Without thought,
without mind, without self,
there is only freedom. The direct,
reliable, and perfect means of
achieving this is to become
wholly absorbed in
the breath.
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We are all
wanderers in the Unknown.
Those who travel beside the Sage
are protected from
harm.
A person who travels as a stranger in a strange land is wise to display an attitude free of arrogance and belligerence. Otherwise he is liable to meet with trouble and find himself unable to survive it. With this hexagram the I Ching reminds us that we are all strangers in a strange land, wanderers in a vast and unknowable universe, obliged to act accordingly.
Think of how you would proceed if traveling alone in an unfamiliar country. You would be cautious and reserved, taking great care not to fall in with the wrong people or enter into dangerous places. You would be tolerant of others and generous toward them if a dispute arose, and you would be inclined to settle disagreements quickly to keep them from getting out of hand. You would rely on your attentiveness, your modest attitude, and your gentle manner to keep you out of harm’s way. The hexagram Lu comes to remind you that it is wise to travel through your entire life in this fashion.
Seek now to stay in quiet harmony with the Higher Power and to embody caution, modesty, and generosity in your actions. Do not drag out disagreements with others; conflict is a poison that grows more dangerous every minute you are in it. Do not depart from the path of humility and correct conduct; in doing so, you lose the protection of the Deity and risk misfortune. By continually seeking to serve the innocent and the good, you stay in step with the Sage and never wander alone in the world.
The I Ching, or Book of Changes
Hexagram 56, Lü / The Wanderer
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At all times just remain free and uninvolved. Never make any displays of clever tricks — be like a stolid simpleton in a village of three families. Then the gods will have no road on which to offer you flowers, and demons and outsiders will not be able to spy on you.
Be undefinable, and do not reveal any conspicuous signs of your special attainment. It should be as if you are there among myriad precious goods locked up securely and deeply hidden in a treasure house. With your face smeared with mud and ashes, join in the work of the common laborers, neither speaking out nor thinking.
Live your whole life so that no one can figure you out, while your spirit and mind are at peace. Isn’t this what it is to be imbued with the Way without any contrived or forced actions, a genuinely unconcerned person?
Among the enlightened adepts, being able to speak the Truth has nothing to do with the tongue, and being able to talk about the Dharma is not a matter of words.
🪷
In the morning
After taking cold shower
—-what a mistake—-
I look at the mirror.
There, a funny guy,
Grey hair, white beard, wrinkled skin,
—-what a pity—-
Poor, dirty, old man,
He is not me, absolutely not.
Land and life
Fishing in the ocean
Sleeping in the desert with stars
Building a shelter in the mountains
Farming the ancient way
Singing with coyotes
Singing against nuclear war—
I’ll never be tired of life.
Now I’m seventeen years old,
Very charming young man.
I sit quietly in lotus position,
Meditating, meditating for nothing.
Suddenly a voice comes to me:
“To stay young,
To save the world,
Break the mirror.”
We
have lost the
power even of imagining what
the ancient idealization of poverty could
have meant: the liberation from material attachments,
the unbribed soul, the manlier indifference, the paying our way
by what we are or do and not by what we have, the right to
fling away our life at any moment irresponsibly—
the more athletic trim, in short,
the moral fighting
shape.
