the transition from chaos to order

konrad wothe

 

The transition

from chaos to order depends

upon your achieving true

inner calm.

 

The image of this hexagram is that of spring, a time when the darkness and decay of winter are about to give way to the light and plenty of summer. The transition is not yet complete; here it depends upon you strengthening your clarity, calm, and conscientiousness.

Wei Chi often comes as an indication that we have not yet achieved a genuine inner equanimity. As long as we respond to outer pressures with our egos—by worrying, desiring, or becoming aggressive—we cannot attain a successful repose. The I Ching reminds us now to abandon the hysterics of the ego in favor of acceptance, modesty, and inner balance.

Wei Chi denotes a time of great responsibility. In a very real sense it can be said that the state of the world depends upon your thoughts and conduct now. The external world will only come into order if the inner world has done so. Therefore, seek now to correct whatever in your self is at odds with the principles of the Sage.

Quiet your ego, make humility and acceptance your primary goals, and move forward like a fox walking on ice: cautiously, deliberately, and gently. By persevering in what is true and good you build the foundation upon which good fortune can come to rest.

 

from The I Ching, or Book of Changes

Hexagram 64, Wei Chi / Before Completion

 

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agitated effort is not necessary

oneness

 

If you go

searching for the Great Creator,

you will come back empty-handed.

The source of the universe is ultimately

unknowable, a great invisible river

flowing forever through a vast

and fertile valley. Silent and

uncreated, it creates

all things.

 

All things

are brought forth from  the

 subtle realm into the manifest world

by the mystical intercourse of yin and yang.

The dynamic river yang pushes forward,

the still valley yin is receptive, and

through their integration things

come into existence. This is

known as the Great

Tai Chi.

 

Tai chi

is the integral truth

of the universe. Everything is

a tai chi: your body, the cosmic body,

form, appearance, wisdom, energy, the unions

of people, the dispersal of time and places.

Each brings itself into existence through

the integration of yin and yang,

maintains itself, and disperses

itself without the direction

of any creator.

 

Your creation,

your self-transformation, the

accumulation of energy and wisdom,

the decline and cessation of your body:

all these take place by themselves

within the subtle operation

of the universe.

 

Therefore

agitated effort is

not necessary. Just be

aware of the Great

Tai Chi.

 

Hua hu Ching, Chapter 39

 

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make enlightenment your standard


 
Fundamentally, this great light is there with each and every person right where they stand — empty clear through, spiritually aware, all-pervasive, it is called the scenery of the fundamental ground.

Sentient beings and buddhas are both inherently equipped with it. It is perfectly fluid and boundless, fusing everything within it. It is within your own heart and is the basis of your physical body and of the five clusters of form, sensation, conception, motivational synthesis, and consciousness. It has never been defiled or stained, and its fundamental nature is still and silent.

False thoughts suddenly arise and cover it over and block it off and confine it within the six sense faculties and sense objects. Sense faculties and sense objects are paired off, and you get stuck and begin clinging and getting attached. You grasp at all the various objects and scenes, and produce all sorts of false thoughts, and sink down into the toils of birth and death, unable to gain liberation.

All the buddhas and ancestral teachers awakened to this true source and penetrated clear through to the fundamental basis. They took pity on all the sentient beings sunken in the cycle of birth and death and were inspired by great compassion, so they appeared in the world precisely for this reason. It was also for this reason that Bodhidharma came from the West with special practice outside of doctrine.

The most important thing is for people of great faculties and sharp wisdom to turn the light of mind around and shine back and clearly awaken to this mind before a single thought is born. This mind can produce all world-transcending and worldly phenomena. When it is forever stamped with enlightenment, your inner heart is independent and transcendent and brimming over with life. As soon as you rouse your conditioned mind and set errant thoughts moving, then you have obscured the fundamental clarity. 

If you want to pass through easily and directly right now, just let your body and mind become thoroughly empty, so it is vacant and silent yet aware and luminous. Inwardly, forget all your conceptions of self, and outwardly, cut off all sensory defilements. When inside and outside are clear all the way through, there is just one true reality. 

…Let no one be deluded about cause and effect. You must realize that the causal basis of hell and heaven is all formed by your own inherent mind. 

You must keep this mind balanced and equanimous, without deluded ideas of self and others, without arbitrary loves and hates, without grasping or rejecting, without notions of gain and loss. Go on gradually nurturing this for a long time, perhaps twenty or thirty years. Whether you encounter favorable or adverse conditions, do not retreat or regress — then when you come to the juncture between life and death, you will naturally be set free and be not afraid. As the saying goes, “Truth requires sudden awakening, but the phenomenal level calls for gradual cultivation.”

I often see those who are trying to study Buddhism just use their worldly intelligence to sift among the verbal teachings of the buddhas and ancestral teacher, trying to pick out especially wondrous sayings to use as conversation pieces to display their ability and understanding. This is not the correct view of the matter. You must abandon your world view and sit quietly with mind silent. Forget entangling causes and investigate with your whole being. When you are thoroughly clear, then whatever you bring forth from your own inexhaustible treasure of priceless jewels is sure to be genuine and real.

So first you must awaken to the Fundamental and clearly see the essence where mind equals buddha. Detach from all false entanglements and become free and clean. After that respectfully practice all forms of good, and arouse great compassion to bring benefits to all sentient beings. In all that you do, be even and balanced and attuned to the inherent equality of all things — be selfless and have no attachments. When wondrous wisdom manifests itself and you penetrate through to the basic essence, all your deeds will be wonder-working. Thus it is said, “Just manage to accept the truth — you won’t be deceived.”

Make enlightenment your standard, and don’t feel bad if it is slow in coming. Take care!
 

Yuanwu

zen letters

🪷

 

forget all about yourself

kodo sawaki roshi

 

Concentration is not

to try hard to watch something.

In zazen, if you try to look at one spot,

you will be tired in about five minutes. This is

not concentration. Concentration means freedom.

So, your effort should be directed at nothing. You should

be concentrated on nothing. In zazen practice we say that

your mind should be concentrated on your breathing,

but the way to keep your mind concentrated

on your breathing is to forget all about

yourself and just to sit and feel

your breathing.

 

…If you

continue this practice,

eventually you will experience the

true existence which comes

from emptiness.

 

Shunryu Suzuki