Topic: Old fox walking over ice

[Nick]

you work so hard, you follow the true path, you hold your tongue, you carry your forebearance willingly, and with grace. you watch your step, you pause, you push, you hold, you let go. Now you are very close, almost there.

this is the moment just before...

but there is one last trap, you old fox.

....

[Jahn]

Just wondering.  If others see me differently than I appear to myself I want to know about it, that's all.  Always room for improvement/adjustment.    Thanks. t

I do not think it is about improvement or adjustment. There is nothing for you or us to do in that area. Joshua may explain what he meant - I can only tell what I see.

You are a good, steady as a rock, and a well apreciated guest in my house tommy. Of the twelve disciples I would say that you are like S:t Peter, the disciple that according to Christ should build the church, the church in the sense of organizing the people that wanted to be followers. Your hands are much of your connection to Spirit, and your great life experience too. You have really gone through it all and your personal power have provided you with a great woman and companion.

I think Joshua point in another direction than what you have mastered, but I have forgotten the direction, the post and the message ...

[erik]

How about Judas?

'...you, Judas, will exceed all of them. For you will sacrifice the man that clothes me.'

[tommy2]

I don't know, Jahn, how great I am but I DO know that it is great that I do not want anything, unless you call appreciating what I have, "wanting".

And what do I "have"?  A steady fire within me.

I know what I am, and constantly look for what others are. 

It is most important for me in this current lifetime to help others, in maybe just the smallest way, to find what they are.

I have nothing else to do.

[tommy2]

And I am glad of this union with us all here.

[Josh]

I've been meaning to ask about you feel I am putting on the brakes.  I'm quite slow so help me out here, OK?  t

We are all slow when it comes to the kriya of existence.  All things in due time.  The point at which time itself becomes more malleable for us (through our own wish) is a great boon, and an indespensible part of the path with heart. 

You may or may not remember a discussion in the CC books where they talk about "compressing time".  In that a sorcerer lives and acts that much more by doing so.  It is only through this practice that effort beyond the cycle of life and death can be made.  It is extracurricular effort.

The brakes I speak of are built into this cycle.  It is part of the process.  There is a "natural" resistance to making the definitive leap into timelessness... which the body regards as death, and rightly so.  Its not something that has to just happen once and then you are done with it, back into the regular daily routine.  It needs to be done over and over - so the force of time within your life can loosen from the moorings of its "natural" cycle.

The reason for those quotes is that this path itself is somewhat against nature.  It is against the forces which use man as just another cog in a giant cosmic machine.  It is of a rarer nature in terms of this particular planet at this particular point in history.  There are forces which will support this activity as well, and aid this endeavor - but even these have an economy.

The brakes themselves are legion and masquerade as part of you.  However, it is not a neccessary part - and in the case of the path, it is to be dealt with as such.  Ideas, feelings, emotions, images, desires, stories, etc. etc. can all serve this same purpose.  It is that root purpose that is the issue at hand, not the multitudinous manifestations of its manipulation.

In general, you wont encounter these kinds of brakes until they are being put to use.. as in, before the leap is about to happen.  You are on that edge.  Recognition of their nature is key.

[Jennifer-]

And I am glad of this union with us all here.

 

[Josh]

Foxtail dangling in water
Sculling paddles drawing near
Ways to go, we're not there yet
In three years the kingdom won
Good things come to those who wait
Wet hair plastered to your head

Before Completion. Success.
But if the little fox, after nearly completing the crossing,
Gets his tail in the water,
There is nothing that would further.

Fire over water:
The image of the condition before transition.
Thus the superior man is careful
In the differentiation of things,
So that each finds its place.

In hexagram 64 we realize that seeing the end of something can make one hasten and not watch their step, just as being at the beginning of something can make one look to the end and not watch where they are going. Things need to be done in correct order to succeed.

The image combined with the traditional title suggests that by not getting things in proper order (sequence), the successful completion of tasks is difficult and we thus need to set-out some sort of path/plan.

In a positive vain the hexagram also manifests keeping oneself 'open' as long as possible, avoiding closure recognising the emphasis on dependencies and so a lack of 'completeness' in that completion is an illusion.

[Josh]

The conditions are difficult. The task is great and full of responsibility. It is
nothing less than that of leading the world out of confusion back to order.
But it is a task that promises success, because there is a goal that can unite the
forces now tending in different directions. At first, however, one must move
warily, like an old fox walking over ice. The caution of a fox walking over ice
is proverbial in China. His ears are constantly alert to the cracking of the ice,
as he carefully and circumspectly searches out the safest spots. A young fox
who as yet has not acquired this caution goes ahead boldly, and it may happen
that he falls in and gets his tail wet when he is almost across the water. Then
of course his effort has been all in vain. Accordingly, in times "before
completion," deliberation and caution are the prerequisites of success.