Sunlight and I lie motionless

gravity moves my blood

These are the words that came to me as I contemplated this morning’s group I Ching reading. I said them to myself long ago but they arose upon reflection on Hexagram 52 also known as Gèn - Stilling/Bound which came as our initial hexagram in response to the inquiry:

How are we to stay aligned with heaven and earth, trusting in the flow, while receiving and engaging openly for this week?

We spoke at the start about how as human beings living in between heaven and earth, governed, you could say by the unmistakeable power of both Heaven and Earth, are also prone to lose our place, get pulled by forces, societal, familial, environmental that can move us this way and that without mercy. And yet, we want to keep the heavenly view the larger perspective in the midst of all the activity. And we want to stay deeply connected within ourselves while being open to engagement and reciprocity.

With two changing lines, which I’ll get to in a moment, the relating Hexagram, the movement in our future you could say, was Hexagram 46 - Sheng or Pushing Upward/Ascending. This suggests, then, that we are like bulbs beneath the earth waiting to sprout, staying still and quiet until the right mix of sunshine and rain literally force us upward. It is important in our effort to stay aligned, to be receptive to the flow, to wait for the conditions to move us, rather than letting our ideas, our concepts move us precipitously.

It is true that stillness is not something well-valued in our culture at large. Doing nothing is not commonly lauded or praised. And yet, sometimes sitting still, doing nothing, is the best response to a situation. The situation we discussed this morning is the one where we might feel overwhelmed by stimuli, inundated by emotion or drawn down by illness, a situation where we might feel lost or helpless. For many of us, those types of experiences make us want to DO something. The “doing” here is the gentle but firm injunction to BE rather than do. In being we allow the forces of heaven and earth to remain in dialogue within us, we continue to engage by being receptive, open, allowing.

This kind of receptivity is not repression or suppression. We aren’t trying to be still. We are simply and actually quite actively resting our attention in the present moment without doing anything extraneous. This is one of the guiding principles in the teachings of the I Ching; not taking action outside of necessity. To know what is necessary in this model, we must reside in the moment, we must actually be here before we can know with any accuracy what is possible. So even when we feel the urge to jump up or the urge to express ourselves, we wait, we rest until the movement is without doubt. Then, when we are without doubt, the movement is natural and heaven bound, reaching upward without contrivance or pretense.

Our reading this morning had two changing lines at Line 2 and Line 6. Changing lines represent places in our experience where we will have options, choices about how to respond, how to stay engaged or release engagement. These are wonderful moments to apply stillness, to listen inwardly, to feel your feet on the ground, feel the sun on your head, remembering your divinity as a representative of heaven and earth. In that way, whatever you do at that moment of choice will reflect your true nature, your highest manifestation, even it that manifestation this week is simply to get from below ground to above ground. Some weeks that is the work, just getting a perspective from the fresh air and sunshine rather than remaining in the dark. It could be that simple.

So, it could be that you get above ground this week, or it could be you remain on the ground motionless, both possibilities will allow you to remain aligned, remain receptive and in the flow. Trust, in my definition, is the act of opening to what is happening moment by moment. This, too, is certainly possible. In our opening, we affirm that we are listening, that we are participating in this ongoing unfolding of the universe that is all of us. In this way, trust, is as much an activity as it is a way of being, so if you feel the urge to do, do trust first, then whatever follows will be blessed by heaven and earth for sure.

An Essential Oil for the Week

Each week, I’ll offer an essential oil related to our reading. For this week, I suggest working with Inula-Elecampane. This is not a common essential oil but it is a powerful one. Inula is a profound invitation to stillness. It will enhance your capacity to feel deeply into excitement and inspiration without being overwhelmed. It will help to synchronize body, breath and mind, bringing you into presence without effort and stabilizing your heart-mind. As I mentioned last week, for the purpose of supporting our inquiry, it isn’t necessary to apply or imbibe any essential oil, smelling the aroma is enough. One drop of the essential oil in a cup of hot water or on a cotton ball allows you to inhale the aroma safely.

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Thank you again to everyone who joined! Please don’t hesitate to share this link, which is good every week at 9:30 a.m. Eastern for this ongoing experiment in creating a community of inquiry. All are welcome and no prior knowledge is necessary.