Great Possession
"Given all you have, who will you be?"*
Hello and Happy Monday from Australia!
Today after an amazing weekend of teaching in Melbourne, I got to swim in the great ocean communing with smelly seals and quicksilver dolphins under a vast gray sky. The weather has been very un-summer like since I arrived and after 3 hours in a wetsuit, it took about 10 minutes of hot water to bring me back to room temperature. Nonetheless, I was one happy camper to be swimming in the ocean and meanwhile, today, the sun has come out.
The hexagram for the week is Hexagram 14 - Dà Yǒu - Great Possesion/Great Purpose. I threw this one on my own this week since convening at our usual time would have been a trick to do coming from the Southern hemisphere. Still, I hope that some of the themes of this hexagram will resonate for you nonetheless. Great Possession is not about an object, particularly, but is, instead, about virtue. From the point of view of the oracle, virtue and integrity are all one can ever really possess and if your virtue and integrity are not apparent what, in fact, do you actually possess? Furthermore, riches are not required. Material possession does not equal nor promote virtue. And where you may have acquired knowledge or even wisdom, virtue may still elude you.
What is it you will give away without hesitation? This, is, your greatest possession, a possession that only becomes such when you are willing to give it away. Such is the reality of possession in the world of change. If change can take something away from you, that thing is neither great nor yours. And nothing you can own or possess is free from the whim or demand of change. Except, of course, your own basic goodness, your own true nature, luminous, vast and without fault. Thankfully, nothing whether subject to change or not, can injure, demean or diminish your basic nature.
Such as it is then, the question of what you may possess that can persist in clarity and goodness, when everything around you is changing, disintegrating or expanding, gathering force or losing vitality. Great purpose allows you to expand to encompass all possible outcomes, both relinquishing those things that are not, in fact, truly yours and embracing those things that come into your sphere of influence to open your eyes and heart to the true value in your experience.
You have nothing but your experience. You cannot possess anything else nor can you use anyone else’s experience but your own. You can listen, hear, see, witness, be with others, but the resulting experience is still your own. I’m not saying that you should be more self-focused or self-centered, but attending to what your very own senses, your very own form is experiencing will always provide you with the most important “news.” Peter London says “the only news you can use is your own.”**
In this very turbulent world full of NEWS that not only isn’t your own, but is often designed to unseat and upset you, drive you from your own truth, staying connected with your own “newsfeed” seems critical. The body and senses do not lie. They are a trustworthy source of news, and their value is incalculable as they adapt and change with every moment. It continues to amaze me, the way bodies adapt, change, all the while, reporting in a timely manner the only news you can use. Gotta love that!
Bay Laurel essential oil is a fragrance that will expand you, your mind and heart, without blowing up your ego. It can clear your head, steady your mind and focus your mind on the things that truly matter. Though the phrase “rest on your laurels” is not usually a compliment, I think it could mean learning to rest in your own knowing, which at least in my mind, is a very valuable, even virtuous, act. You have nothing to prove when you can rest in the knowing of your own heart. May it be so.
I’ll continue to pop in here when I can this month.
*Hilary Barrett, commentary on Hexagram 14
** Drawing Closer to Nature: Making Art in Dialogue with the Natural World.
Thanks for sharing this post! I love your interpretation of possession. It’s counterintuitive in that it’s not about holding onto some kind of thing. We must be on the same wave length because I had a vivid dream last night of swimming with a friend in the ocean, and a huge friendly seal brushed up against us. Then first thing this morning I read your post about your experience. I’m happy you are having a wonderful adventure!