Posts Tagged → happiness

the guardian spirit lodged within

rannveig aamodt

 

If you find anything

better in human life than justice,

honesty, moderation and courage — if,

to put it generally, you find anything better

than the self-sufficiency of your mind on those

occasions that your actions are compatible with

right reason, as well as when something is allotted

to you by fate without your having chosen it —

if, I say, you’re aware of anything better

than this, turn to it with all your heart

and enjoy the supreme good

you’ve discovered.

 

But if you find

nothing better than the

guardian spirit lodged within you,

which has brought all your particular

impulses under its control, which scrutinizes

your thoughts, which, as Socrates used to say, has

withdrawn itself from sensations, which has put itself

in the gods’ hands, and which cared providentially for

other people — if everything else turns out to be

trivial and worthless by comparison,

then make room for

nothing else.

 

Marcus Aurelius

the annotated marcus

 

the universe is a harmonious oneness

embrace the oneness

 

Forget

about understanding and 

harmonizing and making all things one. 

The universe is already a harmonious 

oneness; just realize

that. 

 

If you 

scramble about in

search of inner peace, 

you will lose your 

inner peace.

 

Wei wu Wei Ching, Chapter 56

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the proper basis for relationships

ryan and alex

 

In fellowship with others,
embody the principles of the Sage.

 
This hexagram addresses the proper basis for relationships with others. It generally comes as a sign that some kind of self-correction is in order in this arena.

Proper relationships, whether in love, work, family, or friendship, must be founded on and conducted under proper principles in order to succeed. Our model for how to behave with others is the Sage: in relating we are obliged to practice kindness, humility, correctness, equanimity, and openness. Wherever we depart from these we lose the aid of the Higher Power and risk and encounter with misfortune.

The fundamental rule of the I Ching for the conduct of relationships is that they take place in the open. This means that every facet of a relationship should be seen as fair and correct by everyone concerned, not just yourself. It also means that it is improper to enter into or continue in relationships with unspoken reservations or hidden intentions.

Exceptional things can be accomplished by those who come together correctly in fellowship now under the guidance of an enlightened leader or leaders. Seek that role by patterning yourself after the Sage. Meet others halfway in a spirit of sincerity and receptivity. Give trust where it is due; where it is not, do not resort to harshness – reserve and reticence are adequate measures. Avoid the formation of factions and cliques, and correct your errors in relationships as soon as you become aware of them.  In this way you can accomplish magnificent deeds now.
 

The I Ching, or Book of Changes

Hexagram 13, T’ung Jen / Fellowship with Others

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yuanwu’s deathbed zen

papaji

 
At all times just remain free and uninvolved. Never make any displays of clever tricks — be like a stolid simpleton in a village of three families. Then the gods will have no road on which to offer you flowers, and demons and outsiders will not be able to spy on you.

Be undefinable, and do not reveal any conspicuous signs of your special attainment. It should be as if you are there among myriad precious goods locked up securely and deeply hidden in a treasure house. With your face smeared with mud and ashes, join in the work of the common laborers, neither speaking out nor thinking.

Live your whole life so that no one can figure you out, while your spirit and mind are at peace. Isn’t this what it is to be imbued with the Way without any contrived or forced actions, a genuinely unconcerned person?

Among the enlightened adepts, being able to speak the Truth has nothing to do with the tongue, and being able to talk about the Dharma is not a matter of words.

Clearly we know that the words spoken by the ancients were not meant to be passively depended on. Anything the ancients said was intended only so that people would directly experience the fundamental reality. Thus the teachings of the sutras are like a finger pointing to the moon, and the sayings of the Zen masters are like a piece of tile used to knock on a door.

If you know this, then rest. If your practice is continuous and meticulous and your application broad and all-pervading, and you do not deviate from this over the years, then you will mature in your ability to handle the teachings, to gather up and to release, and you will be able to see through petty things and cut them off without leaving a trace.

Then you when you come to the juncture of death and birth, where all the lines intersect, you won’t get mixed up. You will be clear and immovable, and you will be set free as you leave this life behind. This is deathbed Zen, for the last day of your life.
 

Yuanwu