“Do you imagine the universe is agitated?
Go into the desert at night and look out at the stars. This practice should answer the question.
The superior person settles her mind as the universe settles the stars in the sky.
By connecting her mind with the subtle origin, she calms it.
Once calmed, it naturally expands, and ultimately her mind becomes as vast and immeasurable as the night sky.”
— Hua Hu Ching
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I found these lines from the Hua Hu Ching, an ancient Daoist text, recently in my travels, and I thought, “How profound!”
If you’ve been reading these emails, and my social media posts, you’ll know how much I love a good quote.
So much wisdom in so few words. It’s a real gift to simply bestow enlightenment with the littlest resources necessary, I think.
Another hallmark of wisdom, I also think, is not to do anything until you know what is the most profitable, and least damaging, direction – for all.
In a state of agitation, we’re often so keen to DO something. And so often the result is something we can comfortably regret for quite some while afterwards …
OR at the very least, worry yourself sick and sleepless over.
It’s the hardest thing in today’s world – to have the patience to sit back and gain a calm head, to wait for the clarity to know what the right thing to do is.
… and I completely understand the difficulty not acting, as I used to be the most impatient person in the world, wanting everything yesterday …
But I have seen this time and time again, impatience really isn’t a virtue.
You really don’t want to do something – you want to do the RIGHT thing, to act with Quality.
Wisdom will show you that best path, always, and it can never shine in a state of agitation.
So calm yourself first.
Harness the power of a wide open, calm, clear mind ...
Not small and petty and triggered, not limited and lacking and lashing out, not chaotic and uncertain …
But something truly useful to all.
Just as Rudyard Kipling wrote in the opening lines of his poem, “If”:
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“If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,”
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Do whatever it takes to keep your head.
That way you can be the kind of person you want to be, the kind of person you know you can be, and not the one you don’t want to be – and truly help all those around you.
Make it a practice … as they say, "Go within, or go without".
And as always,
Go well!
Arjuna