The Way of Sacrifice

The Taoist way is the way of sacrifice. In that sense it is no different than the Christian Way which is the way of the cross. Six of one and half a dozen of the other. Same thing. What is it we sacrifice? We sacrifice our self will and give it up to the universal will. The universe has a consciousness. This is what the "New World Order" and the elite do not want you to know. They want you to know it is a cold dead universe; that it happened by accident. The Taoists did not necessarily (or maybe they did) believe in a supreme being in quite the same way we do in the West, but they did believe that the universe was alive and that the universe was fully conscious. In much the same way, some Gnostic Christians believed that the old Testament God was a lower ranking being, and that the true God was this "mystical" universe of consciousness.

Fundamentalist Christians do not agree with the oriental concept of "oneness." That is because, in my opinion, they do not understand exactly what is meant by that. They quote the Bible which speaks of atonement, but do not realize that atonement comes originally from three words, "at - one - ment," or at one meant. Sometimes we speak apples and oranges, and argue never realizing that we are not even speaking of the same thing and are using concepts that are perceived in one way by the speaker and another by the hearer. This subject could be carried on farther, perhaps at another time. Suffice it to say for now that in most, if not all religions is this concept, conceived or not by the general practicioner, of a supreme being who is not in a given place in time or space, but all pervading, and is the essence of all that exists.

And in the I Ching, as well as the Bible, we have the concept of a higher reality in which we "move and breathe and have our being;" and being such, we learn that it would not be wise to "lean upon our own understanding," but to submit to this higher power, and give it credit for our accomplishments and our successes, rather than attributing them to our lower personality alone. So in hexagram thirty four, the Wilhelm/Baynes commentary says that we may "rely on our power, and forget to ask what is right." In other words, we rely on our lower consciousness rather than recognizing and availing ourselves of the deeper power that exists within us. When we do this we violate the maxims of hexagram fifteen, and give ourselves praise rather than the higher powers. In other words, we are self willed. "Pride cometh before a fall." We must humble ourselves and give ourselves up to a power that is higher than we. In this way we do not forget to "ask what is right." In this way we are following the way of the cross and the way of the Tao.

The lines give us various indications of how we can violate this universal law of "asking what is right." Often when we come into power we revel in it, and begin to exert our will to dominate those around us. However, this only causes resistance. Line one of hexagram thirty four describes a situation where a person has developed a certain amount of power but not as much as he or she thinks. Then they begin to arrogantly lord it over other people and this causes a reaction. Line three tells us that we must be "conscious at all times of the danger of pushing ahead regardless of circumstances." This too comes from a lack of humility and unwillingness to ask what is right.

When we use power properly following the tao and not our own self will, we find ourselves as in hexagram forty, easing ourselves away from tensions. We recognized in good time that we were violating the universal law of universal willfulness by trying to enforce our own will. Now, before disaster strikes, we need to "return to the way that is suited for us." And as hexagram forty says, (when lines one and three of thirty four change) we must make a "clean sweep and get back to normal conditions as soon as possible." In this way we spare ourselves of the humility that would overtake us by our own ignorance of our situation. (See hexagram four). If we fail to learn our lessons we can be like line four of hexagram four that says in the commentary, "Often the teacher, when confronted with such entangled folly, has no other course but to leave the fool to himself for a time,not sparing him the humiliation that results" For there is no harsher taskmaster than our own being when we behave foolishly and arrogantly.

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The Biggest Secret

The biggest secret is that there is no secret! And yet there is. Because even though the secret is right out in the open, nobody sees it. Lao Tzu, who wrote the Tao Teh Ching said, "the best secret is one which is right out in the open." Nobody notices the obvious.

I submit that the I Ching, the Bible, and pretty much all sacred or religious books are written in code, and that while the secret is right there, we never see it. And even those who see it see it only on a lower level. By the way, there are those code breakers working for various military units around the world who have stated "I work with secret codes, I make them and I break them, and I have seen enough of them to know that the Bible is a secret code."

Well, the above is just a few statements that should be made, and perhaps not elaborated upon at this point. I suspect that the people who read the posts on this blog have a somewhat higher understanding of life and the nature of reality than those who read other things. That being said, it may be surmised that people who read these posts understand that science is not all that it is cracked up to be. Science says that there is no way that someone can consult the I Ching and get an answer that is valid. They say they have proven there is "No God, no purpose, no plan for the universe and that it is just an accident." Therefore, there can be no meaning to the I Ching, to any religious, or spiritual, or sacred document. It is just a bunch of superstition made up by ignorant people in ages past who had no science. Well, those of us that have used the I Ching know that it DOES work. If we have used it extensively we know that there is a power, and a purpose behind it. And therefore it seems to me that we have a little more savvy, a little more understanding, than those who arrogantly think of themselves as the saviors of society with their science or what have you. So, once again I say, that I believe those that come to this blog consistently probably have a little better knowledge of the world and its meaning than society at large does.

And yet, even with that, we are all deceived. For there is a dark spiritual power and spiritual force in the world that wishes for the truth to be completely washed away, and that everyone should believe exactly what the elite of the world tell them they should believe. If they say two and two equals five, we are supposed to believe it, until they say it equals three, and we believe that. And the most educated of the world are the ones that are the most inclined to follow the elite into whatever belief system they lay out for the common man. Right now it is just a matter of deceiving us. The time is coming, and has always been that way in certain countries, where we will not only be expected to believe whatever the elite want us to believe, but we will be forced to believe what they say, under penalty of death. The elite have openly stated that they intend to crush Christianity. In many countries it is being done by slaughter. It some it is being done by ridiculing anyone that would believe in Christianity. But if you are not Christian, it would not be wise to think you are safe, that you don't have to worry. Once they stomp out Christianity, you can bet they are coming after everyone else's religion or spiritual beliefs. The elite of the world believe in Lucifer, but they want the common man to believe in nothing but the material world. They want him or her to believe there is nothing spiritual at all, that there is no purpose, and we are just here by accident. Two and two equals five. It is easier to control those who fear death (because there is nothing after) than those who believe we continue in spirit or soul form.

So sometimes it is not easy for me to post here. I know what is coming. I know what lies ahead and what the plans are. Right now there are those international elite who intend to pass laws such that any website that does not tell the truth can be shut down. Sounds like a good thing, except, who decides who is telling the truth? The elite do. It is their truth (which is a lie) that they are concerned about. And it follows their plan for world domination by forcing people to believe what they want them to believe, which is a lie. I salute those who read this. I greatly appreciate the following, though not large, yet surprisingly significant (by my perspective of significance) of those who are interested in this subject.

The Source of Great Power

Hexagram thirty four gives us insights into the meaning of power and where it comes from. When we attain it, we are all too often inclined to become egotistical and bully our way around in one form or another. This is true pretty much of all leaders of all nations. That doesn't mean they will necessarily go to war with another country, but that they will use their power to suppress all others who are opposed to their power, or trying to become more powerful themselves.

Many would argue that we all do this on our own level, and that we must do it in order to survive in the world. Indeed, it is the instinctive way. Even when we wish to break from the game we find ourselves engaging in these power struggles without really realizing it. If we don't, we may find ourselves the "dog that gets eaten." So, if we want to live moral lives, what do we do? Perhaps it is, as so many say, impossible to not play the power game at least at our own level. But the highest spiritual values and teachings, insist that we should not play this game. In fact they are so emphatic about it, that they insist you should not play this game even at the cost of our own lives. Jesus said that "a man must take up his/her cross daily, and follow him. Lao Tzu, the Chinese philosopher said that "daily he invests in loss." Why would anyone invest in loss? Perhaps because "metaphorically speaking, "The way of the cross leads home." To our true home.

At any rate, The hexagram speaks of great power and how to use it successfully. But early on in the Wilhelm/Baynes commentary it says, "...There is the danger that one may rely entirely on one's own power, and forget to ask what is right." What does it mean to not ask what is right? I would say this. If we think that our own power originates with us, without seeking the tao, or seeking heavenly guidance, we become arrogant and our own arrogance will eventually turn against us, as the dark shadow within us seeks its due. Not asking what is right means we ultimately think that our own conscious mind is so smart we can outsmart and outfox everyone, and in that way gained our power. But as the ancient Greeks used to point out so much in their mythology is that the gods hate arrogance above all else. We do not give them their due, we arrogantly take credit of ourselves, and hence eventually lose the power we had fought so hard to gain.

Out of Town

I will be out of town the next two weeks but should post after that.

Common Themes

In consulting the I Ching for a specific question, it seems to me it is best to seek an answer from one specific hexagram rather than multiple readings. When reading for spiritual wisdom or deeper understanding of the I Ching I would submit that it is better to consult from a complex of hexagrams. Carol Anthony, in her books, suggests that six hexagrams seems to give a good answer. I have followed that too. In this way it is possible to get a cluster of hexagrams with a common thread. For example, there are a number of hexagrams that relate to situations where one must retreat. Each hexagram or line that deals with that however, deals with it in a little different manner and a little different way. Therefore, in getting a cluster of hexagrams that relate to retreat, (hexagram thirty three is the most obvious) we can discover that that is a major theme for us to review. But there are other hexagrams and lines that can deal with this very same situation, albeit in a different context. So when we get perhaps, hexagram thirty three, with a number of lines changing, and we get hexagram fifty five, which indicates a situation where things are at their peak, and a change is coming, lets also say we get hexagram seventeen line one, which speaks of a standard that changes, and we get as well hexagram one line four, which speaks of a transition period, in which we can either leave the world behind, (retreat) or not, then we can see that we have a bit of a common thread running throughout. Things are not always so easy. Sometimes a common thread takes a lot of time in meditation to find. Things don't always fit together perfect in a way that we understand. (They do fit together but sometimes we are not mentally and spiritually ready to take the next step, and discover the real message. Then we have to persevere and concentrate until a light comes out of events.)

We can see from this group of hexagrams that a change is coming, and that it may be time to retreat from old friends and find new, or we may need to retreat from a situation that no longer serves us, or we may need to retreat from a position, or even from the world at large. It is often hard though, to comprehend that these timelines are a part of the Tao, or the Way, that we are meant to follow, and occur during times in our life when we are maturing to a point that we need a new environment for further growth. In hexagram fifty three line six, we see a situation that has matured to a point where we soar above the world, and can observe from above the dealings of the world. When we reach this stage, we may or may not still be "in the world," but we are no longer, in may ways, "of the world." A point of maturity has been reached. As the commentary in hexagram fifty two says, "He no longer sees in it (the world) the struggle and tumult of individual beings, and therefore he has that true peace of mind which is needed for understanding the great laws of the universe, and for acting in harmony with them." When we reach this point it can be said as in the commentary on hexagram thirty three line five, that the retreat can be friendly though the time for retreat has come, and in line six, that the retreat can be cheerful and that one can see clearly that it is time to depart, and that there is a clear path ahead which always leads to the good.

Today's discussion will probably not resonate with a lot of people, but for those few who have seen the handwriting on the wall may very well resonate with it, knowing that it is time to retreat, or that it is time to move to a higher level on the path of initiation. As in hexagram twenty six line six, "One attains the way of heaven. Success."

Closer to the Ruler

The discussion recently has centered around the case for two (or more) levels of understanding for initiates into the sacred mysteries. We have discussed a little about the levels of initiation in Christianity, and a very little in other religions (or philosophies) that I know less about. And I am not qualified to express the meanings on the highest level of initiation. We do have, however, an example in history when things went terribly wrong with those who had secret knowledge. It appears that there are those, (and I think this is especially true in the western world, but maybe not) who are absolutely determined to keep mankind in darkness and ignorance. (Remember the snake in the Garden of Eden?) The Serpent apparently gave knowledge to mankind that he was not supposed to have yet. And the question becomes, is it best for us to have that knowledge or not? Was the supposed fall a fall upwards? or was it a fall into sin? Or perhaps we can accept the idea that it was both? At any rate, whether it is the Serpent, or the Elohim that got us into this mess, or maybe both - maybe both had a hand in our demise, and things are not as simple as they seem, we do appear to have this capacity for advanced knowledge, but it is only for a few.

It appears that a group of Knights called the Knights Templar, who were guardians for the Roman Catholic Church, found some manuscripts in Jerusalem, perhaps in underground tunnels, that gave some secrets or secret knowledge that someone didn't want us having. And when it was discovered they had it, then, I believe the year was 1307 A.D.,  and I believe Friday October 13th, the Roman Catholic Church issued an edict for their complete destruction and in France a slaughter began. Some may have escaped to Scotland, and other parts of Northern Europe, and still exist in small groups, but that is speculation as far as I am concerned. Nevertheless... (This apparently is where we get the superstition of the dangers of Friday the 13th of any month.)

At any rate, that is enough of history, there are hints in many places about a secret doctrine that exists in many religious or philosophical sects. In the I Ching there is evidence of it in many places, but one I will mention now is hexagram forty six, line four. The Wilhelm/Baynes commentary says, "One acquires fame in the sight of gods and men, is received into the circle of those who foster the spiritual life of the nation, and thereby attains a significance that endures beyond time." Those who foster the spiritual life of the nation would be those of secret orders who have a secret doctrine that goes beyond the simple understanding of the natural man.

The fourth line of any hexagram is a line that has gone beyond the natural realm and into the heavenly realm. For those who are not ready, this is dangerous, especially since this line is close to the ruler. It depends on the energy of the trigrams in a given hexagram, and the quality of the line to decide how dangerous this is. It is necessary to keep one's estate, and then move on. The fourth line is close to the ruler in the fifth line, and hence is scrutinized very closely. In hexagram forty six, however, the nature of the individual is to push upwards. But since he or she does this without antagonizing the ruler, the line is safe, and finds respect by the ruler, who "offers him mount Chi." The person has proved his or her worth, and therefore is received into the circle of those who "hold the secret doctrine." This is not necessary for everyone. Most of us do very well just to understand the I Ching on a level that helps us in our personal lives. But for some it is important to do better. As the commentary on hexagram thirty five says, "His ruler in turn is free of all jealousy, showers presents on the great man, and invites him continually to his court." There is both great responsibility and great freedom in being close to the ruler, and to the Sage.

Biting through to new levels of understanding

The I Ching is designed to operate on numerous levels. This is possible due to the factor that creates the reality of "as above, so below." So we can be sure that what happens on the microcosmic level happens as well on the microcosmic level. But it behooves us to ensure that we are understanding the I Ching on the highest level possible.

Hexagram twenty one brings this to our attention in a variety of ways. We must understand that to understand the I Ching on the higher levels we have to "bite through the wrappings." Most of us have no need for that as the physical world is all that concerns us. We are concerned about our relationships, about our careers, and about our families, but for the most part we are not concerned about things on a spiritual or metaphysical level. Yet it would be best that we were. We cannot deny the real, physical world, it does affect us, but in a more subtle way, so does the more ethereal, or microcosmic world.

Hexagram twenty one tells us that we must look for deeper meanings. That we should 'take the plunge" (hexagram twenty nine) and discover the message on a deeper level. Often this is initially repellent to us. Line two says that "in biting through, our nose disappears." Something smells rotten, something seems wrong. These deeper levels of meaning seem odious, and violate our sense of the nature of things. We think they do not make sense and cannot accept the deeper message. But we have to let the message sink in. It takes time. At first we are disgusted. This is because the message violates our sense of the nature of reality. But in the long run we find the message to be true.

Of course. "Biting Through" in this way can only occur after we have spent a lot of time in "Contemplation." (hexagram twenty) In contemplation we come to see the world in new terms. Are typical totally materialist point of view begins to dissolve and it confuses us. At first in contemplation we see only "through the crack of the door." (hexagram twenty line two) Then our contemplation confuses us, and violates our sense of reality. (hexagram twenty one line two) Eventually we allow the new message to fester within us such that we gradually (and grudgingly) honor or the Sage, or that wisdom within. As such we "bite through," and in doing so, we "receive yellow gold." We receive a gift not of a physical nature, but of a spiritual nature, and in doing so, we move from the lower levels of the outer mysteries, into the inner levels, the level of the initiate, the level that the initiate does not talk about, because he or she knows that in doing so, they violate the sense of reality of the lower level initiates. (Biting through so that the nose disappears.)