the highest good is like water
Be soft in your practice.
Think of the method as a fine
silvery stream, not a raging waterfall.
Follow the stream, have faith
in its course.
It will go its own way,
meandering here, trickling there.
It will find the grooves, the cracks, the crevices.
Just follow it. Never let it out of your sight.
It will take you.
to the surfers who saved my life
If you are alert to the Creative,
you will meet with good
fortune now.
This hexagram signals a time when the fundamental creative power of the universe is available to you. An unrestricted outpouring of benevolent energy from the heavens makes possible profound progress for those who are conscientiously following proper principles.
Frantic activity is not in order. Your responsibility instead is to be open and receptive to the Higher Power, allowing it to guide your actions. By allowing inferior thoughts and habits to pass away, you make room for an expansion of your superior qualities, which leads inevitably to good fortune.
In your conduct with others, embody tolerance, reticence, and gentleness. Strive to meet others halfway in every situation. To overextend yourself, or require that of another, is to create an undesirable imbalance.
Your attitude toward the Sage is most important. Alertness and receptiveness are paramount. To receive the powerful assistance of the Creative, remain humble, patient, accepting, and responsive. Careful attention to truth brings vast rewards at this time.
The I Ching, or Book of Changes
Hexagram 1, Ch’ien / The Creative
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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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Everyone
under heaven says that
my Tao is great, but inconceivable.
It is its very greatness that makes it inconceivable!
If it could be conceived of, how small
it would be!
I have three
treasures to hold and protect:
The first is motherly love. The second
is economy. The third is daring
not to be first in the
world.
With motherly
love one can be courageous.
With economy one can be expansive.
With humility one
can lead.
To be
courageous without motherly love,
To be expansive without practicing economy,
To go to the front without humility —
this is courting death.
Venture with
love and you win the
battle. Defend with love and you are
invulnerable. Heaven’s secret is
motherly love.
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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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