serve as an example to others

focus

You serve

as an example to others by

sacrificing your ego and accepting

the guidance of the Higher

Power.

The hexagram

Ting concerns the nourishment

and guidance one must have in order to fully

succeed. While the culture around us often encourages

us to “take charge” and make aggressive demands on life, the

I Ching offers far wiser counsel. Here we are encouraged

to give up the incessant demands of our ego —

to deepen our humility and acceptance

and to listen carefully to the

instructions of the

Sage.

The image

of the caldron concerns

your inner thoughts: whatever you hold

in the “caldron” of your mind is your offering

to the Higher Power. The quality of assistance you can

receive from the universe is governed by the quality of your

offering. If you constantly indulge in the concerns of the ego —

fears, desires, strategies to control, harshness toward others —

you repel the Higher Power and block your own nourishment.

If, on the other hand, you consciously let go of your

resistance to life and hold quiet and correct

thoughts, you become receptive to the

Creative and your continual

nourishment is

assured.

Ting comes

to suggest that the wisest

thing that you can do now is to still

your ego and conscientiously enter into a

conversation with the Sage. To influence others, or to

achieve a proper goal, follow the same path. By cultivating

humility and acceptance, purifying your inner thoughts,

and concentrating on that which is good and innocent

and true, you summon the power of the Creative

and meet with good fortune in

the outer world.

from The I Ching, or Book of Changes

Hexagram 50, Ting / The Caldron

ebooks & apps of the Tao the Ching, I Ching,

Hua hu Ching, and Art of War for

iPad, Phone, Kindle, Nook,

or Android

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.

brian browne walker taoist app bundle ios ipad iphone

where the practice really begins

meditate within eternity

As you

continue to practise,

please understand: there is

nothing to worry about. Establish

this feeling of being relaxed and unworried,

securely, in the mind. Once the mind is concentrated

and one-pointed, no mind-object will be able to penetrate

or disturb it, and you will be able to sit in the meditation

posture for as long as you want. You will also

be able to sustain concentration without

any feelings of pain and

discomfort.

Having

developed samadhi

to this level, you will be able

to enter or leave it at will. When you

leave it, it will be at your convenience.

You simply withdraw at your ease, rather

than because you are feeling lazy or tired.

You withdraw from samadhi because

it is the appropriate time to

withdraw from it, and you

come out of it at

your will.

You enter

and leave this samadhi

without any problems. The mind

and heart are at ease. If you genuinely have

samadhi like this, it means that sitting meditation

and entering samadhi for just thirty minutes or an hour

will enable you to remain cool and peaceful for many days

afterwards. Experiencing the effects of samadhi like this

for several days has a purifying effect on the mind.

Whatever you experience will become an object

for contemplation. This is where

the practice really begins. It is

the fruit which arises as

samadhi matures.

Ajahn Chah

meet the source on all sides

quiet, still, at home

Those who are determined to practice the Way practice self-awareness and self-understanding twenty-four hours a day. They think of this and focus on this. They know that the one Great Cause is there right where they stand, that it is in sages without being augmented and in ordinary people without being diminished. They know that it stands alone free of senses and sense objects, and that it far transcends material things.

Wayfarers don’t set up fixed locations in anything they do. They are clear and tranquil, with solid concentration, and the myriad transformations never disturb them. They appear in response to conditions and go into action as they encounter events, leaving nothing incomplete.

You should just be empty and quiet, transcending everything. Once the main basis is clear, all obscurities are illuminated. “Ten thousand years — a single thought. A single thought — ten thousand years.” Passing through from the heights to the depths, the great function of the whole potential is in operation. It is like when a strong man flexes his arm: he doesn’t depend on anyone else’s strength. Then the illusory blinders of birth and death vanish forever, and the true essence indestructible as a diamond is all that shows. Once realized, it is realized forever — there is no interruption.

All that the enlightened teachers, ancient and modern, have said and done — the scriptural teachings, the enlightenment stories, the meditation stories, the question-and-answer sessions, all their teaching functions — all of this illuminates this true essence alone.

If you can be free and clear in actual practice for a long time, naturally you will come to meet the Source on all sides and become unified and whole.

Haven’t you seen Fadeng’s verse?

Going into a wild field, not choosing,

Picking up whatever plant comes to hand,

Rootless but finding life,

Apart from the ground but not falling.

Right before your eyes, it has always been there. Facing the situation, why don’t you speak? If you don’t know it in your daily life, where then will you look for it? Better find out.

Yuanwu

zen letters

🪷