • The intuition Mike describes fits within the WHY level of the Wheel. This innermost level of Light is associated with spiritual guidance and flashes of genius. Unless integrated with the ability to strategize and implement, however, vision and insights fail to manifest as practical results.
  • Emotions (including empathy) and strategy belong to the middle HOW level. The Energy layer is associated with street smarts and Emotional Intelligence. Magnetism and charisma emanate from this level, but unfortunately aren’t always integrated with integrity, intelligence and practical organizational skills.
  • Purpose and outcomes belong to the surface WHAT level associated with tangible, measurable results. The Mass layer is the realm of quantifiable IQ as well as biological family and social/political connections. Persona (mask) and personality are surface appearances. They don’t necessarily reflect actual motives and feelings. (This is why merely imitating the words and actions of great leaders doesn’t have the same affect).

The three outer levels are interrelated and interdependent. Each is necessary but not sufficient. Their existence depends on the unchanging hub of the Life Wheel. The true SELF — also called Conscience, the Tao or God — holds the spokes together as events on the Wheel’s surface rim change continuously. Creation in the form of primal consciousness emanates from and returns to this silent alpha-omega center.

Inspired leaders are Self-aware. Positive leaders link inner vision with compassion to generate practical results. They serve as organizational catalysts, bringing out the best in others by example. Like stringed instruments, we resonate when true leaders strike a universal chord, set in motion by a deeper music.

This quantum paradigm of completion is “positive” because all the levels of experience are included and correctly prioritized. None are excluded. None are out of place. The levels are harmoniously linked in an infinite, two-way continuum of creative balance. (This is the holistic picture of unity or “yoga.”) Mindful of Einstein’s warning that problems cannot be solved at the same level they are created, it pictures the deeper levels where we can first get unstuck, and then travel deeper to where the genuine solutions we dearly need and seek can be found.

Prophetically, Einstein warned about the dangers of inverted priorities: “The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” Today, more than ever, the world urgently needs leaders who remember their gifts and use reason correctly.

An important first step in training better leaders is to convince educators/executives/politicians and their students/employees/supporters of the grave dangers inherent in prevailing, incomplete and inaccurate paradigms. Then, it requires rousing sufficient courage to make a paradigm shift.

What could be more powerful motivation than the pending threat to human survival?! For today’s un-in-formed leaders are undeniably steering planet Earth towards a catastrophic disaster that dwarfs the Titanic’s collision. Einstein wasn’t exaggerating when he observed, “We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive.”

Decision-makers and leaders in every walk of life can make themselves whole by using the method outlined in The Positive Paradigm Handbook — currently under revision. In addition, it gives a practical standard for assessing leadership potentials, training better leaders, and choosing which ones to follow.

All best!

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Rethinking FREEDOM

 

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40. FREEDOM

“The natural laws of the universe are inviolable: Energy condenses into substance. A person who neglects to breathe will turn blue and die. Some things simply can’t be dismissed.

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“It is also part of the cosmic law that what you say and do determines what happens in your life.” — Brian Walker, Hua Hu Ching : The Unknown Teachings of Lao Tzu

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“Especially for those of us who lived in single cells, we discovered that sitting down just to think is one of the best ways of keeping yourself fresh . . . to address the problems facing you. You could stand away from yourself in the past and examine whether your behavior was befitting to a person who tried to serve society.” — Nelson Mandela, Interview, Larry King Live

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“When employees trade love, soul and freedom for maximizing profits, corporations lose their human center, and that’s as deadly for corporations as it is for us. The unhappiness and suffering that trade-offs create suggest that the paradigm is the culprit. We’re using bad software, and it’s distorting our concepts of what’s going on. We need all three together to be creative. When we’re destructive, it’s not because our nature is destructive, but because the trade-off paradigm is destructive to us.” — Breton & Largent, Love, Soul & Freedom: Dancing with Rumi on the Mystic Path

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THE FRONT

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

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

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Those secure in themselves dedicate their lives to extending the freedom they value for themselves to others without prejudice. Abraham Lincoln, for example, had the soul of a sage. He intuitively knew the basics of magic, and recognized the difference between black and white rules. He wrote, “As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master.” As if direct from the Treatise on Esoteric Ethics, Abe delivered a speech in Wisconsin where he said, “Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith do our duty as we understand it.”

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Yet legal prohibitions cannot end of slavery. Saying and doing whatever one wants as a puppet of blind impulse isn’t true freedom. Seeing through negative filters of fear, pride, or apathy is as limiting as literal blindness. Even in a society that calls itself democratic, to the extent we’re unaware of inner wisdom and the laws of natural change, we’re not really free.

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Soul is like the in-breath of life. Love is like the out-breath. Freedom is the intertwined marriage of soul and love in balanced, rhythmic exchange. When we can’t breathe freely, we slowly starve from within, and wither mysteriously even in the midst of apparent prosperity.

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Breton and Largent, quoting the Sufi mystic Rumi, write, “Whatever we do, we do from our inner compass. That’s free:

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Take someone who doesn’t keep score,

Who’s not looking to be richer, or afraid of losing,

Who has not the slightest interest even

in his own personality: He’s free.”

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In I Ching context, the self-mastery attained by thinking and acting consistently from a positive paradigm that’s simple, complete and correct is the most precious, inalienable freedom.

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Nelson Mandela’s life is proof that it’s not circumstances which enslave.

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THE BACK

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

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

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Brian Walker, Hua Hu Ching: the Unknown Teachings of Lao Tzu. (HarperSanFrancisco: New York, 1992.) #40.

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Nelson Mandela, Larry King Live Interview, aired May 16, 2000. cnn.com/transcripts.

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Denise Breton & Christopher Largent, Love, Soul & Freedom: Dancing with Rumi on the Mystic Path. (Hazelden: Center City, Minnesota, 1998.) p. 7.

 

Rethinking SEX & TANTRA

Today is a tongue in cheek test of the SEO factor, to find out who is visiting this blog and why. Visitors, are you there? What do you think? Your comments are welcome!

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9. SEX

“Sexual union is physical enactment of the virtue/power, the te of Taoism. It is the resolution of the physical dichotomy of male and female, of self and not-self. Man enters woman while woman receives man. Two bodies become one. Physical separateness is transcended. Each is the completion of the other.” — Ray Grigg, The Tao of Relationships

“Everybody affected by feelings of guilt and shame will have negative feelings about their sexuality. These feelings block the flow of primal life force through-out the entire body. Equally, at a physical level, any negativity toward your sexuality or parts of your body leads to chronic tension in muscles throughout the body. This means that your energy can no longer flow between your Tan T’iens, or centres of Divine Energy. ” — Russell & Kolb, The Tao of Sexual Massage

“If we want to reach our boys and help them develop mature and responsible attitudes towards sex, we need to understand their motivations. As a culture we are much more aware of and sympathetic to the pressures around sexuality girls feel. The confusion boys feel is hidden, hidden under their own masks of macho posturing and under the weight of our misconceptions of toxicity about boys.” — William Pollack, Real Boys

THE FRONT

Roots of sex, discrimination and science all mean to divide. Webster’s definition of sex includes either of the two divisions, male or female, into which persons, animals or plants are separated, with reference to their reproductive functions. Sex refers to the character of being male or female, all the attributes by which males and females are distinguished. It can refer to anything connected with sexual gratification or reproduction, or the attraction of those of one sex for those of the other. It can also refer to sexual intercourse.

The dictionary does not differentiate between sex and gender stereotypes. While the biological differences between human males and females remain constant, their roles and prescribed behavior varies from culture to culture, and within cultures over time.

For example, Margaret Mead, a pioneering anthropologist, challenged the stereotypes of her day both in the moral conduct of her personal life and in the conclusions of her published research. In Coming of Age in Samoa, she reported that the many different ways boy and girl children can be raised will shape their attitudes and relationships into very different patterns.

She described one tribe that taught their children easy-going, accepting attitudes towards sex and raised contented, peaceable adults. In contrast, a cannibal tribe raised fierce warriors by systematically frustrating their infants, hanging them on tree branches to swing unattended, withholding basic touch and caring. Current civilizations resemble the cannibals more often than the peaceable, contented tribe, both in training and results.

Tantric yoga is a discipline which trains students to change sexual impulses from a culturally conditioned detriment to intentional accelerator of personal growth. Its premise is that forbidding people to think about sex has the opposite of intended effect. For centuries it’s been know that if you tell people not to think of white elephants, they’ll think of nothing else.

Slamming the lid on libido drives it into the inaccessible “unconscious.”

While publicly feigning compliance, people thus repressed indulge compulsive sexuality in extreme. Perhaps intentionally, perhaps not, sexual deviance has been systematically programmed into the world’s highly educated elite for centuries, making them vulnerable to blackmail and/or public humiliation for their inevitable discretions, placing them at the mercy of puppet masters who wield secret powers behind the scenes.

To prevent such personal/political undoing, energy science trains students to be wise, skillful and practical in sexual matters, fulfilling intimate needs without tearing the fabric of their emotional, family and professional lives apart.

As with communication, power and peace, the purpose and expression of sex evolves as awareness grows. For humans, the sex act begins and ends in the mind, the body’s most erogenous zone. Depending on attitude, it can be experienced as debasing or pure bliss. Sex can be a mating for the purpose of reproduction. It can be a one-sided expression of lust or will to dominate, motivated by insecurity, cruelty or even revenge. It can also be a source of healing, an expression of compassionate love. Comprehensive sex is practiced with reverent understanding that the individual act mirrors the sacred union of opposites.

THE BACK

An inversion of sexuality is frigidity or impotence, the lack of attraction to the opposite sex or incapacity to reproduce. It implies rejection of the creative, reproductive process. Negative role models, unfortunate experiences, inhibiting education or poor health are possible contributing factors.

In mythology, an androgynous person balances male and female aspects from within. If used as an excuse to shun the challenge of relationships, aspiring to this perfect state forfeits the learning opportunities associated with being human. There’s time enough in the hereafter for the even harder lessons reserved for angels.

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Ray Grigg, The Tao of Relationships: A Balancing of Man and Woman. (Humanics New Age: Atlanta, GA, 1988.) p. xiii.

Russels & Kolb, The Tao of Sexual Massage. (Fireside Books: New York, 1992.) p. 55.

William Pollack, Real Boys: Rescuing Our Sons from the Myths of Boyhood. (Random House: New York, 1998.) p. 151.

Rethinking ACTION

One of the 64 Essays on Change is posted each consecutive Sunday. The choice is decided either by requests made on the Contact Page and/or immediate relevance to current events. See the UPSG Essays page for a description of the structure-within-structure format of the Essays, an overview of CONSCIENCE: Your Ultimate Personal Survival Guide, and an alphabetical list of the Essays from which to choose.

On the new moon of March 9, 2014, the first of the Essays to be posted was Number 61 on PEACE. It was selected as a timely response to events in the Ukraine. The following Sunday, the very first Essay, CRIME, was selected, followed by its companion Essay Number 18 on MOTIVES.

The final Essay, Number 64 has been selected for Sunday, March 30th, the second new moon in the month of March. It completes a triad that started with CRIME, then MOTIVES, and now, consequent ACTION. This Essay has immediate applications to the progression of world events.

Bloggers have likened Putin’s actions to the strategy of Sun Tzu’s Art of War. America’s leaders have been faulted for lacking the ability to think in terms of positive action responses. It therefore behooves everyone, everywhere with an eye to the future, in the interests of human survival, to fill in that void.

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64. ACTION

“Military action is important to the nation — it is the ground of death and life, the path of survival and destruction, so it is imperative to examine it. . . The Way means inducing the people to have the same aim as the leadership, so that they will share death and share life, without fear of danger.” — Sun Tzu, The Art of War

“The warrior is always alert. He is always awake. He knows how to focus his mind and his body. He is what the samurai call “mindful.” . . . As a function of his clarity of mind, he is a strategist and a tactician. He can evaluate his circumstances accurately and then adapt himself to the “situation on the ground.” — Moore & Gillette, The Warrior in His Fullness

“We cannot stop the seasons of history, but we can prepare for them. Right now, in 1997, we have eight, ten, perhaps a dozen more years to get ready. Then events will begin to take choices out of our hands. Yes, winter is coming, but our path through the winter is up to us. . . History’s howling storms can bring out the worst and best in a society.” — Strauss & Howe, The Fourth Turning

THE FRONT

Webster’s defines action on a sliding scale of meanings. Taking in the full spectrum as a whole is an eye-opener. Originally it was a physics concept, the state of being in motion. From there the definition changes to habitual conduct characterized by energy and boldness. It changes again to include the effect produced by something (like a drug), or the way organs or machines work.

Action is used to describe the function of a piano or a gun. It shifts to take on the connotation of a legal proceeding by which one seeks to have a wrong put right. It’s the term used to describe military combat. Lastly, in slang it denotes excitement, specifically gambling.

Over a life-time, novelist Earle Stanley Gardner worked to develop a best-seller formula: a virtuous hero whom everyone loves to see in action. The result, Attorney Perry Mason, solves crimes and puts wrongs right in the court of law. He’s a deliberate blending of Robin Hood and Sherlock Holmes. Robin defended the betrayed and down-trodden. He took from the rich to give to the poor, helping them stand against oppressors. Sherlock used his highly trained powers of observation and deduction to trace devious crimes to the unseen hand of the evil Moriarty, then courageously drew the villain out to defeat him.

New law students are often grieved to find reality so far removed from fiction. Just so. Gardner knew people bought his books exactly because they longed for what’s missing in their lives. But fiction soothes without solving. The times call for a multitude of Positive Perrys taking positive action every day, here and now.

Movie action heroes also exemplify the intellect-action blend of leadership we miss. To become a Jedi knight, Luke SkyWalker first must train to attune himself to “the force.” Indiana Jones similarly blends the best of right and left brain worlds. Both he and Nazi opponents search out the arc of the covenant, then the grail. The enemy wants the key to world domination; Indy and his beloved father seek “illumination.” They respect the wisdom of ancient times and adventure to recover lost treasures. The I Ching is another of the ancient lost treasures, both used and abused by seekers through the ages.

Unlike these action heroes, intellectuals who contempt practical people and workers who enviously mistrust the educated are equally lop-sided actors. For positive results, scholars and street-smart frontliners must join ranks. Better still, we should each train ourselves like action hero role models to balance self-awareness and action, to live fully effective, each in our own way.

George S. Patton, the general who defeated Hitler’s army, quoted scriptures like a bishop, knew Shakespeare’s verse by heart.

THE BACK

The opposite of action is inaction. This may be appropriate. Those who patiently wait also serve. Other times it’s due to indifference or paralysis of will. Procrastination, delaying action, may be a result of ambivalence. Lack of commitment or conflicting goals and beliefs often work unconsciously to sabotage consistent action.

A perversion of action is hyperactivity, sometimes the result of a chemical imbalance, other times an effort to avoid thinking. Restricting youthful energies, forcing children to sit too long inactive, can trigger rebellion as an extreme and opposite reaction to boredom.

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  • Sun Tzu, The Art of War, trans. Thomas Cleary. (Shambhala: Boston, 1988.) p. 41.
  • Robert Moore and Douglas Gillette, “The Warrior in His Fullness,” in The Awakened Warrior: Living with Courage, Compassion & Discipline, ed. Rick Fields. (Putnam’s Sons: New York, 1994.) pp. 29-30.
  • William Strauss & Neil Howe, The Fourth Turning: An American Prophecy. (Broadway Books: New York,1997.) p. 7.

Rethinking MOTIVES

One Essay on Change is posted each consecutive Sunday. The choice of which is decided either by requests made on the Contact Page and/or immediate relevance to current events.

Tonight, 03/23/14, I’m following through on a promise made in answer to the question, “Crime, Is It Natural?” I told Barrister Brendon Moorhouse, a reported Sherlock of the Courtroom, that I’d respond to this important question on this website with my perspective. After all, CRIME just happens the very first of the 64 UPSG Essays. However, I’ve waited until the following week because the companion Essay on Motives speaks more closely to the subject of investigating crimes, white collar as well violent ones.

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18. MOTIVES

“Although the feelings mentioned above [sadness, pessimism, guilt, emptiness] may accompany a depressed mood, the most prevalent effects usually involve low energy and lack of motivation. . . An effective way of lifting these moods involves using music to activate our resources.” — John M. Ortiz, The Tao of Music: Sound Psychology

“It occurred to me that the only way to figure out what had happened at a crime scene was to understand what had gone on inside the head of the principal actor in that drama: the offender. And the only way to find that out was to ask him. . . If we could give the law enforcement community some insights into the process, the internal logic, of how violent offenders actually decide to commit crimes and why they come up with their choice of crimes — where the motive comes from — then we could provide a valuable tool in pointing investigators toward what for them must be the ultimate question: Who? Stated as simply as possible: Why? + How? = Who.” John Douglas, The Anatomy of Motive

“On some level, you are meditating all the time. One goal of meditation practice is to become aware of that. Another is to extend that awareness to more and more areas of your life. . . It takes practice and conscious effort to restructure the mind and move it from habitual patterns.” – Andrew Weil, 8 Meditations for Optimum Health

 THE FRONT

The root of motive means to move. Webster’s single definition refers to “some” inner drive, impulse, or intention that causes a person to do something or act in a certain way. It’s an incentive or goal.

Motive, purpose and intent explain human behavior. Unless viewed as a whole, what we see is taken out of context and misunderstood. You see a man take someone else’s car. That’s intent, the what. You see him grab the keys and drive off. That’s purpose, the how. But unless you know his motive, why he did it, the picture is incomplete. Was he desperately racing to save his beloved child’s life, escaping from vengeful gang lords, or simply lusting after a fancy new car?

We’re fascinated by crime. Mystery novels, detective movies and sensational murder stories on TV news are big business. We stretch our minds to second-guess the ending, figure out who committed the crime, and why. We look for the mistakes that reveal dark secrets and lead to the criminal’s undoing. We’re satisfied only when truth is revealed and order is restored by justice.

At heart, what we’re really trying to understand is ourselves. We’re haunted by a pervasive sense of wrongs committed against us, or by us. We can’t quite bring ourselves to recognize what they are, or to admit our own mistakes. But a nagging sense of unfinished business leaks out as voyeurism.

Ultimately, it’s the stifled voice of conscience that persistently calls us back to our neglected dreams and deepest longings for fulfillment. Those who allow themselves to be defined by others, who live in habitual fear of people’s opinions and fail to honor their inner sense of calling commit a soul-searing violence akin to suicide. The crime they commit is against their own true selves.

Failing to be true to oneself can be the hardest crime to detect. Finding one’s true calling can be the greatest mystery of all. People who march to others’ drums, unconscious of their motives and what moves those around them, live in painful confusion. Only those who know how to listen and dance to the inner music of their soul’s desire live in joyful harmony with themselves and the world around them.

 The I Ching is a means for turning the camera around, focusing in on ourselves. Uncovering hidden motives might cause initial discomfort. But it can lead to positive changes. After analyzing them, we have the option to decide on better ways to accomplish intentional ends.

Our what and how isn’t always appropriate to our why. Other solutions may accomplish our goals without committing crimes against ourselves and others.

 THE BACK

The opposite of motive is motiveless, to be without awareness of calling, any conscious purpose, or impulse to action. This condition is sometimes an extreme reaction to an extended period of frenzied, excessive, forced action. People experience it as apathy, shell shock or burn out.

 When crazed criminals go on sprees, kill strangers and wreak havoc on public property, their acts are regarded as random and senseless. To all but the most highly attained, the subtle laws of cause and effect are incomprehensible. There’s wisdom in accepting the unfathomable as Job did, saying, “The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away.“

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John M. Ortiz, The Tao of Music: Sound Psychology. (Samuel Weiser: ME, 1997.) p. 7.

John Douglas, The Anatomy of Motive. (Scribner: New York, 1999.) pp. 25-26.

Andrew Weil, 8 Meditations for Optimum Health. (audio cassette, Upaya,1997.)

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Illustration from Conscience: Your Ultimate Personal Survival Guide

 

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