Put aside the
crazy and false mind that
has been concocting your knowledge
and understanding, and make it so that
nothing whatsoever is weighing
on your mind.
🪷
Posts Tagged → emptiness
return to celestial design
A sage said, “In learning, you increase daily; for the Way, you decrease daily.” This “decrease” means decreasing excess to attain centered balance, decreasing trivialities to return to basics, and reducing human desires to return to celestial design.
There may be a hundred human desires, but it is imperative to master oneself first. Mastering yourself is like overcoming an enemy; first you must know where the enemy is before you can send in your troops.
Self-government should be strict, like a farmer weeding, who must remove weeds by the roots before he can be free of concern that they will grow back.
Self-examination is like arresting a robber — you cannot relax at any time.
Self-government is like executing a rebel — you must cut through with one stroke of the sword. Attacking human desire must be like this before it can be successful.
Self-government is a matter of getting rid of what was originally not in us. We should realize this was originally not there by nature and does not become nonexistent only after being overcome.
Conscious development is a matter of preserving what is originally in us. We should realize it is originally there of necessity and does not come to be there by conscious development.
sing in the dark and try to forgive
In the dark times
Will there also be singing?
Yes, there will be singing.
About the dark times.
—Bertolt Brecht
There will be prayer, too,
but to a different god,
and dread will lurk
in the songs we sing.
Doom in the timpani
no matter what the tune,
the tune a variation
on the theme of doom.
We will sing in the dark
and try to forgive
and try not to dwell
on the lives we lived.
The music we play
will be a funeral song,
the poetry we speak,
that ancient tool
we used to believe
was the vital spark,
or if not the spark,
will be the match we strike
again and again
in the darkest dark.
as soon as you want to understand it
Whatever you are doing,
twenty-four hours a day, in all your
various activities, there is something that transcends
the Buddhas and Zen Masters; but as soon
as you want to understand it,
it’s not there.
As soon as you try
to gather your attention on it,
you have already turned away from it.
That is why I say you see but cannot
do anything about it.
Foyan
progress is won through discipline
Lasting progress is won
through quiet self-discipline.
This hexagram outlines the foundation of proper conduct within ourselves, with those with whom we may have conflicts, and within the larger society. It serves to remind us that no genuine gains can be made unless we are rooted firmly in the principles of the Sage.
An image often associated with this hexagram is that of treading on the tail of a tiger. The “tiger” may be some strong or malevolent force in your own personality, or it may be a particularly volatile individual or situation with which you have to deal. In either case the advice of the I Ching is the same: one avoids the bite of a tiger by treading carefully. To tread carefully means that we remain steadfastly innocent and conscientious in our thoughts and actions.
It is inevitable that people will display varying levels of spiritual understanding. It is not our duty to condemn or correct others, but simply to go on developing ourselves. Do not imagine that you can hasten your progress through aggressive actions now. Power that is sought and wielded pridefully has a way of evaporating when you need it most, thus exacerbating your difficulties. The only lasting influence is that which arises naturally from a course of steady development.
In the end, it is our inner worth that determines the outer conditions of our lives. Those who resolve to persevere in humility, sincerity, and gentleness can tread anywhere – even on the tail of a tiger – and meet with success.
from The I Ching, or Book of Changes
Further guidance from the
Wei Wu Wei Ching
By seeing
all the way through
things we are able to perceive
the perfection of existence. The
foreground of mind is noisy chatter,
but by simply watching that with
discipline and perseverance, we
see it quiet. In its place arises
a vast, silent, illuminated
emptiness.
So also with life.
The foreground is rife
with suffering and difficulty,
but by doing non-doing and
quietly observing, we
become aware of
its purity.
ebooks & apps of the Tao the Ching, I Ching,
Hua hu Ching, and Art of War for
🐅
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.
