In the search
for enlightenment,
there is an ever-present
certainty that there is more to do,
someone else who holds the
secret, another state to
attain.
In the
finding of it,
there is the comical
revelation that not one
of those things was
ever true.
You
can now buy
Wei wu Wei Ching as part of a
five-app bundle of Taoist classics
for iPhone or iPad for less than
the cost of one hardcover
book.
Anyone
who imagines that bliss
is normal in life is going to waste a lot
of time running around shouting that he’s been robbed.
The fact is that most putts don’t drop, most beef is tough, most children
grow up to be just people, most successful marriages require a high degree
of mutual toleration, and most jobs are more often dull than otherwise.
Life is like an old-time rail journey – delays, sidetracks, smoke,
dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally
with beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed.
The trick is to thank God for letting
you have the ride.
Fall into
His arms with thanks
and you’ll weep like the sky;
refuse Him your thanks
and you’ll freeze like
the snow.
All we ever talk of is light—
let there be light, there was light then,
good light—but what I consider
dawn is darker than all that.
So many hours between the day
receding and what we recognize
as morning, the sun cresting
like a wave that won’t break
over us—as if light were protective,
as if no hearts were flayed,
no bodies broken on a day
like today. In any film,
the sunrise tells us everything
will be all right. Danger wouldn’t
dare show up now, dragging
its shadow across the screen.
We talk so much of light, please
let me speak on behalf
of the good dark. Let us
talk more of how dark
the beginning of a day is.
It is
a fact of life that
times of decrease come upon us:
our resources are limited, difficulty surrounds us,
and our egos generate angry and unhappy emotions. Nonetheless,
such times are good for us. If we respond to them by quieting
our egos and turning sincerely to the Higher Power
for help, we emerge from the period
of decrease stronger, healthier,
and wiser.
When
we discover that we
are unable to achieve our goals,
our egos become infuriated. We are tempted
to harden into anger and bitterness, to lash out, to
desperately and aggressively grab for control
over the situation. If we do this,
however, we only push our
own salvation further
away.
The I Ching
counsels a withdrawal
into stillness now. The image is that
of a spring reverting to the inside of the mountain
during a time of drought. By returning to its quiet center
during the time of decrease, it avoids evaporating and exhausting
itself in vain. You would be wise to follow this example. To try
to force progress by arguing, manipulating, or making
excuses will only bring your own downfall. Instead,
disengage from your inferior elements —
however passionately they seek
expression – and turn to the
Sage for guidance and
assistance.
The
hexagram Sun
issues a call to sacrifice
negative feelings, accept the
powerlessness of the ego against the
currents of life, and return to contemplation
of the principles of the Sage. In stillness and
meditation we enrich the higher parts
of ourselves and thus bring
an end to the time of
decrease.
from The I Ching, or Book of Changes
ebooks & apps of the Tao the Ching, I Ching,
Hua hu Ching, and Art of War for
You
can now buy
the I Ching as part of a
five-app bundle of Taoist classics
for iPhone or iPad for less than
the cost of one hardcover
book.
This dharma
is such that it cannot be attained
by groping or searching about. In the realm
of seeing, knowledge perishes. At the
moment of attaining, mind
is surpassed.
