Die
the great death,
and in the cool ashes of the
funeral pyre you will
meet what never
dies.
How is
this accomplished?
By letting go of thoughts,
sacrificing all sentiment,
abandoning emotion,
ignoring the
senses.
Solitary,
transcendent, unseeking,
absorbed in stillness and doing
non-doing, you will find that
the universe comes
to you.
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Milarepa,
the twelfth-century Tibetan
yogi who sang wonderful songs about
the proper way to meditate, said that the mind
has more projections than there are dust motes in a
sunbeam and that even hundreds of spears couldn’t put
an end to that. As meditators we might as well stop struggling
against our thoughts and realize that honesty and humor
are far more inspiring and helpful than any
kind of solemn religious striving
for or against
anything.
To lead others toward
the good, one must purify
one’s own character.
The I Ching teaches that the world cannot move toward harmony and well-being unless human beings act in unison to further what is good and true. Our power as individuals is multiplied when we gather together as families, groups, and communities with common goals. It is our collective strength that makes positive change possible in the world. However, the tremendous power of human collectives must be directed by a qualified leader. The hexagram Ts’ui encourages you to develop your character into that of a leader.
Before a person may gather others together to achieve good, he must first gather together within himself proper principles. A leader who is not balanced and collected within himself will always be suspected by his followers, and in the hour when he needs them most, they will hesitate. Therefore the first task of the potential leader is to accumulate in his own character all that is good and true and correct.
In a very real sense the progress of the world depends upon your thoughts as an individual now. Concentrate, then, on examining and correcting your thoughts, attitudes, and actions. Improve yourself into the kind of person you yourself would follow wholeheartedly and without hesitation. Learn to accept the natural progress that occurs when you act in harmony with proper principles, and seek no progress at the expense of those principles. Train yourself to avoid misfortunes by anticipating them in advance.
By purifying your character in this way and clinging steadfastly to higher things, you lead yourself and others toward well-being and good fortune.
from The I Ching, or Book of Changes
Hexagram 45 / Ts’ui (Gathering Together)
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If you wish
to bring the two matters
of birth and death to conclusion,
and pass directly beyond the triple-world,
you must penetrate the koan “This
very mind is Buddha.”
Tell me:
What is its principle?
How is it that this very mind
is Buddha? And “this very
mind” — just what is
it like?
Investigate it coming. Investigate it going.
Investigate it thoroughly and exhaustively.
All you have to do is keep this koan
constantly in your thoughts.
Look not at the
outward situation but at the
effects of your own thoughts and
actions. Through self-contemplation
and self-correction you arrive at a
proper understanding.
third changing line,
The I Ching, or Book of Changes
Hexagram 20, Kuan / Contemplation
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