no power so great as modesty

release and flow and let go

 

The Creative acts

to empty what is full and

to offer abundance to

what is modest.

 

This hexagram suggests that a deepening of one’s modesty now is a sure means of improving the situation. There is no power so great as modesty for compelling the assistance of the Sage – nor one so hindering as immodesty. Those in high places who retain their modesty are loved by all and continually prosper; those below who cultivate modesty inevitably rise on the strength of their merits, without making enemies along the way.

But what does modesty mean? Certainly it entails a refusal to boast or act imperiously with others, even in small ways. But beyond this steadfast humility it also means that our effort to discern what is right and then do it is constant; we do not work against ourselves, and we do not indulge in doubts about the wisdom of correct conduct. This unwavering commitment to what is correct might be called “the modesty before the Sage”.

So there is in modesty a component of nonaction – that is, not indulging in arrogant, ego-centered behavior – as well as a component of active effort: looking for opportunities to correct ourselves, to assist justice where there is injustice, to feed where there is hunger, to give solace where there is pain.

Finally and most plainly, modesty means holding to innocence, sincerity, and openness in every situation. To do this is to empty ourself and make room for the blessings of the Creative to take root.
 

The I Ching, or Book of Changes

Hexagram 15, Ch’ien / Modesty

 

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being is born of emptiness

there isn’t any need

 

Returning to the root is

the movement of tao.

Quietness is how

it functions.

 

The ten thousand things 

are born of being.

Being is born of

emptiness.

 

Tao te Ching of Lao Tzu,

Chapter 40

 

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the sage looks into her own heart

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The tao is the law of nature,

which you can’t depart from for even one

instant. If you could depart from it, it wouldn’t be the tao.

Thus the mature person looks into her own heart and respects

what is unseen and unheard. Nothing is more manifest than

the hidden; nothing is more obvious than the unseen.

Thus the mature person pays attention to what

is happening in his inmost self.

 

Sisi

honor comes to those who are correct

 

dissolve all ideas of duality

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The teaching

of the Integral Way will go on

as long as there is a tao and someone who

wishes to embody it; what is painted in

these scrolls today will appear in

different forms in many

generations to

come. 

 

These things,

however, will never change:

Those who wish to attain oneness must

practice undiscriminating virtue. They must

dissolve all ideas of duality: good and bad, beautiful

and ugly, high and low. They will be obliged to abandon

any mental bias born of cultural or religious belief.

Indeed, they should hold their minds free

of any thought which interferes with

their understanding of the

universe as a harmonious

oneness. 

 

The

beginning

of these practices is

the  beginning of

liberation. 

 

Hua hu Ching, Chapter 7

 

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