This world is
a place of preparation where
one is given many lessons and passes
many tests. Choose less over more in it.
Be satisfied with what you have, even
if it is less than what others
have. In fact, prefer to
have less.
This world is
not bad — on the contrary,
it is the field of the hereafter.
What you plant here, you will reap
there. This world is the way to
eternal bliss and so is good —
worthy to be cherished
and to be praised.
whatever way love’s camels take
The way
to study true zen
is not verbal. Just open
yourself and give up everything.
Whatever happens, study closely
and see what you find out.
This is the fundamental
attitude.
Having anxieties and feeling sad
about being alive is like piling black mud
and garbage on your head. The mud slides over
your eyes and the rubbish infects them. You can’t
see and you get sick. Everyone does this at some
time. Try to stop doing it. Let your eyes get
clear enough to see the beauty
around you.
O giver of worriedness and grief,
remove me from my being. Give me the peace
of not-being. This prayer, if you can pray it, will wash
the mud off your head. There is a beloved who pours muddy
water over the head of the lover, and there is a lover who
says, I cannot see you with my eyes, but the drops
of muddy water on my eyelashes are filled
with the rose of your face.
A breakthrough.
Do not be drawn back
into bad habits.
The arrival of the hexagram Kuai indicates that a long-awaited change is at hand. A difficulty that has oppressed you over a long period is now about to dissolve. It is important to respond in the proper way.
There is a temptation on obtaining relief to fall into the traps of the ego: pride at having dispersed the trouble, self-righteousness about having triumphed through correctness, anger at one who we think was the source of the problem, or a desire to remain free of all difficulty in the future. None of these responses is appropriate to the situation at hand.
What is needed now is resoluteness: a firm commitment to continuing the battle for good and to the self-examination that makes all good things possible. This is not a time to lapse back into negative mental habits and enjoy the “vacation” provided by the breakthrough. Do not rest on your laurels, but push forward, deepening your inner strength and your resistance to the influence of inferiors, both in yourself and others.
Strengthen those around you by setting an example of self-improvement and self-correction. Great progress and good fortune are available now to one who makes proper use of the opening.
The I Ching, or Book of Changes
Hexagram 43, Kuai / Breakthrough (Resoluteness)
Forget all ideas
of accomplishing something —
in your practice and everywhere
else. Everything is already
accomplished.
If this sounds
like a tricky idea to you,
the flaw is in your understanding
of reality, not in reality
itself.
Allowing nature
to manifest is the way
of the Way. By setting aside
our ambitions and leaving
the Way to the Way,
we perfect the
Way.
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