The Toltec I Ching Blog

Inner Curiosity is attained by expanding our field of interests to infinity and exploring the least interesting detail within that field in the present moment.  By including all things everywhere within our field of interest in this way, we open ourselves to encountering just those unexpected connections that spark our next creative leap.  But it is only by taking the step, that of exploring the least interesting thing of all, that we maximize the potential of such connections and their impact on the rest of our lives.

Why the least interesting thing?

Because it lies outside the routine of what we consider important.  By pursuing new lines of thought, especially those you are least likely to pursue, you gain entry into a greater field of possible discoveries.  Exploring the depths of the very details that do not attract your attention—the most innocuous leaf in the forest, the least significant word on a page, the most boring person at a gathering—grants you entry into a secret web of hidden connections that shatters old habits of thought and evokes new associations that lead to deeper understandings, sharper intuitions, and greater opportunities.  It cultivates, in other words, a richer imagination.

This is not to say that every uninteresting detail opens new opportunities for success.  Many will seem to dead-end without producing any noticeable results.  But their usefulness may lie in the future connections they establish with as-yet-unforeseen experiences.  The cumulative effect of widening the range of your interests like this weaves a highly-sensitive web of far-flung strands, each of which triggers excited curiosity in the center whenever it catches something new.

Outer curiosity, however, merely reflects a narrow field of interests based on personal tastes and lifestyle.  Pursuing the most interesting things within that field on a recurring basis, which is what we typically do, brings us to a different kind of dead end eventually.  Like a mine that has been played out, such a narrow field of interests inevitably stops producing anything of value.  Stale ideas, uninspired connections, and untenable plans—such is the sad legacy of the habit-ridden mind.

Our ability to operate at peak performance, on the other hand, depends on our capacity for sustaining a sense of wonder.  Without cultivating a lifelong sense of excited curiosity, we fall prey to the been there, done that self-defeating frame of mind.  Perpetually maintaining a childlike curiosity about all of existence, however, allows us to follow in the footsteps of the ancient who observed in wonderment, You cannot step into the same river twice.

In order to rise above mediocrity and triviality, we must see the world with new eyes, touch it with new hands, and hold it with new hearts.  Even though our heart’s desire may be a still-evolving concept, if we are ever to actually attain it, we need to experience all of existence as a sacred game and our own participation in it as sacred play.

A game is an activity whose rules intentionally set it aside from the realities of life.  Play is an individual’s adherence to those rules in order to temporarily step aside from the realities of life.

Experiencing all of existence as a sacred game, therefore, implies that there is another, more fundamental, reality from which this one has been created.  It follows that sacred play means we intentionally enter into this sacred game for the express purpose of temporarily stepping aside from that other, more fundamental, reality.  This further implies that entering into this created, secondary, reality has a transcendental goal, the attainment of which benefits us in that other, more fundamental, reality. For this reason, it is a sacred game.

For something is sacred when it is created by, and reveals, the transcendental.

All water in the sea tastes of salt.  But when it evaporates to form clouds, it leaves the taste of salt behind.  And when it rides the wind inland as rain clouds, it falls upon the mountains as freshwater.  Yet once it rushes from brook to stream to river and, finally, back into the sea, it regains the taste of salt it shares with all sea water.

Within that other, more fundamental, reality, we all possess the sense of Oneness.  But when we depart it, however temporarily, we leave the sense of Oneness behind.  And when we enter this created, secondary, reality, we enter as Individuals representing the One.  Yet once we move through all the stages between birth and death and, finally, return to that other, more fundamental, world, we regain the sense of Oneness we share with all awareness.

In considering this analogy to the cycle of water, let us not forget that it is during its time as freshwater that it actually nourishes all life on land.  Similarly, we need to remember that it is during our time as sacred players representing the One within its created, secondary, world that we have the opportunity to benefit all life within this sacred game.

To see the ordinary as the transcendental—that is the art of sacred play.

To see the least interesting detail as the sacred—that is the art of inner Curiosity.

To see the present moment as both the fruit and the seed of eternity—that is the art of sustaining a lifelong sense of wonder.

To see every life, including our own, as necessary and essential to the ultimate outcome of this sacred game—that is the art of attaining the ecstatic life.

To see all of existence as a sacred game whose rules, goal, and even other players are all unfathomable mysteries—that is the art of breaking through all resistance to the heart of childlike exploration that leads to discovery, inventiveness, and creativity.

To see our own intent as a molecule of water, moving with all other molecules of water through the cycle of sea water, cloud, rain, river, and back to sea water—that is the art of awakening the inner power to bring the best ideas to life.

To see that seeing things in the right light is the distinguishing characteristic of personal transformation—that is the art of keeping our feet firmly on the path of good fortune.

No matter how many times you do something, there is some new detail you have not yet examined.  No matter how familiar you are with something, there is still some undiscovered detail of it that is strange and unfamiliar.  No matter how well you know something, there is some seemingly irrelevant detail that continues to elude you.

These are the details that hold the missing keys to unlocking the full potential of your endeavors.  But they cannot be explored as a matter of course, as a purely mechanical exercise—you must see past what you have already experienced, you must see through what you expect to happen.  Without an attitude of sincere curiosity and a real heartfelt eagerness to discover what lies outside your habit-driven attention, you will plow the same field in the same way, over and over, without ever finding the treasure buried right beneath your feet.

Exercise One—In the midst of your everyday routines, look for what you always overlook.  Notice what you never notice.  Pay attention to what never attracts your attention.  For example, take note of the painted lines on the road.  What kind of paint is it?  What kind did it replace?  Why?  How is it applied?  With what machine and who invented it?  How was it done previously?  How was it first done?  When?  Where?  Whose idea was it originally?  How was it accepted?  What other alternatives were explored?  Who makes the paint?  How much does it cost?  How much is spent worldwide every year on it?  What shortcomings does it have?  What alternatives are currently being explored to improve on it?  How long does it last?  And so on:  the more you look into each question, the more questions ought to be raised.  Once you have explored one detail as far as you can, move on to another.  In performing this exercise, don’t look for connections to your own endeavors—if you are conscientious in following this training regime, then the connections will come naturally and of their own accord.

Exercise Two—Study other people, both strangers and those you know well.  Watch more closely.  Listen more closely.  Use the passive attention you have been cultivating to notice what you usually ignore.  Ask more questions, following up on statements or ideas that you would otherwise find lackluster.  Try to see the world through their eyes for the moment, delving into the details of what they have found interesting and meaningful.  Treat each person as mysterious and unpredictable, revealing through their surface behavior something deeper and more universal about life.  Give them more room to express themselves more fully.  React to their actions with honest curiosity, eradicating approval and disapproval from your verbal and nonverbal conversation.  Keep in mind that the very jewel you hope to find may lie barely hidden beneath the surface of just such an interaction—the only obstacle blocking the successful completion of your endeavor may well be broken through by the next thing the person in front of you says.

The open awareness of Nonresistance that you cultivated in the previous lesson is essential to your development of inner Curiosity—and particularly to your developing a sensitivity to the inter-connectedness of all things.  Please keep in mind that if the things that have interested you in the past have not taken you all the way to where you wish to go, then becoming interested in new things may well provide the momentum for you to finish this leg of the journey.  Destroy your idea of what is “interesting” and “uninteresting” and the whole of existence is a goldmine of inspiration that can never be played out.

~

The above is an excerpt from The Spiritual Basis of Good Fortune by William Douglas Horden.

If you’d like to learn more, visit the website:  http://spiritualbasisofgoodfortune.com/

~

The Toltec I Ching, by Martha Ramirez-Oropeza and William Douglas Horden has just received a Silver Award in the 2010 Nautilus Awards.  It recasts the I Ching in the symbology of the Native Americans of ancient Mexico and includes original illustrations interpreting each of the hexagrams.  Its subtitle, 64 Keys to Inspired Action in the New World hints at its focus on the ethics of the emerging world culture.

Click here to go to the main site to see sample chapters, reviews and the link to Larson Publications for ordering the book.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

This is the I Ching trigram for Fire.  It symbolizes both the power and the vulnerability of knowledge, for although fire illumines the dark, it is utterly dependent on the wood that fuels it.  As such, it represents the conscious mind’s desire to know, which leads us to great wisdom and great folly, both.  It speaks of our need to be conscious of our conscious mind, honoring it as our first tool even as we recognize that we are still learning how to wield it honorably.  By sensing the spiritual longing of Fire within, we train ourselves to embody inner Curiosity.

Absolute openness of awareness draws us back into seeing the world with new eyes.  By developing passive attention, our minds relax and do not seize upon images and impressions as soon as they appear.  This way, we stop leaping from the present moment to others we associate with the past or future.

The governing of attention does not, however, mean we remain in passive attention all the time—rather, it means we train ourselves to remain in passive attention longer than we are accustomed to.  This allows us to store up creative energy that, once it has gained enough momentum, is discharged in creative acts forged in the fire of active attention.

The governing of attention, therefore, means that we train ourselves to shift back and forth between active and passive attention as the moment requires.  Few of us nowadays, though, can sustain the undirected and unfocused knowing that precedes meaningful action.  Indeed, it is our very thirst for meaning that pulls us out of the undifferentiated source of creativity and back into the conscious differentiation of mental categories and personal associations.

This kind of thirst for meaning is inauthentic because it stems from our discomfort with the oceanic experience of the one awareness that is the source of creativity, insight, problem-solving, and belonging.  Rather than taking joy in temporarily dissolving the limitations of the conscious self by communing with the Universal Self, we fear the loss of our individual identity and pull back from the brink of awe before we are transformed.

By not staying in awe long enough, we lose our sense of wonder and no longer look at each moment as utterly new and full of unimaginable potential.  By not staying in awe long enough, in other words, we no longer see things as they really are.  And so we stop advancing easily and naturally along a course infinitely more rewarding than any we could have plotted for ourselves.

This inauthentic thirst for meaning arises from our belief that the highest expression of free will lies in exercising control over the circumstances in our lives by making decisions consistent with our values and goals.  Honing our intent to serve our own self-interest like this means that all our actions are predetermined and predictable—the very opposite of the free will we had sought.

The more predictably we act out of short-sighted self-interest like this, the more we react to large-scale circumstances in the same way as everyone around us.  While such lemming-like behavior allows us to be accepted by those around us, this kind of conformity breaks our spirit, deadens our creativity, and trivializes our life.

Instead of finding meaning, we create meaninglessness.  This is so because something acquires meaning only when we can place it within a larger context—when everything relates to my own self-interest, however, I lack the larger context within which to place my life.  Without anything greater than myself against which to situate my actions, I am left with a profound sense of loss, alienation, and meaninglessness.

Keep in mind here that we all claim to have something higher we believe in and to which we dedicate our lives.  But we are trying to speak honestly here and to reason through our common obstacles, so let us not indulge in self-deception or dissembling.  For the moment, set aside what you say, set aside what you want others to think of you, set aside what you want to think of yourself—when it comes to actions, you are a rare and exceptional individual if you place the interests of others ahead of your own.

Yet all this goes against the wisdom teachings of the elders, who make it abundantly clear that the ultimate expression of free will lies in surrendering to the higher will of the universal source.

What then does such surrender feel like?  What is the inner experience like?

It feels like drifting on the great ocean without rudder or sail.  It is the recognition that, although I know how to navigate by the stars, I have no concept of my destination.  I voluntarily give up my efforts to direct my own course—and quite naturally allow the breeze to carry off any maps drawn by others.  I trust the soundness of my raft, fashioned from the timbers of passive attention and lashed together with the cord of active attention.  I move with the vast serpentine currents of the great sea, carried where it goes.  No longer embroiled in a journey with a goal and destination, I embark on the primordial journey of exploration.

The inner experience of such surrender is your sudden recognition in a moment of calm that the journey of exploration is itself the destination and that, without striving for it, you have entered the ecstatic life.

There is an absent-minded pirate who wanders aimlessly, wondering aloud, Now where did I bury that treasure?

The problem is that we ourselves have grown so absent-minded that we would not recognize our part in the story even if we had an eye patch, a peg leg, and a parrot on our shoulder constantly repeating in our own voice, Now where did I bury that treasure?

We have forgotten, in other words, that we ourselves hid our priceless treasure in just that place we would be sure to look once we were prepared to use it wisely.

Even worse—we have forgotten to keep looking.

The wisdom teachings are replete with such stories.

A widow fell ill, for instance, and lost all her belongings except the priceless jewel she had inherited.  Fearing creditors would try to steal it, she sewed the jewel into the coat of her only child so that he might never want for anything.  But her illness worsened suddenly and she died before telling her son about the jewel sewn into his coat.  The young man fell on hard times.  Impoverished and homeless, he wandered the land, suffering gravely in his loneliness and misfortune.  One day, as he was performing another menial task for another bowl of thin broth, his threadbare coat caught on a nail and tore open.  To the young man’s amazement, out toppled the priceless heirloom, changing his life forever.

Or, similarly, a desert saint taught the people of his village by one day riding his donkey through the crowded marketplace, whipping it into a frenzy, upsetting carts and scattering the busy barterers, all the while shouting accusingly at everyone he passed, Who stole my donkey?  Who stole my donkey?

And so on.

We possess immeasurable wealth without knowing it.

The very thing we are seeking has been carrying us through life all along.

And the treasure is buried right before our eyes.

~

The above is an excerpt from The Spiritual Basis of Good Fortune by William Douglas Horden.

If you’d like to learn more, visit the website:  http://spiritualbasisofgoodfortune.com/

~

The Toltec I Ching, by Martha Ramirez-Oropeza and William Douglas Horden has just received a Silver Award in the 2010 Nautilus Awards.  It recasts the I Ching in the symbology of the Native Americans of ancient Mexico and includes original illustrations interpreting each of the hexagrams.  Its subtitle, 64 Keys to Inspired Action in the New World hints at its focus on the ethics of the emerging world culture.

Click here to go to the main site to see sample chapters, reviews and the link to Larson Publications for ordering the book.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

I am part of a Living Whole that wants the best for me and all others at the same time.

Inspired action flows spontaneously from an inspired mind.

When we replace trivial and undignified thoughts with substantial and ennobling ones, we are focused ahead of time on perceiving and interpreting events in the best possible light.  In this way, we take the energy we previously devoted to the pursuit of self-interest and channel it into acts that benefit all.

I am part of a Living Whole that wants the best for me and all others at the same time.

An inspired mind flows spontaneously from an inspired heart.

When we replace selfish and self-important feelings with generous and all-embracing ones, we are positioning ourselves ahead of time to respond to events with loving-kindness and goodwill toward all.  In this way, we take the energy we previously devoted to self-defeating attitudes and channel it into creative acts that benefit all.

I am part of a Living Whole that wants the best for me and all others at the same time.

An inspired heart flows spontaneously from being attuned to this single wish of the Living Whole:  that all benefit as one.

But how are we to give up our separate sense of self-importance and open our heart to this living wish when so many around us are acting out of greed, superstition and fear?  How are we to refine our thoughts and emotions when we are bombarded from every quarter with ever more sophisticated attempts to capture our attention?

It is one of the oldest lessons:  If your intention is clear of ulterior motives, then even distractions and confusion are The Way.

Self-defeating thoughts and emotions, from this point of view, are viewed as the enemy-within, the constellation of habit attitudes and habit behaviors that constantly throw up stumbling blocks to the spirit warrior’s progress.  Indeed, the spirit warrior is best defined as a woman or man who clarifies their intention by consciously training to (1) recognize Spirit within all matter and, (2) defeat the self-defeating habits of the enemy-within.

Freeing our intention of ulterior motives by focusing on these two goals, we find that confronting the distractions and confusion thrown up by the enemy-within becomes more like practicing with a sparring partner than an out-and-out battle.  More and more, the enemy-within is experienced as an artificial sense of self that was formed by the conditioning it received from family and culture.  As we get to know it better, it seems most like a recurring dream opponent trying to awaken us to our true potential.

For example, even if we were born to the same parents on the same day, it is obvious that were we then raised in a completely different culture, say the Mbuti of central Africa or the Inuit of the Arctic tundra, we would have a completely different personality, a completely different sense of self in relationship to the world-at-large.  Once the hollowness of this illusory, conditioned, self is fully experienced—like recognizing that the distorted image in a funhouse mirror is not our true reflection—we stop reacting automatically to events around us.  Our actions become more creative, more spontaneous, and meet with greater success.

In this sense, inspired action, an inspired mind, an inspired heart, and attunement to the wish of the Living Whole all spring from living each moment with an intention free of ulterior motives.

I am part of a Living Whole that wants the best for me and all others at the same time.

Spirit, like nature, abhors a vacuum.

When we clear our intention of ulterior motives, we are no longer beleaguered by our inner talk—Spirit rushes in to fill the clearing we have made for it.  Our heart-mind becomes its nest.

And of what is this nest constructed?

Lessons:  the accrued wisdom of the ancients, who first learned to stop their inner talk and then recorded what Spirit whispered to them in that shining silence.

By taking Spirit’s voice to heart, we, like the ancients, replace unworthy and self-destructive thoughts and emotions with ennobling and beneficial ones.

An Oracle is the voice of Spirit, speaking to us across the ages in the language of lessons.

Lessons are wisdom teachings, a body of ethical principles that can be adapted to the ever-changing circumstances of life.  As in sailing, you don’t set your sails to go with the wind in the same way you do to tack against the wind—nor do you drop anchor in the open sea just because it works when you are in port.  Lessons and their ethics guide our responses to change. Lessons make us better adapted to events, more competent, more improvisational, less predictable, and more creative.  Their ethics make us more generous, more compassionate, less competitive, more collaborative, and more successful.

The Toltec I Ching incorporates the lessons and ethics of the Oracles of two of the world’s great civilizations.  From ancient Mesoamerica, comes the Oracle of the Tonalpoalli, or Sacred Calendar, with its lessons inspired by the great civilizing spirit of the Toltec sages.  From ancient China, comes the Oracle of the I Ching, or Book of Change, with its lessons inspired by the great civilizing spirit of the Taoist sages.  We invite you to explore further your own inner path—and to carry the timeless wisdom of the ancients back into these troubled times.

This article appeared originally in Volume 8, Number 4 of Evolve! magazine.

The Toltec I Ching, by Martha Ramirez-Oropeza and William Douglas Horden has just been released by Larson Publications.  It recasts the I Ching in the symbology of the Native Americans of ancient Mexico and includes original illustrations interpreting each of the hexagrams.  Its subtitle, 64 Keys to Inspired Action in the New World hints at its focus on the ethics of the emerging world culture.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

The questions we face today are no different than those faced by our predecessors:  How do I live authentically?  How do I achieve peace of mind without turning my back on those in need?  How do I attune myself to the world around me?

For the ancient Toltecs and the civilizations they inspired, the highest expression of their lifeway was embodied in the mystical philosophy of Flower-and-Song.

Flower-and-Song is a difrasismo, a common form of expression in the Nahuatl language that uses two words to form a metaphor for a third, more expansive, concept.  It is often translated as “poetry” but its meaning is more comprehensive than that, indicating that its practitioners strive to live a “poetic life”.  Examining the difrasismo a little makes this clear.

Flower in this context involves a three-stage engagement with the world.  The first stage involves seeing each moment—and whatever that moment holds—as perfect as a blossoming flower.  The second stage involves seeing each moment—and whatever that moment holds—as already fading and passing into death.  The final stage involves bearing these two visions simultaneously in the heart, engaging the moment and what it holds with the full emotional realization that it is perfect and dying.

Far from an intellectual exercise, this practice demands the greatest courage, for to face these two soul-shattering emotions at the same time requires us to open ourselves to the profoundest joy and grief all at once.  Without flinching from the perfection before us, we are filled with awe at the impossibility of spirit taking form in matter.  Without flinching from the inevitable death of everything we know and love, we cannot help but burst apart with grief and empathy.

This is a lifeway, in other words, of spirit warriors, those who exert constant effort to defeat their self-defeating attitudes and behaviors.  It is the lifeway of those who use death to awaken authentic gratitude for being alive and sharing this shape-shifting perfection with others.  When we experience it fully, Flower evokes a kind of spiritual nostalgia for the present moment that ennobles us and all our lives touch.

Song in this context means that the most authentic act we can perform is to give expression to the dual realization attained in Flower.  This is the reason that the difrasismo is generally translated as “poetry”.  But the deeper implication of this mystical philosophy of life means that Song involves treating every moment as an opportunity to express the truth of Flower.  It involves treating this entire lifetime as a single act of expressing the continuous vision of Flower.  It means using every thought, word and deed to embody the lifeway of Flower-and-Song.

Treating all things as miracles that pass away too soon, our thoughts, speech and actions take on a new caliber and timbre.  We concentrate on what is present instead of what is absent and we discover new depths of patience and tolerance.  Our lives take on greater meaning and our contributions meet with greater success.  We treat everything and everyone more nobly and we are enriched immeasurably.

As a spiritual practice, Flower-and-Song enters each moment asking two questions:  What is in front of me?  How am I treating it?

What is in front of me? opens us to the ultimately unknowable nature of the world.  By questioning the absolute nature of our perceptions, we come to accept the extraordinary mystery everywhere veiled by ordinary appearances.  It is a question that, once taken seriously, forces to us to look closer at the world:  Is this merely what I have become accustomed to seeing through daily contact—or is it the sea of spirit in all its manifest forms?

How am I treating what is in front of me? demands that we watch our inner actions—our thoughts and intentions, our wishes aimed at things outside ourselves—as well as our outer demeanor and reactions.  Am I acting nobly or mean-spiritedly?  Am I ennobling my life or trivializing it?  Am I rising above pettiness or descending into it?  Am I treating others like superiors and inferiors, all in pursuit of my self-interest—or as peers bravely facing their own death as well as they can?  Am I spreading ill will, discord and sorrow wherever I go—or compassion, collaboration and joy?

In our book, The Toltec I Ching, Martha Ramirez-Oropeza and I discuss the deeper implications of such a spiritual practice—

…..the spirit warrior breaks through the barrier separating matter and spirit.  Such a barrier is erected in our minds by the constant training we receive from those who find advantage in promoting the separation of people from nature, from each other, and from their own true self.  If people everywhere perceived matter and spirit to be the same thing, after all, the ignorance, cruelty, and suffering that make up much of human history would end.  If we were all to experience the material form of nature as spirit, we would stop harming it by diminishing it faster than we help it replenish itself.  If we were all to experience the material form of people everywhere as spirit, we would stop harming one another by acting as if our own rights and desires were superior to their own.  If we were all to experience the material form of our own individual bodies as spirit, we would stop harming ourselves by doubting that every thought, feeling, and action plays a pivotal role in eternity.  Breaking through such a mental barrier is a matter of constant training, as well.  If we do not use every thought, feeling, and action to intensify our experience of matter as spirit, we continue to desecrate the temple of nature, the temple of civilization, and the temple of individuality.

Those following the lifeway of Flower-and-Song find that it reveals the wellspring of rejoicing forever bubbling just beneath the surface of appearances.  It engages the world as a vast mystery of unimaginable potentials and aims to participate in its ongoing creation in ways that benefit the most.  It is not so much something we do on our own as much as it is music we hear and feel and long to play, a dance we cannot wait to join.  It arises from our depths to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary.

Holding to such a practice for extended periods of time has certain foreseeable consequences.  By forcing us to focus complete attention on appreciating the perfection of everything as well as mourning its inevitable passing, it trains us to attend fully to the moment, drop off inner talk, participate in life authentically, and honor everything as an equal knowing it must die.

But it has certain unforeseeable consequences, as well.  By blurring the imaginary boundary between self and world, it opens new senses and allows us to perceive the spirit within all matter.  By blurring the imaginary line between flawed and flawless, it opens our hearts to the sacredness of all form.  By blurring the imaginary boundary between animate and inanimate, it opens our eyes to the formless awareness forever transcending the very form it inhabits.  By blurring the imaginary line between time and space, it opens our minds to the unchanging presence through which all changing forms move.

The Lifeway of Flower-and-Song, then, is a spiritual practice of Inner Activism—it sensitizes us to our tendencies toward self-interest and alienation, replacing self-defeating habits with those of spontaneity, creativity, and good will.  It shifts our focus away from personal success toward a heartfelt longing for peace and prospering for all.

And it constantly reminds us that the Golden Age of Humanity is within our reach if we but dare hold out our hand.

.

The Toltec I Ching, by Martha Ramirez-Oropeza and William Douglas Horden has just been released by Larson Publications.  It recasts the I Ching in the symbology of the Native Americans of ancient Mexico and includes original illustrations interpreting each of the hexagrams.  Its subtitle, 64 Keys to Inspired Action in the New World hints at its focus on the ethics of the emerging world culture.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

Must familiarity breed contempt?  Why does it seem so difficult to remain close and loving and joyous “until death do us part”?  Is there a way to stay together and still keep relationships fresh and exciting and meaningful?

The illustration below comes from Hexagram 61, “Strengthening Integrity”, of The Toltec I Ching—

Image:  A female warrior and a male warrior are seated on a woven reed mat.  Behind them, the sun hangs suspended above a great pyramid.  Their bearing and clothing show that they are people of great dignity and merit.  They are jointly seeking advice from the creators and ancestors by consulting the divinatory instrument drawn on the ground before them.

The opening section describes the elements and action of the illustration.  By warrior is meant a man or woman who uses their everyday experiences to recognize and defeat their own self-defeating reactions.

Interpretation:  This hexagram depicts the way for allies to strengthen the warrior’s spirit in one another.  The union of the female warrior and the male warrior symbolizes an alliance between individuals whose natures are complementary and mutually reinforcing.  That they are seated together on the woven mat indicates that their alliance is based on a shared vision.  That they are seated in front of the sunlit pyramid means that they acknowledge that they are descendants of great warriors who have gone on to live forever in the house of the sun.  That they comport themselves as people of great dignity and merit means that they dedicate their lives to making both their ancestors and descendants proud.  That they seek advice from the creators and the ancestors by consulting the divinatory instrument before them means that they honor and fulfill the ancient covenant between the visible and the invisible.  Taken together, these symbols mean that you align yourself with others in order to transform your weaknesses into strengths.

This second section interprets each of the elements and actions of the illustration, explaining their symbolism.  The focus here is on how  people share a particular world view, especially one in which certain spiritual perceptions contribute to sincere good will toward one another.  Such good will takes the form of willingly acting as the whetstone upon which the other hones the edge of their spirit.

Action:  The masculine and feminine halves of the spirit warrior vigilantly treat one another with the respect, courtesy, and authenticity accorded great warriors.  The skills and the knowledge of the old ways are of little value if they are not applied to present-day circumstances:  in this sense, spirit warriors create relationships with one another in order to train themselves to live a balanced and harmonious way of life with the utmost integrity.  As in every relationship, there are those who lead and those who follow—but among spirit warriors, these roles are extremely fluid and change constantly.  One takes decisive action and another goes along, providing the utmost support.  One moves in an indirect manner to increase harmony and good will, and another gives up the need for identifiable goals and concrete solutions.  One challenges and another nourishes.  One opens to new experiences and another gives up the need to control change.  One takes on the role of the masculine half, another the role of the feminine half.  One takes on the role of the feminine half, another the role of the masculine half.  Back and forth, exchanging roles constantly, such allies face circumstances as a united front:  moving along with things when appropriate, creating resistance to things when appropriate, they use circumstances to train themselves to apply the old ways with honor, sincerity, and integrity.  Because you make yourself such an ally, you find such allies and bring great benefit to all.

The action of this hexagram revolves around the attitudes and behaviors that ennoble and solidify relationships:  treating one another like great warriors instead of trivializing the relationship; maintaining a degree of formality beneath even the greatest intimacy rather than demeaning the relationship; and, shifting roles in response to circumstances rather than allowing one to dominate the other.

The forces at play here can be appreciated by analyzing the interaction of the trigrams making up this hexagram:  Earth within and Water without, Fulfillment within and Mystery without.  When I feel fulfilled personally and view the other person as ultimately unknowable, then I experience the other as a sacred mystery instead of taking them for granted and making light of their life and inevitable death.  “Strengthening Integrity” corresponds to hexagram 8, “Holding Together”, in the traditional King Wen sequence.

Summary:  Treat everyone as if they have a wise and immortal teacher within—and see everything they do as the teacher’s subtle strategy for testing the depth of your perceptions.  Treat everyone with respectful intimacy, avoid informal familiarity.  Treat everyone like a great warrior armed with spear and shield, don’t try to read others’ minds.

The text ends with a reminder that how we treat those closest to us should be how we treat all.  When I treat everyone and everything as a shining manifestation of spirit, then my thoughts, words, and deeds will always shine like spirit reflecting spirit and echo like spirit calling to spirit.

Real allies spar with wooden swords.  They never draw real swords.  They never draw blood.

Help one another make the most of this lifetime and nothing will want to pry you apart.

.

The Toltec I Ching, by Martha Ramirez-Oropeza and William Douglas Horden has just been released by Larson Publications.  It recasts the I Ching in the symbology of the Native Americans of ancient Mexico and includes original illustrations interpreting each of the hexagrams.  Its subtitle, 64 Keys to Inspired Action in the New World hints at its focus on the ethics of the emerging world culture.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites

“….. the spirit warrior relies on the intuition for help navigating the road of opportunity.  Because the world is a web of intersecting strategies, rational thought and past experience cannot always be relied on to anticipate what lies just around the next bend of the road.  Because other strategies are based on misleading and confusing your rational thought, it is necessary to develop the insight to grasp the actual direction and momentum of change in a direct and intuitive way.  Because other strategies are based on taking advantage of the expectations you have derived from past experience, it is necessary to develop the insight to grasp the true potential of the future in a direct and intuitive way.  Just as a ship creates a prow wake by pushing water ahead of itself, all strategies create prow wakes in the spirit realm:  no matter how distant the strategy’s origin nor how much its effects may be attributed to random chance, its movement through the sea of spirit creates waves ahead of itself that the spirit companion senses and conveys as intuition.  Listening closely to your spirit companion, you are able to avoid mistakes and seize opportunities, timing your decisions so that you neither move too soon nor too late.”

—Hexagram 27, The Toltec I Ching

Ethical strategies allow us to respond to wrongdoing without doing wrong.  We can feel our way through the crossfire of competing strategies by keeping our own intent free of ulterior motives and ill will.  This allows us to avoid many pitfalls, since keeping our intent clear makes us extremely sensitive to the ill-conceived intentions around us.  Pure intentions, in other words, attune the intuition to pure intentions, making ill-conceived intentions stand out in stark contrast.  Likewise, ethical strategies attune the intuition to ethical strategies, making unethical strategies stand out in stark contrast.

But how to clarify my intent?  How to trust that my intentions are pure?

It is just this effort that makes up the greater part of the spirit warrior’s training to defeat the enemy-within.

Such a discipline begins by accepting that most of what I think is nothing more than my opinions.  Many of my opinions, of course, are handed down to me by others but nearly all are the result of my familial and cultural conditioning.  Others are formed from direct experience and continue to linger because of my irrational conviction that precisely the same circumstances will recur at some future date.  Nearly everything I once took for truth is eventually shown to be nothing more than my opinions.

The practice of letting go of my opinions is hampered by the fact the that a large part of my identity is formed around them.  A big part of who I am seems to be determined by my opinions about what things are, how they work, what kind of a world it is, why people act as they do, and why I’m treated the way I am.  Letting go of old opinions and not creating any more new ones has a profound impact on my sense of identity.  With fewer and fewer “guideposts” to tell me beforehand what I am experiencing and how I ought to react, I find myself concentrating more and more on the matter-at-hand and treating it in a more spontaneous and innovative way.  Clearing away the cobwebs of opinion, furthermore, turns out to be the surest and quickest way to rid myself of ill-conceived intentions.

The second step in this training involves looking for the purities among my intentions.  This is like picking gold flakes out of sand or a loved one out of a crowd.  Not all my intentions are ill-conceived.  Some are fundamentally pure, relics of my true self before it acquired the conditioning of this artificial personality.  Picking out these wholly positive intentions and then concentrating on them attunes me to other pure intentions, which initiates an emerging cascade of pure intentions.  This is like concentrating on a dream, picking out a detail or two, concentrating on those, which reawaken memories of other facets of the dream, which in turn reveal further details.  Concentrating on my pure intentions creates a new, or more properly a reawakened, sense of self—an utterly realistic and spiritual self able to participate in the world in the most beneficial manner possible.

Participating in the world, however, all too often means confronting injustice and oppression—

“There is no true victory in force because those overcome eventually use the moral high ground to achieve their independence.  Such a turn of events is made inevitable by the fact that the spirit of those who oppress is progressively sickened by their past actions at just the time that the spirit of those oppressed is made progressively stronger and finer by the hardship they have endured.  Force corrupts those who use it and ennobles those who endure it.  For this reason, those who use force fail because they are brutish and short-sighted while those whose spirit cannot be dominated succeed because they are humane and wise.  When those who are stronger seek to dominate and control us then we must develop a strategy that ensures we defeat our oppressors without repeating their mistakes.  In this sense, it is necessary that we commit beforehand to making no attempt to exact revenge from those who have wronged us.  In order to emerge unscathed from domination we have to recognize the indomitable nature we have inherited from our ancestors and then ally ourselves with others committed to preserving inner independence until outer independence can be openly celebrated.  Because you take the time to gather inner strength without arousing any suspicion, you succeed in freeing yourself without harming another.  Because your humaneness shines on your oppressors, you succeed in freeing them without harming yourself.”

—Hexagram 41, The Toltec I Ching

Ethical strategies are especially crucial when confronting opposition—

“…..the spirit warrior accumulates force in order to resist the use of force.  Whether they are internal or external, it is necessary to confront the forces working in opposition to our goals.  This is a matter of grave delicacy, however, since the passions tied to self-interest run equally deep and strong among all concerned.  Old grievances and resentments, in particular, stand in the way of a peaceful and mutually advantageous resolution to the current discord.  For this reason, confronting others means we are forced to confront ourselves, restraining our own anger and righteous indignation by seeing how our own actions have contributed to the present conflict.  Only by holding our anger in check can we avoid escalating the problem at hand:  an uncompromising stance of having been wronged serves no one’s purposes here since it merely forces others to do the same.  The danger is that real hostility can be ignited under these conditions—hostility that can inflict profound suffering on all concerned and take a long time for any party to heal.  This is a time to treat your opposition with all the respect due a great warrior:  avoid inflammatory and provocative statements based on half-truths or a one-sided view of things, since slyly provoking others to hostility is doubly hostile.  This is likewise a time to act like a great warrior:  accept responsibility for past mistakes and make good faith commitments to remedy injustices and imbalances among all concerned immediately, since demanding others right their wrongs without following suit is doubly wrong.  For the spirit warrior, true force is exercised by not resorting to hostility even when it promises the shortest route to success.”

—Hexagram 32, The Toltec I Ching

Foremost among ethical strategies are the qualities of restraint and self-control, especially when under pressure—

“Whether you are the pursuer or the pursued, this is a time for holding back:  where the mother bird tries to hold back the hunting fox from discovering her nest, the hunting fox tries to hold back his first reaction to jump at every opportunity.  In the world of nature, both the nesting bird and the hunting fox are spirit warriors.  Every moment of every day is a battle for survival of the individual and the bloodline.  Each moment of each day requires unbroken attention to the strategies that enable them to successfully play their part in the on-going work of creation.  True spirit warriors master the art of holding back by studying what motivates others—and themselves—to act as they do:  the nesting bird succeeds because she knows the fox chases anything that runs from it; the hunting fox succeeds because he knows the bird runs away from the nest to protect her eggs.  Study what others hold valuable, study what you yourself hold valuable, and you can successfully act on the purposes you perceive behind every action.”

—Hexagram 35, the Toltec I Ching

Inspired Action likewise utilizes ethical strategies for resolving internal conflicts—

“….. the spirit warrior gazes into the smoking mirror of the true self without blinking.  It is a time for exhibiting the character traits you believe you should have exhibited when facing a similar dilemma in the past:  because you take advantage of this second chance to prove yourself to yourself, you erase past regrets and reveal your true self to the unseen forces.  By turning our perception upon ourselves, we are able to sense the lessons we have learned from past mistakes.  Until we have had the opportunity to act on those lessons and put them into effect, however, part of us remains frozen at that stage of our development.  For that reason, there are few more fortuitous times than those in which we can prove we are stronger and wiser than in the past:  by discerning our own patterns of behavior that run consistently beneath the surface of appearances, we are able to stop repeating past mistakes and emerge victorious over our own self-defeating attitudes and behaviors.  Because you intuitively know that turning points periodically return until they are finally resolved, you are fully prepared to act when the time comes:  because you wait vigilantly for the opportunity to revisit a period of darkness, you do not fail to use the present turning point to extend the continuity of your light further back into the past.”

—Hexagram 54, The Toltec I Ching

As the examples above demonstrate, Inspired Action adapts to circumstances but always reflects the balanced strategy of the spirit warrior, whose masculine and feminine halves constantly intermingle to produce just the right blend of metamorphosis and nurturance.

Without definition, defying expectations, free of contrivances of any kind, Inspired Action reflects the mystical philosophy of Flower-and-Song, grounding us in the ever-present center of the world and, paradoxically as always, giving us the wings to take flight into the Beyond—

“Just as someone who has mastered a musical instrument can improvise at will, you are able to move through this time with an untroubled spirit, adapting and responding to sudden and unforeseen changes by initiating sudden and unforeseen changes of your own.  Just as living music gains vitality and power when played by more than one musician, your efforts are in harmony with the unseen forces and aided by innumerable spirit helpers.  Just as master musicians become the music they play, you become the moving source of renewal that you express.  Just as the perennial presence of music is given new forms of expression every generation, your actions advance the collective work of renewing the perennial truth every generation.”

—Hexagram 48, The Toltec I Ching

The Toltec I Ching, by Martha Ramirez-Oropeza and William Douglas Horden has just been released by Larson Publications.  It recasts the I Ching in the symbology of the Native Americans of ancient Mexico and includes original illustrations interpreting each of the hexagrams.   Its subtitle, 64 Keys to Inspired Action in the New World hints at its focus on the ethics of the emerging world culture.

Bookmark It

Hide Sites