Change, Change, Change.   Today, 1/20/17, marks a new era in our country.  Next week, 1/28/17, is the first day of the Asian New Year, The Year of the Fire Rooster.  The Fire Rooster represents big change.  The element of fire represents the burning of the old and the forging of the new.  The Rooster is a loud and conspicuous animal.  Prompt, in your face, a creature who enjoys the morning and lives to wake us up.  Take that analogy for what it is worth.

Further, I would venture to say that many of us have been, or are facing changes in work and relationships, finances, residences, and families.  For better or worse, it is a new day.  What I think is important about that statement is the clause, "for better or worse".  We have more control over that aspect of things than we generally allow ourselves.

It is an oft-made notation by meditators that we are not our thoughts.  Further our thoughts do not have to define us.  In short, who we really are is deeper, beyond our thinking minds.  However, our thinking minds tend to muddle it all up on a regular basis.  The key to this is found in stillness.  To get beyond being defined and manipulated by out of control thoughts, we must go to a place that is itself beyond thought: Wuji.

Of course we live in this world and our thinking minds, and the thoughts and words of our fellow travelers, are an inevitable part of experience.  So we must be discerning.  Time spent in Wuji buoys us, gives us a solid platform from which to operate once we go into the world of thoughts and words.  We must remember what is real and lasting and what is ephemeral.

As far as change, we all know it is inevitable.  I once heard the statement, "Change is the Godhead".  Well, indeed.  Not only is change inevitable, it is the pure essence of Tao.  There is no Spring without Winter.  There is a guideline from Chinese Martial Arts that applies here: "Embrace your imperfection."  If change is a challenge, especially the current changes in our world, try to turn it on its head: embrace the change.  Look at your resistance honestly, without judgment or emotion.  Learn to deflect, yield, and maintain your center.  In short, don't fight it.  As counterintuitive as it may seem, fighting is the surest way to compromise your principles.  Better to find a way to maintain them in the current situation; accept reality, keep your sense of principle, and move on.  If I may quote my teacher, Dr. Yang: "Don't enter the fight." 

One final thought on this (a true story).  When I was a young child my grandmother had a mean rooster.  However, she didn't think he was mean.  He intimidated me and my sister, but my grandmother never saw this and thought we were exaggerating.  Then one day, as she was bent over tending to some plants, this rooster took a flying leap and inserted his spurs in my grandmother's taught calves.  We had him for dinner that night.  And it was the best fried chicken I ever had.  (You can take that analogy for what it's worth as well).

​Be the Peace.

(image: Goya's Madhouse)

"One Japanese insurance company, Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance, is reportedly replacing 34 human insurance claim workers with 'IBM Watson Explorer,' starting by January 2017.
The AI will scan hospital records and other documents to determine insurance payouts, according to a company press release, factoring injuries, patient medical histories, and procedures administered. Automation of these research and data gathering tasks will help the remaining human workers process the final payout faster, the release says.......Artificial intelligence systems like IBM’s are poised to upend knowledge-based professions, like insurance and financial services, according to the Harvard Business Review, due to the fact that many jobs can be 'composed of work that can be codified into standard steps and of decisions based on cleanly formatted data.'"
​
​The Rest of the Story