Rainbows Appear After Storms

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We can sit around and do nothing or we can struggle toward a desired future that may never come.

jeanw5's avatarI Ching as a Way to Enlightenment

A spirit teacher shares His understanding of timeless wisdom
contained within the I Ching Hexagram 12 – Obstruction.

Heaven is the most powerful yang trigram and is above Earth,
which is the most powerful yin trigram.

Obstruction usually suggests something blocking the way, and
yet the way is usually forward; not up or down.

The way up or down also makes sense.

But, in speaking of enlightenment, surely up and ahead sounds
more like progress than would down or back.

That would depend upon how one defined progress.

I’ve distracted you from the reading.

No; only yourself.

Then, please explain what situation or experience Obstruction refers to.

It can refer to someone interrupting me.

Other than that, and in the context of I Ching.

Obstruction emerges out of the peaceful relationship expressed
by Tranquility (11) and necessarily contributes to Association
with Others (13).

There can be no obstruction unless there…

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Dreams Serve us Well

Posted on by under A spirit guide shares a precious gift, Attitudes can be seen, developing awareness, intelligent spirituality

A spirit teacher shares His understanding of timeless wisdom.

He tells me that dreams serve us well, even if we can’t remember
them, upon awakening.

They’re designed to help us see symbolic meaning between
situations and personalities, whether human, animal, or
imaginary creatures, within the dream and similar situations,
events, and characters within our everyday non-sleeping world
of illusion.

Situations and stories play out in dreams, He tells me, and
then, usually, end suddenly. We wake up to a different world;
one of more easily understood situations and characters.

Perhaps we have just become accustomed to the events, and
actors in our waking world?

Yes, and familiarity can easily breed deceit.

In what way?

There have always been some unethical advertisers, politicians, false prophets, etc. who use a pretense of authority and truth
to persuade or pressure trusting minds.

But, in a dream I witnessed a crow doing what crows couldn’t
likely do.

Were you aware of this during the dream?

I seem to remember being confused and in awe.

But, you accepted the situation as being valid?

Yes.

Why didn’t you question something that didn’t seem to make
sense?

Because I was witnessing the event. It was only in my mind
that it didn’t make sense.

You read fictitious stories without expecting them to be real.

Yes, of course but, surely, real life is not a fictitious story.

Then, why don’t you question events and situations in your
so-called waking life that don’t seem to make sense, and
people who claim to be be what you suspect the’re not.

Perhaps they have a hidden agenda?

Yes.

But, I’m only one person. What possible useful purpose
would it serve for me to …

So, you adopt a more socially acceptable position of
pretending not to know?

I guess. But, if whatever untruth is generally accepted
then surely some others must also know the truth and, like me,
pretend not to.

Why?

It’s easier, and possibly safer.

Yes.

Acceptance and Contentment

Posted on by under intelligent spirituality, Life-long learning continues, self-transcendence, Spirit shares words of wisdom

Spirit shares His understanding of timeless wisdom.
He tells me that acceptance is contentment.

How can I feel content about accepting something
that I can’t change?

What else would you feel?

Defeated.

In losing a battle you know or believe that you
never could win?

What else could I feel?

Satisfied with yourself that you did, if you did,
everything you could do to win.

And satisfaction is contentment?

In this case, yes.

Are we referring to a specific case?

Yes and no.

As particular and general?

Yes.

To Know Requires Faith

Posted on by under A spirit guide shares a precious gift, developing awareness, Life-long learning continues, simple spiritual insights

A spirit teacher shares His understanding of timeless wisdom.
He tells me that knowing is not a matter of faith, and yet
there can be no knowing without faith.

What has faith to do with knowing?

How do we learn?

Through experience.

Yes, but not through experience alone.

We reflect on past experiences and use what we
have learned from them as foundations for future …

Future what?

To guide us in our responses to future challenges.

And if what experience has taught you differs from
what others would claim to be the way to live?

This is developing beyond intellectual concepts.

Yes.

Then please explain.

Knowing is awareness.

Awareness of what?

Awareness of what seems to be true, for us, if for
no other.

Where does faith come in?

We each, in time, develop faith in our own knowing,
or awareness; of our own truth.

Tomorrow Will Come

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Life is a master teacher and provides us with experiences that can help us develop personal skills and coping strategies.

jeanw5's avatarI Ching as a Way to Enlightenment

A spirit teacher shares His understanding of timeless wisdom
expressed within the I Ching hexagram 51 – Thunder. Thunder
is over Thunder, expressing a form of yang that has double
its normal potential of active energy.

Thunder develops out of the situation expressed by The Cauldron
(50) and, in turn prepares the foundation for the experience
referred to as Mountain (52).

Every situation we experience today can help to prepare us for
whatever tomorrow will bring to us. We develop skills and
increased awareness of what skills will best serve us in
whatever particular situation.

Tomorrow will come, whether or not we prepare for it.
Yesterday helped us, more or less, to prepare for today’s
challenges and, as life is an endless series of situations
and experiences, how we live today will determine, at least
to some extent, how well we’ll cope with whatever tomorrow
brings our way.

Life is…

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Serving Life is Not an Option

Posted on by under A spirit guide shares a precious gift, developing awareness, intelligent spirituality, self-transcendence

A spirit teacher shares His understanding of timeless wisdom.
He tells me that serving life is not an option and that
we each serve; some more and some less.

At some level of awareness, we know it. But, we may be
too grounded in physical and material illusions
to consciously consider, or very much care about,
our degree of impact on those with whom we share
our environment, or possibly the environment itself.

Many of us fail to see that we may be part of
the environment, from the perspective of some others,
if they are even aware enough to notice us at all.

What about personal relationships?

What about them?

Are they no more or less than a part of our awareness?

Outside of oneself?

Yes.

No.

I hesitate to ask about what seems to be suggested.

The non-dual nature of reality?

Yes.

Why hesitate?

I’m not ready to deal with it.

Yes.

A Spirit Teacher in Disguise

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So, a spirit in disguise as a human? He asked. Yes. Aren’t we all playing that game?

jeanw5's avatarGrass-Roots Spiritual Philosophy 101

A simple seeker was accepting the reality of being something akin
to being possessed, even though the very thought of that possibility
sent shivers of fear through her. It brought back memories of stories,
or were they lived experiences of an earlier lifetime, of the tortures
inflicted upon helpless individuals who were accused of being witches,
by self-proclaimed but generally accepted representatives of God.

Of course, Spirit, her invisible teacher, may not be a spirit at all,
but a materialized adept controlling her, or attempting to, from some
isolated palace or cave in Northern India, or, perhaps, from much
closer to home.

What is a materialized adept?

A highly evolved spirit who has chosen a human disguise in order to
assist in the development of enlightenment of ordinary humans, such as
myself.

So, a spirit in disguise as a human?

Yes.

Aren’t we all playing that game?

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We Each Contribute to Life

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Life would be different than it is without you or me.

jeanw5's avatarI Ching as a Way to Enlightenment

A spirit teacher shares His understanding of the timeless wisdom
contained within the I Ching hexagram 31- Sensing.

Lake is over Mountain. Lake is yin and Mountain is yang.
The trigram Lake is composed of one yin line above two yang.
The trigram Mountain shows one yang line above two yin.
Every yang and yin line of this hexagram has a complement.

Sensing develops from Fire (30_ in which no line enjoys
a complement, and forms a foundation for Constancy (32).
Constancy is as Sensing, with harmony between yin and yang.

Sensing requires more than receiving information from, or
through, our five physical sensory organs. Sensing suggests
a certain level of understanding of the meaning of the
message that we are receiving.

The yin and yang principles must work together?

Yes, but never equally, or they would negate each other.
There must always be a dynamic blending of their unique

View original post 60 more words

Abusive Habits Become Addictions

Posted on by under A spirit guide shares a precious gift, Attitudes can be seen, developing awareness, higher education, Life-long learning continues

A Spirit Teacher shares His understanding of timeless wisdom
as it applies to human nature in every situation and in every
culture; past, present, and future.

How can wisdom be timeless?

Because human nature is also timeless, in that it is grounded
in emotion.

That may be true, but …

It is true.

How does timeless wisdom apply to abusive behaviour?

Timeless wisdom inspires healthy emotions, thoughts,
and actions. Abuse of others or of self is neither
healthy nor life-sustaining.

Should we forgive those who abuse us?

How dan abuse be forgiven? That would be an unhealthy
response. What good purpose would it serve? None at all.
In fact, it might even encourage more abuse.

Abuse, He tells me, is unhealthy behaviour regardless of
who is abusing whom, or even whether the one being abused
accepts ill treatment. That would express self-abuse.

How then can we respond in a healthy way to abuse when we
can’t protect ourselves from it?

We make choices, and perhaps past choices helped to create
the abusive situation.

Why do you speak of an abusive situation and not of an
abusive person.

There are none.

Please explain.

WE develop abusive habits or we don’t.

As an addiction?

Yes.

Understanding Inspires Us

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The sense of satisfaction that comes from understanding is appealing.

jeanw5's avatarI Ching as a Way to Enlightenment

A Spirit teacher shares His understanding of the timeless wisdom
expressed within the I Ching Hexagram 21 – Biting Through.

Fire is over Thunder. Fire represents a type of flexible yin energy.
Thunder is forceful yang.

Biting Through emerges from Observing (20) and prepares
the foundation for Adornment (22).

Wow! Each of those three situations or conditions seem
totally unrelated to either of the other two. How can there be
any sense of progression?

There isn’t.

Then, how are they each connected to the others?

When we observe whatever, we focus our attention and
that in itself is a necessary step in learning anything.
But, as important as it is, it is never enough. We must
then attempt to understand what it is that we observe,
and why it has attracted our attention. This requires
a mental form of biting through.

Where does adornment fit into this interpretation?

It is…

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