Ancient Wisdom for Now

Good Evening Everyone!

Santa Ana winds are blowing again up here in the Cuyamaca Mountains of San Diego. They are tiresome. Yet, they blow and the wind has its way. Sometimes gentle, sometimes sudden and gusty, startling. Woody the cat finds shelter under the bed.

I decided it was time for basics in my blog; that I hadn't yet touched on the topic of mystery.

Mystery is the fabric of spirituality; it is the ground cloth. It begins blank at the start of one's journey and as wisdom is gained, a thread gets woven into the fabric as an understanding. So we each make our own tapestry over the course of a lifetime. I take a thread here, a thread there and weave a picture that is known to me as Truth. Each of us does this, consciously or not. These are not beliefs of the human mind, rather are simply known as Truth without proof because they are threads of the Mind of God.

When the wind is blowing like this, dry and long, hard and without mercy, the mystery is opening as the skin on the back of your neck prickles and raises your hackles. It stirs up the soul restless to be heard, felt and known. The wind helps sweep away the mental constructs of human mind that constrict the soul which speaks only God Mind.

Often in these types of things I like to consult the I Ching. For a few years I studied the I Ching nearly daily, endeavoring to decipher the poetry, the - haiku? Sorry. Could not think of another word.

After several years I came to one thing that I felt the ancients had got spot on: that we live in two minds: the human mind and the Mind of God.

We call these many things here in the West.

We talk of psychology and the psyche, the rational mind, or the intellect. All these are human mind that we have learned since landing here on the planet.

Then, there is the Mind of God, or the Mind of Tao. The silence. It strives not, but Is. The Ground Cloth.

In all teachings there is reference to prayer of some sort. Western prayer is about asking, beseeching and even begging. It is always about talking in some way to God. The best side of Western prayer is giving thanks, giving praise, or blessing....but always, always talking, sending out yet another message.

But in Easter prayer there is silence. There is breath. There is being. There is the mystery of contact with It. There is receiving and allowing.

So when the wind is blowing like this, I feel the mystery calling me to quiet my human mind(s). And be still. Listen to the Sounds of Silence. Allow the mystery to enter me.

It's like it's knocking at my soul reminding me to reach upward, inward and receive the message, the wordless fullness.

There is so much noise.

It is a lifetime of practice to remove yourself from the daily fray to enter the mystery and fill up; to go back to the world and your many tasks now full, refreshed and inspired.

So today I turned to the I Ching and the chapter on Mystery. And here I share it with you:

14. Mystery

Looked at but cannot be seen - it is beneath form;
Listened to but cannot be heard - it is beneath sound;
Held but cannot be touched - it is beneath feeling;
These depthless things evade definition,
And blend into a single mystery.

In its rising there is no light,
In its falling there is no darkness,
A continuous thread beyond description,
Lining what can not occur;
Its form formless,
Its image nothing,
Its name silence;
Follow it, it has no back,
Meet it, it has no face.

Attend the present to deal with the past;
Thus you grasp the continuity of the Way,
Which is its essence

14. Mystery

Looked at but cannot be seen - it is beneath form;
Listened to but cannot be heard - it is beneath sound;
Held but cannot be touched - it is beneath feeling;
These depthless things evade definition,
And blend into a single mystery.

In its rising there is no light,
In its falling there is no darkness,
A continuous thread beyond description,
Lining what can not occur;
Its form formless,
Its image nothing,
Its name silence;
Follow it, it has no back,
Meet it, it has no face.

Attend the present to deal with the past;
Thus you grasp the continuity of the Way,
Which is its essence

(http://www.chinapage.com/gnl.html)

Even a two way radio has "send" and "receive"buttons. Both cannot function at the same time.
We "send" messages all day, all night long.

Time to receive the Mystery.

Thanks for reading!


Kath