keep an open heart, free of desire

lee madgwick

 

An influence comes.

Good fortune to those

whose hearts are

correct.

 

The hexagram Hsien indicates the coming of an influence. This may take the form of a teaching from the Sage, an interaction with another, or a disturbing or pleasing event. In any case, there is good fortune if you meet the influence with proper thoughts and actions.

It is a good time to remember that like attracts like. If one gives expression to higher things, then one is surrounded by higher things. If one indulges in what is inferior, then one can expect to have the company of inferiors. Therefore, it is wise to cling steadily to humility, independence, gentleness, and openness.

With others, keep an open heart, free of desire, condemning no one, enjoying affinities while retaining your equanimity. With the Sage, keep a clear connection. Seek resolutely to serve as a conduit for truth and innocence and goodness.

If the influence is challenging, persevere in correctness. If it is pleasing, also persevere in correctness. Maintaining your devotion to higher things insures success in the coming time.
 

from The I Ching, or Book of Changes

Hexagram 31 Influence (Wooing)

 

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desire and mistrust keep you from ease

tristan unrau

 

Desire and mistrust

keep you from finding ease.

Peace of mind comes when we

let go of ambitions and fears

and follow the Sage from

moment to moment.

 

fourth changing line

from The I Ching, or Book of Changes

Hexagram 56, Lü / The Wanderer

 

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look to what is pure

fertilizing my bamboo grove with horse manure

 

Give up religiosity

and knowledge, and the people

will benefit a hundredfold. Discard morality

and righteousness, and the people will return

to natural love. Abandon shrewdness

and profiteering, and there

won’t be any robbers

or thieves.

 

These are external

matters, however. What is most

important is what happens within:

look to what is pure; hold to what

is simple; let go of self-interest;

temper your desires.

 

The Tao te Ching of Lao Tzu,

Chapter 19

 

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brighten your virtue

school of rock and light and air

 

You progress like the rising sun.

The brighter your virtue,

the higher you rise.

 

This hexagram announces a time of significant and easy progress. Your influence and understanding grow by leaps and bounds as long as you maintain your alliance with the Sage, for it is from that alliance that the current progress springs. The only limit to growth now is your devotion to higher things: if this is true and complete and steady, there will be great gains now.

The image of the hexagram is that of the sun rising over the earth. To our view, the further it moves away from darkness, the higher the sun rises. The same is true of us: the extent to which we progress is determined by how far we distance ourselves from inferior influences.

It is important, when success comes, not to fall into the traps of the ego: taking credit for gains, resting on laurels, indulging in desires, or plotting towards ambitions. The superior person instead uses times of progress to brighten his virtue, recognizing that it was his commitment to proper principles that brought success in the first place.

Continue to purify your thought, attitudes, and conduct now. The greatest power in this beneficial time accrues to those who serve the Higher Power in every moment.
 

The I Ching, or Book of Changes

Hexagram 35, Chin / Progress

 

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he helps all beings become themselves

what would papa do

 

What has equilibrium

is easy to maintain. What hasn’t

begun is easy to plan. What is fragile

is easy to shatter. What is small

is easy to scatter.

 

Deal with things

before they arise. Cultivate

order before confusion

sets in.

 

The tallest tree

springs from a tiny shoot.

The tallest tower is built from a pile of

dirt. A journey of a thousand miles

begins at your feet.

 

Interfere with things,

and you’ll be defeated by them.

Hold on to things, and you’ll lose them.

The sage doesn’t interfere, so he

doesn’t fail; doesn’t hold on,

so he doesn’t lose.

 

Because projects

often come to ruin just before

completion, he takes as much care at

the end as he did at the beginning,

and thereby succeeds.

 

His only desire

is to be free of desire.

Fancying nothing, learning not

to know, electing not to interfere,

he helps all beings become

themselves.

 

The Tao te Ching of Lao Tzu,

Chapter 64

 

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