A warrior prepares for the inevitable. At the same time a warrior is light of heart, bright of humor, aware of the beauty of every moment, for a warrior knows that the only thing that matters is now. A warrior keeps attention on what is happening in the present but remains always aware that the present can shift at any moment, that things can change in an instant. And so, a warrior learns how to be fluid, to go with the flow and yet remain always the impeccable warrior, seemingly without fear though fear may be present, seemingly without need though needs may be great, seemingly without attachment though attachments may exist. For a warrior is always impeccably focused on what comes next, that inevitable something. Go with the flow and wear a warrior’s glow; love in your heart, light in your eyes, and brightness in your mind!
I actually started four blogs this week, none of which feels right at this moment. Finally, my ego turned to a higher power, the I Ching, and asked: “Guidance for the World, NOW?”
The Image: Caught between rising waters…
The result: Hexagram 29, The Abysmal or Danger. Moving lines in the 2nd, 4th and 6th places.
The future: Hexagram 12, Standstill.
Interpretation: A) The context of The Abysmal; B) The activated lines of The Abysmal; C) The future of Standstill.
A) The Abysmal is formed by the doubling of the trigram of water. The image is one of being caught in the rising water of a ravine, a dangerous, yet extraordinary position.
This week, I was standing in a dry ravine. Even in the absence of actual water its energetic current took me off balance, causing a fall into a bush that tore my face. Rather than interpret such an encounter as carelessness, I accepted it as a design of power. I clung not to victimhood nor self-pity, relegating it to a known world, but as an experience to be relished. I am open to life.
The current situation too begs objectivity, from all of us. It is not the consequence of a subjective attitude or foolishness. Do not blame the self. Do not tantrum with reason. The danger is real. And yet the danger is an encounter with power, a most educative experience. To survive and learn from the encounter one must get quiet and remain calm and observant. Be like water that fills the space thoroughly and then moves on. This is impeccability, the right attitude to escape destruction in an encounter with infinity.
B) Specifically, in line 2, instruction is given to not fight the dark forces. Don’t engage in direct conflict; it’s a trap and energy drain. Remain steady, be fully present and observant, in silence. Adapt until the right moment for movement arrives.
Line 4: The challenge is complex. Have great patience, study and wait. Be accepting of gradual change. Avoid impulsive action or attachment. Recognize that this is a learning situation of great consequence; view it from all angles. Water is thorough; it fills every nook and cranny before it moves on, and you can be safely carried on.
Line 6: Beware of getting caught in the prison of illusion. A master conjurer can ensnare one’s full attention, steal one’s energy and manipulate an outcome. Always stare down that conjurer within the self first. Sometimes the prison sentence of illusion is a lifetime. The greatest conjurer of all is the ego itself, who knows everything.
C) The future is Standstill. Do not devalue any moment in time; they are all equal. Treat standstill with reverence. In Standstill, Heaven above moves further away from Earth below. Their energies do not unite but further alienate from each other. Creative union is not possible in a time of stagnation.
Richard Wilhelm writes, in the Judgment of Standstill, “But the superior people do not allow themselves to be turned from their principles. If the possibility of exerting influence is closed to them, they nevertheless remain faithful to their principles and withdraw into seclusion.”
Here, ego and mystery separate. Rather than crown ego victorious or inadequate, recognize a time of lull as a necessary preparation for the next true encounter. Focus attention on doing the best you can, in all situations, to prepare for power’s next test.
Follow the path of heart inward, to the place of worth. Avoid being drawn into the egoic opportunism of the moment that seeks one-sided victory. Save the energy for when it counts, then act, decisively.
What is intent? To a warrior intent is real and tangible, something to be honed, polished, protected and guarded, something to be brought to perfection by hard work and dedication. It is a core virtue of warriorhood, that which declares one’s purpose, one’s directions, one’s outlook on life; that which commands one’s undivided attention. Intent lies in the warrior’s heart, the power behind every action, the main thought that permeated a warrior’s thinking. A warrior uses intent every day, in everything undertaken, seeking impeccability, for a warrior is aware that to reach impeccability is the ultimate intent of intent. And yet a warrior is always intent upon living life to the fullest in the world, for the world is intent’s stage; nothing happens without the world’s participation. Intent and impeccability can only be honed by interacting in the world. Each day and in each encounter and experience, in every challenge and task, intent takes precedence. A warrior imbues everything with intent. That’s the warrior’s way. Intent!
One recent morning we noticed that a pair of wrens had taken up residence in a bluebird box in our yard. What I know about wrens is that their delicacy belies an underlying fierceness. Tiny and cute, they bob and flutter about, but they are warriors of the most impeccable kind. They chirp loudly and incessantly, very loudly in fact, demanding to be heard.
We watched as our new move-ins prepared their nest, poking sticks and grass through the hole in the bird box. When a stick was too long to fit in sideways the wren was smart enough to poke it in headfirst. I wondered if it was mere nature or did they actually have to think about it the way we humans do. The wren did not seem to think at all, it simply did what it needed to do to get the stick in. I also noted their impatient nature. If one of them was inside the box and the other arrived with a mouthful of nesting material, it just could not wait long before opening its mouth, announcing loudly that it was there, immediately dropping its mouthful of sticks and grass. Impatient, I thought, but the wren has so much energy that it didn’t seem to matter. In an instant it was back on the branch awaiting its turn to go in the box, a new clump of grass in its beak. As you can see, we watched them for quite a while!
It was a calm morning, and it was the weekend, and we felt honored that the bird box—probably a little too close to the house for bluebirds to take—was finally being occupied. Suddenly a pair of bluebirds swooped down and a scuffle began. Wrens and bluebirds were on the ground in a swirl of blue and brown; in the branches too, with wings fully extended and cutting, like drawn weapons. There was a lot of noise, the bluebirds peeping and the wrens angrily answering back. The battle raged for quite a while. It was a sight to behold. In fact, other birds appeared to watch. Robins and house finches, bluejays, and even a pair of goldfinches showed up and stood around on the ground, circling the fighting birds like spectators at a wrestling match. One of the wrens even dive-bombed me later in the day. I guess I appeared threatening in some way. Size didn’t matter, they were going to protect and defend their right to occupy!
In the end, the tiny wrens won. Their tenacity, their determination, and their fierceness never waned as they fought off their foes. I was pretty sure the bluebirds would never have wanted the box anyway, as they like their privacy and our human presence so close would have bothered them, but perhaps they just couldn’t resist the call to battle. Like a pair of roaming thugs, perhaps they simply couldn’t resist the challenge.
Afterwards, I thought about the wrens as tiny shaman warriors. Having set their intent to nest in the bluebird box they were not about to give it up. As tiny as they were, they were determined to maintain their ownership. They fought impeccably. As soon as the battle was over they resumed their nest making, assured that the bluebirds would not return for another attack. I paused and thought about myself, about the intents I have lately set. Am I that impeccable? I wondered.
A few days later, as I write this blog, I hear the wrens happily chirping away. I see one of them fly out of the box and the other poke its head out the hole. They are happy. They have great energy. They are firmly settled and working on their next phase of life, becoming parents and raising their young. I feel privileged to have been an observer of this part of their journey. They will not, however let me photograph them!
The wrens seem to live by certain rules. Once a decision is made they uphold it with utter determination, impeccably. They are fiercely protective of their right to live where and how they choose. They are warriors of intent. They also know how to play, how to let loose and sing out, boisterously and without restraint, daring the world to interfere, to try and thwart them from their intent. That, I think, is a warrior’s impeccability—to never break from the intent, no matter what comes from outside, no matter how grave or threatening.
This is what Jeanne asked us all to ascertain in her message the other day, to observe and learn, to determine what the signs and situations in our own lives might mean to us as impeccable warriors, intent on our own paths of change and growth. She asked us to constantly be aware of what is happening around us, and to use it in our inner work. If I had been too busy to notice the wrens, perhaps I might have missed an important message. If the wrens had not fought back they might have lost their home.
The wrens have taught me something about intent, about sticking to plan, no matter what comes along to interfere. By observing their determination to face off outside threat, I understand what it means to fight for what is right. I’m here now; I intend to occupy this space. This is my time; this is my life. This is where I belong and I will not give up. There is a lesson in everything as Jeanne implied in her message. We just have to sit with it long enough to discover what it might be.
Here is this week’s message of guidance from Jeanne.
Center the self and wait patiently… – Image by Jan Ketchel
This is a time of waiting. “But what,” you might ask, “are we waiting for?”
You, My Dears, are waiting for everything and for nothing. You wait for life and you wait for death, yet every move you make, every thought you allow to form, every word you utter, every action you take must become part of your patient waiting.
In patient waiting, practice and intent are of the utmost importance. Without attachment to outcome, personal gain, or getting your due in any way, patient waiting asks only that you live impeccably.
To live impeccably is to assign the utmost importance to the self, devoid of selfless and selfish feelings or sentiments, so that you may hone your energy, and thus your evolving self, to perfection.
“Is perfection the goal?” you might ask. Yes, I say, perfection of the self in all you do is a perfectly acceptable goal, but that perfect self must be energetically perfect as well. And even though the human self may constantly battle or defend or disappoint you as you seek perfection and impeccability in all you do, remember this: that’s its role!
I suggest you find or accept what you are good at and make it your goal to be the best at whatever that is. This seeking of perfection must enter all parts of the self and all aspects of your life. You may be a good friend, a good parent, a good cook, a good writer, a good athlete, a good doctor, a good clerk, a good gardener, a good samaritan, a good teacher, have great talent or be a good guide to others. You may even be a good lover. Learn from yourself. Notice how you have honed your attentive and impeccable self, how you constantly learn your job better and better, how you constantly seek higher ground professionally, and as many skills as possible to keep up in a changing world. Such seeking to better the self must extend into all areas of the self and life, into your inner world and your outer world.
Include compassion, kindness, and gentleness into your every movement and decision. Include firmness and high expectations in your intent to change as well, yet be also flowing and open to what life brings to the table. Notice when life is asking you to change, when circumstances do not permit you to move in a certain direction. Do not force what life itself says must not be forced. Accept limitations with humbleness, knowing that you are being guided to go in a new direction. Learn how life itself, without any input on your part, naturally pushes you to change.
Drop your controlling habits and acquiesce a little bit more each day to the flow of life, honing your impeccability to flow naturally without worry or regret. In this time of waiting, allow the self to be both open to opportunity as regards your skilled self and also open to the changing self as well.
Be flexible. Be aware. Be open. Be accepting of change. At the same time, firm up your intent so that in both your inner world and your outer world your intent may be heard, so that its firm commitment to change may be acceptable, adaptable, unresistant to the true self, the impeccable self you seek to know better. This is the self who, without doubt, knows exactly how to live through this time of waiting. This self also knows how to take you forward into new life, if you can allow yourself to be taken.
With patience and in full awareness that this impeccable self exists, begin your time of waiting. Set your intent and then practice becoming the new you. Each day as you awaken reset that intent and often throughout the day as well. Whenever there is a lull, remind yourself of the following:
I am a being you is going to die, but before I do I intent to fully live impeccably and with awareness. I invite my most impeccable, honest, and truly compassionate self to emerge and fully live!
