Yongjia said,
“Without leaving where you are,
there is constant clarity.” No words come closer
to the truth than these. If you start seeking, then we
know that you are unable to see. Just cut off any duality
between “wherever you are” and “constant clarity”,
and make yourself peaceful and serene. Avoid
concocting intellectual understanding
and seeking. As soon as you seek,
it is like grasping at
shadows.
The unenlightened person
does not understand his own true nature,
does not realize the Pure Land in his own body,
and thus petitions all over. The enlightened person
never differs no matter where he is. For this reason
the Buddha says, “Wherever I may be I am always
in comfort and bliss…If only your mind is pure,
your own nature is itself the Pure
Land of the West.”
Being in tremendous turmoil,
the unoriented do not know that their own
mind is Buddha. They search about, outside of themselves,
spending the whole day contemplating the Buddha and paying
homage. But where is the Buddha? Do not entertain any
such false views. Awaken to your own mind:
outside the mind there can
be no Buddha.
True joy is
experienced by those who
are strong within and
gentle without.
The hexagram Tui teaches us how to come into possession of joy. In our search for success and happiness we are prone to think that we must take aggressive actions to achieve them. The instruction of the I Ching is just the opposite: only those who practice innocence, acceptance, and detachment inherit true joy in this world.
We often see around us how forcible effort brings about what appears to be progress. Our egos tempt us to believe that these gains are lasting and valuable, but the truth is otherwise. Whatever is won by the desirous, ambitious, demanding manipulations of the ego will soon be lost. Others can always be temporarily browbeaten into doing things our way, but only hearts won by friendliness and sincere goodwill are true over time.
The I Ching teaches us again and again that joy and success cannot be forced or stolen. They are achieved gradually—but steadily—by those who relate correctly to others and to the Higher Power. To relate correctly means to steadfastly practice innocence, detachment, acceptance, modesty, and gentleness. Life is full of shortcuts, but this is the only route that leads to true joy.
The image of the hexagram is that of two lakes joined together to keep from drying up. It is an encouragement to us to join with like-minded friends now in the discussion and contemplation of higher things. If we engage in an ongoing conversation about proper principles with our friends, our relationship to truth is steady and our ego cannot seduce us into the doubt, fear, and anxiety that lead away from joy.
In your heart, be firm in holding to what is good and honest and correct. In your thoughts and actions, be gentle and accepting. Those who persevere on this path will meet with true joy and lasting success.
from The I Ching, or Book of Changes
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People yearn
for fame and fortune,
but this is like aching to taste the
point of a weapon. These are shallow,
confusing, empty of virtue — yet
people become fixed on them
and lose their way
forever.
Look closely
at things that shine
without substance. Fame
enflames one’s idea of self and
separates one from humanity. Touched
by it, people grasp desperately to
get and keep it. What is the
wisdom, though,
in resisting
change?
Fortune
is a lover similarly
impossible to satisfy.
Constantly demanding energy
and attention, fencing off people’s
hearts, it returns less and less to
the soul. Yet common people
contort themselves
into cripples
chasing
it.
See
the injury
built into these,
and let them
go by.
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The ego
is a monkey
catapulting through
the jungle. Totally fascinated
by the realm of the senses, it swings from
one desire to the next, one conflict to the next,
one self-centered idea to the next. If you threaten it,
it actually fears for its life. Let this monkey go.
Let the senses go. Let desires go. Let conflicts
go. Let ideas go. Let the fiction of life and
death go. Just remain in the center,
watching. And then forget
that you are
there.
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