Oh dear ... I'm stuck. (Hexagram 60, LIMITATION)


Three days ago, I chose a hexagram for meditation ... The oracle revealed Hexagram 60, LIMITATION. I'm squirmin'!

LIMITATION encompasses self-discipline ... the cultivation of patience and realistic vision ... the maturity to realize that we can't have it all. (Who'd want it anyway ... where would we put it?!) I am not a very disciplined person; in fact, I'm often daffy, forgetful, and pathetically distractible. I think the longest stretch I've ever gone with an exercise routine is three days; I've given into, up on, and back into various nasty habits a zillion times. Oh, me.

And in the centre of my self-created chaos rests a Buddha ... always. Reminding me of what's at the core of things, if I would only look, see, still myself, and breathe ...

We tend to equate discipline with punishment. Punishment only knocks fear and rage into and out of our bodies and souls. Discipline teaches, guiding us safely along the razor's edge between choice and consequence. We are led to see how past and present choices, circumstances and congruences have conspired (conspire = from the Latin "to breathe together") to land us on a pivot point of change, while ethical mentoring allows us to see what we might evoke from here, given our actions now. Moderate, age- and situation-appropriate discipline evolves character, adding another ring to the tree of wisdom ...

Interesting, too, that LIMITATION comes right before INNER TRUTH in the King Wen sequence of hexagrams. David Spangler, in his marvelous book Everyday Miracles: the Inner Art of Manifestation, provides a brisk antidote to the YOU CAN HAVE IT ALL!! mindset; he writes that "Manifestation is the practice of a creative spirit, not of indulging unlimited desire. It is the practice of being a source, not a sponge."

Of limitation, he says,

Physical reality is based on limits and boundaries ... We live in a finite universe whose individual parts are defined by boundaries ... Everything manifests through taking on limits. That new car you may desire is not a smear of quantum possibilities; it is a specific particular automobile different and discernible from every other automobile. It is blue, not red or yellow. It has four doors, not two ... It has a specific range of characteristics, each of which is a limit upon the full range of possible characteristics. Without those limits, it would not exist.

There is an important distinction here. To acknowledge limits is not the same as acknowledging limitation. Rather it is honouring those boundaries that make specificity possible. Limits permit diversity to exist. Limits make me different from you, and in that difference, creativity is possible between us.

Also the reality of the ecological age is that we need to act in recognition of the finite limits of our world system. We cannot act as of those limits did not exist. We cannot manifest an infinite world within a finite planet, with infinite numbers of people buying and consuming infinite numbers of goods and services. We cannot embrace a philosophy of limitlessness that has no sense of enough ...

(I'm not stuck anymore.)



(Photographic artist unknown.)

Comments

Ingrid said…
Dear Jaliya, just followed you back. How wise and true the quote you had from David (speak of daffy, can't remember his name but you know..the guy you wrote about [g])..it's not mindless self indulgence..yes, this whole manifestation notion is just one more marketed spiritual endeavour that was very noticeable for the bookwriters and perhaps some of the people who followed and tried the practice. I'm with you, we cannot and need not 'have it all' or like David whachamacall'm says; we need to give and not be sponges.

But how you manifested to me is very timely. (to which I say thank you to the universe, I did not have to be sponge for that either [g])..I've been wanting to learn more about Buddhism/Iching and even tried to find a very closely located group to practice meditation and/or tai chi with. So far no luck. (hmm..perhaps I need to practice some non sponging manifesting??)
and the breathing you talk about..the moment I try to relax..the moment I tense up..pah..
I really like your site and I'll add it to my favourites, lots of good stuff to read.
I don't have a blogroll as it's so long and I have been such a procrastinator..I just cannot feel good about spending that much time to put it up..however, that said, it would be the courteous thing to do (eventually) since so many blogger buddies have put a link to my site..
take care and 'nice meeting you',
btw..whereabouts in Canada are you? When I emigrated to Canada, I moved to Ottawa..that was in '84..(when I was 20), how time flies..
anyhow..better go..
thx for visiting my site Jaliya, I'll be 'boo-ing' around again,

hugs

Ingrid
Ingrid said…
ps..
what are exactly hexagrams and how do they fit into the Iching?

just wondering..

Ingrid
Jaliya said…
Hi Ingrid! Thanks for visiting :-)

David Spangler's book was a godsend when I first read it 12 years ago ... I wanted something sooo bad at the time (didn't get it) ... and this book was a good dose of sanity ...

About hexagrams ... A hexagram is basically a six-sided figure; in the I Ching, a hexagram is a structure that's made up of six ascending lines; each line represents either the Yin (an open line: - -) or the Yang (a solid line --). Each hexagram consists of two trigrams ("tri" meaning "three"). There are eight trigrams in all; each is composed of a different combination of solid and/or open lines, and represents one of eight natural elements or powers (i.e., Heaven, Earth, Water, Fire...). A hexagram is based on the interaction between elements ... from there, these natural interactions are applied to human behaviour and relations, and to social structures. There are 64 hexagrams in all; each represents a facet, or principle, of Change ("I Ching" means "Book of Change").

LIMITATION, for example, is represented by the trigrams Water and Lake. The Water trigram sits over the Lake trigram; the image represents a lake that is full of water. The lake itself is both the container for the water, and it contains/limits the water so that there isn't flooding. Applied to human conduct, you could think of Hexagram 60 as "the art and practice of containment" ...

Here are a couple of links that will give you more information ...

http://www.yijing.nl/i_ching/begin.htm

http://www.onlineclarity.co.uk/learn/gua/

I hope this is helpful to you :-)

Looking forward to more conversation with you!

Jaliya

P.S. I live near Toronto. I've been to Ottawa several times and could live there in a heartbeat -- so much beautiful hiking around the city ... yummy restaurants, a few great friends live there ... How'd you find your way to Austin?
Ingrid said…
jaliya, thx for the lenghty explanation, next week I'll have more time to delve into it as my dh will be out of town for a few days..it's halloween tomorrow and this week , I have hardly done any posting..
so many great books, so little time you know??
Btw..my story of how I ended up in Austin, perhaps I should do a VERY abbreviated version of 'my life'..and post on it..one of my neighbours today said she did not realize that I was married before (to a Canadian)..and gave me this look like, hmm..who knew..
I'm not doing much political posting as it's too nerve wrecking..so I'm keeping things on the lighter side..
the explanation of the hexagram almost reminded me of the 'golden compass'..interesting..

oh, gotta get my brood to bed..
later J!

Ingrid

Popular Posts