a time for disengagement and retreat

This is a time for

disengagement and retreat.

In stillness you are out

of the reach of

danger.

It is inherent in the design of life that forces of darkness and disruption come into prominence from time to time. This hexagram indicates that this is such a time and advises you to respond by quietly retreating. To struggle or resist in anger now is to add fuel to the fire of negativity which threatens to consume you.

The superior person accepts that there is a natural ebb and flow between the forces of light and dark in the world. Wisdom lies not in resisting these movements but in responding to them appropriately. Just as a plant which sprouts in the dead of winter is doomed, and one which sprouts in spring flourishes, so it is with us. Success and prosperity accrue to those who advance in times of light and retreat in times of darkness. To retreat now is to benefit, in the end, from the changing tides.

Retreat is not the same thing as surrender, capitulation, or abandonment, which are desperate and unsatisfying measures. Neither is it characterized by a hardening into angry or punitive emotions. It is instead an acceptance and a choice: we calmly accept that the energies of the moment are against us, and we wisely choose to withdraw into the safety of stillness. In this dignified and balanced manner we protect ourselves from negative influences and arrive rested in a more beneficial hour.

The I Ching, or Book of Changes

Hexagram 33, Tun / Retreat

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then you are like a bird freed

Let go of all your previous

imaginings, opinions, interpretations,

worldly knowledge, intellectualism, egotism, and

competitiveness; become like a dead tree, like cold ashes.

When you reach the point where feelings are ended, views

are gone, and your mind is clean and naked, you open up

to zen realization. After that it is also necessary to

develop consistency, keeping the mind pure

and free from adulteration

at all times.

Cut through resolutely,

and then your state will be peaceful.

When you cannot be included in any stage,

whether of sages or of ordinary people,

then you are like a bird freed

from its cage.

Yuanwu

zen letters

one should silently shine

Do not say,

“I understand! I have attained mastery!”

If you have attained mastery, then why are you

going around asking other people questions? As soon as

you say you understand zen, people watch whatever

you do and whatever you say, wondering

why you said this or that.

If you claim to understand zen,

moreover, this is actually a contention of ignorance.

What about the saying that one should “silently shine, hiding

one’s enlightenment?” What about “the path is not

different from the human mind?”

Foyan

instant zen

the heart is the shrine

the smiling forehead

The principal teaching of Sufism

is that the heart of man is the shrine of God,

to recognize God in one’s own heart, to feel His existence,

presence, virtue, goodness, all manner of beauty. It must be

remembered that the whole life around us is a life of falsehood.

The more you see and experience the more you see how very false

it is, how much disillusionment there is. The only way of getting

over it is to light the lamp in the darkness of night, and all will

be cleared. The secret of life is this: to produce beauty in

ourselves. When beauty is produced in the heart,

then all that breaks the heart vanishes and the

whole universe becomes one single

vision of the sublimity

of God.

Hazrat Inayat Khan

meet difficulty with acceptance

fabio furlotti

Through openness

and gentleness the correct

solution is reached.

Arriving

at the correct solution

to a difficult situation requires a

receptivity to inner truth. Unless we are

willing to put aside the strong emotions of

our egos and devote ourselves to discovering

what is right, there can be no hope of

progress at this time. Help only

comes when we invite it with

a sincere and innocent

attitude.

The

I Ching teaches

a simple but effective

method of influencing difficult

people and arduous situations. It advises

us first to lay aside our prejudices — our feelings

of being wounded, angry, or in the right —

and second to seek to understand the

positions of others and the lesson

that the Sage is teaching

us with the

situation.

Even

when another is

truly out of line, it is only by

accepting this and remaining balanced

that you make it possible for positive change

to occur. Gentleness and understanding

create in others an unconscious

willingness to

be led.

The

superior person

therefore avoids the use of anger

and force in trying times, knowing that they

only prolong conflict. It is far wiser to accept that

each experience we have is necessary for us to learn

something about ourselves and about the higher

laws of life. The greatest openings come when

we meet difficulty with acceptance,

gentleness, and a desire to

understand the lesson

underneath.