The Toltec I Ching Blog

The wisdom teachings are clear on this point:  all of existence arises from and returns to the Current.  All form arises from and returns to this formless Current.  Everything visible arises from and returns to this invisible Current.  Everything known arises from and returns to this unknowable Current.

The Current cannot be described in its entirety—but there are aspects of it that can be described.  It is the on-going Act Of Creation that continues to flow, back up, fill up, spill over, fall, eddy, stall, dry up, submerge, surface, and flow ever on, from seed to fruit and back again to seed.

The Current cannot be described in its entirety—but its entirety can be expressed.  In fact, we cannot avoid expressing it every moment.  All we see and experience is its on-going expression.  It is the living moment, whose continuous outpouring carries all of existence from one end of eternity to the other and back again.  It is the aware dwelling place, whose emptiness houses the natural unfolding of the universe as it expands to infinity and contracts back to infinity again.

It is for this reason that it is said, Move along with the Current and you will know no end.

It is not merely that nothing will be able to stop you—it is that nothing will want to stop you.

Indeed, the action of the Current is its own unfolding.  This is the action of self-revelation, by which the Current reveals itself to itself by means of its own unfolding.  To move with the Current is to align ourselves with its action, allowing its intention to be our own.  In this way, our own unfolding leads to our own self-revelation:  we come to discover our true potential by intending to move along with the Current’s unfolding rather than trying to direct it.  Moving against the Current is the source of all frustration:  trying to direct my life by the force of my own will power is like a leaf trying to make its own way against a rushing stream.

We are trained from birth to exert our will on others and the world in general.  We are taught, by word and by example, that the only way to succeed is to use our will power to overcome others in the competition for resources.  Yet this logic is patently false:  we often succeed, for example, because our competitor fails due to a crisis completely outside our awareness.  Or, just as likely, it is we who fail because of a crisis completely outside the knowledge of our competitor.  Will power cannot make a great sumo wrestler into a successful jockey nor a great jockey into a successful sumo wrestler.

Exerting my will power on circumstances does not bring me good fortune.  This is principally because I cannot be aware of the direction of the Current’s unfolding.  Because the Whole is greater than the sum of its parts, the behavior of the Whole cannot be perceived by its parts.  This means that blindly trying to direct my life by the force of my own will power inevitably leads me to move against the Current.  In this sense, exerting my own will power is the precise opposite of my expressing inner power.

Clearly, the difference between will power and inner power is one of intent.

When we speak of the chain of spiritual cause-and-effect, we are addressing the way in which intent changes the behavior of people and events:  spiritual cause, in this sense, refers to an intent, whereas spiritual effect refers to a change of behavior.  Intent is able to cause a change of behavior on the spiritual plane because the essence of one person is identical to the essence of another.  Just as salt permeates each drop of water in the sea, intent leaps from essence to essence.  This essence-to-essence communication lies at the root of all beneficial influence:  beneficial intent triggers a change of inner behavior—a change of motivation—on the inner, spiritual, level, which eventually results in a concrete change of behavior on the outer, physical, level.

In this context, will power is the energy directed by the lower self to achieve its aim:  its intent is to promote its own self-interest, even at the expense of others.  Inner power, on the other hand, is the energy directed by the higher self to benefit all:  its intent is to promote the well-being of the Whole, even at the expense of its own.

Both of these intents produce a change in behavior.  As far as the lower self is concerned, its intent to promote its own self-interest causes a backlash against it among the people and events it seeks to influence—no one likes to be exploited and sooner or later the exploited turn on their exploiters.  As for the higher self, its intent to benefit all causes a resonance in the people and events it seeks to influence—everyone wants peace and prospering and they will do everything they can to support those who are willing to sacrifice their personal interests for those of the Whole.

The backlash change-of-behavior brought about by will power stands in stark contrast to the resonance change-of-behavior brought about by inner power.  While both are certainly responses to my own intent that then become spiritual causes of their own, their difference lies in how they influence my progress on the Current:  backlashes hinder my advance, whereas resonances further it.

The backlashes caused by my lower self’s intent accumulate over time, raising inner and outer dams between me and good fortune.  They stand like intangible obstacles between me and the connections I need to make in order to advance.  They thwart my progress, leaving me with the sense of being penned-in and stuck in place—I seem to be unable to step off this treadmill that I no longer remember ever having decided to step onto.  The backlashes caused by my lower self’s intent accumulate over time, spinning a web of entanglements that hold me back, disrupt my sense of timing, and pull me out of the rhythm of the Current.  They accumulate over time, intensifying my own fears, frustrations, and resentments—which only intensifies my lower self’s intent.  By promoting my own interests, I set myself in motion against the Current and away from good fortune.

The resonances caused by my higher self’s intent to benefit all likewise accumulate over time, helping weave the strands of all beneficial intents everywhere into the single tapestry of beneficial coincidences.  These resonances stand like invisible crossroads that unexpectedly bring me together with people and events that open up opportunities and further the completion of my endeavors.  They increase my momentum, restore my sense of timing, and pull me into the rhythm of the Current.  They accumulate over time, intensifying my gratitude, happiness, and creativity—which only intensifies my higher self’s intent.  By promoting the benefit of all, I move along with the Current and toward good fortune.

This is attained by eliminating the lower self’s intent while cultivating the higher self’s intent.  It is not as complicated as it might sound.  It simply involves watching how our lower self single-mindedly intends to promote its own interests by trying to turn everything it encounters to its own advantage.  Once we observe how single-minded intent works, we simply exchange the higher self’s intent for the lower self’s.  It is not necessary, in other words, to intend a specific aim in order to generate a spiritual cause—it is simply a matter of consistently intending that everything benefits all.  If we practice this uninterruptedly for even a short while, we soon find ourselves collaborating with everything we encounter.

Aligning ourselves this way with the higher self allows us to move along with the Current, increasingly finding ourselves in the right place at the right time, enjoying the sense of belonging that comes with being part of a steady stream of beneficial coincidences.  No selfish intent in the world can carry us into this stream of unselfish coincidences—only when we act as part of the Whole do we sense the movement, rhythm, and harmony of the Whole.  Unforeseeable things happen by chance and we are an integral part of them, employed by them to advance the well-being of all.  Unexpected things happen by accident and we seem to arrive just in time to help shape them into wellsprings of benefit overflowing into the lives of all.  Each moment is a crossroads of resonances, where we arrive together with the momentum of all the beneficial intents everywhere carrying us toward the destination of our shared longing.

This is called using inner power to foster beneficial coincidences.

And it defines the difference between shock and inner Surprise.

Shocks are created to capture attention in order to advance the interests of a particular group or individual.  Inner Surprises are serendipitous coincidences that we have made room for in our lives:  they arrive unforeseen, their very unpredictability opening new windows of opportunity for all.

Shocks are like rocks tossed into a pool, each creating ripples that intersect with the others, generating an on-going series of more and more complicated backlashes.  Inner Surprise is like moonlight falling into a pool—by its very nature it cannot make ripples.  In this sense, moonlight is the essence reflected in every pool of awareness facing the immeasurable night of sleep.

Shocks are intentional and destructive.

Inner Surprises are unintentional and constructive.

We are able to avoid using shock to influence people and events by incorporating the previous stages of Calm, Resiliency, Autonomy, Gratitude, Nonresistance, Curiosity, and Insight into the least expected acts of inner Surprise.  By intending that everything benefit from our every thought, word, and deed, we find ourselves as surprised as those around us by the good fortune we share.

Stabilizing this single-minded intent by returning to it immediately every time it is interrupted, we unexpectedly find that we have crossed the threshold of wisdom and are traveling, irrevocably and irresistively, the path of good fortune.

You cannot create or construct such coincidences—trying to direct or control the Current like that merely reveals the quality of your motives, causing an untold number of backlashes that work against your advance.

Such coincidences occur—and involve you—because you coincide with other beneficial intents.

Certainly, the lower self will argue, everyone knows that such concepts sound fine in principle but have no place in the real world of dog-eat-dog and big-fish-eat-little-fish competition of everyday life.

Yet, the higher self will assert, two ants from the same colony will struggle over the same piece of dung even though both of them intend to carry it back to the same destination—after we have tried the path of competition and found it unfulfilling, how much further down the road must we go before taking a new one?

Interesting, the lower self will argue, but I practiced these principles all day yesterday and nothing whatsoever changed for the better.

Yet, the higher self will assert, you do not think it strange that the light from a distant star takes years to reach your eyes—the more your intent harbors hopes of personal advantage, the longer the time lag between the spiritual cause and its material effect.

Lightning and thunder, the symbols of shock, are natural characteristics of powerful storms.  They may be accompanied by rain, bringing much-needed water to the land.  But they may also be accompanied by the wind, bringing destruction and hardship to people.  Before the storm, it is calm.  After the storm, life wants to return to calm.  Things cannot thrive and prosper in a climate of constant storms.  Our own endeavors should not contribute to sustaining a climate of constant shock.  Our own endeavors ought to use the element of inner Surprise to help return things to their state of calm.  Shock may shake people out of their routines of thought and feeling, but so can inner Surprise.  There are enough natural and historical shocks that it is not necessary to fabricate any—especially when they are merely attempts to gain some advantage for our own interests.

Real freedom is able to exercise self-control for the benefit of the Whole.

Real wisdom serves the needs of people and the natural world upon which we all depend.

Real good fortune is being a well of benefit overflowing into the lives of others.

Real joy is being carried on the Current through this life into the Beyond.

Exercise One—Sit quietly with your eyes closed, breathing slowly and deeply.  Visualize yourself as having achieved complete peace of mind, sitting calmly in the center of a circle.  Around you, turning clockwise, are the four seasons, each of which is fixed to one of the cardinal directions:  Spring to East, Summer to South, Autumn to West, and Winter to North.  As the seasons and directions turn around their center, visualize yourself as a great tree whose roots extend vertically deep below you and whose trunk and branches extend vertically high above you.  Now align yourself with this vertical axis running through you, running through the center of the turning seasons and directions.  As you open yourself to sensing the power and peace of the unchanging center of all change, silently repeat the catch-phrase, Tranquility is the center from which all my actions and reactions come.

Exercise Two—Lie down and close your eyes, breathing slowly and deeply.  Visualize yourself on your deathbed, surrounded by your loved ones.  Visualize who is present and how they are acting and how you are feeling about them.  Allow yourself to feel that these are your last moments alive, that these are your last breaths.  As life slips away and you look upon your whole life from the end, ask yourself, What was most important? Linger in these feelings, absorb them deeply, allow yourself to be affected by them.  Complete the exercise by writing your future self a letter setting forth your priorities.  Now govern the rest of your life accordingly.

If we respond to this age of overexcitement, agitation, and frenzy with encouragement, tranquility, and good will, then we can capture attention without shocking, we can influence people and events without creating backlashes, and we can succeed without causing suffering for the Whole.  Before following the example of others who are competing with us, we ought to study the consequences of using shock to attract attention to our endeavor—we ought to look deeply into the backlashes it produces and how it disrupts the natural unfolding of people’s lives.  We ought to keep in mind that just because we can do something doesn’t mean we must.  We ought to try to begin right away, uninterruptedly intending for all to benefit from our endeavors, accumulating resonances in the field of spiritual cause-and-effect that will draw together the diverse forces needed to create the most beneficial surprise possible.

This is called the art of making the whole world the path of good fortune.

~

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.

With this chapter, the bulk of our course comes to an end.  Our overall goal—to apply the spiritual principles of good fortune in such a way that we do not bring harm to the Whole—is nearly met.  We have done the transformative work that allows us to identify with the higher self, which in turn allows us to more effectively influence people and events around us.  But in doing so, we enter the arena of all those seeking to influence people and events.  This is not merely an arena in the sense of a common ground of shared activity, however.  It is also—and primarily—an arena in the sense of a highly charged and competitive environment.  And because many in this environment are motivated by nothing more than self-interest, our ability to act for the benefit of all is put to the test.

As competition intensifies, it becomes more and more difficult to capture the attention of those you seek to influence.  Since everyone else is having the same difficulty, even the competition for attention intensifies.  There are numerous ways to capture attention but the one people fall back on when they are hardest pressed is shock.

Shock gets attention.  Because it works, it is used whenever people demand attention.  Whether it is a matter of shocking claims against another or shocking images or shocking lyrics or shocking news or shocking volume or shocking humor or shocking stories or shocking games or shocking appearance or shocking behavior or shocking violence, shock is used whenever people will not be denied attention.  This raises two problems.

The first is merely technical.  Few of those who know how to get attention using shock have anything worthwhile to offer that will hold the attention once it has been captured.  They can get people’s attention but cannot hold it long enough to influence their attitudes or behavior.

The second has far-reaching ramifications.  Shock is like a drug:  the more it is used, the more of it is needed to get the same effect—and the more widely it is used, the more the social fabric is frayed and torn.  When people are bombarded from all sides with shock they get unnerved.  The general equilibrium of their lives becomes so disrupted that they begin to expect that more shock might be right around the corner.  And because shock is only shocking if it is more shocking than the last shock, the next shock—the one that is possible, the anticipated one, the one most feared, the one that may happen at any moment—is truly unnerving in its looming potential.  Those seeking attention in such an environment feel they must continue to increase the shock value of their message, which has a paradoxical effect on those they seek to influence:  on the conscious level, it makes them calloused to the tactic of shock, while on the unconscious level, it makes them habitually nervous and uneasy.

When this kind of assault on the senses is routine and wide-spread, people have difficulty even recognizing the degree to which they are being affected.  But so much over-stimulation does take its toll on people.  They no longer relax as they should.  They experience chronic stress, which adversely affects their mental, emotional, and physical health.  They always feel rushed and never have enough time.  They cannot stand being bored—they need constant stimulation, distraction, and entertainment.  They no longer appreciate silence or their own company, preferring other people’s music, words, or images to their own.  They lack patience, concentration, and true self-confidence.  They are chronically worried, nervous, anxious, fearful, and distrustful.  They become intolerant, feeling like they cannot take one more assault on their dignity.  They grow increasingly polarized in their reactions, some becoming irrationally emotional, aggressive, and explosive, with others becoming passive, withdrawn, and victimized.

Whether shock is used for profit or ideology, for oneself or one’s group, the long-term result is the same.

It is a tragedy when an individual suffers like this.

It is a disaster in the making when a society suffers like this.

Seeking my own personal success by adding to the suffering of the Whole is the very opposite of the path of good fortune.

The reason shock works is that people’s adverse reactions to it are relatively predictable.  This kind of influence is called guiding by backlash and refers to the practice of directing people’s attitudes and behaviors by provoking them to react against well-timed shocks.  In its more overt aspects, it is little different than using a cattle prod—the electric shock, when applied to the right place at the right time, drives the herd in the desired direction.  In its more subtle aspects, it is analogous to pruning—making a cut at the right angle above the right bud channels new growth into the desired direction.  While not an infallible tactic, using shock to create the desired backlash produces more predictable reactions than other tactics.

Whether it is a government defining an internal or external threat, a religion describing eternal punishments for wrong-doing, an advertisement announcing a new way to avoid becoming a social pariah, or a hungry infant crying upon waking, the tactic of using shock to elicit the desired backlash produces relatively predictable reactions.

Contrived or natural, however, shock cannot be overused or misused without producing unwanted backlashes:  the government that cries wolf too often loses credibility, the religion that proscribes all joy of life is abandoned, the advertisement that promises to fix a nonexistent problem becomes a parody of itself, and the infant that cries incessantly finds that some of its real needs go ignored.

As it turns out, all use is overuse.

And any use is misuse.

This is the I Ching trigram for Thunder.  It symbolizes the shock that follows an unexpected lightning bolt.  As such, it represents the power to initiate change by acting in such a way that others feel compelled to react.  It speaks of our need to defy expectations, timing our actions to maximize the impact of our influence.  By sensing the startling suddenness of Thunder within, we train ourselves to embody inner Surprise.

Inner Surprise is the culmination of the previous seven stages of this course.  It is the art of combining the skills we acquired in those stages and applying them in the least expected ways to the ever-changing circumstances we encounter.  It is the art of waiting until the crucial moment to act, in much the same way as the rain cloud must build up to the cloudburst.  It is the art of influencing people and events by echoing their inner state.  It is to shock what the butterfly is to the caterpillar.

There is nothing so surprising as finding ourselves in sudden resonance with something new and unexpected.  This experience of startling familiarity with the unfamiliar never fails to astonish us, for it reawakens us to the unfathomable mystery of the world even as it reassures us that we are a vital part of it.  How is it that something new and unfamiliar can strike us so immediately as intimate and familiar?  And how can that same thing strike others close to us as strange and inconsequential?  Because, for reasons beyond our scope of vision, we and not someone else are attuned to the same invisible essence as that which we find physically unfamiliar but spiritually familiar.

What the five senses of my lower self may not recognize as dear and valuable, the essential sense of my higher self may recognize immediately as a perfect match to some part of its intrinsic nature.  Such experiences demonstrate to me that I share certain motivations with people and events beyond myself—motivations that I may not even know I have until I experience firsthand their reflection in others.  Something touches me, in other words, and in so doing, influences me.  Something moves me, and in so doing, changes my attitudes and behaviors.  When this happens to me, I am influenced by the inner power of others.  When I am able to evoke such a response from others, they are influenced by my inner power.

But the inner power expressed by individuals does not arise from within the individual.

It is a manifestation of the chain of spiritual cause-and-effect that arises from within the Current.

~

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.