meet difficulty with gentleness

Through

openness and gentleness

the correct solution is

reached.

Arriving at the correct solution to a difficult situation requires a receptivity to inner truth. Unless we are willing to put aside the strong emotions of our egos and devote ourselves to discovering what is right, there can be no hope of progress at this time. Help only comes when we invite it with a sincere and innocent attitude.

The I Ching teaches a simple but effective method of influencing difficult people and arduous situations. It advises us first to lay aside our prejudices – our feelings of being wounded, angry, or in the right – and second to seek to understand the positions of others and the lesson that the Sage is teaching us with the situation. Even when another is truly out of line, it is only be accepting this and remaining balanced that you make it possible for positive change to occur. Gentleness and understanding create in others an unconscious willingness to be led.

The superior person therefore avoids the use of anger and force in trying times, knowing that they only prolong conflict. It is far wiser to accept that each experience we have is necessary for us to learn something about ourselves and about the higher laws of life. The greatest openings come when we meet difficulty with acceptance, gentleness, and a desire to understand the lesson underneath.

from The I Ching, or Book of Changes

Hexagram 61 / Chung Fu (Inner Truth)

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the perfect means of achieving freedom

sky clouds swimmer

just breathe

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.

Wei wu Wei Ching, Chapter 16

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we are all strangers in a strange land

jan l. waldron

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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remain free and uninvolved

papaji

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.

Yuanwu

zen letters

🪷