chris hondros, friend and hero
In conflict
it is better to be receptive
than aggressive, better to retreat
a foot than advance an inch. This is called
moving ahead without advancing, capturing the enemy
without attacking him. There is no greater misfortune
than underestimating your opponent. To
underestimate your opponent is
to forsake your three
treasures.
When opposing
forces are engaged in
conflict, the one who fights
with sorrow will
triumph.
Flow like pure water
through difficult situations.
The image of the hexagram K’an is that of water: water falling from the heavens, water coursing over the earth in streams, water collecting itself in pure and silent pools. This image is meant to teach us how to conduct ourselves in trying situations. If we flow through them, staying true to what is pure and innocent in ourselves, we escape danger and reach a place of quiet refuge and good fortune beyond.
K’an often appears to warn of a troubling time either drawing near or already at hand, and to counsel you not to fall into longing for an immediate and effortless solution to the trouble. When you become “emotionally ambitious” – when you cling to comfort and desire to be free of the currents of change in life – you block the Creative from resolving difficulties in your favor. What is necessary now is to accept the situation, to flow with it like water, to remain innocent and pure and sincere while the Higher Power works out a solution.
It is not that you should not act now; it is that you should not act out of frustration, anxiety, despair, or a desire to escape the situation. Instead, still yourself and look for the lesson hidden inside the difficulty. Correct your attitude until it is open, detached, and unstructured. Abandon your goals and stay on the path, where you proceed step by step, arm in arm, with the Sage.
Those whose hearts and minds are kept pure and innocent relate properly to all events, understand their cosmic meaning, and flow through them with the strength, clarity, and brilliance of pure water.
from The I Ching, or Book of Changes
Hexagram 29, K’an / The Abysmal (Water)
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Mindfulness is not just
watching things coming and going.
As the Buddha said, when mindfulness becomes a
governing principle in the mind, it sees things that are unskillful
and it works toward getting rid of them. It sees things that are
skillful and works toward giving rise to them. It actively
gets involved in making things arise and
making things pass away.
So you are taking sides
as you practice. Hopefully, you’re taking sides
with the right side – right view and all the way down
to right concentration – because it really
does make a difference.
set an example of self-improvement
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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When the level of concentration
on the void is gradually attained, one will feel
that he is free from delusion. Although he keeps himself
pure and rejects the impure, his mind is not yet
completely pure — it is as a sword that
has cut through mud and
remains uncleaned.
…When one reaches jen-wei, or
the level of absolute freedom, he is truly free.
His mind and body are non-attached to anything.
There is absolutely no gain and no loss. This mystery
is the way of non-differentiation. If one tried
to say even one word about it, he
would miss the point.