Shoko Ohba at Senkaku Bay. PHOTO: Shoko Ohba

Shoko Ohba, an original member of the Community in Japan, traveled to Sado Island in the Sea of Japan November 9-11, 2012, to experience its culture and beauty.

Sado Island is located in Niigata Prefecture. There has been a silver mine in Sado for many years. Gold was discovered in 1601, and at one time the mine was producing the most gold of any in Japan.

In Sado Island the aristocratic culture and samurai culture united to develop a unique culture. Many people, such as Emperor Juntoku, Nichiren, and Zeami, were banished to this island. Since it was Zeami who developed the complete “Noh” play form, there are still many Noh stages in Sado.

This is what Shoko told us about her trip:

“The first crested ibis chick in 36 years has hatched in the wild in Japan. I thought the geographical form of this island was similar to the form of an “S”, or the front view of the bird with extended wings. I thought I would like to see a Japanese crested ibis. This was one of the reasons for this trip for me.

Map of Sado Island. PHOTO: Shoko Ohba

“Sado is a big island. Its history goes back a long way. The nature on this island is also quote wonderful.

Because of the influence of the Tsushima current, it is warmer than the mainland in winter and cooler in summer. There are big gold mines and silver mines in the mountains. The government of the Edo period ruled them directly.

Senkaku Bay. PHOTO: Shoko Ohba

“The coastline of the north side of the island is a sharp cliff, and Senkaku Bay is famous for its unusual rock formations. While I was there I thought that I would like to pray for peace in the world.”

Sincerely,

Miyuki Okayama
Japan Correspondent

This is your forum to share higher-level experiences in Cosolargy through the images of your dreams and visions. All postings are anonymous. Send in verbal descriptions and, if you have them, drawings or paintings. Be sure to include how you felt in and after the dream. Carl Jung noted that dreams that include strong affect (feeling energy) tend to be archetypal and important for the dreamer.

The primary value in these postings is simply to allow others to see that people do have relevant or meaningful dreams and visions. Another value is to see whether others find that the dreams and visions we post are similar or identical to their own. This is why we ask for your comments.

Dreams are communications from the unconscious mind and sometimes the higher self. Some are simply compensation for attention directed elsewhere during the day; some are indications of bodily processes, and some help us work through conflicts. Occasionally, they communicate information from higher realms and thus have more than individual value.

As Cosolargists, we are learning to navigate higher realms. Dreams are part of these higher realms. The Worlds of Light, the realm of spirit, sometimes breaks through to the psyche and gives us information. What breaks through deserves our attention and analysis. In this section of the Community Communiqué, we offer Community members a forum for sharing their dreams and visions for the edification of the Community and themselves.

Dream No. 1

“More than a handful of times, I’ve had dreams that include ‘Twin Suns.’ Sunrises and sunsets. Would anyone know whether this is a commonplace dream? Or, have any other Communiqué readers had ‘Twin Sun’ dreams and might know what they mean? Or what waking-life events occurred before or after your dream? Thanks!”

Dream No. 2

“There were a pair of giant mice in my dream. These were rather large, a foot high and maybe three feet in length with their tails. The pair of mice were not aware of me until I batted one on the side of its head. ‘That was sort of exhilarating,’ I thought to myself and popped it again with a left hook on the other side of its head. ‘Criminy! This is really fun! Let’s throw a few jab combination at the other monstro-mouse.’ Bam! Bam! Boom! ‘This is so easy. Never thought I had such skills. Let’s try sweeping “THAT ONE” with an open right.’ Bullseye! ‘Wow, those critters slide around pretty easily.’ Then I awoke to find, for the first time ever, my cat of two years sleeping next to me.”

Dream No. 3

“I am lying in bed, face up and with no covers on. Suddenly, the ceiling diffuses and gives way to a pitch-black vault. Quickly, it became the only presence. The silence was soft. The emptiness, gentle. Motion was absent. There was no ebb or flow.

“This scene stood fast for quite some time. Then, somehow from underneath, a tiny spark gave breath and began to ascend the vault. As it trailed along the dome, kindred sparks appeared on both sides of my peripheral vision and began their ascents. The sparse parade of little stars, one by one, gathered at the zenith.

“They all turned around each other, as if trying to assemble in their proper places. This propulsive dance fed their brilliance. A tiny galaxy was forming.

“This hovering constellation took on intelligence, or rather it had an urge. It was animated. Intent. Satisfied or self-approved. And at this very point, or moment, the small stars collapsed in on themselves and began to rain from the center of the dome top like snowflakes in a windless air. Suddenly the shower of stars took on momentum and velocity with their descent and hurled themselves into my chest, then dispersing in a flower-like fashion. My eyes opened. I was still lying in bed, face up, and no covers.

“Even still today it perplexes me that the tone of the dream was difficult to discern from a waking state.”

Dream No. 4

“All things considered I don’t know whether I would call it a dream. This is, however, my most memorable waking/nodding-off thing. It was a delirium I guess. I don’t name it. [Experiences while falling asleep are called hypnogogic events; and those while awakening, hypnopompic. They can seem more real than a typical dream—ed.]

“It was about 1975, after Convocation, and I was taking antibiotics. On the way home on the plane I became ill enough that the staff at the airport put me in a wheelchair and wheeled me to my friend’s car to go home.

“I should have gone to the hospital but I had not the wits to ask her to take me there, so home I went and fell into bed. I turned off the light and went to sleep—or so I thought. Then things began happening.

“I became aware of something going on in the corner of the bedroom up by the ceiling. There was a hole that went through to another reality there, and a reptile was looking at me with a cold eye. The look was of an alligator’s eye with a vertical pupil. Not friendly. All I wanted to do was sleep. After that came dusty images of things that should have been in a museum—taxidermy animals and people. The one I best remember is a cowboy on a horse in a jumping pose. What these all had to do with anything was a mystery to me. I turned the light on by the bed and I couldn’t see them anymore. What a relief since I was so, sooo tired. I turned off the light, and there was the reptile eye again. Creepy.

“Then came the party. Yes, with costumes, music, and dancing. I was surrounded by numerous figures who wanted me to dance for them. No faces on these guys, but they had wonderful, colorful robes from the top of their heads to the floor. Very unusual even for Halloween costumes. I decided I would never have people like this over to the house for tea so I refused to do what they wanted. I turned away from them and was facing a line of figures in robes again. What will I do? I’m surrounded! But I had resources. I reached into my pocket for the Community Cross I had there and I stuck it on my forehead. One look in their direction and the last group vanished, leaving their robes on the floor. All gone. I could sleep safely after that.

“That is it. Whatever you call it. With the antidepressants I’m on these days I don’t dream much, but I remember this one in great detail. What was extraordinary about it was the clear detail of all the textures and colors. I have kept the Community Cross on the wall wherever I sleep ever since.”

Dream No. 5

“I dreamt I was doing services at one of the churches at the North Sanctuary. There were four of us total. One person was standing in front of the table. I was behind the table, with a person on either side of me. We were all wearing blue vestments. As the sun came up over the horizon it changed form and became a white dove. I felt a presence touching my heart center and was so overcome that I fell to my knees. After I recovered, the person next to me said he saw different types of spheres superimposed over the sun. When I awoke I felt exhilarated like a teenager.”

On August 26, 2012, a few Community members from Miyazaki joined members from Fukuoka for Sunrise Divine Service, after which Bishop Yukinori presented a lecture on Color and Sacred Imagery. PHOTO: Keiko Inoue

Our Japan correspondent Miyuki Okayama and photographer Keiko Inoue have provided us with a number of photographs and identified them for us, so that we could put together this gallery of photos to revisit some of the events during Fall 2012 at the Cosolargy Institute in Japan. In addition to Sunrise Services on Sunday, the Community in Japan at Fukuoka holds Communion Service on Saturdays, followed by informal meetings with the public, and lecture seminars each weekend for two of the seven Academy classes.

Bishop Yukinori poses with officiants and staff after Communion Service on his birthday, September 1, 2012. PHOTO: Keiko Inoue

Participants in the Sunrise Service held at the ancient solar site of Yakinotouge on September 2, 2012. PHOTO: Keiko Inoue

Detail of a drawing by Baptiste Alchourroun

An article by Lance Hosey published February 15, 2013, in the New York Times opinion page caught the eye of one of our Community members, who is a painter. It must have been the discussion of the effect of colors and the concept of our genome-determined sense of beauty that attracted her.

Consociate Robert Anderson had this to say about the article: “It demonstrates what Cosolargists know about the generation of wavefronts and their effects and color and its effects, and it demonstrates that science and art, like science and religion, can reveal the same truths. Our preexistent nature recognizes these higher forms. A materialistic perspective has to resort to a physical cause and the ultimate physical cause for humans (in this perspective) is the gene, but I would say it’s our higher consciousness that finds these attractive because they ARE higher (dimensionally speaking) and thus closer to God and our true Selves.”

Read the entire article online at nytimes.com and tell us what you think about it.

link submitted by Frieda Nelson

D. READING THE HEXAGRAM

A young yin or young yang line does not change. An old yin or old yang line is a changing line and turns into its opposite. A hexagram with all young lines is static; only the text of the statement of the hexagram with all young lines applies to you and none of the line commentaries. The oracle then takes into account only the idea represented by the hexagram as a whole, as set down in the Judgment and the Commentary on the Decision, together with the Image.

If there are one or more changing lines in the hexagram cast, the words appended to the given line or lines are also to be considered. These words carry the superscription “Nine in the xth place” or “Six in the xth place.” Further, if there are changing lines, the change in the lines gives rise to a second hexagram, whose meaning also needs to be taken into account. Read the text for this second hexagram but none of its line commentaries.

The first hexagram presents your situation at the moment. The first hexagram is the starting situation of a development that leads, by way of the situation discussed in the changing lines and their appended counsel, to the second hexagram.

As with anything, experience and time are important to achieve success with the I Ching. Properly handled, the I Ching can assist you to make right decisions in important matters. Be wary of misinterpretations. Careful and meditative readings are essential to receive the proper answers.

Reading the First Hexagram: The Development of the Situation
Consult the texts in Book I. With careful thought and meditation, the answer will be found somewhere in the text. Following the reading in Book I, read the commentaries in Book III. Take into account the texts of the Judgment and of the Image and of the commentaries accompanying them, as well as the texts of changing lines that appeared in the hexagram you cast, but not the other line texts.

The texts describe energy fields potent with many meanings. The process of working with these meanings can open a new way of seeing things. The texts speak directly. Meaningful complexes of images open our awareness in the same way that images of a dream remembered activates our imagination, and meaning arrives.

Reading the changing lines
The texts of the changing lines (6 or 9) reveal the potencies of individual action within the situation described by the first hexagram as a whole and suggest what your situation can lead to and how you can get there. The texts of the changing lines advise on the direction of specific actions and the potential consequences.

Each hexagram is built from six lines. These lines are symbols of time and position. The hexagrams represent dynamic developments in time, the possible modes of change in the world. Each hexagram may be seen as a set of six empty places or positions through which energy moves and changes. Energy comes into the hexagram from below and leaves at the top. The places are numbered sequentially, and each of the lines in sequence from bottom to top generally represents a stage of progress in the situation.

The present situation is revealed by the name and structure of the hexagram together with the Decisions, the Commentary on the Decision, the Image, the Commentary on the Image, and the Commentary on the Lines. The interpretation of each changing line involves not only the initial moment of the present situation but also its association with the “approached hexagram” that indicates future potential or tendency. Changing lines describe the various aspects of the change from the first hexagram to the approached hexagram. When several changing lines are received, they should be read, from bottom to top, as sequential events in the change from one situation to the next. They may also describe the points of view that you may develop while in transition.

In the Changes, the position of each line within its hexagram is considered meaningful: the first and lowest line is early and peripheral to the situation, the fifth line is generally the climax of a situation, and the sixth line is late and outside the situation. It may be that a situation in itself favorable may reveal unfavorable aspects at various stages along the way; for example, at the beginning when the situation is still embryonic, or at the end when the influence of the situation is ebbing. In the Changes, that which is late in a cycle changes into its opposite and generates a new cycle. In this way, each hexagram represents a cycle.

Reading the Second Hexagram: The Final Situation in Potential
When the changing lines turn into their opposites, they generate a second hexagram, the “approached hexagram,” which is an image of the overall future potential of the situation. The approached hexagram indicates the direction in which your situation can evolve if you choose to act in the way described. The Image of the approached hexagram does not present an immutable future but indicates the potential contained in your present situation.

The Judgment and the Image of the first hexagram describe the situation in which you find yourself, and the line texts contain the specific advice the situation calls for. When all the changing lines are changed into their opposites, the initial hexagram is transformed, and in this way, the second hexagram emerges. The Judgment and the Image of the approached hexagram show the result that can be attained if this counsel is followed. The counsel in the line texts of the approached hexagram are ignored.

*

As you read through the texts, certain images will present themselves as the key images of your situation. Examine their meanings and let them suggest ways to understand your situation. The ultimate interpretation is cumulative. The commentary on the images of the I Ching by the third-century interpreter of the I Ching, Wang Bi, may help to clarify the process of understanding the images:

It is the images that give meaning, it is the words that make the image clear. To exhaust the meaning there is nothing better than the images; to exhaust the images there is nothing better than the words. The words ought to concentrate on the images, then the right words for contemplating the images are found. The images ought to concentrate on the meaning, then the right images for contemplating the meaning are found. The meaning is exhausted by means of the images. The images are exhausted by means of the words. Thus he who speaks in order to make the images clear obtains the images and becomes oblivious of the words; he who makes images that contain the meaning obtains the meaning and becomes oblivious of the images. It is like following a trail to catch a hare. Once one has the hare, one forgets the trail. Or it is like putting out wicker traps to catch fish. Once one has the fish, one forgets the traps. Now, the words are the trails of the images, and the images are the traps of the meaning. Therefore, whoever retains only the words does not grasp the images, and whoever retains only the images does not grasp the meaning. The images arise from the meaning, but if one retains only the images then what is retained are not the right images. The words arise from the images, but if one retains only the words then what is retained are not the right words. Thus only by forgetting the images can one grasp the meaning, and only by forgetting the words can one grasp the images. In fact, grasping the meaning consists in forgetting the images, and grasping the images consists in forgetting the words. Thus if images are established that exhaust the meaning completely, one may forget the images. And if the trigrams are superimposed on each other in order to exhaust the situation completely, then one may forget the exhaustion. If, then, one hits upon the types, one can make their images; if one is in harmony with the precepts, one can bear witness. . . . Only when one forgets the images and studies the meaning do the precepts emerge.
(Chou I Lueh-li, or General Remarks on the Changes of the Zhou, section 4, Hellmut Wilhelm, translator)

ILLUSTRATION: Kenneth Andersson for the Guardian

“When does science become pseudoscience? And when is it something else entirely?

“It’s a given that the world of pop psychology contains spadefuls of pseudoscience, but as soon as you start reading Michael Gordin’s compelling new book, you realise you don’t quite know what that word means,” says Guardian writer Oliver Burkeman, author of the article.

“The article does not really present anything new,” says Consociate Robert Anderson, “just the standard dogmatic rejection of fringe thinking and experience, the ‘nothing that happens outside the lab is real science’ mentality. Its point that some things are just not science could be answered with: not science that we have yet figured out, though some people (especially healers) don’t worry about lab replication as much as results—even just one client.”

Read the article online and tell us what you think: < Follow this link to “This column will change your life: pseudoscience” at guardian.co.uk. >

link submitted by Frieda Nelson

B. CASTING THE WANDS TO FORM A HEXAGRAM

According to the ancient tradition we follow, King Wen used wands made of tortoise shell inlaid with ivory to meditate upon the Changes. Ancient Chinese adepts approached the source with great dignity. They made their invocations dressed in ceremonial robes, in the presence of the proper flowers and with incense and candles burning. There were six wands, one for each of the six places in a hexagram. They were exactly alike: one side blank, the other side inlaid. These wands were placed up the sleeves of their robes, three in each sleeve, before they were cast on the floor. The simple arrangement the adept cast gave an answer to the question asked.

Concentrate on your question, and concentrate on addressing your question directly to the Changes (I Ching). With the mind prepared, and while in a kneeling position, pick up the wands, three in each hand, and cast them before you in such a way that all six wands are scattered before you separate from each other.

To form the hexagram, select the wand nearest you and then the wand next nearest you, one at a time, putting them in sequence, from bottom to top, until the hexagram is complete. Place the wands before you in sequence with the side facing up that appeared when they fell. Do not worry if there are two so close that you cannot easily determine which is closer to you. Consider whichever one your hand reaches out for first to be the closest.

C. RECORDING THE LINES OF THE HEXAGRAM CAST

The hexagram that you cast is the one that links your question with the oracle texts that answer it.

Draw the hexagram that is formed from bottom to top.

When the result is ,

draw a broken line with an X in the middle , indicating an open line that is changing, the so-called old yin, and number it “6.”

When the result is [side inlay down figure] ,

draw a whole line with a circle in the middle , indicating a whole line that is changing, the so-called old yang, and number it “9.”

When the result is ,

draw a whole line , indicating a whole line that is at rest, the so-called young yang, and number it “7.”

When the result is ,

draw an open line , indicating an open line that is at rest, the so-called young yin, and number it “8.”

                 9      old yang changing

                 8      young yin at rest

                7      young yang at rest

                6      old yin changing

In this way a hexagram of six stages is built up.

If all the lines in the hexagram are either young yin or young yang lines—meaning lines that are at rest and do not change—simply record the hexagram that they form.

Find your hexagram in the Index and write down the name and number of the hexagram formed.

If the hexagram you cast contains lines that change—meaning old yang or old yin lines—then you need to derive a second hexagram by substituting the opposite line for each of the “old” changing lines. Draw the second hexagram beside your first one. Beginning from the bottom line, copy the lines of the first hexagram. Whenever you arrive at an old yang line, draw a young yin line in its place in your second hexagram. Whenever you arrive at an old yin line, draw a young yang line in its place in your second hexagram. Find the second hexagram in the Index and write down the name and number of this hexagram.

<PART 7>

III. CONSULTING THE I CHING USING THE SIX-WAND METHOD

A. PREPARATION

To prepare yourself for your introduction to the I Ching, we recommend that you follow the suggestions made in Project “X” Symposium III: Solar Teachings of China. Obtain a copy of the Wilhelm/Baynes English translation of the I Ching and use that as your standard text for reference. (All references made to the I Ching in the Project “X” symposium and in this section are to the Wilhelm/Baynes text unless otherwise noted.) Make yourself familiar with the text by reading the Foreword by Carl Jung, the Translator’s Note by Cary F. Baynes, and the Preface and Introduction by Richard Wilhelm—in that order. Then turn to Book II, “The Material,” and read the Introduction, Part I, and Part II in their entirety. Put aside Book I, “The Text,” and Book III, “The Commentaries,” for later reference and study. You may find all this heavy reading, but do not be discouraged. It takes many years to understand the I Ching. The oracle book can be absorbed and understood only through careful reading, deep reflection , and continual use.

Preparing the Circumstances
The technique of consulting the I Ching is not complicated in itself. What is important is to make it work. When you are in possession of the wands and a copy of the I Ching, you are prepared to consult the oracle.

Approach the oracle with respect. When the book is not in use, it is traditional to wrap the book and the wands in silk or some other elegant cloth, and to place the wrapped book and wands on a shelf at about eye level. It is recommended to wash the hands before divination, then to unwrap the book and the wands and to spread out the wrappers before you as you would tablecloths.

The proper approach to the I Ching is as a ritual. All spiritual matters require us to take the first steps. Then there will be a response. The spiritual does not pursue us first. We must initiate the encounter. This is the purpose of ritual. This is the role that ritual has served since ancient times. Ritual is a symbolic language that has to be acted out to have meaning. Look upon ritual as an aid to the psychic processes that play an important role in consulting the oracle. The psyche functions via symbols and understands them. If you speak to the psyche in symbols, it will respond. By the use of symbols, the adept gains access to information that is not available to the average person. Some form of ritual is recommended, no matter how simple. The I Ching will work only if a proper state of mind has been attained. Ritual helps us to achieve this state.

In Chinese tradition, those in authority faced south when granting an audience. Thus during the consultation, you should sit near the center of the room and face north, prepared to receive the instructions of the oracle (the “authority” in this case).

Privacy is essential. Compose yourself in a clean and quiet room. Be absolutely alone. Let no one disturb you. Place the I Ching and the wands before you. It is helpful to have a vase of fresh flowers nearby with a candle and a stick of incense burning. Offer up a prayer or use a short form of meditation to attain a tranquil and reverent state of mind. During this time, formulate the question in your mind.

Preparing the Question
The I Ching should be used to receive answers to important questions. Do not use it indiscriminately. The I Ching helps you to see what forces are at work, how they can develop, and how you can relate to them.

The I Ching is a book of wisdom that can help you make the right decision in harmony with the natural laws of the universe. Therefore, the question you ask of the I Ching should relate to your life as an adept. The question is the point of contact that focuses the images and connects them to your situation. The question is your point of contact with the unknown. You are asking for a deeper understanding on which to base your decision and actions. The oracle’s response to the question you ask will come through the text of one of the 64 hexagrams. The decisions given are for the betterment of the individual and the world community.

It is vital that the question to be asked is clear in your mind. Have a clear concept of what it is you are asking. The question needs to be presented without any form of confusion. Make the question simple and clear. Avoid vague and either/or questions. The more specific your question, the more specific the answer will be. It is better not to ask for a prediction. The best inquiry is for advice. Phrase the question as an inquiry about your situation: “How can I—?” or “What will happen if—?” or “What should my attitude be toward—?” or “What will be the result of—?”

There is no answer until one inquires. You must first approach and inquire in order to receive. You must initiate the encounter. Make a clear and precise formulation of your question in words and write the question down together with the date in a notebook; in other words, a diary. Below the written question, you will record the hexagram once it is cast.

In a single session, ask only one question. The oracle should not be abused by repeating the same question or by asking irreverent or trivial questions. The Commentary warns: If you approach the I Ching a second time, you will not receive an answer.

< PART 6>

Illustration of Fermi gamma ray structure of the Milky Way. PHOTO: spacedaily.com

“Enormous outflows of charged particles from the centre of our Galaxy, stretching more than halfway across the sky and moving at supersonic speeds, have been detected and mapped with CSIRO’s 64-m Parkes radio telescope.”

Read the entire article online and let us know what you think: Follow this link to the article “Galactic Geysers Fuelled by Star Stuff”at spacedaily.com.

link submitted by Frieda Nelson