I Ching - O Livro das Mutações - Cont

20 Observing earth below, wind above

Observing, having washed the hands but not presented the offering, there is sincerity that is reverent.

... overseeing the people benevolently and being admired by them. ... helping people by influencing them rightly and being trusted by everyone. ... this means that progressive cultivation to cut off delusion requires the use of subtle observation.

Observing the spiritual way of heaven, the four seasons are orderly. Sages use the spiritual way to establish education, and all the world accepts. ... That wich is sacred and unknowable is called spiritual.

The spirit is truthfulness, truthfulness is sincerity, sincerity is the heart of humanity. The heart of humanity is basically harmonious, docile, balanced, and upright; mind impresses mind, so there is spontaneous acceptance without the need to present and offering.

... "the great observed" refers to the suble observation of the absolute; "on hight" refers to transcendence of all unenlightened states of mind. "Harmonious" means not deviating from essential nature, and being omnipresent in all phenomena. "Balance" means not falling into either extreme of samsara or nirvana; "rectitude" means simultaneous awareness of the ultimate truth and the conventional truth, without missing anything.

The "spiritual way of heaven" is inherent virtue, which includes the four qualities of eternity, happiness, selfhood, and purity; like the four seasons, these are orderly.

... the ancient buddhas examined the "regions" of possible experience and observed the people in various states of being, then set up various teachings to accommodate them, just as the wind travels over the earth reaching everywhere.

Those who are weak and lowly cannot see far, so they are ignorant like children. When undeveloped people are like children, this is not considered bad, but if developed people are like children, there is no way to govern nations and bring peace to earth.

The path of developed people is to cultivate themselves seriously and to regard the faults of others as their own.

To interpret the six lines in terms of contemplating mind;

the first represents ideal buddhahood, which is like being a child, without knowledge.

The second represents intellectual buddhahood, which is like a woman without real wisdom.

The third represents contemplative buddhahood, wich is just observing one's own mind.

The four represents semblance buddhahood, close to the real state.

The fifth represents partial realization of buddhahood, helping oneself and helping others.

The top line represents ultimate buddhahood, not grasping nirvana, observing all beings in the cosmos, manifesting compassion and innocence.

Idem

I Ching - O Livro das Mutações - cont.

2 Earth earth below, earth above Cont.

... like the Earth receiving the communications of Heaven, like the wife following her husband,... if knowledge and insight lack meditation and concentration, then one cannot fulfill self-help and help for others;

Heaven and Earth transform; ... if concentration and insight are capable of transformation, then people of various capacities each receive nutrition and are able to grow.

Leaders comprehend design in a centered and balanced way. While in the correct state, they maintain their bodies. When there is beauty therein, it rises in their limbs ans comes out in their work. This is the consummation of beauty.

... teaching is carried out through psychological assessment, appropriate instruction, and practical demonstration.

...Heaven is dark and Earth is yellow. Both Yin and Yang are based on the absolute, so they are based on the same substance; how can they doubt each other and battle?... Just when Yin is full, it battles Yang, so it is as if were no Yang; ... The blood is said to be dark yellow because it represents the point of movement, on the verge of chance, so "dark" and "yellow" are mixed. After the change has settled, Heaven is dark and Earth is yellow, and there cannot be mixed up.

If the leaders doubt the people, the people will doubt the leaders, and both will be harmed.... even if there is confusion and delusion, the truth always remains- there can be no mixup. ... Only for those who do not realize inherent good and inherent evil, affirmation and denial oppose each other, producing circular arguments and inevitable battle.

Once good and evil oppose each other, then both are already contaminated; therefore this fact is referred to as "blood", to show that people caught up in contests of "good" and "evil" have not left the ranks of those caught up in the mundane whirl of birth and death.

When good and evil oppose and overthrow each other, this is because of not having realized that the substance of their subtle essential nature is one,...

... the higher development of mind is an endless mystery; physical life on earth succeeds through balance. These cannot be changed.

Good and evil are not the same, yet they are the same in being of one essential nature,... Heaven and Earth are not the same, yet are the same one absolute. Also it is like the way the images in a mirror, beautiful and ugly, are not the same, yet it is the same one mirror.

If you know the sameness underlying dissimilarity, then you will surely not create battles by opposing differences to each other for their mutual elimination.

Idem

I Ching - O Livro das Mutações - cont

2 Earth earth below, earth above Cont.

... if we considerer Heaven to be the main practices and Earth the auxiliary practices, then the six lines of Earth represent the six ways of transcendence.

Giving is like treading on ice;

Discipline is like being "upright, straight, great". ... living according to orderly and harmonious patterns of conduct. ... embodying good ways... concern for all beings.

Patience is ... the greatest of strength.

Energy is... so that no truth shall escape one.

Meditation concentration is like wearing a "yellow lower garment", because the subtle concentration of central balance pervades the realm of realities.

Wisdom is like a dragon at war, because it destroys predatory passions.

Pure flexibility in correct balance is the epitome of harmonious adaptability.

Accurate attention to reality as it is is upright - this is the body of concentration. Goodness without lack is straight - this is the manifestation of concentration. Far-reaching virtue is great - this is the function of concentration.

If you grasp realization, you will fall into the states of those who opt for individual liberation; though they cannot be blamed for samsara, still they cannot be praised for helping others. If we can be mindful of the vow to help all beings, and not grasp as smallscale realization, then individual liberation will not harm the process of universal liberation.

Yellow is the color associated with the center, the qualitiy of the leader; ... since yellow is a symbol of the center.

Beautification with concentration and wisdom is called "culture". The totality of culture is in nature, so "the culture is in the center".

When good is consummate, then cutting off evil must come to an end; when evil is consummate, then cutting off good must come to an end.

Ascetics practicing step-by-step meditation who fall into uninterrupted hell all use concentration exclusively, not knowing how to balance it with wisdom; therefore they reach an impasse like this.

... it is beneficial to always be correct.

The written statement says: Earth is utterly soft, yet its movement is also firm; it is utterly quiet, yet its quality is straight. By following, it gains direction and has constancy. it embraces myriad beings and enlightens. The path of Earth is obedience, being receptive to the communications of Heaven and acting on them according to the time.

Without knowledge and wisdom, one cannot truly meditate,...

In Buddhist terms, good actions are good, bad actions are not good; noncontamination is good, contamination is not good; helping others is good, just helping oneself is not good; central balance is good, extremism is not good; complete balance is good, mere relative balance is not good. ... if the good controls what is not good, then what is not good is made good.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and it is necessary to make an early clarification of how to take that single step correctly.

Leaders make themselves upright within by sincerity, make themselves outwardly straight by justice.

Idem

I Ching - O Livro das Mutações - cont.

2 Earth earth below, earth above

Stability and correctness bode well.

Earth means receptivity, docility.

In the sky, it is shade; on the ground, it is softness.

In people, it is humaneness.

In the essential nature of consciousness, it is tranquillity.

In cultivation, it is practice of stopping the mind.

In the material world, it is support.

In the physical body, it is abdomen and the organs it contains.

In the home, it is the wife.

In a country, it is the ministers.

First it is necessary to use Heaven knowledge to open up round understanding; then use this Earth practice to develop and complete this understanding. ... Just follow knowledge and then apply it; then you will find the "director" and get the advantage of direction. This is like the eyes and the feet working together, ... or like skill and strength working together to hit the target...

Consummate is the creative basis of earth; all beings live on its sustenance, as it goes along in accord with the communications it receives from heaven. ... material things and living beings all succeed.

... the category of earth... boundlessly, gentle, obedient, helpful, faithful.

The good outlook of stability and correctness corresponds to the boundlessness of the earth.

Reception of energy comes about through origination based on Heaven, development of form comes about through living on the sustenance of Earth. Because development of form only takes place due to reception of energy,...

... in Buddhist terms, Earth represents the essential nature of the enlightenment potential, which contains much without accumulating anything. This is called Heaven in terms of knowledge, but is called Earth in terms of noumenon. In terms of awareness, it is called Heaven; in terms of tranquillity, it is called Earth.

... intellectual activity in the course of cultivation can be called Heaven, while practical activity can be called Earth.

... Heaven... Earth ... the mutual adornement of virtue and wisdom.

... noumenon is revealed by knowledge, tranquillity is revealed by awareness, culture is developed by nature, virtue is guided by wisdom. Then noumenon and knowledge merge, tranquillity and awareness unite, culture and nature combine, virtue and wisdom blend.

... when meditation concentration is practiced according to knowledge and wisdom, it becomes the meditation concentration of the enlightened. Practices such as charity, discipline, tolerance, effort, and meditation are blind, and need the guidance of wisdom.

If you use knowledge to guide action, and action follows knowledge, then knowledge is constant and action too is constant.

... one only works with one's own kind;

... the nature of Yang is movement, and if there is arbitrary or impulsive movement, positive energy might leak away. Thus the warning not to go into action too soon. The nature of Yin is stilness, and calmness leads to success;

... the six lines of Heaven are explained in terms of both essence and cultivation, nature and culture; the six lines of Earth are explained in terms of cultivating practices to develop good qualities and concentration.

... meditation that is neither in the world nor beyond the world.

Idem

I Ching - O Livro das Mutações - cont.

40 Solution water below, thunder above

... Going nowhere, coming back is fortunate. Going somewhere, promptness is fortunate.

... In wordly situation, there are never troublesome obstacles that last forever without resolution. On the verge of the solution, it is important that firmness and flexibility balance each other...

Solution means that yin and yang are in harmony.

Here, because firmness is balanced and cooperates with the flexibility,... there is naturally nothing to be suspicious of.

Yellow is the color associated with the center, ... By gaining the path of balance and straightforwardness, one gets rid of doubts and cooperates with wath is right.
It is rigtht to be humiliated.

... to balance yin and yang.
The developed person has a solution. The petty person withdraws.

At the time of solution, everyone happily acts as developed people do, all except the third yin, who flies to the attack, in conflict with reason.

... the third yin represents the confusion that is to be cured, and the other five lines represent curative methods.

The top yin uses correct transmundane concentration to overcome the false pride and false views of worldly meditation and worldly knowledge, so it is to the benefit of all.

Idem

I Ching - O Livro das Mutações - cont

8 Accord earth below, water above

Accord bodes well. Make sure the basis is always right, so that there will be no fault. Then the uneasy will come. Latecomers are unfortunate.

... in terms of the person, those in unenlightened states of mind are the lowly. When they follow the realm of the enlightened docilely, they are assisting. In terms of the teaching, pratical activities are the lowly. When they follow the exercise of insight, then they are assisting.

The path comes to an end for people in the sense that they become deluded or wander off and suffer a fall, not following the teaching of enlightenment. In terms of teaching, this means being eliminated because of emotional ideas not in accord with the right way.

... earth is like objective realities, water is like perceptive insight; earth is like the realm of silent light, water is like the different realms of common presence, expedient purification, and true reward. Both have the image of accord.

... objects such as the mental and physical elements are set up to provoke contemplative insight.

... people in the heaven of desire have virtues, and they also have intelligence, but they need to cultivate profound concentration. ... all that is need is to reach the outside from the inside.

... emotional opinions certainly do not accord with the way to enlightenment. ... when real insight opens out, it is like the bright sun in a clear sky;

... if you suddenly realize emptiness and disregard causality, believing yourself to have transcended everything, you are not really in accord with the true vehicle to the source. Your habitually active consciousness is vague, with no basis to rely on, and in a life-and-death crisis you are bound to be like a lobster plunged into boiling water.

... the ocean of passions and the ocean of all knowledge are not really two in essence. Furthermore, from ancient times until now, none have not been born in suffering and died into peace; so the truth of suffering is placed first among the four truths elucidated by the Buddha. The Buddha called eight kinds of suffering teachers. Suffering causes anxiety and unease, and when one is anxious and uneasy, the ocean of passion stirs, so particularized knowledge appears.

Idem

I Ching - O Livro das Mutações - cont.

16 Joy earth below, thunder above

Joy. It is beneficial to set up rulers and mobilize the army.

... this is the realization of the truth that nothing is a pictured by the imagination, and the experience of indescribable bliss.

... so it is appropriate to "set up rulers" so as to disseminate good influences, and to "mobilize the army" to be prepared for the unexpected.

Heaven and earth act obediently, so the sun and moon are not excessive, the four seasons are not out of order. Sages act obediently, so punishments are clear and the people accept.

Each of the sixty-four hexagrams of the I Ching represents a time, and every time has its duty, and the duty must be important; this does not apply only in the time of joy, but in a time of joy it is easy to get lazy and careless, so special mention of duty is made here.

Honoring virtue is beutifying nature by cultivation.

When prosperity reaches a climax, there must be decline; when happiness culminates, there must be suffering. In joy it is necessary to be careful, so the six lines have a lot of warnings.

... using darkness to observe light, using stillness to observe activity, one can see what will happen. Knowing the results of activity and inactivity is what is called knowing the potential of the moment.

Being the source of joy, there is great gain.

Chaste in illness, one never dies.

Idem

Our Holy Halloween

Your holy light...

Your holy blood...

Your holy way...

Your holy rest...

Your holy walk...

Your holy bath...

I Ching - O Livro das Mutações - cont.

10 Treading lake below, heaven above

Someone treads on a tiger's tail without being bitten, thus getting through.

Because one uses kindness to absorb the violence of the center of delusion, therefore it does not bite the person. ... To see mind as in itself enlightened is like treading on a tiger's tail;

There is joy that is in accord with heaven;

In Buddhist terms, the flexible treading on the firm may represent using concentration to awaken insight, using culture to harmonize with nature, using awakening to seek the highest integration with original awareness, learning to be enlightened while an ordinary person. Attaining delight in truth is called joy. To realize the essence of the cosmic design is called bein in accord with heaven.

The person in obscurity is fortunate if upright.

The misfortune of being bitten is that of bein in an inappropriate place.

In Buddhist terms, to know about inherent qualities but not know about cultivated qualities is like squinting an eye; to value the exercise of insight but not the exercise of action is like lame in one leg. You may think you can see, but you do not really see true reality; you may think you are a practitioner, but you cannot really reach the ultimate goal. You talk in lofty terms about buddha-nature, but you are in fact adversely affected by these words.

... not taking nirvana for personal comfort. ... effect permeates cause;

Idem