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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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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dissolve all ideas into the tao

returning to innocence

 

Good

and bad,  self

and others, life and death:

Why affirm these concepts? Why

deny them? To do either is to exercise

the mind, and the integral being knows

that the manipulations of the mind

are dreams, delusions, and

shadows.

 

Hold

one idea, and 

another competes with it. 

Soon the two will be in conflict

with third, and in time your

life is all chatter and

contradiction.

 

Seek

instead to keep

your mind undivided.

Dissolve all ideas

into the

tao. 

 

Hua hu Ching, Chapter 41

 

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Hexagram 16 ☯️ Yü / Enthusiasm

the path is perfect

 

Proper enthusiasm opens every door.

 

The I Ching

teaches that there are

two kinds of enthusiasm: one that

leads to misfortune, and one that leads to success.

This hexagram comes as a sign that you can

proceed with confidence now if your

enthusiasm is properly

founded.

 

Improper

enthusiasm is fueled

by the desires of the ego.

People often desire recognition,

wealth, power, or freedom from difficulty.

Such desires can become so great that we will do

anything to achieve them. Our energy rises as we wildly

pursue our goal, but this unruly and egotistical

enthusiasm inevitably leads us into incorrect

and imbalanced behavior and

into misfortune.

 

Proper enthusiasm,

on the other hand, is fueled by

a devotion to attaining and expressing

inner balance and inner truth. When your aim

is not to influence others or to satisfy your ego but to

follow the guidance of the Higher Power in all that you do,

you acquire another kind of energy: a balanced and

bottomless eagerness for living in step with

what is right and good. In this there

is true power and true

grace.

 

This hexagram

reminds you that striving out

of your ego now will only push you further

away from your goals. Seek instead to follow proper

principles: keep to what is innocent, correct, and

kind, and the Creative will come to your aid.

The path of truth is always the path

of least resistance.

 

from The I Ching, or Book of Changes

Hexagram 16, Yü / Enthusiasm

 

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no tiger can claw him

r.i.p. lion

 

Between their births

and their deaths, three out of ten

are attached to life, three out of ten are

attached to death, three out of ten are just

idly passing through. Only one knows

how to die and stay dead and

still go on living.

 

That one

hasn’t any ambitions,

hasn’t any ideas, makes no plans.

From this mysterious place of not-knowing

and non-doing he gives birth to whatever is needed

in the moment. Because he is constantly filling his being

with nonbeing, he can travel the wilds without

worrying about tigers or wild buffalo,

or he can cross a battlefield

without armor or

weapon.

 

No tiger can claw him.

No buffalo can gore him.

No weapon can pierce him.

 

Why is this so?

Because he has died, there

isn’t any more room for

death in him.

 

Tao te Ching of Lao Tzu,

Chapter 50

 

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