...life can be translucent

Menu

What waits in hereafter?

C

candid

Guest
I've been undergoing extreme oppression and illness and have sincerely asked the oracle, what is waiting for me on the other side. I received 16 with no changes. Then later yesterday, I asked for a confirmation. I received 14, no changes. Finally this morning, I asked the question one more time. I again received 14, change in 4th place, changing to 26. None of this is leading me away from finding out what lies ahead for me on the other side, that is, going through with it and finding out for myself. If anyone here can interoperate these readings as anything but a go ahead and cross the great water, I'd like to hear it. I find nothing but an affirmation to proceed along the journey and ending this chapter of a lonely and miserable life.

Candid
 

hilary

Administrator
Joined
Apr 8, 1970
Messages
19,149
Reaction score
3,418
Dear Candid, you sound wretched - I had no idea things were so miserable for you. I am so sorry. I am holding you in prayer and love.

It seems to me that one thing Yi could never have said was ?death is the end?: the idea of an end without new beginning has no place in it.

As I believe, what we become when we die is exactly what we have been becoming - or creating - all our lives. So these images of the vital, singing spirit, and of great purpose and offering, are simply you, indestructible. (Two unchanging hexagrams - a basic message here, that there is no real division between what you are and what you experience. And also perhaps that there's not so much difference or distance as we imagine between the two sides of this river.)

Hexagram 16 is about an energy beyond normal human comprehension. The ideogram shows an elephant - barely credibly vast, strong, something extraordinary and valuable to be celebrated. And also unpredictable and dangerous - an elephant, even if it?s spent 50 years with humans, is never ?tame? in the same way as an ox or sheep.

This hexagram seems to me to be incredibly like you. Energy, vitality, unhindered expression, and yes, most certainly unpredictability! And also an intuition that seems suspiciously like ESP. (Elephants? subsonic hearing creates the same impression.)

The issue in #16 is how the energy can be channelled into creative expression without causing injury. It surely can turn into hubris (a warning from 14, line 4 also), acting without preparation. You know the pattern? The blend of impulsiveness and inattention - so different from the spiritual lightness of #15. The elephant needs to be constantly watched and guided, the armies need their structures in place before they move, the gates need to be doubled and the clappers struck to provide against violent visitors. You need to defend yourself. The other side of the coin is what the ancient kings knew - having their people sing with the rising thunder.

The hidden core of this is one you can identify with straight away - 39. Limping on, isolated, lame - wretched. But Yi being Yi, this also means a moment of change, complete re-imagining. Not the northeast - no more mountainous, lonely roads, and no more dwelling in the past - there is no harvest in that. There is harvest in the southwest - falling back to be among friends (it?s good to have you!) and find level, fertile ground where you can grow something new. The pivot of your unchanging self - the mountain - combines with complete fluidity, finding new forms. Turning in on yourself, and total self-renewal.

I hope this helps. I always say that - you know what I mean. I?ll look at 14 and 26 very soon, but didn?t want to keep you waiting for that.

with love,
Hilary
 

lindsay

visitor
Joined
Aug 19, 1970
Messages
617
Reaction score
7
Dear Candid,

How sad to hear of your suffering! As a silent companion on Clarity, just one of many, I feel so much affection and respect for your voice in this forum. Try not to despair. How little any of us understand about life or death. I believe our finest moments often go unmarked, a few words of comfort here, a small kindness there. These things change the world. The compassion and wisdom you bring to Clarity encourages the rest of us to do as well. Stay with us. I want to hear your strong voice again.

Lindsay
 

supanatural

visitor
Joined
Jun 22, 1970
Messages
57
Reaction score
0
Greetings To All...

Candid, this is an unfortunate condition. I wish there was something I could do to help you receive the energy that you need to be enthused about living truth. Get well My Brother, for it is you that many look torward, for answers in life. I hope you can evoke the power to feel enthused about this responsibility.

SupaNatural...I can do no great things. I only do small things with Great Love.
 

willow

visitor
Joined
Aug 16, 1970
Messages
258
Reaction score
6
Candid, I join with Hilary in concern for you.

Before I get to any thoughts about the Hexagrams, I wonder if you've been looking at the evening sky recently. Mercury, Mars, Venus, Saturn and Jupiter are all in the west at sunset. Just about now Mars and Saturn are together, and next week Mars will be alongside Venus. Directly opposite all this is Pluto. Regardless of what you know or think about astrology, just to sense that huge pull in one direction in the sky seems to capture something about the times.

Which is just to say, you are not alone. Setting aside the pain and trauma of world events, this seems to be a daunting time all around -- and one with a quite physical emphasis too. I don't know the details of your situation, but, given what the people I know have been going through recently, some part of me responded to your distress with, "Yup, figures -- another one." So, not at all to make light of your personal situation, still it seems like it might be helpful for you to realize that many are hanging by similar threads.

How do I relate to an aging family member who has suffered a stroke? To an acquaintance who seems to be loosing hope in the 5th acute month of dealing with a 6-year chronic health issue? An astrologer posed the question to me this way: "What must we die to, if we are not to die from it?" Maybe something you discover will help me in those and other situations I face. Certainly the Confucius quote connected to the image suggests this:

(Confucius)) has said of the great sacrifice at which these rites were performed:
"He who could wholly comprehend this sacrifice could rule the world as though it were spinning on his hand."


Now, as far as the Hexagrams, the first thing 16 seems to be saying about what is on the other side is something like "Back to The Way."

"The inviolability of natural laws rests on this principle of movement along the line of least resistance. Theses laws are not forces external to things but represent the harmony of movement immanent in them. That's why the celestial bodies don't deviate from their orbits and why all events in nature occur with fixed regularity. It's the same with human society: only such laws are rooted in popular sentiment can be enforced, while laws violating this sentiment merely arouse resentment."

I wonder if what you are being called to think about is "other side of what?" What exactly would you want to cross to get back to The Way? For me, the "other side" right now means June. For you, it sounds like it means beyond death. I don't want to sound flippant, but I do want to ask what exactly is the difference?

Again, for me, part of the answer is in something Dharma posted the other day, that there are three elements to magic: Right time, right place, right gesture. And she added that we can affect place and gesture, but Right Time is in the hands of the gods. 16 seems to me to be a reminder of that.


"while laws violating this sentiment merely arouse resentment."

It seems like you are in a state of aroused resentment. The suggestion in 16 of how to transform this is precisely to FACE the question of the veil between the worlds. The commentary talks about music, and says, "It fell to music to glorify the virtues of heroes and thus to construct a bridge to the world of the unseen. In the temple men drew near to God with music and pantomimes (out of this later the theatre developed)." So, maybe setting aside what I said about the other side above, the issue is: What is your temple? What is your music?

Since you mention the current situation as being part of a life that has had much lonliness and misery in it, I read the next part of the commentary, where it talks about getting in touch with the ancestors, as being a direct challenge to you to look at your past, to speak with it. Both your biological ancestors, and the "ancestors" of your past personal experiences. Where is the Divinity in what you have experienced? Not the positivity, but the divinity? Where is the Spirit that already exists on THIS side?

"The ruler who revered the Divinity in revering his ancestors became thereby the Son of Heaven, in whom the heavenly and the earthly world met in mystical contact."

You may find yourself recalling that you have encountered this pass before in your life, or you may recall ancestors who confronted something similar. Are you reliving the traumas of your younger self, or of some ancestor. By knowing something about that, you can see your own unique place in the dance more clearly.


A final thing I would add parenthetically is that there are two times of the year when the "veil between the worlds" is regarded as being especially thin. One is Halloween, when we can speak with the dead. The other is Mayday (yesterday!), when those who exist outside of life and time can communicate with us, in order to refresh the living.


With regard to #14, I don't know what to say right now, except to note that the mom in Chile recently also got it, and I did too, in response to situations where we felt anything but Possessing in Great Measure. It feels a little taunting, doesn't it? Quite a struggle to understand.

That 4th line reminding you to "make a difference between yourself and your neighbor" could easily be read as meaning don't use anybody else's yardstick when you count your own treasure. You are you, not anybody else. Particularly, don't compare yourself to healthy or happy people when you are assessing what treasure may have come to you while unhealthy and unhappy. That doesn't mean you can't wish for those things, or be angry or sad if you don't have them, but they are not your yardstick.

Finally, in #26, "Not eating at home brings good fortune. It furthers one to cross the great water," I notice that the commentary says this suggests entering public office. I, for one have benefitted from reading your many insights to many people here. I certainly hope that what is being indicated is that it would be a good idea for you to keep contributing!

Can I end on a silly light note, because I know this must be so hard for you? Maybe "crossing the great water" means coming to Clarity. It is based in England, after all...

Best wishes, and may you find the right way to persevere.

Willow
 
C

candid

Guest
Dear Hilary, Lindsay, Supa and Willow,

You?ve each contributed much to consider and your compassion speaks even more clearly than your reasoning. So many good points, I?ll not possibly be able to give due consideration in this one post.

When it comes to serving a purpose here on this plain, I?m confident that I?ve followed my Lord?s lead in leading others (especially abused women) out of harm?s way and into the gifts they?ve been given in this lifetime. This isn?t something I?ve ever mentioned here because it has been a strange sort of calling. I?m confident that I?ve served a valid purpose in that line of communication and work. I?ve weathered the storms and have shared in victories and have experienced the loss, even of ones life. In this regard, I?m fulfilled.

The difficulty comes in the incorporating into the practical 8-5 work-a-day world. I?m a Director of Marketing for a large plumbing and heating company. I find it impossible to force myself into the hourly task oriented mode which the owners require of the position. I?ve been this route my entire life, even through relatively high paying executive positions. My mode is, ?get the job done? and forget the details. As a General Manager and Sales Manager, this route has always brought the respective company great success and prosperity. But as soon as my methods are measured according to the traditional models, I was soon out the door. This has been THE pattern during my entire working life. I once again find myself in the dilemma, only now with the most minimal of resources.

Its been mentioned to put the past behind me. That may be possible, if not for the fact that my ex from 32 years marriage, garners 1/3 of my income. This prevents me from obtaining a car and a place of my own. It?s a non-commission position and there?s no hope of a pay increase. Certainly not one which could make up the indentured loss of income. At almost 57, I no longer have the ambition and fire in the belly to roust up the energy to take on a lucrative project, job or endeavor. In a real sense, it?s a lost cause. I won?t elaborate on the $50,000 in medical expenses my ex has left for me to pay. She lives comfortably in a Florida condo and has all her medical needs cared for. I need two surgeries and can?t afford the time off to have it taken care of. Her health has always been top priority, and now still is. Mine will have to go unattended.

Yes, I?m angry about it. Yes, I feel like the proverbial turd in the punch bowel. I don?t fit into family (son disowned me 5 years ago for leaving the Christian faith and church), no real time friends who I have anything at all in common with. Its likely that before the week is over, I?ll loose my job and vehicle.

My real question comes down to, why? Why fight all this? For what purpose? What?s the struggle all about? What is so right about being miserable?

I?m feeling terribly self indulgent here and am embarrassed that this has drawn the attention that it has, though that was the obvious reason for opening the topic in the first place.

Thank you, all.
 

nks

visitor
Joined
Jun 30, 1970
Messages
21
Reaction score
0
Here comes a Miss Rosie
How the world do you know?
I can tell by the apron
and the dress that she wore
umbrella on her shoulder
piece of paper in her hand
she's come to tell the governor
please turn a loose my man!

let the midnight special
shine a light on me
let the midnight special
shine its ever-loving light on me

wake up every morning
hear the ding-dong ring
go marchin to the table
it's the same old thing
knife and fork are on the table
but there's nothing in the pan
ever say a word about it
get in trouble with The Man

refrain

if you ever go to Houston
oh you better walk right
better not squabble
and you better not fight
cause the sheriff will arrest you
and send you on down
and the judge will sentence you
you're penitentiary bound

refrain

oh I'm goin' away to leave you
cause my time ain't long
The Man's a gonna call me
and I'll be gone
be done all my weepin
whoppin holler'n and crying
be done all my studying
about my great long time

let the midnight special
shine it's light on me
let the midnight special
shine it's ever lovin light on me...


I was hating my job, feeling crushed by debts, overwhelmed by responsibilities, and all I could coherently focus my mind on was what seemed at the time to be esoteric useless obsessions. I was angry at everything that was not fair. I couldn't make it out of Houston to save my life.

One day, I heard an old gospel singer belt that song out, and I could feel myself learning it on the spot. Nothing changed, except learning that song. No, I take that back, things got worse. But for some reason I began to find myself discharging all my frustration and anger and helplessness into that song. It's a song that sways and rocks (not like rock'n'roll but like the rocking back and forth of weeping).

My point is, I'm still here, and it was music, written by and for suffering, that got me through. #16 is explicitly about music, and you got it unchanging. When I get something unchanging, I look carefully at all the lines, to see what development they indicate within the hexagram. In #16, the lines are all about how to handle enthusiasm (defn of enthusiasm: the god within you), and there are three ways to get it right, and three ways to get it wrong. That's rhythm, pattern again.

You are perhaps feeling crushed because you're not singing the blues while you fight, so your internal rhythm is off.

When one is feeling, "oh what's the use," any sort of grass-is-greener-on-the-other-side idea naturally fills you with excitement, enthusiasm. The hexagram acknowledges this, but sets you the task of finding a way to direct the enthusiasm so that it makes things better, not worse.

Try asking yourself what the effect of your choices will be on the being who visited you in your dream about this time last month. In your desire to more closely unite with that part of yourself, are you in danger of actually hurting it?

If you think The Man is calling you, sing him songs. Because anger kills, but grief does not.


And here are some of your own words, to help too...


By Candid (Candid) on Friday, March 08, 2002 - 07:04 pm:


Hi Supa,

I?m truly sorry this time finds you in duress. I have to admire that even in such times, you are able to view your situation holistically. Truly a sign of a developed soul. I hope none here will be offended if I offer a small prayer (offering) to encourage your healing.

Master, one of your own rank and file members is suffering in his physical body. Together here with kindred spirits, I ask that the light of your truth penetrates deep into those troublesome members of his (and Yours, and ours), and rejuvenates his cells, balancing the yin and yang therein, causing co-operation and not conflict nor discord within him.

Let all who read this, add their own personal amen, so that the light within us can be unified and strong, that our brother seeker and teacher may enjoy the fullness of his life here on earth, and that we also may be blessed by him. It is true, that we hurt when he hurts, as one member hurts with the other.

Supa..
Feel better soon, friend.


Candid..
Feel better soon, friend.
 
C

candid

Guest
Blessings Nks, (and all)

I?m an old blues player and so your tune hotwires directly to my soul. I hate the tears it brings cuz I?m supposed to be stronger than this. The stinging strings of heavy emotion haven?t been singing lately. The tubes heat up and the pedals are stomped, but no wail comes forth. When I received 16 as my answer to, ?what awaits me on the other side,? I turned and looked at the Laney and Strat, sitting soundless and cold, and I asked, where is the enthusiasm? It isn?t here anymore? I wonder if its there? Does heaven allow rock n roll, or is that role reserved for those here? Will I forget the chords and whole step bends, its taken so many trials to master?

And that little self entity who smiled at me, only a few sleepless weeks ago.. how would he be affected by the change? I honestly don?t know. But I had the distinct impression, he wouldn?t care or hardly notice. He?s the one who goes on? and on? and on. He embodies enthusiasm and its all he knows. I don?t think he knows how to cry. He needs me for that. Maybe my answer is therein. Enthusiasm fueled by suffering, expressed in song. A cry out to the universe in harmony with the groaning of this world?s song. Enthusiasm isn?t always happy, is it?

Thank you for playing the praying back to me, for I have forgotten it, as so many other prayers I?ve prayed for the wellness of others. Its been long since I?ve been prayed for, at least to my knowledge. To be the focus of prayer, is to confess my own human weakness. Not something I care to admit to. I?m the strong one, don?t you know? I carry the burdens and have none of my own. Hmmmm

Thank you, all, for being here. I feel your prayers and in the face of suffering, I feel the grace. So this is what it feels like to receive the love of others? Then, this must be what it feels like to those I?ve blessed. It?s a fair reason to keep the song alive.

Thank you.
Candid
 
M

mister

Guest
Dear Candid

A great psychologist once remarked that suicide is indeed a real option for the soul, and that sometimes it is necessary to follow, indeed help, the soul into death. I think Change would agree. Certainly there are quite justified cases of taking your own life throughout its culture, and Change itself seems to see death as simply a crossing, a ?coming and going? that returns us to the source and brings us out again. However, in this view of things, the passage also must be earned. Those old chinese ?sages? put a great value on dying ?at the end of your allotted span,? after you have fulfilled the ming or mandate given by heaven at birth. This is how you become an Ancestor, one who gives blessings to those still in the world. This ming is also the jing, the essence stored in the kidneys that connects us to the Ghost River, the underground river of souls. Our job is the ?realize? the jing, to actualize it by taking it into the heart, the xin or heart mind, where it becomes clear and still, conscious and opened to the reflection of the bright spirits (shen). By doing this, we actualize our De, the innate power and virtue that pushes us to become who we are meant to be. So the question at one of those critical moments, when something from the other side reaches out for us (61.2: the calling crane in the yin), is: Who or what is there? Who or what is calling me? Does this call for a literal or a symbolic/metaphorical death and transformation.

I think your basic answers (16 and 14 with no ?calling? or yao lines) give a completely archetypal answer to the question of ?what waits on the other side?: a new spring and seeing the Great Source of Being. However, this waits for all of us. There is no individual in these answers, nothing specific that can locate this in the context of an individual life. If we look at the center of these two figures, actually at the centers of the Pairs they represent (15:16 & 13:14) we find two other sets: 40:39 & 44:43. These, too, describe great ?comings and goings?: difficulties and the release of the spirit and announcing an omen that is the entrance of a new fate, indeed, the Lady of Fate herself, the New Queen. But where do we go to find the individual?

Now, the Pair 15:16, image of activating liminal earth powers to prepare for the spontaneous emergence of a new ?time,? imbricates certain ?karmic fields,? chief among them 35:36 (37:38) 39:40. This is projected forward from birth and the figure Kun/2/Field, the Dark Animal Goddess who gives all a form, the Mother. And it is an ?echo? of the final passage into death, the passage through the Opened Heart and the release of the Flying Bird (61:62). I want to suggest that here is the locus of what is calling in this time of crisis: it has its source in the Mother and birth and the paradigm of the Rising and Setting Sun, the Journey to the South, traveling in the wilderness. The specific hidden content calling out for an image is located in 37:38: the dwelling/family and the ghosts that haunt it, the ?outsiders.? So look here, in old traumas from the mother and birth that correlate with the 35-40th years of life, when the being is attempting to become a recognized elder and found a House. The ghosts are here. They are forcing themselves into awareness and must be given an image. They are the Excluded Ones, the lords of the Crooked Path, the gods of your sickness. To truly earn your death, you must first deal with these powers. If you do not, you become a hungry ghost in your turn, with an unfulfilled jing or life charge, a threat to the living. Settle this score, then check out if you will. You still have work to do.

Something individual does emerge, however, in these questions: the calling line in 14, 14.4. In my translation this is paired with 13.3 and reads like this:

13.3 Harmonizing People hide arms in the thickets.
Ascend your high grave mound. For three year?s time you don?t rise up.

[25:26] Inner to Outer Threshold:
Disentangle from the demons and accumulate the strength of the great

14.4 Do not seek dominance!
This is not the war dance or the fixing ritual at the ancestral gate.
This is not a mistake.

This crisis is a product of an old ?family? quarrel, a deeply hidden resentment that has left you dis-empowered. You are sitting there on your grave mound, talking to the dead. But, from the perspective of the Bright Spirit that will meet us all when we pass over, you are specifically told that the time does not call for a war dance or a fixing ritual. NOTA BENE: both these rituals call for a human sacrifice! Rather, the injunction here seems to be: Gather the spirit! Disentangle yourself from these old demons! To bring in another omen from my translation, 25 Wuwang literally means ??losing hope in a waning moon.? So don?t! Don?t lose hope. Ask Change for a specific symbol of your situation. Seems to me a real question would be: What about taking my own life now, literally? Paired with: What about enduring and finding the way through? This sets things in a truly individual frame.

Now, to my mind, the Pair 39:40, specifically 39 with its ?comings and goings? and the figure of Yu the Great, the Limping God with one foot in each world, at its center, runs throughout the backgrounds to your readings. So I asked Change: What can we offer this person? What should we say?? The answer was 39, 6/2, 6/6 > 57: accepting difficulties by using 57, The Spirit Helper who can penetrate and find the hidden influences that are literally killing you (57.2). Limping is a time when the Rouser and the Sacrificer (51:52) work on the Ghost River, awakening and sacrificing old ghosts. This is what leads to the release of new spirit in 40. Here are the line pairs:

39.2 Inner Center
Limping like Yu. The king?s servant: Difficulties, Difficulties!
His own person is definitely not the cause.

Mediated by [48:47]
Oppressed noble returns to common source

40.5 Outer Center
Noble One?s tether is Loosened. Wise Words! The Way opens.
There is a connection to the spirits that reaches the Small People.

39.6 Culmination
Difficulties going, ripeness and abundance coming.
Wise Words! The Way opens.
Advantageous to see the Great Person. Harvesting.

Intrapair Charge
Mediated by [53:54]
Old and New Marriages
40.1 Initiation
This is not a mistake.

To me, this suggests many things, but chief among them is the necessity to see these difficulties, which are not ?your? fault, as a gift from Yu the Great, the one who knows the ways of life and death and has a foot in both worlds. See the Great Person within you and talk to Great People who can help you. Use 57, the Intermediary who can penetrate to the core of this old, crappy situation. If you can let go of the old fixations, abundance is on its way. This is not a mistake, a faulty omen.

I then asked the further question: Does this mean to penetrate to the ghosts of 37:38? Does this mean that the ?bird calling from death? is located there? Answer: 63, 6/3, 9/6 > 32. This is a picture of a struggle at the threshold, a long battle in the South to subjugate the demons, and a portrait of someone who ?soaks his head? in the Ghost River and falls victim to them, giving up the struggle. The injunction in 32 is definitely: Fix the Omen! Realize the image within the situation given by the spirits!

So, finally, I might say something like: You are free to take your own life if you wish, but Change itself does not call for such a sacrifice now. If you do, you run the risk of becoming an angry soul or hungry ghost just like the ones that are haunting you now. For you have a charge, a duty to the spirit that is not yet fulfilled. You must find and give an image to those angry, excluded ghosts, bring them in and recognize them. In doing this you will be released and pass to the true stature and abundance of the being that is in you to become, the charge heaven gave you when you came into the world. In the words of WB Yeats: it is ?of all things not impossible, the most difficult.? So, do not lose hope in the waning moon! Gather your spirit. Reach out to the Great Being it is in you to become. Change is there to help you.

Love and Blessings!

Mister Wu
 

hilary

Administrator
Joined
Apr 8, 1970
Messages
19,149
Reaction score
3,418
(As so often, a lot has happened here while I slept, and since I wrote most of what follows. Thanks, Willow, and welcome Mister Wu
happy.gif
)

Dear Candid,

Starting at the end - of course we attend. You are much loved here
happy.gif


Self-indulgent, my elbow (I?ve got the language censor option turned on in the forum software). If you?re miserable, especially that miserable, for heavens? sakes come and say so - why not? Is there some rule against this?

It looks as if there is a lot for you in #39, the heart of 16. (Not altogether surprising that it emerged fully in one of Mister Wu?s readings.) It shows how difficult it is to find ways to express the energy (?the incorporating into the practical 8-5 work-a-day world?, maybe) - and maybe shows what is needed to do so. Yi says, man who drag himself along lonely miserable road need to turn round. (Quote: ?I?ve been this route my entire life.?) Rethink, re-orientate, re-invent, re-imagine - ?a realizing person reverses his personality to renovate te.? It sounds as if you are comprehensively caught up in furious resentment about the past and its present consequences: #39 is the step between alienation and deliverance. (Usual truism: the circumstances, however abysmal, do not control your focus.)

But that seems to be all the acknowledgement you get in these readings. Yi seems to have two ?modes? - acknowledge, reflect feelings sympathetically, coax gently into a new way of seeing? or just cut straight to what you need to know, giving you the credit for self-awareness, and dumping great images on you of present wealth and vitality. It?s abrupt, and (especially with unchanging hexagrams) rather like being shouted at, but I suppose it?s a compliment in a way. (Also, as Mister Wu says, it?s rather what you asked for.)

Hexagram 14??? Hard to think of anything more remote from what you describe. But I am as sure as I can be of anything that what is ?over there? (where?) is just as much here. This isn?t ?your reward is beyond the clouds?: these are very present hexagrams. And the more I look at it, the more I see those two unchanging hexagrams as saying ?here, now.?

Seeing the greatness for a moment as greatness of purpose - this is something you already know. (And I have a lot of admiration and gratitude for what you do.) So this seems a good place to start finding the ?why?, and with no suggestion of pointless struggle, nothing to fight. Hexagram 14: who you are, what you have - which is precisely what you offer and share. (The ?possess? ideogram shows a hand that holds something to offer it up or share it. Not quite the image of cars and home ownership conjured by the English ?possession?.)

Looking at the trigrams - as I know you like to do
happy.gif
- there is no shortage of energy in the belly. They look as if this enduring creativity should be shining out, radiating through the world - of course, what else - how can you ?possess? fire and light? But somehow the authors of the Daxiang, bless them, have seen a potential problem here.

?Noble One checks hate and displays improvements,
by yielding to the Great he releases the mandate.?
(To borrow again from ?Mister Wu?s? translation.)

This isn?t ?evil? in others so much as the human response to it, entanglement in hostile emotion. (And you don?t attain Great Taming until you are first Without Entanglement.) Of course, halting this is the same, in the end, as ?curbing evil?. The nuclear hexagram has its own approach: crying out resolutely at the centre of things, even in the middle of those old ghosts, that the old has to go - but not taking up arms against it.

Then the changing line comes from the perspective of Hexagram 26, seeking to tame and nurture this inner drive so that it can take you beyond the familiar. (Maybe riding that elephant?) ?Not eating at home? - not resting content with the nourishment (all varieties) that you know. All the energy of heaven - all the laws of life, whatever they are - are stored up in mountains of past achievement and wisdom. And the ?superior man? uses these things in moving onward.

Looking up to these mountains with the not-so-easy gesture of Great Possession/Being/Offering (?) you?re called on not to seek to dominate the situation. The risk, by implication, is hubris, taking too much on yourself. Wu Jing Nuan has it more simply:
?Not his to be strong. No error.?
- which we?ve heard before here.
Or like Mister Wu says (he?s going on the oldest known meanings of the text), not trying to turn yourself into a human sacrifice. Clear enough.

yes, I still hope this helps.

love,
Hilary
 
C

candid

Guest
Dear Mr. Wu,

I am not a man who humbles easily before another man, nor one who throws away virtue as a vain girl before a lord. But I do recognize the words and spirit of such a one as yourself, and I sit humbled before the teacher, for his words are truth. I recognize the messenger and the message. I?ll ask no foolish questions, for your answers are clear enough. I take no shame in being the fool in #4, for I am only blessed by your words.

If I?m angry here and now, I?d be angry there and would, as you?ve said, likely haunt, even as I am being haunted. This wouldn?t fulfill my jing, only frustrate the effort I?ve thus far invested.

It will take some time to identify these ghosts, though some quickly come to mind. The most predominant ghost however, is my own disappointment in my own self. The succession of personal failings, the ever present disappointment of my kin-folk, some who have passed over, a loving grandmother who fights for me in intersession, though she herself was an unhappy soul. A sensuous lover, who passed on before we were to meet r/t. A musical career and calling, which was sacrificed on the alter of a chaste marriage. A marriage which was more poisoness then any handful of pills I could swallow. This is my head in the Ghost River. This is what?s been trying to kill me.

It will take more time and study to absorb all that you?ve said. But I know you are right. Thank you for taking the time to share your wisdom with me.

Thank you all.
Candid
 

lindsay

visitor
Joined
Aug 19, 1970
Messages
617
Reaction score
7
Dear Candid,

At this point I feel a moral obligation to put in my bit for Western medicine. I speak not as a doctor, but as a patient. Most of the feelings you express are characteristic symptoms of chronic depression. Your problems are real, but the way you deal with them may not be. Despondent, even hopeless? Thinking about suicide? Angry all the time? Can't sleep? Irritable with other people? Can't concentrate at work? Everyone out to get you? Drink too much? Take drugs? Emotionally out of control? Mood swings (despair to exaltation)? Cry a lot? My guess is you are living in hell, and you've been there a long time. It doesn't have to be like that. It isn't like that for most other people. The cure can be amazingly simple. Dozens of psychotropic anti-depressants have been developed in recent years that restore balance to the mind. For me Wellbutrin turned around a lifetime of chronic depression, saved my most precious relationships, and helped me want to go on living. People scoff at "meds" but they haven't been to hell and back day after day.

If I were you, Candid, I'd go see a doctor or a therapist asap and lay it all out for them. I'd turn over every stone, even sell my entire I Ching library, to get the money to do this. It could open a world of hope you haven't seen for a long time. It could save your life. It could make you glad your're alive. It could make you just like the other people around you.

---------------------------------
Sorry, folks, but I'm worried about this guy. I've heard rap like this before. I used to think this way. Maybe this has no place in an I Ching forum, but I believe this man needs help.
 
D

dharma

Guest
I've only now made it to my mailbox since yesterday morning and I see that a storm has passed through here while I tended to yet another similar storm in my midst. I struggled to reach someone else yesterday as they *too* thought it would be easier to give up than go on. (Willow is correct --the present astrological effect is powerful enough to affect many.)

Reading through all the letters though makes me most glad to be a part of a community where love is not merely some imaginary ideal that our discussions rest upon, but a very real and palpable experience that comes forth when called.

I wondered, what could I say to you Candid that has not already been said that could make a difference??

I thought that maybe I could remind you that Life is a magic that we need to grasp firmly and embrace wholly unto ourselves if we are ever to fully KNOW the incredible gift that it is...and that a huge spark is carefully and patiently guarded, especially for us...waiting for us...and that we only need decide that we want it for it to be ours...but I think you knew and forgot and were kindly reminded by your many friends here at Clarity already.

But as you spoke about your music, I recalled my own creative acts (my poetry) and thought that perhaps they have the power to speak you, as they do for me, when I write them. I chose three (the trinity was required, I felt) and so, here is my offering to you in your time of need and what better way than to begin with Love.


~Love Rules or Else, NOT~


..Love,
........The misunderstood

........Elusive pot of gold

...................At Rainbow's End


..Cries
........For unconditional,

........Total Self acceptance

...................As Is.


..She demands

........Freedom from emotional restrictions

........That inhibits true liberty

........And unique expression

...................Beyond her warm embrace.

..For

........Where judgement,

........And manipulation dwell

...................Love ceases to reign.


..Unqualified Love

........Nurtures wisdom and fosters truth

........For without it,

...................Love is NOT.


..Love prevails

........Within the undefended heart,

........Free from fear and doubt;

...................Only trust and faith consenting.


..Forgiveness

........Shines the light that heals

........The bitter wounds that darkness bred,

...................And gives Love entry.


..Love IS brilliance,

........Queen of Her Domain,

........Subject to No Thing,

...................Even Darkness.

© INTENSITIES by Demitra M. N.


Then, to remind you of what the journey requires from you to make the leap to the next level, I decided to share the following:

~PLUTUS Intro~

There are moments in life
.....That we trip into,
And like black holes
They draw us into their midst--
.....Hypnotically working their magic on us.

Rooted thusly in place,
.....Allow yourself
.....To fully absorb life's intent.
.....And assimilate it's essence,
However uncertain the lesson
And the destination.
??????????????????????????????????????????
Springing forth
..From the bowels of your ordeal,
...Shed the skin of your previous Self
..............Resigned,
....................Revitalized,
.........................Redeemed--
A creative witness to your own renaissance.

There are moments in life
That we emerge from,
.....Delivered from the current of profundity--
Spiritual warriors fully engaged to Self,
...........Wise to the obligatory battles
...............Of Life's unending journey.

© INTENSITIES by Demitra M. N.


Finally, to remind you that your continuing patience will bring you what you most seek...peace...I share this one with you.


~THE HERO'S JOURNEY~

Within the Garden's lake
.....Obscured by false illusions
.....Discerned only by the blissful eye
Rests the cup of rapture's ideal:
............The dream of Psyche
............For the love of Eros
............In the name of God
............For the sake of Divinity.

Begin with the Law,
.....To believe in Love
.....That Love is Truth
.....And Truth is Unity--
And though wholeness takes time
And the time be long
.....Still, time breeds patience;
............An accumulation of virtue.

Proceed in the know,
.....That to analyze
.....And then manifest
.....This new birth feeling
Is to risk the Fool's journey
.....And the drowning of Narcissus--
............Sacred upon the Mountain
............Enlightenment is its crown.

Lost and lonely winding trails
.....Primitive labyrinths of the heart
The long night instills endurance
.....As the moon-souls surface
.....And their essence is absorbed.

Yet, there comes the quiet morning
.....Coated with a gold expression
When the silence shimmers
.....To the orchestra of peace,
And the cup emerges from its source
.....To heal all wounded scars of quester
..............And to render him complete.

© INTENSITIES by Demitra M. N.

Hang tight my friend, a new dawn is fast approaching and you don't want to miss it....Dharma
 
C

candid

Guest
Dear Lindsay,

Thank you for your concern. I was on various antidepressants for five years, three of those years were in the final years of the marriage. I went cold turkey two years ago because I was no less depressed and was no longer able to identify with my actual feelings, good or bad. I?m not saying they can?t be affective, just that they didn?t solve anything or provide any kind of lasting relief for me. They just kept me numb, mindless and sexless. The first three months of cold turkey were hell, but my life actually improved once I went off them. That?s when I was able to enter the work-a-day world again. Its when I took up music again and began to communicate with others again. I?m resolved to never return to that type of therapy.

I don?t drink at all and my drug consumption consists of a toke of pot before a jam session. Though I did obtain sleeping pills recently to help get more than the two hours a night I?ve been accustomed to. I don?t rule out possible negative reactions to that medication and have cut the dosage in half.

I?ve tried counseling twice in my life. Both ?shrinks? were stuck in Freudian fundamentals and it seemed they benefited from our sessions more than I did. One made a point of raising her skirt inappropriately high after five minutes of ?therapy.? All she wanted to talk about was sex. I was married at the time, otherwise that therapy might have been just what the doctor ordered. *wink* (Hey! Is this humor I?m experiencing?)

I?m going to get through this and be better for it. Yi told me so.

Sincerely,
Candid
 
C

candid

Guest
Dear Dharma,

To comment on your poetry would be to diminish the magic and life giving potential therein. To thank you for sharing it, would be like pouring water over a well heated hearth. Let it be enough to say, I hear the spirit as well as the words which have flowed through you, and will read it often, as it pleases me to hear my heart spoken through another.

To this, let me add my own, written when I still used to dream:

Dreams of a Crazy Man

If all the dreams of a crazy man seem far away,
then I say to listen to the wind
as it begins to tell you of life
and what it means to be a crazy man,
to understand a dream.

If to love me will make you cry
and if you don?t know the reason why,
just whistle through the storm.. it will be warm..
the clouds can?t hide the sun forever.
Be happy child, don?t worry ?bout the weather.

Night is night
and the day is bright;
in-between may seem to last forever.
Well then, forever it may be,
though to me its almost morning,
and morning come only once a day.

Our Ting runneth over.

~Candid
 

lindsay

visitor
Joined
Aug 19, 1970
Messages
617
Reaction score
7
Dear Candid,

Fair enough. We all have to make our own decisions. And, of course, "life is suffering," according to the Buddha and just about every other human being whose lived through it. Whatever you do, it looks like you have some good friends here at Clarity.

Best wishes for moving on,
Lindsay
 

Frankelmick

visitor
Joined
Jun 13, 1970
Messages
305
Reaction score
0
Lindsay,

I think you're right. Candid has some real friends here at Clarity.

Candid, as far as I'm concerned, when a man cries he is showing his strength. To be able to express your feelings is real strength. It's alright.

Here's some more lyrics for you, by Gil Scott-Heron:

"Placed here on a mountain
With a rare chance to see
Dreams once envisioned by folks
Much braver than me.

But since their lives have brought me to
The middle of a mountain
Well I can't stop and give up on them.

Their lights that shine on
Inspire me to climb on
From all of the places we've been."

Every best wish for the future,

Mick
 

Clarity,
Office 17622,
PO Box 6945,
London.
W1A 6US
United Kingdom

Phone/ Voicemail:
+44 (0)20 3287 3053 (UK)
+1 (561) 459-4758 (US).

Top