4 out of 5 dentists recommend this WordPress.com site

Posts tagged ‘mind’

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.

Category:

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

Tagged with:

To See Essence – Close Your Eyes

A spirit teacher shares His understanding
of I Ching 11 – Tranquility.

Tranquility develops out of Treading
and moves toward Obstruction.

Earth is over Heaven.

Spirit explains: Normally, Heaven is high
above materially focused Earthly matters,
and yet physical beings can raise themselves
by their own effort, and with assistance
and companionship of others, may develop
a sense of oneness with all.

Heaven and Earth can be as one, when we
do our best to be who we are, and value
our own good opinion of ourselves,
while accepting that we are responsible
to the unity of Life, to contribute
to the development of higher understanding
of all, if possible, and it is.

Tranquility is not weakness in any way.
It is peace of mind. Whether we feel
we must join in active service to protect
our community or serve by teaching children,
or by driving a bus to know that we are
contributing to our community, provides
us with a sense of satisfaction that
living for self can never offer.

I can understand treading as a conscious,
intentional struggle to arrive at peace
of mind, but what about obstruction?

What about it?

How can Obstruction develop from Tranquility?

No situation or condition lasts forever.
If we allow ourselves to become self-satisfied,
then we set ourselves up for attack.

By whom?

Not by what?

What could attack our peace of mind?

Confrontation.

From whom or what?

From within our own mind.

How is that possible?

Self-doubt.

How does self-doubt develop?

By listening more to outside voices
than to those from within.

But, I can see …

You see form.

What else is there to see?

Essence.

How can I see essence?

Close your eyes.

Category:

A spirit teacher shares His I Ching Wisdom, applied philosophy to live by, spirituality without intelligence is not intelligent spirituali5y, The Way of I Ching

Tagged with:

The Horizon as a Well of Mind

A spirit teacher shares His understanding of
Hexagram 48 – The Well, from the ancient source
of wisdom that is I Ching.

Wrapping timeless wisdom in simplicity and
mystery, He tells me, helped to ensure
the survival of both the teachings and
the teachers, or at least some of them,
in a world of shifting degrees of hostility
to messages of love and integrity.

The series of sixty-four I Ching hexagrams
expresses the natural and endless
development of situations and experiences
that we each must face and pass beyond
throughout, as well as before and after,
our journey of a human lifetime,

Do they express the principle of cause
and effect?

The necessary sequence of cause and effect
is much more than a principle. It is
a Universal Law.

Is it a predetermined law?

In what way?

In that a seer would know.

Know what?

The future.

Everyone knows the future.

Perhaps to some extent …

To what extent?

We can’t see beyond the horizon.

Why not?

How would it be possible?

It isn’t possible. There is nothing
to see beyond an endless horizon.

How does this relate to a well?

The water in a well never contains
more or less than it is capable of
containing, regardless of how much
is added or withdrawn.

How can a well’s capacity compare
with the horizon?

The horizon or an horizon?

Are wells as the horizon?

No.

Then, what?

Horizons are as wells.

Horizons?

Yes. The horizon of your mind,
as well as that of others, has
an endless potential to expand.

Or to shrink?

Yes.

What determines it’s fate?

Not its destiny?

No. I accept your teaching of endless
potential as my destiny.

Not yours alone. We each and everyone
share the same destiny; each in her
or his own time and way.

Category:

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

Tagged with:

We Need Help to Overcome

Spirit shares I Ching wisdom.

I Ching 13 – Association With Others follows
Obstruction and leads to Great Possession.

Obstruction suggests that something is blocking
our way.

Or someone?

It is never someone unless that someone is
our self, and it usually is.

We need help in overcoming whatever seems to
prevent us from following our spiritual path.

What if the community we now associate with
is itself the means of obstructing
our spiritual development.

Isolation is not the answer.

Isn’t meditation a form of isolation?

No.

How is it not?

Meditation is time out to reflect on
the situation and seek higher guidance
to develop awareness.

Develop awareness of what?

Of how to best contribute to our own
spiritual development without
unnecessarily obstructing the
development of others.

Looking at it from that perspective …

That is the only perspective.

Then, we could be obstructing those
who seem to be …

Yes.

Then how to overcome obstruction in a way
that leads to community?

Meditation.

And then?

Follow your heart.

And mind?

No, not in this instance.

Why?

Mind will overwhelm you with reasons
to stay.

To stay where?

Not where, what.

Then what?

Obstructed.

But, if obstruction is the problem …

Obstruction is a challenge. It doesn’t
exist in a material or physical form.
Not everyone would see the same
situation as an obstruction. We need
to change the way we see.

How?

By looking within for the answers
to life’s challenges.

What about community?

For that, too.

Category:

higher education, I Ching as a path to enlightenment, mystery schools, Spirit shares I Ching wisdom, Understanding life's struggles

Tagged with:

The Road Ahead is Only in Your Mind

Spirit explains the I Ching hexagram 61 – Sincerity.

Sincerity follows Discipline in the sequential order
of events and situations experienced along the I Ching
Way to enlightenment.

When discipline and sincerity travel together within
the mind of the seeker of wisdom and truth, then
progress is certain.

What if they’re both going down the wrong road?

Then, progress is still assured.

Then, discipline and sincerity are not sufficient
to progress in the desired direction?

Yes, they are not.

What else is required?

Awareness.

Of what?

Not of what?

Where?

Yes.

Then, a map and a guide are required?

Yes.

My mind would resist.

Why?

A certain sense of personal responsibility for choices
of directions taken or forms of discipline accepted
and followed would require me to question myself and
any teacher, regardless of how much I might admire her
or him.

Yes, and that is as it should be.

Then, why do I regret not being able to completely
accept your way as my own.

My way should never be accepted as your way.

Why?

It would not be unique.

Must it be?

Yes.

Then, how can all ways merge into one and still
remain unique?

They merge into the one that is beyond uniqueness.

How can anything be beyond uniqueness?

We each are a unique aspect of Life and each are
contained within Life.

Then, what is the purpose of my struggle along
a unique way if I am already within what would be
the destination of my unique way?

A simple purpose; to develop awareness of what you are.

And then?

And then to expand your awareness.

To include what?

To include the awareness of all otherwise unique
aspects of Life.

Otherwise unique aspects?

Yes. They are only unique until you absorb their
awareness into your own.

Then your way becomes mine?

Yes.

It looks like a long road ahead.

Yes, but that’s just the bad news.

There’s good news?

Yes. The road ahead is only in your mind.

Dear readers, if you enjoy witnessing my struggle with Spirit on this blog, we invite you to join us
at jeanw5.wordpress.com where Spirit shares more of his wisdom in a different format.

Category:

I Ching as a path to enlightenment, Spirit shares I Ching wisdom, Understanding life's struggles, Universal laws apply even today

Tagged with:

Water and Air as Yin and Yang

Spirit shares His understanding of I Ching 52 –
Mountain.

Mountain above and mountain below. Now, that’s
a mountain.

Mountain follows Thunder (51) and is followed by
Gradual Progress (53).

Spirit explains: Thunder is caused by the force
of air, as is wind. Air is not without life. Air
is the breath of life, at least human, plant and
animal life, here on Earth. Without clean air we
cannot live as we would with it.

Where does Mountain fit into the picture?

What picture?

Of clean air.

Air is the background.

What about Gradual Progress? How does it follow
Mountain?

Mountains are not easily moved and so can reflect
rigid attitudes toward protecting our environment,
clean air and water for future generations of air
breathing and water drinking life forms.

A lecture in conservation?

Yes.

Note: After the lesson was over, for it seemed to be as
a lesson, Spirit sent a vision into my mind of water and
air as yin and yang, each flowing into and out of the
other in an elusive flow, as one and yet not one.

Neither can exist without the other, was the message
Spirit seemed to be sending to me. There is water in
air and air in water. Only degrees of difference
exist and even then, only in passing fluctuations
of harmony.

Something to think about.

Category:

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

Tagged with:

Tranquility is a Vulnerable State of Mind

Spirit shares His understanding of the wisdom contained within Hexagram 11 – Tranquility.

“Earth is over Heaven Solid yin over solid yang.  Every line has a complement, but lines two and five are in reverse situations. Yin is on a yang line and yang is on a yin line. Tranquility follows Treading (10) in the order of the hexagrams, and leads to Obstruction (12).

There is order in our lives, individual and collective. Treading expresses walking our individual path through life, our way; our chosen way. No other can do it for us. No other can live our life but us.”

“Where does Tranquility come in?”

“Tranquility is a state of mind.”

“How can we move forward, or even backward, in a state of tranquility? We would surely be vulnerable to control by someone or something less tranquil.”

“Yes.”

“What does that mean?”

“What do  you think it might mean?”

“That vulnerability is a risk that we necessarily must choose to take if we intend to achieve tranquility?”

“Yes.”

……………

Category:

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

Tagged with:

I Ching 2 – The Receptive

Today’s I Ching – 2 – The Receptive

Earth over Earth

The Receptive follows The Creative.

 

Sjpirit explains:

 

Receptive expresses willingness to be directed, as students

By a teacher whom they accept as having something of value

To share with them.

 

The message – is it personal?

 

Yes and no.

 

We each have something of value to share with those who

Recognize the value of what we willingly share, the gift of

Learning. The teacher has no power to do this for us.

 

Not everyone seems willing or able to recognize value, and

We cannot receive learning if we are not receptive.

 

We must open our mind. Learning is not a passive action.

 

 

 

Category:

enlightenment, I Ching as a path to enlightenment, Inspirational reading, Understanding life's struggles

Tagged with:

I Ching 3 – Difficulty

 

Today’s I Ching – 3 – Difficulty

Difficulty follows The Receptive.

 

Sjpirit explains:

 

The Receptive expresses a state of mind that is open to

Receiving wisdom, whatever its source.

 

But what to do with that wisdom?

 

In nature it would be shared, as nutients

In the soil are made available to

All plants having their roots in that soil.

 

The difficulty arises in how to distribute

Intellectual, emotional, and spiritual

Nutrients among people with different

Capacities  to absorb them, and different

Degrees of awareness of their value.

 

A personal message?

 

Yes.

 

 

 

Category:

enlightenment, I Ching as a path to enlightenment, Inspirational reading, Understanding life's struggles

Tagged with:

Spirit explains I Ching 62

Today’s I Ching – 62 – Small Excess – Thunder over Mountain.

 

Spirit asks me if we can walk through a mountain.

 

Only if someone blows a tunnel through it.

 

We will.

 

What mountain?

 

The mountain of our mind.

 

How is it like a mountain (and, yes, I know I’m walking

Into something);?

 

Seemingly solid, but really only dense.

A fog is not rock.

 

Category:

enlightenment, I Ching as a path to enlightenment, Inspirational reading, Understanding life's struggles

Tagged with:

Tag Cloud