There are certain situations in which the Sage retreats. The Sage does not retreat from anger, and it does not hold anything against us, nor does it blame us. The only cause for the situation is that the Sage does not give answers to the ego.
When we suspect that the Sage has retreated, we can ask by using the Retrospective-Three-Coin Method (rtcm): “Sage, have you retreated?” The Sage will give us an answer to this question if we ask it from a place of inner neutrality. To attain neutrality, when we find ourselves steeped in an ego-emotion, we can first ask the Sage to connect our mind with our heart. The Sage responds to any request that comes from sincerity.
How do we notice that the Sage has retreated?
We notice that the Sage has retreated when we cannot make any sense of the hexagram text we have received to our question. We also notice that the Sage may have retreated when, in using the Retrospective-Three-Coin Method, (rtcm) we have received confusing answers, or a series of “No”-answers. For this reason, it is helpful to keep notes of the questions we have asked, and the answers received.
In order to be able to make further progress once the Sage has retreated, we first need to follow the steps described below. When we have successfully deprogrammed the cause for the Sage’s retreat, we can go back over our notes and use the rtcm to find out at which point the Sage retreated.
What to do when the Sage has retreated?
Step 1: If you are angry, annoyed, or frustrated about this situation, load your annoyance, anger, or frustration onto the “Big Wagon for Loading”, meaning, turn these ego-emotions over to the Helper of Transformation.
Step 2: Ask the Sage to help you find the cause for its retreat.
The following are possible questions the Sage will answer, to help you find it.)
(a) Have I put something on the Sage? (Examples are phrases such as: “The Sage doesn’t want to help me,” “the Sage is punishing me,” “the Sage didn’t tell me the truth,” “I did what the Sage said, but it didn’t work.”)
(Examples of false images that you may have put on the Sage are: the image of its being a “punishing figure of authority,” the image of its being a “taskmaster/slave driver,” the image of its being the “devil,” or “a trickster.”)
(b) Is the cause for the Sage’s retreat an ego-attitude I have adopted?
(For example: blaming yourself; impatience; ambition; looking for a culprit; feelings of helplessness; knowing better. You need to ask the Cosmic Army and the Helper of Transformation to free you from any of these ego-attitudes.)
(c) Is the cause a fear I have of getting an answer that confirms my fear? (If yes, identify your fear; then, ask the Sage to suspend the fear of getting an answer that confirms your fear. Doing so will open your heart to receive the answer. Receiving the answer with an open heart gives it the quality of relativity that allows your mind to understand the answer from the Cosmic perspective. The Cosmic perspective includes the Helpers.)
(d) Is the cause something I have put on myself?
• You may have adopted a self-image of the following kind: the self-image of the “one who deserves or has the right to be helped”; the self-image of the “one who does not deserve/does not have the right to be helped”; the self-image of the “self-denying person”; the self-image of “one who knows better”; the self-image of “one who never understands things, or is not smart enough to understand things”; the self-image of the “hopeless case”; the self-image of the “sceptic,” or, the self-image of the Sage.
• You may be blaming yourself for having caused the Sage to retreat, or for anything else you have done.
(e) A “frozen attitude” that makes it impossible for the Sage to help:
“I must not do anything to make the Sage retreat. I must be constantly on the lookout.” (This is a projection, spell, and poison arrow.)
(f) Ask the Sage whether the cause is “Darkening of the Light.” In that case, a “changeling” is active trying to sabotage your following your inner truth.
How to free yourself from the cause of the Sage’s retreat
Say “No, No, No to… (the ego-element you have identified).” Then, ask the Cosmic Army and the Helper of Self-Forgiving to free you from it. (This is a one-time deprogramming procedure.) The Sage will return shortly afterwards.