Die
the great death,
and in the cool ashes of the
funeral pyre you will
meet what never
dies.
How is
this accomplished?
By letting go of thoughts,
sacrificing all sentiment,
abandoning emotion,
ignoring the
senses.
Solitary,
transcendent, unseeking,
absorbed in stillness and doing
non-doing, you will find that
the universe comes
to you.
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There is freedom
from desire and sorrow
at the end of the way. The awakened
one is free from all fetters and goes beyond
life and death. Like a swan that rises
from the water she moves onward,
never looking back.
The one who understands
the unreality of all things, and who
has laid up no store, that one’s track is
as of birds in the air. Like a bird in the air,
she takes an invisible course, wanting
nothing, storing nothing, knowing
the emptiness of all things.
Bear
with things as
the earth bears with us: by
yielding, by accepting,
by nourishing.
K’un the Receptive is the complement to Qián the Creative: the dark which is illuminated by light, the earth which receives the blessings of heaven, the vessel into which nourishment flows. This is a time to follow rather than lead, to assist rather than initiate, to listen rather than talk. Redevote yourself to the cultivation of modesty, receptivity, and gentleness now, and let go of concerns about the conduct of others or the progress of your worldly ambitions.
The wisdom of cultivating receptivity cannot be overstated; receptivity is the rich earth without which the Creative cannot take root in our lives. This fundamental hexagram serves as a strong encouragement to you to concentrate on your capacities to nourish, to support, to accept, to work without desiring recognition, to follow the guidance of the Sage.
You can benefit greatly in a period like this from time spent in solitude; in quietness we have an opportunity to focus on purification of our hearts and minds. It is a good time to ask oneself, “Am I sincerely pursuing the good for its own sake, or do I have a hidden agenda?” If so, detach from it and return to the path of independence and balance. Through humility and openness we become receptive to the assistance of the Higher Power.
from The I Ching, or Book of Changes
Hexagram 2, K’un / The Receptive
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Arouse the mind without
placing it anywhere.
__________________________________
The day before my birthday, October 1,
I mentioned to Mom at her memory care home that the next day
was my birthday. She was upset she had nothing for me, but I assured her about this.
The following day when I arrived, that was waiting for me. My mom was a wonderful writer,
I’m a piker next to both my folks in this regard, they both wrote long letters to me in beautiful hands,
and got them from me, all our lives together. But dementia made it almost impossible for
my mom to write at all near the end, and I was told she labored over this,
with help, for over an hour. Water runs down my face
every time my eye falls on it.
Any activity or
occupation can be your practice.
As you go about what you do, simply detach
your mind from its objects. Opening
to emptiness in an alert state,
you become One
with what
is.
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.
