The
non-action of the
wise person is not inaction.
It is not studied. It is not shaken by anything.
The sage is quiet because she is not moved, not because she
wills to be quiet. Her quietness is the mirror of heaven and earth,
the glass of everything. Emptiness, stillness, tranquility,
traceless, silence, non-action: this is the level of
heaven and earth. This is the
perfect Tao.
🪷
chris hondros, friend and hero
In conflict
it is better to be receptive
than aggressive, better to retreat
a foot than advance an inch. This is called
moving ahead without advancing, capturing the enemy
without attacking him. There is no greater misfortune
than underestimating your opponent. To
underestimate your opponent is
to forsake your three
treasures.
When opposing
forces are engaged in
conflict, the one who fights
with sorrow will
triumph.
Flow like pure water
through difficult situations.
The image of the hexagram K’an is that of water: water falling from the heavens, water coursing over the earth in streams, water collecting itself in pure and silent pools. This image is meant to teach us how to conduct ourselves in trying situations. If we flow through them, staying true to what is pure and innocent in ourselves, we escape danger and reach a place of quiet refuge and good fortune beyond.
K’an often appears to warn of a troubling time either drawing near or already at hand, and to counsel you not to fall into longing for an immediate and effortless solution to the trouble. When you become “emotionally ambitious” – when you cling to comfort and desire to be free of the currents of change in life – you block the Creative from resolving difficulties in your favor. What is necessary now is to accept the situation, to flow with it like water, to remain innocent and pure and sincere while the Higher Power works out a solution.
It is not that you should not act now; it is that you should not act out of frustration, anxiety, despair, or a desire to escape the situation. Instead, still yourself and look for the lesson hidden inside the difficulty. Correct your attitude until it is open, detached, and unstructured. Abandon your goals and stay on the path, where you proceed step by step, arm in arm, with the Sage.
Those whose hearts and minds are kept pure and innocent relate properly to all events, understand their cosmic meaning, and flow through them with the strength, clarity, and brilliance of pure water.
from The I Ching, or Book of Changes
Hexagram 29, K’an / The Abysmal (Water)
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The five
colors blind the eye.
The five tones deafen the ear.
The five flavors overwhelm
the palate.
Fancy things
get in the way of one’s growth.
Racing here and there, hunting for
this and that—good ways to
madden your mind,
that’s all.
Relinquish what is without.
Cultivate what is within.
Live for your center,
not your senses.
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Mindfulness is not just
watching things coming and going.
As the Buddha said, when mindfulness becomes a
governing principle in the mind, it sees things that are unskillful
and it works toward getting rid of them. It sees things that are
skillful and works toward giving rise to them. It actively
gets involved in making things arise and
making things pass away.
So you are taking sides
as you practice. Hopefully, you’re taking sides
with the right side – right view and all the way down
to right concentration – because it really
does make a difference.
set an example of self-improvement