We have learned from the Sage that we fulfill our Cosmic Destiny by expressing our uniqueness. Now, the question is: Where do the means come from to carry this out?
Hexagram 14, Possession in Great Measure, shows us that we not only come into this life each with unique possessions, but that we also receive material and immaterial gifts throughout our lives that are essential to allowing our unique combination of talents to unfold and grow as we bring them to expression. Examples of such gifts are: an education, relationships, opportunities of all sorts, money, a home, a car, and any number of other means.
When it comes to the means, however, there is an aspect that has, until recently, been hidden from my view. I was worrying about the financial and other means that would allow me to express my creativity in the long term. Turning to the Sage for help I was advised to ask for a vision of my short-term goal. After I had closed my eyes and made my request, I was reminded of something I had learned about thirty years ago from an Austrian farmer. It was a lesson about the amazing function of earthworms! He explained that when we humans do not interfere with artificial fertilizers, the earthworms have the ability to adapt the composition of the soil to fit the exact needs of the plants we put in it. I asked the Sage whether we possess a function in our natural makeup that accomplishes something similar to what the earthworm does? In reply, the Sage drew my attention to a particular function in our psyche, called the "organizing function."
The Organizing Function (excerpt from our book "The Psyche Revealed Through the I Ching," Chapter 8: The Functions of the Psyche.)
The working out of our Cosmic destiny is something that occurs mostly outside the direction of our mind, but which nevertheless needs the mind’s assent. The organizing function puts together the seemingly unrelated paths we have taken, in such a way as to make our mind aware, in retrospect, of how they have all contributed to a learning process, the goal of which is the fulfilling of our Cosmic destiny. In terms of the metaphor of the weaving of the carpet of our Cosmic destiny, the psyche provides the weft onto which the material provided by the thinking consciousness gets woven, while the color of the material comes from our feeling consciousness. Our feeling consciousness must guide each movement in making the carpet. In this weaving process no experience is wasted, provided that we later make the effort to process any negative experiences.
The carpet in our psyche gets woven when we work on something creative. The psyche finds the pieces we need that explain something of Cosmic significance to us. It also draws us to see how one thing is related to another in a way that is unconscious to the mind. Thus, it is as if we are on a treasure hunt that combines skill and surprise. It is the psyche that possesses the skill in finding and putting the pieces together, while the mind, by staying open, delights in the surprise. In the end, as every person who has ever engaged in an art form or creative project knows, the psyche is the lead element and the completer of the project.
(End of quote.)
To expand on this lesson the Sage pointed me to the following text in Hexagram 42, Increasing: "The aid of the Helpers is essential to all activities that lead to increase, because they alone are able to make the transformations in the atomic realm that give actuality to what is potential. This potential first exists as a feeling, then as an image in the invisible world of consciousness. The Helper of Transformation performs the functions of manifesting what is potential into actuality, and of giving it duration in a way that benefits the whole."
From this text I learned that I needed to ask the "Cosmic Helper of Increasing" to activate all the Helpers needed to use all resources that are available to me and transform them into the means I need to grow and express myself creatively.
Soon after making the above request I remembered people from the past who possess the very skills I will need to carry out a particular creative writing project. They were delighted to be asked, and ever ready to help!