Do not turn your back
when you are needed. The superior
person exercises his higher nature now,
saving not only himself but
others around him.
sixth changing line
Hexagram 39, Chien / Obstruction
The I Ching, or Book of Changes
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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.
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In the
very center of each
of us there dwells an innocent
and divine spirit. If we allow ourselves to
be guided by it in every situation, we can never
go wrong. Wu Wang comes to remind us that
we must actively disengage our egos
before we can obtain the vast
rewards that come from
living in a state of
innocence.
The nature
of the ego is that when
we exercise it, it takes us out
of the present. When we engage in
ambitions, anxieties, or anticipations,
our ego is skipping ahead, and we miss the
guidance of the Creative in the present moment.
When we engage in anger, judgment, and condemnation —
whether toward ourselves or others — our ego is looking
backward, and we cannot see the Sage’s clear solution
to the present situation. In either case, the result is
misfortune. Only by stilling the ego and accepting
life in its entirety can we become innocent.
In this state we are receptive to the
help of the Higher Power and
can meet with good fortune
wherever we go.
You are
advised now to stop
looking forward and backward,
to abandon your ambitions, to disengage
from judgments and critical thinking. If a thought,
attitude, or action is not in accord with the principles of
acceptance, equanimity, humility, and gentleness,
do not indulge in it. The I Ching encourages you
to actively practice innocence. Because
the ego is strong, you must make a
conscious and conscientious
effort to be innocent.
If you
willfully unstructure
your attitude, open your heart
to the Deity, and allow yourself to be
guided by that which is innocent
and pure, you will meet with
success in the coming
time.
The I Ching, or Book of Changes
Hexagram 25, Wu Wang / Innocence (The Unexpected)
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every ongoing prayer for the mighty soul of rory young
Calming
your mind, following
your breath, simplifying your life,
you reduce agitation and worry
with each passing
month.
When
genuine stillness
pervades your existence,
the subtle universe appears.
Then you can go anywhere you
like and give yourself
just what you
need.
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book.
While some blame
another for causing him harm,
the wise one first takes
himself to task.
The worldly struggle is outward struggle. The struggle on the spiritual path is inward struggle. No sooner does one take the spiritual direction than the first enemy one meets is one’s own self. What does the self do? It is most mischievous. When one says one wants to fight it, it says, ‘I am yourself. Do you want to fight me?’ And when it brings failure, it is clever enough to put the blame on someone else.
Do all those who have failed in life accuse themselves? No, they always accuse another person. When they have gained something they say, ‘I have done it.’ When they have lost something they say, ‘This person got in my way’. With little and big things, it is all the same. The self does not admit faults; it always puts the blame on others. Its vanity, its pride, its smallness, and its egotistical tendency which is continually active, keep one blind.
By a study of life the Sufi learns and practices the nature of its harmony. He establishes harmony with the self, with others, with the universe and with the infinite. He identifies himself with another, he sees himself, so to speak, in every other being. He cares for neither blame nor praise, considering both as coming from himself.
If a person were to drop a heavy weight and in so doing hurt his own foot, he would not blame his hand for having dropped it, realizing himself in both the hand and the foot. In like manner the Sufi is tolerant when harmed by another, thinking that the harm has come from himself alone.
He overlooks the faults of others, considering that they know no better. He hides the faults of others, and suppresses any facts that would cause disharmony. His constant fight is with the Nafs (the self-centered ego), the root of all disharmony and the only enemy of man.
The mystic develops a wider outlook on life, and this wider outlook changes his actions. He develops a point of view that may be called a divine point of view. Then he rises to the state in which he feels that all that is done to him comes from God, and when he himself does right or wrong, he feels that he does right or wrong to God. To arrive at such a stage is true religion. There can be no better religion than this, the true religion of God on earth. This is the point of view that makes a person God-like and divine. He is resigned when badly treated, but for his own shortcomings, he will take himself to task, for all his actions are directed towards God.
