97. Using Your Weakness, Part 2

XCVII

Flipping Over Weakness for Success:

Part 2—The Rays and Chinese Signs

Lecture based Questions:

1. Draw or describe a reminder or symbol of one of your helpers.

You have hundreds of helpers—Masters, teachers, guides, angels, nature spirits, and loved ones. Choose one and record your impressions, such as a color, symbol, fragrance, or message.

2. What are some affirmations to overcome weakness?

1) Thank you God, for my new improved attitude!

2) God always leads me to the right answer.

3) Every wish turns out perfectly, satisfactorily, happily, and better for everyone than I could have imagined.

4) The way is always clear, the answer is always in hand.

5) God leads me perfectly to the success of my well-balanced life.

6) The more well-ordered, relaxed, strong, peaceful, wise, intelligent, healthy, attractive, and loving I am, the greater my happiness and success.

7) There is always enough time to do the right thing.

8) The right trick to any victory is wise and divinely inspired.

3. How many repetitions does it take to transform the body and life?

Every challenge in life must be met as a unique opportunity for gaining personal power and wisdom. Some instances require only a dozen or so repetitions of an affirmation to do the work of change for the better. This is because the psyche has already begun to understand (through other people’s example) that something better is possible. Other obstacles require years of repeated affirming to penetrate preconditioned beliefs.

Remember, affirmations work through the number of repetitions said, not the passage of time. Results in the physical world come faster when affirmations are said aloud. You don’t have to believe it to say it. You don’t have to say it with feeling or dramatic intonation. You can say it like a machine gun and still make headway. When the affirmation has been memorized and pops into the mind automatically, it has been integrated into the Astral Body. When it becomes part of your natural speech patterns, then your life is really in the right direction.

4. Can we affirm to help our loved ones with their flaws?

As long as a person is in your karmic circle, you can affirm for him/her as you would for yourself.

5. What are the vulnerabilities of the Seven Rays?

Each Main Ray has peculiar challenges that mark the personality. Our Main Rays are the definers of our basic proclivities. Sub-Rays do not contribute any flaws. Rather, experiencing a learning Ray forces a person to learn its skills and strengths.

First—[action/leadership]—materialistic, overbearing, aggressive

Second—[education/communication]—chatterbox, lonely, hypersensitive

Third—[philosophy]—iconoclastic, too abstract, outsider

Fourth—[arts/creativity]—short attention, inappropriate, careless

Fifth—[science/investigation]—obsessive, non-expressive, idiosyncratic

Sixth—[devotion]—tribal, masochistic, paranoid, my way or the highway

Seventh—[ritual/organize]—too serious, overly structured, hierarchical

6. What can we do to reverse the energies of these flaws?

Until he/she is close to the 2DI, a person rarely sees these as problems, but rather takes pride in their roles as defining emotional identity. Later on, as she/he begins the quest for balance and wisdom, the obstructive quality of these negative traits finally hits home. After that, the disciple focuses on protecting themselves and others from these inclinations that detract from success.

The first step is to recognize them, then to curb the energy to a different direction. Following is a simple list of suggested redirected focus activities.

First—nurturing, service, protecting

Second—listening, studying, mediating

Third—championing the needy, physical adventure, committing to a spiritual family

Fourth—work requiring attention to detail and memorization, repetitious activities, team sports

Fifth—physical strength training, group therapy, manual labor

Sixth—silent retreats, graduate studies, leadership roles

Seventh—community service, psychological study, child care

7. What are the negative tendencies of the Chinese astrological signs?

As it is in the western astrological signs, these challenges belong to the temporary body and not to the permanent Soul. They are usually indicators of the karmic cycle that hallmarks this particular lifetime. In other words, the imperfections of the year in which you were born are markers of the life lessons that you are destined to meet.

Rat—nosy, gossip, pack rat, overly ambitious, gambler

Ox—stubborn, prejudiced, prosaic, rigid, blunt

Tiger—impulsive, needs attention, vengeful, indecision

Rabbit/Cat—moody, conceited, fair-weather friend, opportunistic

Dragon—manipulative, contrary, addictive, manic, doesn’t know his own strength, life of karmic return

Snake—secretive, isolated, wrathful, money issues, repressed, karmic enlightenment

Horse—hot-tempered, headstrong, capricious, intimidating, inconsistent

Sheep/Goat—pessimistic, overwhelmed, subjective, unconscious teasing, victimized, spendthrift

Monkey—deceitful, disrespectful, jealous, egoistic, prying, storms off, toys with people

Rooster/Chicken—insensitive, needs acclaim, serious, meddlesome, noncommunicative, delusions of grandeur

Dog—sharp tongued, stews over enemies, unbending, high strung

Boar—hedonistic, naive, violates territory, patsy

8. What can we do to prevent the ouches indicated by these flaws?

Because these challenges only last for a single lifetime, we are not expected to master them within the seventy or less years of an incarnation. Rather, we are encouraged to be aware of the results of our choices and then learn to behave responsibly in accordance with this knowledge.

Following are some suggested activities that redirect the energy to a more balanced position. You are not to employ all the recommendations at once, but to be flexible and creative in finding activities that curb the energy to a more stabile pattern.

Rat—Zen meditation, Tai Chi, logic puzzles, introspective pursuits

Ox—stretching, higher education, social engagements, expansive ideas

Tiger—mastering one skill, travel, physical adventure, confidence building activities

Rabbit/Cat—weekly worship, reading autobiographies, being a confidant to friends, psychological study

Dragon—Transcendental Meditation, working in management, teaching

Snake—weekly group activities, weekly confession or therapy, education in money management, trust issue development, dancing

Horse—computer programming, drill & discipline, martial arts, daily & weekly structure, routine behaviors, non-reaction

Sheep/Goat—choices that help one feel in control, managing one’s own business, continual affirmations, inspiring literature

Monkey—professional career, travel, archetype meditation, Qi Gong

Rooster/Chicken—child care, graduate education, reading novels, endurance sports

Dog—quiet time every day without entertainment, education in scientific thinking, forgiveness therapy, Hatha Yoga

Boar—watching crime dramas, art appreciation, philosophical literature, being in the wilderness, tea ceremony

9. Visualization Exercise: The Metaphor of the Leaf

•Close your eyes and raise one of your hands.

•The hand is relaxed as you wave your forearm back, forth, and around.

•Feel how the structure of your arm and hand remain stable no matter how they are moved.

•Turn your hand over into an open position.

•Imagine that a leaf is floating just above your hand.

•Reduce the image so that only the delicate skeleton of the leaf is floating there. See its silvery lines and lacy patterns revolve slowly above your open palm.

•Coat the skeleton in a spring green mist. You can see the skeleton through the green, yet the mist coats the structure completely.

•Imagine that you are stroking this with your other hand. Feel how soft and furry it is. You can see that there is life somehow in this fragile thing.

•Wave your hand over the misty leaf skeleton. As you stroke your hand over it, a covering of deep green fleshy cells enrobes the skeleton. Feel the living quality of the restored leaf. Note the shiny skin that protects it from the elements. It is strong, growing, and manufacturing more life.

Say,

My life is a fascinating puzzle

to be examined, appreciated, and developed.

On the framework of possible choices,

I lay down prayers for guidance and understanding.

With action I build a structure

of beauty, life, and growing opportunities.