Just look right here.
Don’t seek transcendent enlightenment.
Just observe and observe: suddenly
you’ll laugh aloud.
Just look right here.
Don’t seek transcendent enlightenment.
Just observe and observe: suddenly
you’ll laugh aloud.
A lot
of unimportant inner
litter and bits and pieces have
to be swept out first. Even a small head
can be piled high inside with irrelevant distractions.
True, there may be edifying emotions and thoughts, too, but
the clutter is ever present. So let this be the aim of the meditation:
to turn one’s innermost being into a vast empty plain, with none
of that treacherous undergrowth to impede the view. So that
something of “God” can enter you, and something of “Love,”
too. Not the kind of love-de-luxe that you can revel in
deliciously for half an hour, taking pride in
how sublime you feel, but the love
you can apply to small,
everyday things.
…
Looked
at Japanese prints
with Glassner this afternoon.
That’s how I want to write. With that much
space round a few words. They should simply emphasize
the silence. Just like that print with the sprig of blossom in the
lower corner. A few delicate brush strokes—but with what attention
to the smallest detail—and all around it space, not empty but inspired.
The few great things that matter in life can be said in a few words.
If I should ever write—but what?—I would like to brush in a
few words against a wordless background. To describe
the silence and the stillness and to inspire them.
What matters is the right relationship between
words and wordlessness, the wordlessness
in which much more happens than
in all the words one can
string together.
The mind
can go in a thousand
directions, but on this beautiful
path, I walk in peace. With each step,
the wind blows. With each step,
a flower blooms.
Simplicity is something
that our fundamental nature inherently
possesses. If we prepare in advance and nurture it
within ourselves, then wherever we happen to be, whether in
wealth and high rank, or poverty and low status, in foreign lands,
or in difficult circumstances, we deal with whatever situation we
are in by retaining our simplicity there. It is not increased
when we do great deeds or reduced when we are
dwelling in obscurity. Wherever we go,
we are at peace, because we have
found simplicity.
When people
find one thing beautiful,
another consequently becomes ugly.
When one man is held up as good,
another is judged
deficient.
Similarly, being and
non-being balance each other;
difficult and easy define each other;
long and short illustrate each other;
high and low rest upon each other;
voice and song meld into harmony;
what is to come follows upon
what has been.
The wise person
acts without effort and teaches
by quiet example. She accepts things as they
come, creates without possessing, nourishes without
demanding, accomplishes without taking credit.
Because she constantly forgets herself,
she is never forgotten.
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A change in attitude
delivers you from
difficulties.
The hexagram Hsieh signals the beginning of a deliverance from danger, tensions, and difficulty. The I Ching instructs you here on both the cause of deliverance and how you must act in order to fully benefit from it.
Deliverance is always caused by a change in our attitude. The Higher Power uses conflicts and obstacles to teach us lessons that we refuse to learn in an easier way, but they only darken our doorstep until we have acknowledged the lesson. So long as we ignore or resist difficulty it remains our constant companion; as soon as we accept its presence as a sign that some self-correction is needed, our deliverance begins. Truly, the only way to dispel trouble and regain peace of mind is to change our attitude.
The I Ching also teaches us that we have several responsibilities once our deliverance begins. The first is to forgive the misdeeds of others. The image of the hexagram is that of a powerful rainstorm washing away what is unclean. This, then, is a time to clean every slate and begin anew, meeting others halfway with gentleness and patience.
Next, we are advised to restore our inner balance and see that it is maintained. Deliverance offers us a return to equanimity, and we must avail ourselves of the opportunity conscientiously. Finally, we are counseled not to try to force progress, even though the time is beneficial. If we have truly changed our attitude, we have become detached, innocent, modest, and accepting. In this state we allow progress to unfold naturally according to the will of the Sage.
from The I Ching, or Book of Changes
Hexagram 40, Hsieh / Deliverance
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