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Posts tagged ‘appropriate’

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.

Category:

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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An Inner Will to Reach High or Low

Spirit shares His I Ching understanding.

Hexagram 33 – Withdrawal.
Heaven above; Mountain below.

Withdrawal does not necessarily mean retreat.

What other purpose would it have?

Possibly, many more than one.

Such as?

Situational responses require reflection
and reflection requires time out to
consider appropriate responses.

Withdrawal follows Constancy and
constant can refer to constant movement,
such as tides express. Their constancy
is a measurable high followed by a
measurable low.

Nautical charts reliably forecast,
or predict, the highest point tides
will reach, at any particular time,
anywhere in the world.

Then, tides withdraw when they have
reached a predetermined high?

Yes, and the high itself is constant
in that it reaches incrementally
higher until the high tide in a set,
and then withdraws its highest point
in a constant rhythm until its high
is as low as natural forces have
determined it will go.

It sounds so orderly.

It is.

But, how does that relate to
human life?

In what way?

What natural forces can help direct
our highest reach?

The same as help us reach our lowest.

And that is?

An inner will to reach high or low.

Category:

applied philosophy to live by, I Ching as a path to enlightenment, Spirit shares I Ching wisdom, Understanding life's struggles

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Truth is Appropriate in Any and All Instances

Spirit explains I Ching 58 – Pleasing:

As the text expresses, pleasing is beneficial
if correct.

How can we ever know ahead of time how correct
our pleasing is?

Your purpose in trying to please is a clue.

I want everyone to be happy.

Why?

Why would I not want everyone to be happy?

Even if they have caused you to feel
unhappy?

Then, pleasing them, or attempting to,
would seem to reward them for their
unpleasing behaviour?

Exactly.

Then, please explain the purpose of
pleasing.

Pleasing should have no purpose.

Then, why do I seem to need to please.

Whom do you seem to need to please?

You, among others.

How have I, among others, rewarded
your attempts to please?

Negatively, it seems.

Why do you suppose that is, or seems
to be?

I don’t know.

Perhaps you know more than you pretend
to know.

What does that mean?

You and many others have been socially
conditioned to fear displeasing some
others, and so you have developed
a pattern of pretending to attempt
to please.

Why?

As a defensive strategy, to attempt
to reduce or escape confrontation.

Then, you approve?

No.

Why?

Confrontation is necessary and
an honest expression of one’s truth.

Truth is a powerful word.

Yes.

How is it appropriate in this instance?

Truth is appropriate in any instance.
Whether we choose to express it or not,
we should always be aware of it.

Is that possible?

Yes.

Category:

applied philosophy to live by, I Ching as a path to enlightenment, mystery schools, Spirit shares I Ching wisdom

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Endings change into beginnings

Spirit explains I Ching 64 – Unsettled.

Fire over water represents an unsettled situation, bot in
Nature and in human relationships. This unstable condition
is represented in the Hexagrams with active and forceful,
Fire being a yin trigram, while emotional Water being a
Yang trigram.

How is it possible for Water to be yang and Fire to be yin?

All forms of life contain a blend of the same energies
Contained in all other life forms, to a greater or lesser
Degree. Yang represents creative and forceful, if necessary,
Energy, while Yin represents receptive and nurturing energy, but also contains assertive power.

Neither Yang nor Yin is subservient to the other. They
constantly interact to develop a harmonious relationship
Without either denying their own or the other’s individuality. Sometimes they necessarily seem to oppose
Each other and, at other times they blend harmoniously as
One, or as close to oneness as they each feel comfortable
With.

So, even though Fire and Water could cancel each other out,
They are aware that doing so would be self-destructive?

Yes. This awareness is a very appropriate setting for
Unsettled, the 64th and ending Hexagram. It sets the stage
For the interactive cycle of life to begin again, without
Every having ended, with Hexagram 1 – The Creative.

Category:

A wide (33%) middle way., applied philosophy to live by, enlightenment, Inspirational reading

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I Ching 52 – Mountain

Today’s I Ching – 52 – Mountain

Mountain above. Mountain below.

Mountain follows Thunder.

 

Spirit explains:

 

Thunder is caused by masses of air rushing together, after

Lightning has separated them, dividing one into two.

 

Mountains do not usually appear to move. They are

Generally stable.

 

We need both movement and stability, and wisdom,

To know which is appropriate, when, and why.

 

The message?

 

There is no need to hurry. “Haste makes waste”,

An old saying, because the wise ones have

Always known this.

 

 

Category:

A wide (33%) middle way., enlightenment, I Ching as a path to enlightenment, Inspirational reading, Understanding life's struggles

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