I continue to sensitize myself to the subtle energies through chi gong practice. I also use Tibetan singing bowls for meditation - trying to work the chakras, esp. the heart chakra. But for this I do not have guru assistance. Perhaps that is a mistake.

I consult the I Ching from time to time. The Ken hexagram, Keeping Still/ Mountain, was thrown out at me when I asked a few days ago about meditation guidance.

This is very interesting. Let me quote:

"The image of this hexagram is the mountain, the youngest son of heaven and earth. The male principle is at the top, because it strives upward by nature; the female principle is below, since the direction of it's movement is downward. Thus there is rest because the movement has come to its normal end."

I immediately thought of A in the Andorra mountains climbing his sacred peaks. My thought is that this equipoise between the male and female principles, and the opposite direction of their forces, is perhaps is what contributes to the sense of sacredness on certain mountains. The exegesis continues:

" In its application to man, the hexagram turns upon the problem of achieving a quiet heart. It is very difficult to bring quiet to the heart. While Buddhism strives for rest through an ebbing away of all movement in nirvana, the Book of Changes [ie, the I Ching -ab] holds that rest is merely a state of polarity that always posits movement as its complement. Possibly the words of the text embody directions for the practice of yoga.

THE JUDGMENT

KEEPING STILL. Keeping his back still so that he no longer feels his body.
He goes into his courtyard and does not see his people. No blame.

The hexagram signifies the end and the beginning of all movement. The back is named because in the back are located all the nerve fibers that mediate movement. If the movement of these spinal nerves is brought to a standstill, the ego, with its restlessness, disappears as it were. When a man has thus become calm, he may turn to the outside world. He no longer sees in it the struggle and tumult of individual beings, and therefore he has that true peace of mind which is needed for understanding the great laws of the universe and for acting in harmony with them. Whoever acts from these deep levels makes no mistakes."

That last paragraph stunned me. Not only is it an important statement of exactly the sort of philosophy one needs for the deepest possible study of natural forces, but it hints at a method of attainment through spinal nerves and ego extinquishment.

This oracle is rather amazing.