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

Aha!

Good Day Everyone!

Yesterday, Valentine's Day, I was at a seminar all day entitled, "GET MOTIVATED!" The headliners were Zig Ziglar, Rudolph Giuliani, Phil Town and Marty Schottenheimer. I readily accepted my broker's invitation to join her, as I'm always up for a day of positive reinforcement.

I was aware early on that the day might have an aha in store for me when it took two hours to get to the Sports Arena in a sea of traffic. Ever mindful to stay "connected", I was listening to a book on tape, A Light in the Window by Jan Karon. But I knew it would be a day enlightening me by virtue of the "contrast".

Zig was wonderful, as always. He is now proudly 80 years old and still going strong. He inspires us because he has been there and turned himself around. He talks about the components of a successful life, one of them being his faith. He doesn't belabor the point or pound with "his way" - in fact I think he leaves it at that because he understands that faith like spirituality is a very private and personal matter to be established internally by each individual. Thanks Zig.

As the day progressed I noticed things that didn't "feel" right. Everyone that followed was selling something. Not just casually, but actively and vigorously although couched in pretty words. Phil Town was promoting a software that would assist in timing the stock market. Tom Hopkins was pushing a 3-day seminar in buying real estate. Information is excellent. I love being informed in the fashion of "did you know?" But when the lack factor is introduced, when the fear factor is used, I'm usually cranky. This comes when they say, "today only", forcing you to think you'll forever loose this opportunity. This flies in the face of the Infinite Invisible and Who We Really Are. Human mind vs God Mind.

The worst of the day came before lunch when we were reminded by one of the organizers, Tamara Lowe, that the break was not the lunch break, but there would still be another speaker before lunch. She did not announce that the speaker would be her husband Peter Lowe, nor what he would be talking about. Like sheep we obediently took our short break and took our seats. Peter Lowe took the stage and began what seemed like it would be a spiritual message. That idea of faith that Zig referred to. However about 10 minutes into his speech peppered with a tinge of fear here, a hint of powerlessness there, whammy he plunged into a full blown come to Jesus meeting.

I was furious. So furious that I got up and walked out along with quite a few others. Why you might ask was I so angered? Deceit. The old bait and switch. If his message was so great and benign why was it slithered in? Why not sell the entire seminar as such? Let people decide for themselves? And then I understood why the sales pitches seemed so slimy to me, as well. Again the bait and switch. Here's an "authority" on one subject, now pushing something that his not of his own creation. Another discounting of a person's own Innate Intelligence to hear the facts of something and choose aright for themselves. But worse, it is the presumption of lack on the part of the sellers. Like they need someone else to hawk their wares, rather than buy time on stage to present what lovely thing they have created for those who match it to take them up on it.

Why are we offered televisions for listening to time share proposals? Most come just to get the TV and waste every one's time. How should it be done? Straight up and straight forward. There's a suitable buyer for everything and suitable ways to approach them. They will choose aright for themselves based on the facts. The most illuminating thought in the whole day was how much if not everything in marketing is based on lack, fear and not enough. So they resort to trickery, which was never necessary in the beginning.

Applied Spirituality is knowing that that God-chip within me is connected to every other God-chip there is. That what I create is put forth by my energetic vibrations whilst I create, whilst I love what I'm doing, whilst I envision the benefits for all those out there. The matching vibrations will join it readily if I stay centered in I AM and allow it to unfold. IT is like magic, but is in reality physics. It is Source at work as always.

It's a good thing to travel out of the mountains regularly and see what human mind is up to. I have a friend who derides me because I don't watch television. Well, all I can say is you're right, Charlie. I was pretty shocked. But once I regained my own balance I understood how unbalanced one can become when being brainwashed daily and schooled ceaselessly in the human mind of fear, lack and disconnection from Source. One thing is for sure, when you hear or feel something that is connected, it's easily recognized because it feels so darn good.

One more thought. Marty Schottenheimer was recently dismissed as head coach of the San Diego Chargers. Human mind, to be sure. He "failed" to get them into the Super Bowl. But I can tell you from the thunderous applause, sustained in love for him that the Truth of his Value is known in the hearts of the Charger fans. You did not fail, Marty. You succeeded in uniting us in a love for our city through the hearts of you and your team. You and the Chargers are and always will be a resounding success. Thanks for a great ride!

Thanks for reading! k