By keeping still
you gather the resources
you need to progress. The way will be
shown when the time is right,
and not before.
fourth changing line
from The I Ching, or Book of Changes
Hexagram 39, Chien / Obstruction
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Weary, I yearn for the forest and hills;
Against my will, ten years have I spent
In the world of people.
Burning incense, I take leave of the assembly,
Shunning worldly affairs, I depart.
The mist invites me and
I know that it is time to rest.
Those of little talent are not
Guests fond of mountains.
Men of little virtue do not
Make companions for gathering leaves.
Should someone ask, “When will you come back?”
I would reply, “The white clouds and the green water
Are boundless and serene.”
The
origin and mother
of everything in the world is tao.
Know the mother and you can know
the children. Having known the children,
return to their source and hold on to her.
Abiding by the mother, you are free
from danger, even when
your body
dies.
Don’t live
for your senses.
Close your mouth, close
all the body’s openings, reside
in the original unity. In this
way you can pass your
life in peace and
contentment.
Open
your mouth,
increase your activities,
start making distinctions between
things, and you’ll toil
forever without
hope.
See the subtle and be illuminated.
Abide in gentleness and be strong.
Use your light and return to insight.
Don’t
expose yourself
to trouble. This is
following
tao.
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book.
Gradually I began to understand
that it does not matter very much what problem,
whether big or small, is tormenting us; the only thing that
matters is that we be tormented, that we find a ground for being
tormented. In other words, that we exercise our minds in
order to keep certainty from turning us into idiots,
that we fight to open every closed door
we find in front of us.
The
non-action of the
wise person is not inaction.
It is not studied. It is not shaken by anything.
The sage is quiet because she is not moved, not because she
wills to be quiet. Her quietness is the mirror of heaven and earth,
the glass of everything. Emptiness, stillness, tranquility,
traceless, silence, non-action: this is the level of
heaven and earth. This is the
perfect Tao.
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