A period has been entered when inferior influences will prevail. Even a superior person who seeks to act now will be undermined by the time. There is no reason to resist this state of affairs; indeed, it is natural that the inferior elements periodically come to the fore. Adversity is often a stimulant to our spiritual growth, and what is important is the spirit in which we meet it.

When challenging situations come to call, we are often overwhelmed with feelings of anxiety, doubt, and fear. We fear that if we do not act immediately and vigorously, we will be ruined, we doubt the power of the Creative to resolve the situation favorably. It is when we act upon these feelings that we engage in “splitting apart”: we split apart from our spiritual path, our devotion to the Higher Power, and the wisdom of patient nonaction in the face of difficulty. If you take this course now, you will prevent the Creative from coming to your aid and unnecessarily increase your own misfortune.

The guide to proper behavior at such times lies in the image of the hexagram, which is “mountain over earth”. By keeping as still and quiet as a mountain, by resting firmly on your foundation of proper principles, by accepting the nature of the time and not resisting it, you weather all storms. By trusting in nonaction, acceptance, and patience, you gain the strength of the very earth.
 

from The I Ching, or Book of Changes

Hexagram 23, Po / Splitting Apart

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This

is what you

shall do: Love the earth

and sun and the animals, despise riches,

give alms to every one that asks, stand up for

the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor

to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have

patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat

to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men,

go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young

and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open

air every season of every year of your life, reexamine all you

have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss

whatever insults your own soul; and your very flesh shall

be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only

in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and

face and between the lashes of your eyes

and in every motion and

joint of your

body.

Walt Whitman

joel rea

Beyond

meditation practice,

there is attitude. A beginner

must learn to cultivate what is called,

“the poise of a dying man”. What is this poise?

It is the poise of knowing what is important and what

is not, and of being accepting and forgiving. Anyone who has

ever been at the bedside of a dying man will understand

this poise. What would the dying man do if someone

were to insult him? Nothing. What would

the dying man do if someone

were to strike him?

Nothing.

As

he lay there,

would he scheme to

become famous or wealthy?

No. If someone who had once offended

him were to ask him for his forgiveness would he

 not give it? Of course he would. A dying man knows

the pointlessness of enmity. Hatred is always

such a wretched feeling. Who wishes to

die feeling hatred in his heart?

No one. The dying

seek love and

peace.

Hsu-Yun 

A rat race

is for rats. We’re not rats.

We’re human beings. Reject the insidious

pressures in society that would blunt your critical faculties

to all that is happening around you, that would caution silence

in the face of injustice lest you jeopardise your chances of

self promotion and self advancement. This is how it

starts and, before you know where you are,

you’re a fully paid up member

of the rat pack. The price

is too high.

Jimmy Reid