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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tao te ching ☯️ chapter 80

Let there be small

countries with few people.

Let the people have no use for

complicated machinery. Let them be

mindful of death so that they

don’t move too far from

their birthplaces.

If there be boats and carriages,

let there be nowhere to take them to.

If there are weapons, let there

be no occasion to display them.

Let the people’s

responsibilities be few enough

that they may remember them

by knotting a string.

Let them

enjoy their food,

be content with their clothes,

be satisfied with their homes,

and take pleasure in

their customs.

Though

the next country

may be close enough

to hear the barking of its dogs

and the crowing of its roosters,

let the people grow old and

die without feeling

compelled to

visit it.

Tao te Ching of Lao Tzu

Chapter 80

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☯️

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seek the direction of the sage

marcin rosadziński

Surrounded by obstructions,

one must first retreat, then

seek the direction of

the Sage.

There is an old saying which fits this hexagram: “You are caught between a rock and a hard place.” In other words, you are surrounded by obstructions. As much as you may want to blame others for the difficulty, in all likelihood the true obstruction is in your own thinking. What is called for now is a retreat into self-examination and self-correction.

Emotions of desire, fear, or anger may tempt you to take action now, but do not be seduced. The presence of these strong feelings is proof that your are off balance and need to steady yourself. As long as you try to forcibly achieve results—rather than carefully following higher truth step by step—you will be obstructed from making personal progress.

Whenever we indulge in judgements about others, we obstruct our own peace of mind and progress. We should choose instead to see the best in others, allow them to come and go as they will, and turn our energies inward, toward self-improvement.

Often the faults in our own thinking are revealed only with the aid of others. You would be wise now to seek the advice of a qualified counselor or truth-minded friend. Retreat, self-examination, and self-correction will remove the obstructions that block your path now.

from The I Ching, or Book of Changes

Hexagram 39, Chien / Obstruction

FIRST LINE

Do not resist difficulties

or advance against them. By retreating

and observing, you learn an important lesson.

Then moving forward becomes easy.

FIFTH LINE

The obstructions can only be

overcome by the strength of proper principles.

Through perseverance and correctness you

obtain the aid you need

to succeed.