| Eagle's Quest Tai Chi
Advanced study Reading |
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April, 2010 Greetings! I hope this finds you well and in good health enjoying the spring weather. I pray you did not have much damage from the abundant rains. We are still bailing out our basement, but our lower vernal pool seems to have mostly dried up at this point. Remember that Advanced Studies is this coming Saturday April 10, 2010 at 11 a.m. at Rose Lodge in Waterford. As we move through this time we must pay attention to our desires and examine our wants. “Wanting empowers evil,” says the I Ching. Sometimes we find ourselves in circumstances where we feel like we have little influence over those with whom we must deal. We feel that they have little regard for our feelings or our needs, and we are not heard, nor are we cared for in the situation. We are tempted to give up. We have three potential choices it seems. These are: letting things work their way out, forcing movement, or abandoning the field entirely. If we let things work out naturally, we find inner truth. If we force an advance, then we are thought to be aggressive and presumptuous, and we abandon the Sage and our self-esteem suffers. Abandoning the field entirely gives too much power to the adversary, and although it is not always wrong to retreat, the leaving can be seen as abandonment, with all of its requisite negative connotations. These times are fraught with misunderstandings. It is never more difficult to be seen and heard in the fashion in which you mean to be. The hexagram of The Marrying Maiden suggests that this is a time of joyous movement, which carries with it arousal and yet it signifies sorrow as well. It is never more important to bring a sense of dignity and respect especially to whatever gatherings you attend. We must all bow to the “god” within others at this time. This reminds me of the story from the Upanishads wherein the young student was given the sacred knowledge from the Master that “Thou Art God!” Upon hearing this, the young man went out with this newfound wisdom into the larger world with arrogance and with all of his puffed up and wildly imagined power he encountered and elephant. He spoke to the elephant belligerently saying, “Get out of my way for I am God.” The elephant picked him up with his trunk and unceremoniously through him into the ditch. The boy ran back to the Sage and required an explanation of the wise one who said only this, “Yes, Thou Art God, but remember the elephant is also God.” We must all watch for mistakes. It is never easier to make them. We must become clever at repairing them as quickly as we can. This is not the time for some major undertaking or expedition. Better to keep things simple and if you must do something, do it with joy, and be careful. Caution is rarely overly used. In relationships we sometimes are not fully recognized for who we truly are. So it is best if we simply keep our heads down and look to the long-term aspects of the relationship. Now is the time to look to the future. Developing prospects for the future is not a bad thing right now. Long-range goals need to be focused upon so that you can set your sails to that further shore. Having a strong moral compass is important. It doesn’t always feel rewarding during these times, but this too shall pass. Develop your clarity of purpose, and all will step aside at the right time for your proper passage. The problems we are encountering now come from wanting. We sometimes want so much to have an influence over those who we feel should naturally be close with us, and yet, we frequently overlook the importance of whether the other is really relating to us appropriately or not. Whenever we play king of the heap, somebody ends up on the bottom and really the heap just gets worse. If you are king of a dung hill it is still dung. “The person who controls their desires, and puts the fundamental considerations of just and correct conduct above all else, will not end in being a slave to anyone or anything.” Tact and kindliness can have a great influence on even the greatest of beings. We must also make a journey into chivalry by learning to endure others who have differing values from our own. Steadfast in humility we must learn to understand others, to “stand under” them so that through this inner movement of modesty we will find the true path to the great goals and achievements ahead of us. Suffer the little children, might be thought of here, in that others who misbehave and bring us to suffering do so not always in the light of full consciousness, but rather like the arrogant boy who thought he was god trying to command another more powerful god to get out of his way. At the Sacred Warrior Weekend Retreat last year we watched a movie about a young boy who treated his grandmother abominably, and she just constantly brought her humility into the situation so that the boy eventually encountered his own nastiness in the face of her unwavering love. If only more of us could manifest that level of modesty, humiliation would vanish from the face of the earth. The Sufi tradition talks about surrendering to the Eternal, and through that self-abasement one learns to rise up in true power. It is the bamboo with its flexibility after all that survives the storm best. It bends but does not break. Let us all learn to be more like bamboo and bend a little more. Keep your root. Hang in there. I hope to see you on Saturday. Send Debbie an R.S.VP. please so she knows for whom to cook. Firmly and Truly yours, David P.S. Remember to bring your plate, cup, utensils and water for the day. Please RSVP early, if possible, so we can plan for food. 
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