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Archive for the ‘cause and effect’ Category

How High is High Enough?

Spirit’s lesson for today relates to I Ching Hexagram 47 – Exhaustion.

The yin trigram Lake is above yang Water.

 

“They say the road of love is rocky and it’s rough, but if this road

don’t start to get smooth, then I’ve traveled it long enough”

is part of an old song that I can relate to regarding my ongoing

struggle with my spirit teacher as he guides me along the way

to enlightenment. But, what if He’s just luring me down

a garden path that never ends?

 

That’s exactly what my intentions are.

 

But, why?

 

You were ready.

As in “when the student …”

 

Yes.

 

Why didn’t I know there would be so much painful,

experiential content to the lessons?

 

Struggle is necessary.

 

But, I’m exhausted. Can’t we rest a little.

 

No. To rest is to lose ground.

 

I’m losing touch with ground moving.

 

That’s not possible.

 

Why?

 

The ground beneath us will always be there.

 

Where?

 

Within you, in one form or another.

 

Please explain.

 

Matter is an expression of energy …

 

And where I’m at in my mind determines the density?

 

Yes. It’s as simple as that.

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A spirit teacher shares His I Ching Wisdom, applied philosophy to live by, cause and effect, Potential consequences, Power comes from within

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Closeness and Triangles

A spirit teacher shares His understanding of the timeless wisdom contained within the I Ching Hexagram 8 – Closeness.

Water, a yang energy, is over Earth, a yin energy.

The vision of water spread over earth suggests flooding.

Yes, and in this context it expresses emotional flooding

My patio Hosta is now sitting in such a wet condition, but his planter pot is too heavy for me to tip over to remove the excess water.

Why did you over-water a plant you claim to care for?

I meant no harm but I generously watered hanging baskets of flowers, after having provided for the plants below, in the same manner

So, unintentional abuse?

I guess.

Now what?

I need help to undo the harm I’ve done.

Yes.

What does that mean?

It means that the plants were too close to each other for you to serve one without offence to the other.

A lovers’ triangle?

Yes.

How does that relate to real life?

It is real life.

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A spirit teacher shares His I Ching Wisdom, applied philosophy to live by, cause and effect, enlightenment, Understanding life's struggles

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Coming Together

A spirit teacher shares His understanding of timeless wisdom
encoded within I Ching hexagrams. These sixty-four interconnected
symbolic forms represent a continuous development of awakening
within each of us. Our lives have meaning, both individual and
collective. Events and situations are never without meaning, and
none stands alone. They develop from previous causes and, in turn,
contribute to the development of whatever is to come.

I Ching 44 – Meeting, presents with the trigram Heaven above Wind.
Heaven represents Life and Life is all that there is, and yet,
Wind – the winds of change – moves within (since even under is
within, in this instance) Life, both our individual and more or less
collective life.

Meeting follows Removal (43) and develops into Gathering (45).

Meeting suggests coming together with someone or something, or
facing an event or situation that requires a response.

Removal expresses separation from; perhaps not willingly. To stay
or go, when we know we must go; We must move on. However, wherever
we go, we bring our past experience with us, through lessons learned,
among other things.

Meeting suggests a new beginning. There will always be situations and
challenges that must be faced, sooner or later, These will serve us
in developing our self-confidence and expanding our awareness of Life.

Is there a personal meaning for me?

Yes, and for everyone else.

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A spirit teacher shares His I Ching Wisdom, applied philosophy to live by, cause and effect, enlightenment, Power comes from within, Understanding life's struggles

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Cause or Effect – Chicken or Egg

A spirit teacher shares His understanding of timeless wisdom contained within
the symbolic structure of the 64 I Ching hexagrams, which expresses an endless
series of events and situations that each of us will necessarily experience
during our human lifetimes, until we have learned to become aware of our own
self-directed role in creating the illusion of permanence and of our seeming
resistance to accept what is, and to respond without unproductive emotional
or intellectual analysis. When milk is spilled, by whatever cause, we mop it up.

How does cause and effect or chicken and egg fit into such a philosophy of life?

I Ching hexagram 50 – The Cauldron, answers that question.

Then, please explain.

Fire is over Wind. Each are yin and each is receptive to the other, at least
in this situation.

The separate energies of Fire and Wind, in their extremes, can create destruction.
Together, they could bring about disaster. Mental energies are no different than
those of nature, in this respect.

But, a gentle fire and a controlled movement of air can create warmth, boil
water, or heat food.

Enter the Cauldron?

Yes. A cauldron was a large kettle hung over an open fire, before it was
replaced with modern appliances and more controllable sources of heat.

However, the timeless realities exist even within a so-called modern
world. The transfer of energy still requires movement and interaction
between cause and effect.

What is the message that this discussion of fire and wind say to me?

It dares to ask a question concerning our relationship, which you seem
to hesitate to face.

And, that is …?

Who is what?

Fire or Wind?

No.

Cause or effect?

Yes.

Perhaps we each, depending upon the situation, can and do play
either role.

Yes.

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A spirit teacher shares His I Ching Wisdom, applied philosophy to live by, cause and effect, spirituality without intelligence is not intelligent spirituali5y

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Tomorrow Will Come

A spirit teacher shares His understanding of timeless wisdom
expressed within the I Ching hexagram 51 – Thunder. Thunder
is over Thunder, expressing a form of yang that has double
its normal potential of active energy.

Thunder develops out of the situation expressed by The Cauldron
(50) and, in turn prepares the foundation for the experience
referred to as Mountain (52).

Every situation we experience today can help to prepare us for
whatever tomorrow will bring to us. We develop skills and
increased awareness of what skills will best serve us in
whatever particular situation.

Tomorrow will come, whether or not we prepare for it.
Yesterday helped us, more or less, to prepare for today’s
challenges and, as life is an endless series of situations
and experiences, how we live today will determine, at least
to some extent, how well we’ll cope with whatever tomorrow
brings our way.

Life is a Master Teacher, and provides us with experiences
that offer incentives to master personal skills and coping
strategies. How we cope with whatever challenges that
tomorrow brings will depend very much on how we live today.

Wow! I’m glad that message applies to people younger than me.

It applies to everyone, always.

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A spirit teacher shares His I Ching Wisdom, applied philosophy to live by, cause and effect, Potential consequences

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We Choose to Share, or Do We?

Spirit shares His understanding of the timeless wisdom
expressed within the I Ching Hexagram 18 – Degeneration.

Degeneration follows Following (17) and develops into
Overseeing (19).

Mountain (yang) is over Wind (yin).

Isn’t that curious?

That yang is above yin? or that Wind is below Mountain?

Neither.

Then, what is curious.

The construction of the hexagram.

What about the construction of the hexagram?

Mountain contains one yang holding down two yin
while Wind contains one yin holding up two yang.

It doesn’t work that way.

Then, how does it work?

Life works at its finest when we learn to care for
others; even those who seem to oppress us.

Where does Degeneration fit into this concept
of life.

The second line is yang and the fifth line is yin.
The fifth line is the line of leadership and having
a complement on the second line provides for a sharing
of this position of power.

But, if degeneration is the condition that they share …

How could it be otherwise?

I would like to think that any degenerating situation is
a result of masculine abuse of power.

That would be to deny the existence of feminine energy.

How?

How what?

How does masculine responsibility for whatever condition
or situation deny feminine energy?

Abdication or denial of responsibility is, more or less,
acceptance of whatever situation or condition results
from such behaviour.

Are you trying to tell me that …

I’m telling you that dynamic interaction requires
inequality; transient or otherwise, of each and all
of the individual energies in the choices we make.

We?

We share the choice.

And the outcome?

Yes.

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A spirit teacher shares His I Ching Wisdom, applied philosophy to live by, cause and effect, enlightenment, male domination

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Here and Now do not Exist

Spirit shares His understanding of the timeless wisdom
expressed in the I Ching hexagram 51 – Thunder.

Thunder above and Thunder below. Thunder is a powerful
yang energy alone, and in this instance expresses double
the power it would have, alone.

But, even with all the power that Thunder possesses,
it doesn’t create itself.

Nothing ever does.

Couldn’t the situation create thunder?

What situation?

The situation created by lightning.

Lightning creates nothing.

Then, the situation caused by lightning.

Thunder is part of the situation caused by lightning.

But, not a direct effect?

Which comes first?

Thunder follows lightning.

What does lightning follow?

I don’t know.

Yes.

If there is a personal message …

And, there is.

Then, what can it be?

Everything and every situation is intimately
interconnected to a wider reality.

How can knowing that help me here and now?

There is no here and now. That is the message.

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A spirit teacher shares His I Ching Wisdom, applied philosophy to live by, cause and effect, I Ching as a path to enlightenment

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The Importance of Discipline

Spirit shares His understanding of the timeless
wisdom of the I Ching hexagram 60 – Discipline.

Water is over Lake.
Water is Yang and Lake is Yin.

Discipline follows Dispersal (59) and develops
into Sincerity (61).

Dispersal describes scattering; a disorganized
movement of whatever.

Water over Lake strongly suggests flooding;
a disorganized movement of water, or emotion.

Where is discipline?

Obviously, it is missing.

Is that a personal comment?

Yes.

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A spirit teacher shares His I Ching Wisdom, applied philosophy to live by, cause and effect, higher education

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A Third Option

Spirit shares His understanding of I Ching wisdom.

Hexagram 7 – The Army. Earth is over Water.
The Army develops out of Contention and move
toward Closeness.

Spirit explains: When enough people are discontented
about whatever social conditions exist, then they
develop closeness with each other and protest,
hoping to pressure the authorities to listen to
their concerns.

When this happens, and it does, then authorities
may feel threatened; perhaps not personally, but
their vested interests in power and wealth may seem
to be at risk.

To appease the protesting masses or to suppress them?
This is a traditional either-or-simplistic solution
that never really works to solve the problems that
caused the discontent.

A third option is needed?

Yes.

But, what?

A willingness by both sides to compromise and try
to understand the causes of the situation that
developed into general discontent, and to develop
ways and means to develop harmony.

This sounds more like group therapy than a personal
message.

There is no difference.

So, then, what does it say to me, today?

Are you at peace with everyone in your life?

Only on the surface.

Yes.

What does “yes” mean?

It means, in this instance, that I agree you are
in serious need of …

Mediation?

No. Meditation.

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A spirit teacher shares His I Ching Wisdom, applied philosophy to live by, cause and effect, higher education

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Ever-Present Dangers

Spirit shares His understanding of I Ching.

Hexagram 29 – Double Pitfall – presents with
two Water trigrams stacked, one on the other.
This symbolic representation of flooding
warns us of a hidden and unexpected danger;
a trap or ambush.

As in the deck being stacked against me
in a game of cards?

Something like that.

How could I ever know in advance?

It would be too late to know if you did not
know then.

How to develop the skill to avoid walking
into a trap?

It doesn’t require a specialized skill.

What does it require?

It requires right, or appropriate, thinking
and action.

That advice sounds like the eight-fold path.

It is the eight-fold path.

Including right or appropriate livelihood?

Yes.

To avoid associating with those who might
be tempted to take advantage of my simplicity?

Yes.

That might require me to become less simple.

Yes.

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A spirit teacher shares His I Ching Wisdom, applied philosophy to live by, cause and effect, The Way of I Ching

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