Tagore says:
‘When the string of the violin
was being tuned it felt the pain of being
stretched, but once it was tuned then it knew why it
was stretched’. So it is with the human soul. While the soul
goes through pain, torture and trouble it thinks that it would
have been much better if it had gone through life without
it. But once it reaches the culmination of it then,
when it looks back, it begins to realize why
all this was meant: it was only meant
to tune the soul to a
certain pitch.
Restrain your speech.
An active tongue betrays a restless
mind. Tranquility on every
level is advised.
5th changing line,
from The I Ching, or Book of Changes
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It is
an unavoidable fact
of life that inferior influences
sometimes prevail: improperly motivated
people ascend to power, there is injustice and conflict
and poverty, and spiritual life in general descends into darkness
and decay. While these difficult times are inevitable — and the arrival
of this hexagram indicates that this is such a time — this does
not mean that we have to stagnate personally as well.
By turning inward and realigning ourselves
with proper principles, we initiate
the return to light, truth
and progress.
The image
of P’i is of heaven
moving away from the earth.
When this happens, the inferior qualities
in ourselves and in others come to the surface and
seek expression. It is unlikely now that you can affect what
others do and say or that your activities will bear much fruit. While
it is natural to feel anxious and disappointed about this state of
affairs, it is essential to disengage from these inferior
emotions now. To indulge in them is to
abandon your superior self and
plunge into a state of
disintegration.
What is
wise now is to accept
that external progress is unlikely.
Turn your attention inward and examine your
own thoughts and attitudes for inferior influences
and departures from the principles of the Sage.
By withdrawing into solitude and refining
your higher nature, you continue
to grow while all else around
you stagnates.
The I Ching, or Book of Changes
Hexagram 12, P’i Standstill (Stagnation)
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Hua hu Ching, and Art of War for
You
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book.
Can what happened to you
stop you from being fair, high-minded,
moderate, conscientious, unhasty, honest, moral,
self-reliant, and so on — from possessing all the qualities that,
when present, enable a man’s nature to be fulfilled? So then,
whenever something happens that might cause you
distress, remember to rely on this principle:
this is not bad luck, but bearing it
valiantly is good luck.
