Sunrise doesn’t last all morning A cloudburst doesn’t last all day Seems my love is up and has left you with no warning It’s not always gonna be this gray
All things must pass All things must pass away
Sunset doesn’t last all evening A mind can blow those clouds away After all this, my love is up and must be leaving It’s not always gonna be this gray
All things must pass All things must pass away
Now the darkness only stays at nighttime In the morning it will fade away Daylight is good at arriving at the right time It’s not always gonna be this gray
“There are two aspects of watching, subjective and objective. Subjective watching deals with one’s self; it is to examine one’s inner motives.Objective watching deals with others; it is to watch others’ reactions to one’s conduct. The wisdom of watching is like looking at a mirror, checking one’s original intention and outward conduct.”
The I Ching/Yijing can’t predict the election.
The pollsters can’t predict the election.
The political experts can’t predict the election.
The difference is that the I Ching embodies centuries of human affairs and history. Which makes it wise, wiser than the pollsters, the political experts, and us.
Primary is its wisdom that everything changes. One line changing to its opposite. Hexagrams changing one to another. Randomly but not randomly. People choose and change what happens. It begins with Creation (Hexagram 1). It almost ends with After Completion (Hexagram 63). But it ends with Before Completion (Hexagram 64). As if it is going to start all over again. Which it always has and will.
Q: What will be the outcome of the 2024 U.S. election?
A: Hexagram 20
Guan • Watching
NAME AND STRUCTURE
Guan means watching, observing, examining, contemplating….
Sequence of the Gua: When things become great, they require careful attention. Thus, after Approaching, Watching follows.
In China a Taoist temple is termed Tao Guan; literally it is “a place for watching the Tao.” The esoteric secret of Taoist meditation is watching—watching the breath, or the flowing of energy, or nothing. The purpose of watching is keeping alert. While chanting or reciting scriptures both Buddhist and Taoist monks beat wooden fish rhythmically. Because fish never close their eyes, the wooden fish remind one to stay alert. The Chinese name for Avalokiteshvara (an incarnation of the Buddha) is Guan-yin. Guan-yin means watching (guan) the sound (yin). To the Chinese, contemplation is watching; contemplative watching is focusing on one point and being attentive. During meditation, the sect that worships Guan-yin watches the sound either inside or outside the body. Watching the sound but not getting caught up in it, one is totally detached from the world. This gua not only sheds light on meditation but also expounds the truth that people should always keep their eyes open, watching the virtue of a leader. Thus a leader should always be sensitive to morality and justice and manifest these qualities to his people….
SIGNIFICANCE
The theme of the gua is to demonstrate the wisdom of watching. There are two aspects of watching, subjective and objective. Subjective watching deals with one’s self; it is to examine one’s inner motives. Objective watching deals with others; it is to watch others’ reactions to one’s conduct. The wisdom of watching is like looking at a mirror, checking one’s original intention and outward conduct. The ancient sages believed that inner sincerity is always revealed through one’s conduct.
The Complete I Ching: The Definitive Translation by Taoist Master Alfred Huang
A couple of days ago, I was thinking about ways to be in this fraught moment of Election 2024.
My typical search for just the right soundtrack ended with the perfect music: Christmas.
It is almost two months until Christmas. On the consumer front, Christmas has already begun. It used to be that shopping Christmas began at Thanksgiving. Now, the unofficial start is Halloween.
Commercial Christmas aside, no holiday more embodies good feeling—whether spiritual, peaceful, familial or just plain human. And that good feeling is embodied in the music.
What I have started to do, even though it is the first week in November, is to add Christmas music to my playlist. Lots of it, because I suspect that good feeling is going to be helpful in the days ahead.
You can choose the Christmas music you like. It comes in all flavors, and you likely have your favorites. Whatever that is, just listen as much as you need to keep things joyous and bright.
It’s hard to feature just one song from so many favorites. Here’s one, from an angel of song.
11 When the world is filled with evil, Transform all mishaps into the path of bodhi.
That is to say, whatever occurs in your life—environmental problems, political problems, or psychological problems—should be transformed into a part of your wakefulness, or bodhi….
In other words, you do not blame the environment or the world political situation…. According to this slogan, when the world is filled with evil, or even when the world is not filled with evil, any mishaps that might occur should all be transformed into the path of bodhi, or wakefulness. That understanding comes from your sitting practice and your general awareness.
This slogan says practically everything about how we can practice generosity as well. In our ordinary life, our immediate surroundings or our once-removed surroundings are not necessarily hospitable. There are always problems and difficulties. There are difficulties even for those who proclaim that their lives are very successful, those who have become the president of their country, or the richest millionaires, or the most famous poets or movie stars or surfers or bullfighters. Even if our lives go right, according to our expectations, there are still difficulties. Obstacles always arise. That is something everybody experiences. And when obstacles happen, any mishaps connected with those obstacles—poverty mentality, fixating on loss and gain, or any kind of competitiveness—should be transformed into the path of bodhi.
That is a very powerful and direct message. It is connected with not feeling poverty stricken all the time. You might feel inadequate because you have a sick father and a crazy mother and you have to take care of them, or because you have a distorted life and money problems. For that matter, even if you have a successful life and everything is going all right, you might feel inadequate because you have to work constantly to maintain your business. A lot of those situations could be regarded as expressions of your own timidity and cowardice. They could all be regarded as expressions of your poverty mentality….
It is the sense of resourcefulness, that you can deal with whatever is available around you and not feel poverty stricken. Even if you are abandoned in the middle of a desert and you want a pillow, you can find a piece of rock with moss on it that is quite comfortable to put your head on. Then you can lie down and have a good sleep. Having such a sense of resourcefulness and richness seems to be the main point….
We have found that a lot of people complain that they are involved in intense domestic situations: they relate with everything in their lives purely on the level of pennies, tiny stitches, drops of water, grains of rice. But we do not have to do that—we can expand our vision by means of generosity. We can give something to others. We don’t always have to receive something first in order to give something away. Having connected with the notion of generosity, we begin to realize a sense of wealth automatically. The nature of generosity is to be free from desire, free from attachment, able to let go of anything.
When Dick Cheney, Vice President to George W. Bush endorsed Kamala Harris, saying he voted for her, the hope was that it would influence the number of old-school Republicans who hate and fear Trump but have never voted for a Democrat.
Dick Cheney remains deeply unpopular among Democrats. They don’t consider him redeemed, but welcome any help from anywhere.
Liz Cheney, Dick’s equally conservative daughter, has been appearing with Harris on the campaign trail. Barbara Bush, W’s daughter, has endorsed Harris. A number of former aides to W, including Nicole Wallace on MSNBC, have implored W to endorse Harris.
For his part, W says he does not endorse candidates, despite the position taken by Dick Cheney, Liz Cheney (who worked in the W administration), and many of his former aides.
W’s ranking on the list of quality presidents is not great, somewhere in the mid-30s of the 46, between Zachary Taylor and Benjamin Harrison.
But if W was to endorse Harris—even if she didn’t win—the conscientious courage would rocket him way up the list. Maybe not Top Ten, but up there.
There are a few days until Election Day. So, George W. Bush, if you are reading this, as a crown on your career, help save America and endorse Kamala Harris.
The advent calendar is messed up. How many days to Election Day? How many days to Christmas? Can Santa vote legally At the North Poll or the North Pole? Will there be peace at the polls poles? Will there be peace on earth? When you open the next tiny door What sweet surprise will you find?
“He sold or melted down much of Cluny’s treasure to relieve the poor in time of famine and was known for his saying that he would rather be damned for being too merciful than for being too severe.”
Even those who may recognize today as All Saints Day (the day after All Hallow’s Eve) may not have heard of Saint Odilo.
Odilo (ca. 962–1049) was abbot for fifty-five years. Under him Cluny became the most important abbey in western Europe. It was he who instituted the feast of All Souls [November 2], first for deceased monks and then for all the deceased faithful. He sold or melted down much of Cluny’s treasure to relieve the poor in time of famine and was known for his saying that he would rather be damned for being too merciful than for being too severe.
If that seems like a lead-in to a call for donation to help the starving, you’re right.
Two million Palestinians–half of them children–are living without access to sufficient medical care. The IRC deployed 11 emergency medical teams over the past year, and with partners, we are supporting emergency medical care in the few partially-operational hospitals still remaining. We are providing medicine and supplies.
Food and Water Two million Palestinians are living without access to sufficient food and water. The IRC is directly providing 100,000 liters of clean drinking water and malnutrition support (through ready-to-use therapeutic food, a nutrient-rich paste for malnourished children) in Gaza.
Protection for Women and Children In both Gaza and the West Bank, the IRC is providing protection services for women and children–reaching those in temporary shelters in Gaza, and serving communities in the West Bank. In both Gaza and the West Bank, the IRC is also providing early childhood development activities.
Ceasefire The IRC continues to call for an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza, one that seeks to fully protect Palestinian lives, secure the release of hostages and safely scale up humanitarian assistance and service delivery.
There is no place safe in Gaza for Palestinians. Nearly 1 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering across hundreds of emergency shelters or in the surrounding areas further exacerbating the conditions in what was already one of the most densely populated areas in the world.
Your support at this critical time helps families in crisis in Gaza and across the world. Donate now.
There’s something happening here What it is ain’t exactly clear
For What It’s Worth, Buffalo Springfield (1966)
There’s something happening here What it is ain’t exactly clear There’s a man with a gun over there Telling me I got to beware
There’s battle lines being drawn Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong Young people speaking their minds Getting so much resistance from behind
What a field day for the heat A thousand people in the street Singing songs and they carrying signs Mostly say, “Hooray for our side”
Paranoia strikes deep Into your life it will creep It starts when you’re always afraid Step out of line, the men come and take you away
I think it’s time we stop Children, what’s that sound? Everybody look, what’s going down?
Songwriter: Stephen Stills
Setting Sun, The Chemical Brothers (1997)
You’re the devil in me I brought in from the cold You said your body was young but your mind was very old You’re coming on strong and I like the way The visions we had have faded away You’re part of a life I’ve never had I’ll tell you that it’s just too bad
Songwriters: Edmund John Simons, Noel Thomas Gallagher, Thomas Owen Mostyn Rowlands
Bob Schwartz 