this world is open sky and dustbin

be free from concerns

This world

is an open sky and also a dustbin,

giving life to some and death to others;

the outcomes are not controlled

by this world.

Press

your finger into the world

and put it to your nose. You may smell

sweetness, or you may smell dung.

Discernment is possible in

these matters.

True hearts

stay awake if love is possible. The

others have no need for beauty, nor hope of

it. If you are holding gold in your hand,

don’t imagine ways to turn it

into mud.

Bahauddin, father of Rumi

the drowned book

☯️

The Old Fool wears

second-hand clothes and fills his belly

with tasteless food, mends holes to make a

cover against the cold, and thus the myriad affairs

of life, according to what comes, are done. Scolded, the

Old Fool merely says, “Fine.” Struck, the Old Fool falls

down to sleep. “Spit on my face, I just let it dry;

I save strength and energy and give you no

affliction.” Paramita is his style; he

gains the jewel within.

Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch

🪷

Forget the body.

Let go of sensations

and obsessions and objects.

Do non-doing to the point that thoughts

cease to arise. Releasing mental constructs and

emotional entanglements, you’ll begin

to flow as a sage. Then let go

of that notion on top

of everything

else.

Wei wu Wei Ching, Chapter 15

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the lion that was vic chesnutt, may he rest in peace

darkness reigns in the external world

a darkness as much of the womb as the grave

Darkness reigns

in the external world now.

Disengage from negative feelings

and maintain your inner

light.

This is a time when darkness and inferior energies surround you. The image is that of the sun completely swallowed by the earth. The only light left is that inside your own heart, and you are counseled to return to it, maintain it, and quietly nourish yourself with it.

It is in dark moments that a correct attitude is most important. If we fight against the darkness, we are swallowed by it and suffer great misfortune. If we react to the lack of visible progress with despair and negativity, we extinguish our own inner light and block the aid of the Creative. If we try to persuade others that they must return to the light, we exhaust ourselves in vain now.

In a time such as this is it wise to adopt a stance of outer disengagement and inner perseverance. Do not focus on or interact with the negative influences around you; this only strengthens their grip on you. Step aside, yield, let go, allow people and events to pass without attachment. Direct your attentions inside to your inner light, your devotion to what is right, your conversation with the Higher Power.

Progress may be slow, but there will indeed by progress. Remember that much of the work of the Higher Power is hidden from us, and that we enable and assist it by remaining detached, accepting, and reserved in the face of negative influences.

from The I Ching, or Book of Changes

Hexagram 36, Ming I / Darkening of the Light

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