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| RED BEAR'S JOURNEY MARCH Issue 2007 A Newsletter by Red Bear (Kevin Dubrow LCSW) March 2007* Dedicated to those seeking to become Sages Dubrow & Associates * 3640 Prairie Ave., Brookfield, IL 60513 * All calls to 708.387.1210 _____________________________________________________________________________ The Oracle of Wisdom by Red Bear On March 3rd, 2007, I guided this year’s Jungian Night delving into the I Ching. It was truly an amazing experience. Fifteen people received I Ching readings and had their lives changed… this is no boast. This newsletter shares a great deal of the preliminary material before the actual readings began. My vision is to a glimpse of this 6,000+-year-old oracle of great wisdom: the I CHING. Obviously, this newsletter will not be sharing any of the readings; an individual reading takes from two to four hours and for each individual at that moment in time. (Note: In order to give 15 readings much preparation over a month and a half was needed prior to the March 3rd workshop.) To begin, let’s look at a very few teachings that permeated many of the I Ching readings: 1. All one’s words and deed must be virtuous. One’s actions and non-actions must be guided by virtue. One must speak and act with truth and integrity at all times 2. When the path is open, action is clearly called upon and one must be bold and decisive with determination, perseverance, consistency, devotion, and inspired effort. When the path is closed, it is time for tea. One must be patient and enter into confusion to find what is blocking the path. 3. One must find a core and center within that is tranquil, serene, peaceful and harmonious. Even when one is passionate, there must be this inner tranquility, serenity, peacefulness and harmony at one’s core and center. as one is tranquil and peaceful within, passion ascends. 4. One seeks to evolve, learn and grow throughout one’s entire life. One seeks to become a realized person, a superior person, a Great Man, a Great Woman, a Sage… The pursuit of deeper and deeper truth, wisdom and Love is one’s path throughout one’s life. 5. One must find balance in being alone and being with others. In alone time, one seeks to be still, quiet and silent. This quiet, stillness and silence can also be shared when with others. One needs to find others to share with who are seekers of truth and wisdom on the path to constant evolving, learning and growing. 6. There needs to be a balance in each person (female or male) of feminine (YIN) and masculine (YANG) energies. Developing one’s Yin-feminine-dark-Chaos energies involves being soft, receptive, supple, yielding and open; an undeveloped Yin is weak, fragile, passive, and closed. Developing one’s Yang-masculine-light-Structure energies involves strength, firmness, resoluteness, and perseverance; an undeveloped Yang is harsh, rigid, aggressive and punitive. There must be a balance of living with Chaos and Structure… in the outer world and the inner world… female and male… soft and strong… firm and flexible… BIG and small… empowered and yielding… 7. One must take care of their health… their body and physical health… their intellectual and emotional health… their psyche and their Soul health (inner Spiritual health)… 8. One must live with honor and respect… being respectful and honoring. One should avoid as much as possible those who are not respectful and honoring of others and themselves… unless one is seeking to teach respect and honoring. The I Ching often advises that superior people avoid inferior people… unless they can help and guide them. 9. One is guided to be humble and to act with humility; humility is not modesty. One is also guided to be grateful and appreciative. Humility and gratitude are keys to live with and by. One should avoid as much as possible those who are not humble and grateful… unless one is seeking to teach humility and gratitude. 10, It is vital to seek out oracles, guides, wise ones and mentors to help one on their journey to truth, wisdom and love on deeper and deeper levels. Oracles, guides, wise ones and mentors help with one’s outer life and with inner development, growth and realization. ______________________________________________________________________________ The I Ching has been in my life---on my journey--- for over 35 years. It has been a guide and an oracle in my darkest hours during the worst storms. It has opened me up, split me open, lifted me up and sent me below. I have learnt not to question whether the I Ching is right or wrong. Simply, the I Ching is the Truth. I have laughed and celebrated readings. I have cried and cried over readings. Readings have caused me pain on many more than one occasion. I am ceaselessly amazed over readings I give others and my own. There are Spiritual Powers at work here…mystical magical. Sometimes, I don’t feel worthy to go to the I Ching. Whenever I go to the I Ching, I am a weird mixture of excited and nervous…scared and thrilled. Some readings, my intuition takes flight…soaring on wings of the I Ching. Some readings, my intuition flows…drifting on the waters of the I Ching. Some readings, my intuition is on fire, burning the wood of the I Ching ancient forest. Some readings, my intuition is rooted and grounded in the fertile soil of the I Ching. …Red Bear ______________________________________________________________________________ I dedicate this workshop to Morton Mintz, who embodies the I Ching on my journey, in my life, in my Soul… I dedicate this workshop to Desert Lizard for sharing a deep, deep respect and honoring of the I Ching as well as sharing her beautiful Soul… I dedicate this workshop to all the Spirits, Sages, Masters and Immortals who dwell within the I Ching…and to RavenStar, Puer and Woman---Happiest Birthday!!!! Let’s enter the Oracle and go on an I Ching Journey………………. |
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| Consulting the Oracle: the I Ching by Red Bear Old Yang and new Yang~ strong solid firm lines _______ Old Yin and new Yin~ receptive yielding broken lines ___ ___ Oh, how the Yang, old and new, and the Yin, old and new, go in and out of the flowing dark feminine Chaos (Yin) seeking and creating powerful light male Structure (Yang) in a Dance of Higher Love-making Solid lines (Yang) and broken lines (Yin) until there are three to form the lower trigram… the Inner World and three more to form the upper trigram… the Outer World then with the hexagram a mysterious transformation takes places as the lines become a Circle then a spiritual transcendence occurs as the Circle becomes larger and larger and inside this immense Circle is a Web woven with strands of the past, present and future till linear time is no longer the master for eternal Truth and Wisdom must have the space to come and go… go and come… Consult this Oracle of Tao and Confucian Wisdom the I Ching offers powerful words that have been consulted for 6,000 or is 8,000 or is 10,000 years yet the ancient I Ching becomes the modern I Ching before your eyes and don’t be fooled into believing the I Ching is merely printed words… it is much, much more and much, much less than that… understand the I Ching is the Shape shifting Trickster, the Holy Artist, the Mysterious Magician, the Sacred Sage, the Immortal’s Voice, the Helping Spirit for the fool and the wise one, for the one full of grief and loss and the one full of hopes and dreams, for the poor beggar and the rich merchant, for the water bringer and the king, for the lonely one seeking a true love, for the fool or hero who wonders late at night if his love is true, for the lover whose heart has just been broken, for the scholar who seeks to be a sage, for the musician who can’t stand his own music, for the singer who yearns for the song, for the mother worried about her distant son, for the father angered by his lustful daughter, for university student upon graduation, for the lost one who seeks a guiding star, for the old professor who seeks to learn where his old bones have to travel next…. Consult the Oracle: the I Ching One fool asks all six questions he is allowed but yearns for a seventh as his six questions seem lacking A wise one asks no questions allowing the Ching to take him like a leaf flowing on a stream Another fool refuses to ask any questions but then can’t listen to the Oracle’s guidance Another wise one has found the questions he must asks and the Ching blossoms before him like a flower opening to the Sun Consult the Oracle: the I Ching The energy, vibrations, essence, meaning, depth, truth, wisdom of Heavens and Earth will come to you as Thunder resonates through your being and your taken to the Mountain then down to the Lake then Fire and Water (Rain) will penetrate your every pour and the Wind will carry you wherever you must go to see what you must envision and listen to what you must hear For the I Ching is the Oracle of HEAVEN, EARTH, THUNDER, MOUNTAIN, LAKE, FIRE, WATER (RAIN), WIND for your Teh Dance performed in your Yin/Yang Circle in the Tao Universe Theatre… seeking to find your way in the WAY The I Ching teaches what you need must learn from the past… in the present… towards the future Don’t be so ignorant and stupid to assess and evaluate whether the I Ching is right or wrong or try to make it fit your illusions, wishes, hopes, dreams, fears… The I Ching deserves and requires your honor and respect not your judgment… approach the I Ching with alertness, awareness, mindfulness, and great humility….open your mind and your heart… deeply Open as deeply as you are able and perhaps a bit further to enter the Truth and Wisdom of the I Ching Journey Imagine you are lost on a dark road on a new Moon night the I Ching is the glowing light of the inner Sun to guide your path Imagine you feel you know where you are going on a lit highway the I Ching is the abyss of darkness you needed to exit at Imagine you have fooled everyone (perhaps even yourself) the I Ching sees through those veils and has much to tell you Imagine that you have no clue how to fit together your past, in the present, towards the future the I Ching is the finished evolving puzzle Imagine that you have sought and found the knowledge you needed from the past, in the present, towards the future the I Ching is the wisdom you overlooked in the past. the wisdom you are missing in the present, and the wisdom you’ll need as the future becomes the present THE ORACLE OF WISDOM a sroty by Red Bear "If it’s not paradoxical, it isn’t true" ….Osho He had picked up several degrees along the way. A bachelors degree from a good small college; why was it called a bachelors? A few masters degrees from esteemed schools; why was it called a masters when you hadn’t become a master in any way, shape or form? He prided himself on reading many leading newspapers and magazines; although, he wondered if news was just recycled as little seemed fresh and most was very painful. He was a persistent consumer of books; the mediocre one’s forgotten, while the good books lingered till they faded into some library of oblivion. He watched the news and listened to NPR; he sought to be well informed. Why he realized what he realized was confusing in itself. What he realized baffled and plagued him. How could he know so much and really understand so little. What he knew seemed to be based on what was in vogue and so much better than the knowledge that was in vogue before. Did each generation puff up their heads and chests with the latest best knowledge that they thought was ever so right and light years beyond what anyone else knew in the past? Was knowledge like a roller coaster ride with a “truth” that was very fleeting and only lasted minutes with the riders feeling dizzily pleasured? Information, statistics, research, and facts seems to be so substantial, but was disproved by the next series of even better information, statistics, research and facts. It seemed to him that knowledge was just a balloon that one blew up with the best hot air they had available; the balloon would float up for a bit then come down to the ground then deflate and be thrown in the garbage. Even with all the experts, self-help books, and research on relationships, he often wondered if true relationships were extinct as the dodo bird; did the dodo bird actually become extinct or just give up or are there a couple of dodos hanging out incognito at every shopping mall? He realized that relationships had become a mere means to an end, an outcome, an objective, a piece of furniture (not furniture music), a container of leftover Chinese food (say a half piece of egg foo young suspended or drowning in that brown mystery goo)…. All the vast storehouse of knowledge about relationships was as relevant, guiding and helpful as getting directions in a strange place from someone in the midst of a drug overdose. He wondered when the words intimacy and Soul-mate would be taken out of the dictionary. Soul-mate being an ideal that was beyond the realm of anyone’s true understanding given that one would have to be Soulful themselves. People being intimate was as likely to happen as global warming making Artic icebergs into a cruise ship for the botox set. He realized modern religion puffed up and inflated itself with ridiculous and often dangerous dogma and doctrine, but, actually, reeked with FEAR. Not just instilling Fear along with guilt and shame, but based on and founded in Fear. He realized modern religion had as much to do with the ancient religions that precede them and they were rooted in as artificial plants had to do with an ancient forest. There was as much Soulfulness and Spirituality in modern religions as there is divination power in a fortune cookie. Modern religion worked incredibly well for the lazy who needed their Spirituality spoon-fed while they silently drooled in their pew-like high chair or the zealous fundamentalist who needed a more socially acceptable channel for their intense insanity. He realized education had put up the white flag so long ago that it appeared to be a torn and tattered handkerchief. What passed as education was mostly a holding tank with societal sanctioned programming until the student pods were ready for full morphing membership into the capitalism mothership. Teachers would be better served getting training in babysitting, fire fighting, marital arts, interrogation, macro and micro economics, training of pit bulls, and taxidermy; administrators would then add the Dale Carnegie course. He realized long ago that anything he truly wanted or needed to learn had to be done outside of this culture’s schools. All he had gained in school was a passport and a language system for employment. Well, besides that wonderful, delightful crush on his sixth grade teacher. He realized counseling and therapy was a giant pacifier for the infantile, undeveloped Self to fine tune and polish the all necessary Skipper Ego of the Good Ship Lifestyle on its repetitive maiden voyage of survival, comfort and pleasure. All counselors and therapists had to read, commit to memory and find ways to parrot back was Norman Vincent Peale’s “Power of Positive Thinking” (that NVP used to give out free or for donations on street corners in Manhattan) and have the phone number of a psychiatrist ready to hand to each bakery number client. The psychiatrist (playing the expert uncle role even if he was a she) would then rely on Father Pharmaceutical Corporation and Mother Drug to parent each of their patient offspring no matter what the problem, issue, disorder, disease, malady or existential dilemma; sadly, actually the closest thing to an existential dilemma for most people was worrying when their monstrous deprivation and neediness would get its next fix. He realized that art is its many manifestations, get ups, costumes, shapes, forms and play dates had been reduced… like a fine authentic homemade Jewish chicken soup reduced to Goyish canned chicken stock. He understood that art had rarely been a main course and, even in times deemed renaissances, more of a vegetable side dish (not potatoes more like Brussels sprouts). Today, art was slipping from a mere appetizer to the sprig of parsley that only old Italian men used to clean their breath before they departed to let the woman clean up and take care of the kids so they could play bochie ball. (Note: Most men still do this, but they don’t use the parsley as a Listerine substitute and they go to far more expensive forms of collective parallel play.) He realized that the democracy in alleged democratic countries was a far stretch from what it purported to be. Governments were the shine boys for the expensive shoes and spats of the pseudo-deities who had titles like CEO, CFO, COO, C-ME-I’M-RICH-O; these global market cannibals were devouring the Earth like someone on a starvation diet does when no one is looking. Someday, the myths of continual “Progress” (“Best is Yet to Come” and “MORE< MORE< MORE” ) was going to explode like a hormone raging teenager when they can’t get the latest copy of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition. If he had the guts, he’d wear a button that simply stated “Less”; though he was unsure he had what it took to live with less and not clear whether he would know where to even start doing, consuming, having less. It seemed MORE was tattooed in his brain and anything other than MORE was impossible, utterly unconceivable and amazingly unpleasant. So what? So what what? So, all the knowledge he had was like leftover Thanksgiving turkey after the turkey warm-ups, turkey soup, turkey tacos and turkey salad were eaten. All he knew was crap, illusions or tightly held onto cliques. All he knew was what had been programmed into his EGO; his ego was like a homeless marathon runner in a never ending race.. All he knew was what he had been conditioned to believe and this conditioning had become patterns and habits that dominated his life…. a life that was MORE in the worst sense and, well, LESS is a far worse sense. Even realizing all this just left him with a “So what” because he didn’t want to, okay he feared, going to “What Now?” or as someone he once knew would say in a way that made you feel like you had a dunce hat the size of the Empire State Building “Therefore?”. “What’s Next?” was just as intimidating. As was “Where do I go from here?” (Or translated to some grammatically impossible transfigured Zen-Buddhist-Taoist dharma question: “Who I BE now and who would BE the I being in the Now?”) All this would have led to the beyond slippery slope of “Who am I?” and its impatient twin “Why am I alive?” and its trickster cousin “Have I ever been truly alive and will I ever be truly alive and how do I BE alive now?”. He didn’t feel ready at all to tackle any one of these landmine questions any more than a prep school third string running back wants to be stuffed in a run blitz by Brian Urlacher. However, his one saving grace, and it did seem like a singular grace saver, was his fondness for words. This embarrassed him and he told no one how much he liked, respected and even felt The Oracle of Wisdom continues to conclusion something drawing him to words that he called “key words”. Somewhere, deep in his psyche beyond the despoiled gardens of Freud’s subconscious to the wild archetypal ancient forests of Jung’s collective unconscious, he understood these “key words” were indeed keys that opened doors. What doors? He hadn’t a clue. But he felt a love for the “key words” that he had no knowledge or box or compartment or concept or theory or model or paradigm for. So, in realizing all this, he was left with the nagging need to empty, surrender, let go, release it all… Empty all the lies and illusions of knowledge. Surrender all the facts and statistics. Let go of all the information. Release all that had been hard-wired, conditioned, and programmed into that vast frontal lobe brain Ego. Empty, surrender, let go and release it all to be ALIVE… or the cultural Ego machine in his head would only lead to a slow death knell. Now what? He had gotten rid of the poison, but now what? This is where his fondness and love for words comes in. From somewhere came the word: WISDOM. What is wisdom? Who has wisdom? Does he have wisdom? Can one have wisdom? Does wisdom lead to being wise? Where does wisdom come from? How does one find wisdom? Is wisdom to be found? Was wisdom lost? Can wisdom be recovered, rediscovered, reclaimed? Was a person like him capable of wisdom? What did wisdom even mean? What difference would it make if you had wisdom or not? If poof you had wisdom, how could you live in this modern culture? If he had wisdom would he be wise enough to change his entire life? Did wise people have relationships and have money to pay bills in this culture? Would he still have half-skim no foam white and dark chocolate mocha lattes with an extra shot of espresso drinks that cost $6? So, he typed “finding wisdom” into Google and there were 13,257 entries. He spent weeks going through them and, except for some book recommendations that he would pursue, he came to a dead-end except for one that could prove interesting: “The Space and Place of Golden Wisdom”. The website stated it was “a bookstore and more in Sedona, Arizona on Highway 89A”. When he walked into The Space and Place of Golden Wisdom, he immediately saw a huge banner that stated: “A journey of 2 days takes two thousand years without a mentor” …Rumi. He was taking in this message, when his eyes went to a sign “Consult the I CHING- a 6,000+ year old oracle of great and profound wisdom. Readings Available.” He told the woman working there a brief synopsis of why he was here then asked about getting a reading. After she said something about how synchronistic this was, and laughed in a way someone does when they have actually been quite witty, she told him the I Ching reader had an opening that afternoon. The I Ching reading lasted well over two hours. He received Hexagram 3 that has different titles based on the translation of the oracle of wisdom (I Ching) utilized: Chun: Difficulty at the Beginning or Zhun: Birth Throes or The Sprouting One or Difficulty and Danger at the Beginning or, simply, Difficulty. After much, much time had passed with him working with the I Ching reader as his mentor, he was ready for another reading. His second reading lasted over two hours as well and was Hexagram 4 that has different titles based on the translation of the I Ching consulted: Meng: Youthful Folly or Meng: Juvenile Ignorance or Inexperience or The Enveloping One or, simply, Darkness. He was hooked. He understood that something had begun; call it a journey, a wandering, a quest, a path, or a pilgrimage, that would continue evolving and deepening and spinning in the Structure and Chaos--the Yang and Yin-- the I Ching is rooted and flowing in towards truly alive for all the days and nights of his life. |
| Chaotic Musings on the I Ching
by Red Bear I sat for hours beneath a 100 years old pear tree practicing the I Ching technique. All sorts of undeniably remarkable results emerged. …C. G. Jung C. G. Jung only did dream work, active imagination and the I Ching in sessions. Interestingly, he “apologized” a great deal for the I Ching not being scientifically sound enough for the Western mind to accept and asked the Western person to suspend disbelief to see the profound guidance and wisdom of the I Ching---as if it was a door you go through to truth, wisdom, and the unconscious without needing to “know” how the door worked. Jung’s masterful work on SYNCHRONICITY is rooted in his studies and work with the I Ching. Synchronicity being acausal and best understood as meaningful coincidence or, perhaps better understood as, entering into the flow, truth and wisdom of what was, is, and will be without cause and effect. Synchronicity is the basis of the Eastern mind and the I Ching. The I Ching is an eternally dance of the Yin and Yang and Yin/Yang. The first recorded sharing on the Yin and Yan is in the I Ching; truly, it shares the wisdom of non-duality as well as the illusion of separateness/ duality as the Yin and Yang are never totally separate (Yin/Yang). The I Ching provides a path of Structure (Yang) into and out of the Chaos (Yin) as well as a passageway into the twirling Structure/Chaos (Yang/Yin) of the Tao (Dao). Originally the word yin is best translated as “cloudy” or “overcast” and the word yang is best translated as “banners waving in the sun” or “something shone upon.” The origin of Yin and Yang was understood as light and dark side of a mountain (or a river). Today, yarrow sticks or coins are used for getting readings. In ancient times, the I Ching reader used to use star constellations to get the Hexagram used for determining ones reading; thus, the Heavens provides the reading. Another ancestral method was using a turtle’s shell; thus, the Earth provides the reading. The I Ching calls on all the teachers and teaching of the Heavens (immortals, deities) and the Earth (masters, Chaotic Musings continue teachers). Therefore, The I Ching calls forth all the wisdom of the Tao (Dao)…. the Way that can’t be explained or known, but is the Path (Lao Tzu). The Tao (Dao) is the WAY of the Universe… all life and all that has been and will be. Your Teh (Deh) is your individual journey that is always on/in/of/with/for the Tao (Dao). The I Ching guides you to understand where your Teh has been (past), is (present) and will be (future). The readings is made up of six lines---combinations of straights lines (Yang) or broken lines (Yin)---which make up a hexagram; there are 64 different hexagrams in the I Ching. In addition, a reading from any of the 64 hexagrams can have zero to six specific answers; zero would means you are NOT ready for any additional guidance behind the overall reading. The overall reading of the hexagram is what is most essential, important and guiding… although, getting the lines for answers is “good”… “very good”. Of the six lines that make up the hexagram, the first three lines make up the bottom or lower trigram and the second three lines make up the top or upper trigram. Lines 1, 2, 3 are the bottom trigram also called the Inner World trigram. Line 1 is entrance into the Inner World; Line 2 is inner center; Line 3 is inner transition. Lines 4, 5,6 are the upper trigram also called the Outer World trigram. Line 4 is outer transition; Line 5 is outer center; Line 6 is outer exit. Another way to see this is that Line 1 is entering—the beginning-- a situation, event, relationships, issue, decisions, problems, conflict, journey till it is ended as it reaches its conclusion in Line 6 so the next entering---beginnings---takes place. The Taoist are not the only one’s to understand the I Ching as the diviner of meaning and oracle of wisdom. Confucius use of, retranslation, reworking and reinterpretation of the I Ching has the Book of Changes at the center of Confucianism. Many Buddhist masters and sages have drawn on the I Ching as well as creating their own translations and interpretations. Some Hindu masters have used the I Ching too. There are so many translations over the centuries---from the incredibly complicated that scramble the brain requiring at least a few Ph.D.s in Eastern philosophy, tradition and culture to the watered down I Ching for lazy dummies. One journey’s to find the I Ching translation and interpretation that best calls to them. Chaotic Musings continues At most, one can receive four readings per year… one for each season. However, generally one consults the I Ching no more than three times a year. Masters work on one I Ching reading every day for months, years or even decades. The I Ching isn’t meant to be analyzed, evaluated or judged, but understood as a true compass for the journey. Therefore, getting a reading at one sitting then forgetting it is not honoring the I Ching and will fail to gleam its bountiful harvest of true, guidance and wisdom. Consider the I Ching reading a sacred ritual and holy ceremony that one enters. One leaves behind the profane and enters the sacred. One approaches the I Ching with quiet, stillness and silence. In a meditative process, one enters the I Ching with respect, honoring, openness and vulnerability. One must be EMPTY (the Empty Cauldron) to enter the wisdom of the Oracle. The teachings and guidance of the I Ching are THE TRUTH and WISDOM. When the I Ching reading is confusing (even baffling and bewildering) or “seems wrong”, one questions the reading and themselves to go deeper and deeper to discover the truth and wisdom in the I Ching readings. Often, a reading seems absolutely a bull’s eye, but, other times, the I Ching at first impression and second glance seems to make no sense at all. The greater the confusion or greater the I Ching “appears wrong”, the greater the need to go deeper to uncover the truth and wisdom. Perhaps, one’s I Ching reading feels “wrong” or “makes no sense” because it is sharing what you don’t want to hear, or, sadly, not ready for the truth about. If the reading seems absolutely “dead on”, then, too, you need to go deeper or you will miss great truth, teachings and wisdom. (This is all equally true about answers to your questions to the I Ching.) As with dreams, archetypes and the collective unconscious, the I Ching uses many symbols and metaphors to teach and guide. One needs to deeply work with the symbols and metaphors to uncover truth and wisdom; the I Ching also tells stories that require the same deepening, discipline and understanding. The I Ching can be a Spirit Guide taking one into mystical, magical realms of in the outer and inner Universe. However, the I Ching is also very concrete and practical. The I Ching can be so direct it blows you away or blows you up. Ah, the non-duality… the paradox… the Structure, the Chaos and Structure/Chaos (Yang and Yin, Yin/Yang) that is the I Ching…. that is your Teh… that is the Tao. Chaotic Musings continue One of the great boons of the I Ching is how it helps you to understand the your past and your present in incredible ways. You will learn what you haven’t known or passed by or minimized or repressed about the past. You may be “blown up” about what you missed or illusions you have about your past or present. I am ceaselessly amazed at what the I Ching brings into one’s consciousness. Does the I Ching tell the future? Does the I Ching tell what the future can be? Does the I Ching provide wise counsel towards getting prepared and ready for the future that will be regardless of what you do and be? Does the I Ching provide wise counsel on what one can do and be in order to avoid/prevent/lessen or maximize/expand/enlarge what will happen in the future? Does the I Ching provide wise counsel on what one can do and be in order for the future to BE in different ways? YES! Yes to all these questions. Does this mean TIME is a Circle and there isn’t linear time? Does that mean the future is already “written”? Does that mean that through one’s actions and journey there are different future possibilities? YES! Yes to these questions too. This directs one to EMPTY the Western ego, mind, theories, models, concepts, constructs and paradigms to be OPEN to the wisdom of the East… the TAO (DAO). Beware….that you do NOT project onto the past and present reading what you want, need or know to be so, Beware---that you do NOT project onto the future reading what you want, need or desire to happen. Let the I Ching guide you without projections. It is best to take the I Ching very seriously with lots of pathos; thus, the ascending Soul (Fire and Earth Energies). Yet, one is advised to approach the I Ching with lots of humor, shape-shifting, flowing tranquility, thus, the descending Soul--- Spirituality (Air and Water Energies). In my journey with the I Ching, the symbols and words in the texts becomes a doorway, passageway, bridge, or cave for my intuition to come through. When I am giving a reading usually less than 50% (sometimes way, way less) is seeking to interpret and work from the texts and the rest is my intuition. However, starting with the words, symbols, stories in the text is the Way to begin. The I Ching Journey 3/3/07 |
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| C. G. Jung on the I Ching
“Thus the I Ching says of itself: ‘I contain spiritual nourishment.’” “The method of the I Ching does indeed take into account the hidden individual qualities in things and men, and in one’s own unconscious self as well.” “The manner in which the I Ching tends to look upon reality seems to disfavor our causalistic procedures… While the Western mind carefully sifts, weighs, selects, classifies, isolates, the Chinese picture of the moment encompasses everything down to the minutest nonsensical detail, because all of the ingredients make up the observed moment.” “If the I Ching is not accepted by the conscious, at least the unconscious meets it halfway, and the I Ching is more closely connected with the unconscious than with the rational attitude of consciousness.” “…according to the old tradition, it is the ‘spiritual agencies’, acting in a mysterious way, that make the yarrow sticks give a meaningful answer. These powers form, as it were, the living soul of the book.” “(The I Ching is based on) …a certain curious principle that I have termed synchronicity, a concept that formulates a point of view that is diametrically opposed to that of causality. Since the latter is merely a statistically truth and not absolute, it is a sort of working hypothesis of how events evolve one out of another, whereas synchronicity takes the coincidence of events in space and time as meaning something more than mere chance, namely, a peculiar interdependence of objective events among themselves as well as with the subjective (psychic) states of the observer or observers.” “The I Ching insists upon self-knowledge throughout. The method by which this is to be achieved is open to very kind of misuse, and is therefore not for the frivolous-minded and immature; nor is it for intellectualists and rationalists. It is appropriate for thoughtful and reflective people who like to think about what they do and what happens to them—a predilection not to be confused with the morbid brooding of the hypochondriac.” “One cannot easily disregard such great minds as Confucius and Lao-tse, if one is at all able to appreciate the quality of the thoughts they represent; much less can one overlook the fact that the I Ching was their main source of inspiration.” “The I Ching does not offer itself with proofs and results; it does not vaunt itself, nor is it easy to approach. Like part of nature, it waits until it is discovered…. To one person its spirit seems as clear as day; to another, shadowy as twilight; to a third, dark as night. He who is not pleased by it does not have to use it, and he who is against it is not obliged to find it true. Let it go forth into the world for the benefit of those who can discern its meaning.” The Oracle of Wisdom: The I Ching Journey March 3rd, 2007 Approaching the I Ching From How to Use the I Ching: A Guide to Working with the Oracle of Change by Karcher “The I Ching is the oldest divinatory oracle to survive the “disenchantment of the world”.” “The I Ching is on of the world’s oldest and most profound divination systems, a powerful tool which can help you navigate the voyage of your life. It helps you see the forces that are shaping difficult situations, and to understand the meaning of obstacles. It keeps you connected to the creative process of life. It brings out your helping spirit, the inner voice that helps you find your way.” “The I Ching is an attempt to understand and work with change. Bit it does not describe change; it participates in change. It shows the way change occurs because it is part of the process it models. By using it, you participate in change rather than being its unconscious victim.” ‘For the I Ching is more than a book: it is an oracle. It ‘speaks’ to your situation. It gives you a mirror of the hidden forces at work in the changes you are confronting.” “.., the I Ching ‘provides symbols’ which ‘comprehend the light of the gods’. It produces an echo that ‘ reaches the depths, grasps the seed and penetrates the wills of all beings under heaven’. It can discern the seeds of future development and move the dark psychological places where we are caught or ‘hung up’,” “(The I Ching) is more than a book or an oracle. It is a ‘way’, a tool we can use on our spiritual journey through life. It continually opens a path that we can follow. Through its symbols and the connection with the spirit they provide, it enables its users to ‘follow the order of their own nature and of fate’. It opens a dialogue with a deep inner voice that seeks to keep us connected to the living world, the ‘on-going process of the real’.” “Tao (the Way) permeates, supports, moves and changes everything in the world, seen and unseen… It is the ‘on-going process of the real’, a great and mysterious flow of energy that animates, moves and shapes the world, and gives it its potential identity. To be ‘in’ tao is to experience meaning… The tao or way articulates as two basic qualities. These two qualities reflect dark and light, moon and sun, water and fire, soft and hard, dissolution and creation, love and hate, dream and waking, death and life, female and male. The people who made the I Ching ‘saw’ each thing as a particular mixture of these qualities and could thus predict the way they would move and develop. The oldest words for these qualities are the terms great and small, or strong and supple. They later became known as yin and yang. … There are two basic kinds of lines used in the diagrams (hexagrams and trigrams) of the I Ching.” These two kinds of line participate in the nature of the two fundamental powers that join to make the Tao or Way. • The Strong (Yang)---Action: firm, unyielding, moving, persistent, enduring, determined, discipline, consistent • The Supple (Yin)—Receptive: flexible, still, yielding, creative, flowing, open, vulnerable. (taken from Karcher but changed) “…why people use it (the I Ching). • The I Ching is an attempt to understand and work with change that is always happening to us. It lets you participate in this process rather than be an unconscious victim. • The I Ching can give you a mirror of the hidden forces at work in your unconscious, the psychological and spiritual forces acting behind the scenes in your life. • The I Ching tells you about the quality of time, what this particular moment in time means to you. Thus it helps you to understand and follow ‘the order of your own nature and fate’.” “There are three important words that characterize the I Ching as an imaginative and spiritual practice: tao or way, power and virture (te) and the realizing person (chun tzu). The tao is the fundamental way or flow of all things. To be in tao is to experience meaning and joy. BY doing this you accumulate power and virtue to become who you are truly meant to be. The realizing person is someone who uses the oracle to help in this process of self-realization.” “A good image for the process (an I Ching reading) is that of throwing a stone into water. The stone is your question. When you throw it, there is a strong, sudden impact. This is the feeling of intuitive connection you will feel when you first see the text that answers your question. Then the circles of associations spread out in the water, penetrating into all the different parts of the subject. This is when, in the words of the traditional texts, you ‘turn and roll the words in your heart’ letting all the possibilities and persons arise. Finally you feel the intuitive connection confirmed by this process of thinking and feeling through things. The water becomes still. The message has penetrated and subtly re-arranged your imagining. You are ready to move with the way.” “The I Ching takes for granted that humans live in a world that is alive. It is a ‘magical’ world in which we participate through words and images. This world has a purpose that directly effects us. We share this world with many kinds of invisible beings; they are part of us, in that they affect our feelings and behavior, but come and go as they please. We cannot control them. The I Ching has a special set of ideas to deal with these spirits. It describes the actions of the various parts of our unconscious that influence us but of which we are not normally aware. … The shen are high spirits that can aid humans. They are a kind of bright spirit or deep intuitive clarity that characterizes a ‘realized’ human being. Sages may be said to have a shen or helping spirit. The old shamans spoke of ‘cleaning the house of the soul’ so the shen would come to live there. …The I Ching was particularly used to follow or duplicate this old shamanic path. It helps you contact the spirit and, over time, to find this spirit-voice within yourself.” ____________________________________________________________________________ A Short History, The Superior Person and Overview of Kuas (Hexagrams) • From THE i-ching; The Book of Answers by Wu Wei “Thousands of years ago, before the dawn of written history, legend has it that there lived a great Chinese sage known as Fu His. He is reputed to be the man who first united all of China and became its first emperor... As you can imagine, that was a long, long time ago---six thousand years at the earliest, and, more likely, ten thousand. A man of incredible intellect, and a man whose psychic channels were obviously open, Fu His drew forth from the Universal mind, over a period of time and in stages, a perfect mathematical model of itself, complete with all its conditions and elements of change---the sixty-four six-line symbols that the Chinese call the kua (hexagrams) that make up the I Ching.” Wu Wei has a whole book telling his truth of the history of how the I Ching came into being: A Take of the I Ching. “To form the sixty-four kua (hexagrams), Fu His, it is said, surveyed the vast diversities and moments under the Heaven, saw the ways that the movements met and became interrelated, and saw how their courses were governed by eternal laws. He thought through the order of the outer world to its end and explored his own nature to its deepest core. He perceived the beginning of all things that lay unmoving in the ‘beyond’ in the form of ideas that had yet to manifest themselves. He put himself in accord with those ideas and, in doing, so, arrived at an understanding of fate. It is also quite possible that he simply received the information in the form of a communication from the Universe, as a waking dream, or a sleeping dream, or a vision in meditation, or in a moment of clarity while walking through the forest….When the Universe wants to communicate with us, it uses whatever means are at hand.” “Writing did not exist at the time of Fu Hsi, so his teachings were handed down in the oral tradition, with one generation faithfully teaching another for thousands of years. It was the most valuable information on the planet, and, as such, it was treasured and passed on. In the opinion of this humble author, it still remains the most valuable information on the planet.” “Fu His spoke of the paths of life, calling the path that leads to good fortune ‘the way of the superior person’ and the path that leads to misfortune ‘the way of the inferior person”. The path of the superior person is the path of abundant life. The path is narrow in one sense and broad in another.” Red Bear Commentary: Path of strength, virtue, structure and code is narrow (Yang) and path of receptivity, creativity, opening and chaos is broad (Yin). The path of the inferior person always leads to suffering for themselves and others. The I Ching seeks to guide development and evolving into the superior or realized person (Sage) who is guided to live with wisdom and stay away from the inferior or unrealized person (the Tyrant, Victim, Slave, Ignorant One) who is bad energy. The I Ching seeks to guide one to “perfection” being the superior or realized person (the Sage, the Master, Great Man, Great Woman)…a balance of yin and yang, inner world and order world, Chaos and Structure, dark and light, soft and strong, small and big, other worldly and worldly, mystical-magic-spiritual-extraordinary and the everyday ordinary aspects and tasks of daily life… It is vital to note that the superior or realized person (Teh aligned with Tao) is exceedingly humble and humility is expressed in all their words, silence, actions and non-actions. A further important note, Taoism (The I Ching) understands human beings must be continually, ceaselessly evolving and developing. The Tao Sages share that humans are alive to be in a life long process (journey) of evolution and development; to be able to evolve and develop, one needs oracles and mentors to guide the way. By the way, the I Ching constantly requires and demands the continually development of moral character, codes, ethics and integrity that guide all one’s words, silence, action and non-action. The Sage is the embodiment of virtue. “’Every person must have something to follow, a lodestar. (The I Ching)’. Everyone needs something to bring out the best in himself and to provide direction for his development. By holding the image of the superior person in your mind as your lodestar, you will achieve not only supreme success but also great happiness.” “’Only through daily self-renewal of character can you continue at the height of your powers. (The I Ching)’ It takes Herculean effort to reach the peak of perfection in any area of life and continuous effort to remain there. Every day some effort should be expended in refreshing yourself with the ways of the superior person. Reading the I Ching or other great books, talking to like-minded people, teaching others, studying the deeds of the ancient heroes, thinking about your actions of the day to see whether you are being your best; all are ways to successfully continue on your path. As you grow in awareness, your power grows, and your attainments will be like the harvest after a perfect summer. There is no other activity that rewards you as richly as the daily self-renewal of your character.” A Quick Look at I Ching Hall of Sages In 12th century B. C., a governor of a province and an I Ching sage of rare insight and wisdom named Wen added greatly to refinement of the I Ching that is still drawn on today. (By the way, the I Ching has been used for thousands of years to help govern provinces and China itself; it is still drawn on today as an oracle to guide the individual and collective lives of China…as well as throughout the East. Wu’s son Tan, known as the Duke of Chou, used the I Ching to rule China when he became emperor (1109 B.C.). An earlier name for the I Ching was the Chou I (The Book of the Kings of Chou). The Duke of Chou is credited by many sources as interpreting and rewriting much of the I Ching and keeping it alive and evolving in China; he drew on many, many Taoist and I Ching sages. In 1700 A.D., the Khang Hsi Editors prepared the current version of the I Ching that is used for translation up to the present; the editors used the interpretations and commentary of over three hundred I Ching sages based on teachings on the I Ching for over three thousand years. “(In the fifth century B.C.) At the age fifty, Confucius began the study of the I Ching, and when he was past the age of seventy, he humorously commented, “If some years were added to my life, I would give fifty to the study of the I Ching, and might then escape from falling into great errors.’” Confucius’s interpretation, commentary and studies on the I Ching are considered the classic text of the oracle and the one used by Jung. It will a central focus of your individual readings. ____________________________________________________________________________ Wu Wei on the 64 Kua (Hexagrams) Readings “Each of the sixty-four kua (hexagrams), with their combined total of 384 lines (six lines in each of the sixty-four hexagrams), represents a situation or condition. Each situation or condition contains six stages of its on evolution: 1. about to come into being, (1 is the bottom line) 2. beginning, 3. expanding, 4. approaching maximum potential 5. peaking, and 6. passing its peak and turning toward its opposite condition “ (6 is top line) ____________________________________________________________________________ From The Taoist I Ching translated by Thomas Cleary “A frequently cited comment in the I Ching says, “Yin and yang constitute the path.’ The I Ching is held by Taoists to map critical junctures of human development in terms of yin and yang: two modes of being and experience through which the spiritual dialectic of Tao practice takes place.” “Taoist spiritual alchemy, a system of mental cultivation that uses the I Ching as an instrumental text, defines the path of human progress…” “The word I of the I Ching means change; that is, changing in accord with the time so as to follow the Tao. As a book, the I Ching is vast and comprehensive: by following the principles of essence and life, understanding the obscure and the obvious, and comprehending the conditions of things and beings, it shows the way to enlighten people and accomplish tasks.” (Ch’eng I, 11th century A.D. scholar and teacher.) “…all my doubts disappeared, so for the first time I realized that the Tao of spiritual alchemy is none other than the Tao of the I Ching, the Tao of sages is none other than the Tao of immortals, and that the I Ching is not a book of divination but rather the study of investigation of principles, fulfillment of nature, and arrival at the meaning of life.” (Liu I-ming, late 18th century A.D. scholar and sage) “The Changes is threefold: There is the Changes of Heaven, the Changes of the sages, and the Changes of mind. The Changes of Heaven consists of the principles of transformation. The Changes of the sages consists of the representations of transformation. The Changes of mind consists of the Tao of transformation… If one does not read the Changes of the sages, one will not understand the Changes of Heaven; if one does not understand the Changes of Heaven, one will not know the Changes of mind; if one does not know the Changes of mind, one will not be sufficiently able to master change. So we know the Book of Changes (I Ching) is the book on the mastery of change.” (from the 13-14th century famous Tao compendium The Book of Balance and Harmony) “Sages observe above and examine below, search afar and grasp what is near, thus apprehending that substance; superior people develop their qualities, cultivate their work, perform their tasks, and regulate their capacities, based on that function. …When you are mindful in times of rest, you are observant in times of movement. If you have self-mastery in times of rest, you can be decisive in movement. If you have stability in times of rest, actions will not lead to unfortunate results. Rest is the foundation of movement, movement is the potential of rest. When you do not lose the constant in movement and rest your path will be illumined.” (The Book of Harmony and Balance) “…Sages are sages simply because of the application of the principles of the I Ching. Application of the I Ching is accomplished by openness and tranquility. When open, one takes in all; when tranquil, one perceives all. When open, one can accept things; when tranquil, one can respond to situations. If openness and tranquility are continued for a long time, one becomes spiritually illumined.” (Book of Balance and Harmony) The I Ching goes beyond providing guidance in the present moment to providing the path to evolve and develop as a SAGE. |
| Eight Trigrams of the I Ching
by Red Bear K’UN ~ EARTH Weak, fragile, yielding, nourishing, responsive, nurturing, adaptive, frugal, supportive, rustic, Nature loving, Chaotic, feminine, mothering, fertile, infertile, kind, enabling, takes care of others, giver, difficulty in receiving, humble, grateful, stable, seeks outer security…. CHEN ~ THUNDER Arousing, energized, active, exciting, overbearing, overwhelmed and overwhelming, growing, expanding, stimulating, too busy, loves to travel, wants things quick, impatient, intense, quick, speed, charismatic, focus on outcomes-results-objectives-goals… TUI ~ LAKE Satisfied, content, kind, comfortable, numb, pleasure loving, excessive, loves art-singing-music, accommodating, easy going, sacrifices, compromises, amusing and easily amused, peaceful, tranquil, serene, stagnate, deep listener, stays put in one place, enough and abundant in present moment… CH’IEN ~ HEAVEN Creative, strong, firm, rigid, harsh, cold, serious, domineering, organized, powerful, intensely focused, centered, assertive, aggressive, depthful, structured, warrior, masculine, leader, king, tyrant, coward, righteous, grandiose, Eight Trigrams continue judgmental, decisive, discerns and discriminates truth and TRUTH… SUN ~ WIND Simple, gentle, penetrating, gradual, patient, apathetic, truthful in relationships, lofty, grandiose, confident, loquacious, advancing and receding with trust and faith, advancing and receding with doubt and confusion, future visionary, too future oriented, soft, ethereal, magical, mundance, must be in motion or doing… K’EN ~ MOUNTAIN Waiting, calm, immobile, still, quiet, silent, stubborn, ornery, perverse, loyal, family of origin and extended family focused, defensive, meditative, spiritual, stuck, questing, BIG, unable to be small, empowered, present moment, metaphysical, reflective, observant, aloof, detached… LI ~ FIRE Illuminating, radiant, vibrant, passion, inspired and inspiring, scorching, scorched, overly intense, burnt out, conscious, sharp, loves beauty, haughty, overconfident, proud, has clarity of vision, enjoys teaching others, intelligent, overly dependent, overly independent… K’AN ~ WATER (RAIN) Profound, difficult, danger seeking, anxious, deep, meaningful, curious, mystical, magical, intuitive, dreamer, thief, removes obstacles, flows ever onward, obsessive, driven, wise to past with vision of future in present moment, overwhelmed with past-present-future all at once…. This wondrous poem shares profound wisdom on the I Ching. A flowing river knows everything, knows the future of everything, while a litte boat knows nothings at all. I am a little boat, just floating down the omniscient river. Little Boat! Tossing all it knows into the river. My little boat just floats down with the river. … Ko Un, Little Pilgrim ____________________________________________________________________________ Red Bear is excited to share his journey with the I Ching with others. I Ching readings are available. Red Bear draws on the text of the oracle of the I Ching from many texts (translations) to give his intuitive readings. His readings are not for everyone. If you are interested in discussing receiving a reading, please contact Red Bear… call 708.397.1210. Red Bear is also available to offer workshops, retreats and training seminars on the I Ching as well as on Taoism and Zen. ____________________________________________________________________________ Mentorship for adults, young adults and older adolescence… the journey to Self and Soul… a path of emptying, healing, transformation and transcendence in your outer life (i.e. relationships, work) and in your inner world. Call Red Bear (Kevin Dubrow LCSW) at 708.387.1210. Go to MENTORING on this website for more information. ____________________________________________________________________________ Counseling and therapy for teenagers, their parents and family… help and guidance for those seeking direction, change and growth… not merely putting on band-aids or quick microwave fixes… Call Tom Sitting Wolf Undine LSW at 708.387.1210. ____________________________________________________________________________ Go to WORKSHOPS on this website to see over 40 workshops available for your schools, agency and organization. ____________________________________________________________________________ SACRED INTUITION VISIONQUEST May 16-20th, 2007Sedona, Arizona Crescent Moon Ranch House Red Bear and Desert Lizard, Guides Only a limited number of questors will be taken and our VisionQuests usually are filled very quickly. For information, call Red Bear at 708.397.1210 This is 7th VisionQuest in Sedona, Arizona and each one has been amazing transformational experiences beyond words. Our next RETREAT in Arizona will be in November 2007. ____________________________________________________________________________ Any and all feedback about this newsletter or anything on the website is always appreciated. Send an e-mail to redbear@redbearsjourney.com, call 708.387.1210, or write Kevin Red Bear Dubrow LCSW, Dubrow & Associates, 3640 Prairie Avenue, Brookfield, IL 60513 ____________________________________________________________________________ Our best wishes for a wondrous, delightful, rebirthing, renewing, passionate, peaceful, meaningful, wise and Loving SPRING!!!!!!!!!! |