be empty and ordinary

make an offering of stillness

 
When bodhisattvas who live a householder’s life cultivate the practices of home-leavers, it is like a lotus blooming in fire. It will always be hard to tame the will for fame and rank and power and position, not to mention all the myriad starting points of vexation and turmoil associated with the burning house of worldly existence. The only way is for you yourself to realize your fundamental, real, wondrous wholeness and reach the stage of great calm and stability and rest.

It would be best if you managed to cast off everything and be empty and ordinary. Thoroughly experience the absence of conditioned mind, and observe that all phenomena are like dreams and magical illusions. Be empty all the way through, and continue on clearing out your mind according to the time and the situation. Then you will have the same correct foundation as all the great enlightened laymen in buddhist tradition.

According to your own measure of power, you will transform those not yet enlightened so you can enter together into the uncontrived, uncluttered ocean of true nature. Then your life here on this earth will not be a loss.
 

Yuanwu

zen letters

🪷

a treasure hidden inside

this magnificent heart, born on this day

 

Do not go

about worshipping

deities and religious institutions

as the source of the subtle truth.

To do so is to place intermediaries

between yourself and the divine,

and to make of yourself a beggar

who looks outside for a treasure

that is hidden inside his

own breast.

 

If you want to worship the tao,

first discover it in your own heart.

Then your worship will

be meaningful.
 

Hua hu Ching, Chapter 17

 

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the minds of enlightened people

 

When the wind

comes to sparse bamboo,

the bamboo doesn’t keep the sound

after the wind has passed. When geese cross

a cold pond, the pond doesn’t retain their reflection

after the geese have gone. Similarly, the minds of

enlightened people become manifest when

events occur and then become

empty when the events

are over.

 

Huanchu Daoren

 

the taming power of the small

gentlest effort

 

You are temporarily restrained.
It is a time for taking small steps.

 
This hexagram signifies a time when darkness has temporarily enveloped the light. The Creative power is present in the background, however, and will come forward in time. Your responsibility in this moment is to accept restraints quietly and remain content with taking small steps.

The obstacles to success can only be removed now by gentle measures. Inside yourself, be focused and determined. On the outside, nonaction, adaptability, neutrality, and tolerance are the order of the day. Ambitious behavior is to be avoided; think of planting seeds rather than harvesting fruit.

Do not forget that the inferior elements within yourself, others, and the time itself may only be restrained now—not fully removed. Do not be tempted into any engagement which will serve to unbalance you. Instead, hold quietly to the center and take small steps until the Higher Power has tamed the obstacles in your way.
 

The I Ching, or Book of Changes

Hexagram 9, Hsiao Ch’u / The Taming Power of the Small

 

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Wei wu Wei Ching, Hua hu Ching, and

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