The purpose
and result of quietly
observing the self is to forget
the self. When the mind is seen for
what it is and fascination with
its activities dissipates,
reality, which was
always present,
appears.
It is at
this point that we
understand that nothing
is problematic and life
becomes thoroughly
enjoyable.
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She
who is filled with
goodness is like a newborn child:
wasps and snakes will not bite it, fierce
beasts will not attack it, birds of
prey will not pounce
on it.
Its
bones are soft
and its muscles weak,
but its grip is firm. It hasn’t yet
known the union of male and female,
yet its organ stirs with vitality.
It can howl all day without
becoming hoarse,
so perfect is its
harmony.
To
know harmony is to
know the eternal. To know
the eternal is to be
inspired.
Prolonging
life is not harmonious.
Coercing the breath is unnatural.
Things which are overdeveloped must
decay. All this is contrary to Tao,
and whatever is contrary
to Tao soon ceases
to be.
from The Tao te Ching of Lao Tzu,
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Give proper nourishment
to yourself and
others.
The image of this hexagram is that of an open mouth. It comes to remind us that the nourishment of our bodies and spirits is important and merits our conscientious attention.
The I Ching teaches us that if we wish to gauge someone’s character, we should notice what he nourishes in himself and in others. Those who cultivate inferior behaviors and relationships are inferior people; those who cultivate superior qualities in themselves and others are superior people. This is a test that we should apply to ourselves as well as to others.
What you put into your body is obviously important. Because it determines your fundamental physical well-being, it is wise to be moderate and thoughtful about the food you eat. What you put into your mind is even more significant, and regulating it is a more subtle art. This hexagram gives us three-part advice on that subject.
The first counsel is that we should not feed our minds on desire. When we forego our equanimity and begin to desire something or someone, a host of other inferior influences comes into play: we become ambitious about obtaining the object of our desire; we become fearful that we will not; if we do achieve it our ego is gratified and strengthened and it soon issues another demand for us to meet. A self-reinforcing cycle of negativity is thus created. Therefore it is wise to hold yourself free from desire.
The second counsel is that we begin and continue in a regular practice of meditation. Sitting quietly with our eyes closed for even as little as ten or fifteen minutes a day begins to “clear the waste” out of our hearts and minds, making room for the nourishment of peace and wisdom to enter in. To sit in meditation is tune your ear to the voice of the Sage, and it is the most powerful way of gaining his assistance.
The final counsel is that we observe tranquility in speech, thoughts, and actions. By cultivating calm and equanimity in all that you say, think, and do, you nourish your superior self and that of those around you. One who follows these three counsels now will meet with good fortune.
from The I Ching, or Book of Changes
Hexagram 27 / Providing Nourishment
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You must keep this
mind balanced and equanimous,
without deluded ideas of self and others,
without arbitrary loves and hates, without grasping
or rejecting, without notions of gain and loss.
Go on gradually nurturing this for
a long time, perhaps twenty
or thirty years.
Whether you encounter
favorable or adverse conditions,
do not retreat or regress — then when you
come to the juncture between life and death,
you will naturally be set free and be not afraid.
As the saying goes, “Truth requires sudden
awakening, but the phenomenal
level calls for gradual
cultivation.”
Why
wait around for
a teacher? Pick up a staff
and knock the sense out of
yourself, so you can
enter eternity.
The ancestors
are everywhere around you,
offering the silent light of truth.
Put down what you’re doing with
your mind and pick up that up.
Do non-doing, and you’ll
inherit the whole
universe.
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