when times of great difficulty visit
The Ultimate Way
is without difficulty; just
avoid picking and
choosing.
Posts Tagged → way
subtle wonder within mysterious darkness
Tao is beyond words
and beyond understanding.
Words may be used to speak of
it, but they cannot
contain it.
Tao existed before
words and names, before heaven and earth,
before the ten thousand things. It is the unlimited
father and mother of all limited things. Therefore, to see
beyond all boundaries to the subtle heart of things,
dispense with names, with concepts,
with expectations and ambitions
and differences.
Tao and its many manifestations
arise from the same source: subtle wonder
within mysterious darkness. This
is the beginning of all
understanding.
🦋
This reality
cannot be covered by the skies
or held up by the earth. Space cannot contain it.
It abides within all sentient beings and is the support
on which all of them rest. It has always been
clean and naked. There is nowhere
it does not pervade.
🐞
wait with a proper attitude
To wait with
a proper attitude invites
the assistance of the
Higher Power.
There is
a situation at hand that
cannot be corrected by force or
external effort. The Creative will provide
the solution to one who waits with a correct
attitude. This is a time for patience
and careful attention to
inner truth.
Do not
give in to doubt and
agitation now. You are not meant
to wait in a state of desperate longing but
in one of patient inner strength. Without certainty
in the power of the truth, success is impossible.
Attempts to force a change, rather than
allowing it to mature naturally,
will only cause
misfortune.
You would be
wise to strengthen and reaffirm
your reliance on the Creative. When you indulge in
fear and doubt, you flood the arena where the Higher Power
is attempting to work. Your principal responsibility in life
is to keep this arena—your own consciousness—
free of negative influences.
By accepting things
as they are and not making fruitless
comparisons to the situations of others or some
imagined ideal, one engages the power of the Creative.
If one remains balanced, modest, and
independent, good fortune will
come to hand.
from The I Ching, or Book of Changes
Maintaining
quiet awareness from
moment to moment, you’ll see
that your enlightenment is not separate
from the ordinary world but one with it.
It doesn’t come from some distance to
get to you and it doesn’t go away
when you stop attending to it.
Make awareness continuous,
though, and it will
surround
you.
You
can now buy
Wei wu Wei Ching as part of a
five-app bundle of Taoist classics
for iPhone or iPad for less than
the cost of one hardcover
book.
what is needed now is resoluteness
A breakthrough.
Do not be drawn back
into bad habits.
The arrival of the hexagram Kuai indicates that a long-awaited change is at hand. A difficulty that has oppressed you over a long period is now about to dissolve. It is important to respond in the proper way.
There is a temptation on obtaining relief to fall into the traps of the ego: pride at having dispersed the trouble, self-righteousness about having triumphed through correctness, anger at one who we think was the source of the problem, or a desire to remain free of all difficulty in the future. None of these responses is appropriate to the situation at hand.
What is needed now is resoluteness: a firm commitment to continuing the battle for good and to the self-examination that makes all good things possible. This is not a time to lapse back into negative mental habits and enjoy the “vacation” provided by the breakthrough. Do not rest on your laurels, but push forward, deepening your inner strength and your resistance to the influence of inferiors, both in yourself and others.
Strengthen those around you by setting an example of self-improvement and self-correction. Great progress and good fortune are available now to one who makes proper use of the opening.
from The I Ching, or Book of Changes
Hexagram 43, Kuai / Breakthrough (Resoluteness)
ebooks & apps of the Tao the Ching, I Ching,
Wei wu Wei Ching, Hua hu Ching, and
Art of War for iPad/Phone, Kindle,
You
can now buy
the I Ching as part of a
five-app bundle of Taoist classics
for iPhone or iPad for less than
the cost of one hardcover
book.
quietude whatever you are doing
Return the mind
to quietude whatever you are doing,
not imagining what is yet to come and not thinking
about what has already passed. After a long time at this, spirit and
energy merge, feelings and objects are forgotten; spirit solidifies,
energy congeals, and there is just one breath in the belly,
revolving without going out or in.
This is called womb
breathing.