“May you live in interesting times.”
Well, last year’s Year of the Rat did a great job lowering the bar for future New Year’s successes! 🤣. However, I’m thinking this year’s Metal Ox can find a way of showing off for us - just a bit! 🤞 No matter what the Tao has in store for us we sure know how to make lemonade out of lemons and I trust nothing much can stop that from continuing. ☯︎ I wish us all a great new year full of everything that keeps us and ours healthy and keeps all of us happy, safe and growing.
In our tradition we tossed the coins in this Monday’s Qigong class for our annual reading from ancient book of changes, the I-Ching. We ask the I-Ching (ee-ching) to give us advice on the coming year, to let us know what the conditions are for the time ahead. The I-Ching reminds us the only reliable truth is the truth that everything changes. As always, it was an interesting read. There are many many translations that you can even find free online. Even if you have no idea what this is, you will enjoy looking around if you have an interest. In the meantime, here is Brian Browne Walker’s translation for the “answer” to our question: Hexagram #40 with a changing line of #4, thus changing into Hexagram #7.
Happy New Year. May we live in interesting times. Done and done!
Kim
To the I-Ching we asked: “What are the conditions and advice for the next year?”
解
Hexagram 40: HSIEH
LIBERATION; DELIVERANCE
A change in attitude
delivers you from difficulties.
The hexagram Hsieh signals the beginning of a deliverance from danger, tensions, and difficulty. The I Ching instructs you here on both the cause of deliverance and how you must act in order to fully benefit from it.
Deliverance is always caused by a change in our attitude. The Higher Power uses conflicts and obstacles to teach us lessons that we refuse to learn in an easier way, but they only darken our doorstep until we have acknowledged the lesson. So long as we ignore or resist difficulty it remains our constant companion; as soon as we accept its presence as a sign that some self-correction is needed, our deliverance begins. Truly, the only way to dispel trouble and regain peace of mind is to change our attitude.
The I Ching also teaches us that we have several responsibilities once our deliverance begins. The first is to forgive the misdeeds of others. The image of the hexagram is that of a powerful rainstorm washing away what is unclean. This, then, is a time to clean every slate and begin anew, meeting others halfway with gentleness and patience.
Next, we are advised to restore our inner balance and see that it is maintained. Deliverance offers us a return to equanimity, and we must avail ourselves of the opportunity conscientiously. Finally, we are counseled not to try to force progress, even though the time is beneficial. If we have truly changed our attitude, we have become detached, innocent, modest, and accepting. In this state we allow progress to unfold naturally according to the will of the Sage.
CHANGING FOURTH LINE:
Free yourself from inferior influences, both in your self and in your acquaintances. Otherwise there is no room for the superior to enter your life.
***
師
Hexagram 7: SHIH
COLLECTIVE FORCE; THE ARMY
In times of war it is desirable
to be led by a cautious and humane general.
The hexagram Shih is a guide to proper conduct in the face of adversity. It is inevitable that we sometimes face trials and challenges in life. How we prepare ourselves, by whom we are led, and how we conduct ourselves during these "wars" determines whether we are victorious or not. The I Ching counsels us to follow the example of a first-rate army.
A truly powerful army always consists of a number of devoted soldiers who discipline themselves under the leadership of a superior general. If he has achieved his position through force, the general will not last for long and he will lose the support of his army when he needs it most. If on the other hand he has become a leader through superior conduct and even-handed treatment of his fellow soldiers, then his power is well consolidated and it endures.
So it is with us. Only by conducting ourselves humanely and with persevering balance can we have a genuine influence in trying times. There is always the temptation to be led into battle by our egos, but we are guaranteed a humiliating defeat if we turn our inferiors loose in this way. A superior person achieves victory in the same fashion as a superior army: by putting his inferior emotions under the guidance of his superior emotions, and by proceeding cautiously, modestly, and with the continual goal of achieving peace and detachment.
You are advised to prepare for a trial now. Your chances of success will be determined by how you conduct yourself within and without. If you remain alert, modest, just, and independent, all will go well. If you are gentle and humane, you will have the allegiance of those around you. Advance cautiously when the time is right, and when it is not, do not allow your ego to stand in the way of retreat and disengagement.
Remember that the ultimate victory in any battle comes when we regain our inner independence, our neutrality, and our equanimity. These can only be won by placing our inferiors under the leadership of our superiors. Do this now, and success will be yours.
Taken from The I-Ching translation by Brian Browne Walker