You’re bound to
become a buddha if you practice.
If water drips long enough, even rocks wear through.
It’s not true thick skulls can’t be pierced;
people just imagine their
minds are hard.
Posts Tagged → oneness
the truth that never comes from reading words
The way is difficult
and very intricate. Lalla discarded her
books that told about it, and through meditation
saw the truth that never comes to anyone
from reading words.
catch sight of it right where you are
Now is the time
to apply effort toward the Path
every moment, without your mind wavering
or your attention faltering. Catch sight of it right where
you are. When you reach the point where not a single
thought is born and before and after are cut off,
you will suddenly penetrate through
to freedom.
the origin and extinction of things
Things fundamentally
have no origin and presently have
no extinction; there is no more to speak.
As soon as you speak, this is origination;
and if you don’t speak, this
is extinction.
a time for disengagement and retreat
This is a time for
disengagement and retreat.
In stillness you are out
of the reach of
danger.
It is inherent in the design of life that forces of darkness and disruption come into prominence from time to time. This hexagram indicates that this is such a time and advises you to respond by quietly retreating. To struggle or resist in anger now is to add fuel to the fire of negativity which threatens to consume you.
The superior person accepts that there is a natural ebb and flow between the forces of light and dark in the world. Wisdom lies not in resisting these movements but in responding to them appropriately. Just as a plant which sprouts in the dead of winter is doomed, and one which sprouts in spring flourishes, so it is with us. Success and prosperity accrue to those who advance in times of light and retreat in times of darkness. To retreat now is to benefit, in the end, from the changing tides.
Retreat is not the same thing as surrender, capitulation, or abandonment, which are desperate and unsatisfying measures. Neither is it characterized by a hardening into angry or punitive emotions. It is instead an acceptance and a choice: we calmly accept that the energies of the moment are against us, and we wisely choose to withdraw into the safety of stillness. In this dignified and balanced manner we protect ourselves from negative influences and arrive rested in a more beneficial hour.
from The I Ching, or Book of Changes
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