Hexagrams
Readiness is everything. Resolution is indissolubly bound up with caution. If an individual is careful and keeps his wits about him, he need not become excited or alarmed. If he is watchful at all times, ... the (superior man) dwells in the midst of difficulties as though they did not exist.
When a man is advancing farther and farther, it is important for him not to become intoxicated by success... it is necessary to remain sober and not to try to skip any stages...Only such calm, steady progress, overleaping nothing, leads to the good.
The above quotations are from the I Ching, or Book of Changes, an ancient Chinese text. The I Ching is essentially a fortune-telling device. If you are in search of an answer to a particular problem, you concentrate and throw three pennies six times. As you throw, you chart the results of heads and tails. In the end, you have a "hexagram," formed by two "trigrams." These consist of broken and unbroken lines.
Each trigram has a meaning; when combined into hexagrams, the meaning is enlarged upon. The text explains the hexagram that you have made and offers advice. This advice is usually unbelievably appropriate to your situation. It is always salient and useful. We must strive to be "superior" men: humble, charitable, prepared, self-knowing and active. Goodness does not flow from passivity; and goodness is achieved, first, by ruthless self-knowledge.
This is an especial favorite of mine:
Wind stirs water by penetrating it. Thus the superior man, when obliged to judge the mistakes of men, tries to penetrate their minds with understanding, in order to gain a sympathetic appreciation of the circumstances. In ancient China, the entire administration of justice was guided by this principle. A deep understanding that knows how to pardon was considered the highest form of justice. This system was not without success, for its aim was to make so strong a moral impression that there was no reason to fear abuse of such mildness. For it sprang not from weakness but from a superior clarity.
I was introduced to the I Ching about twenty-five years ago by a girlfriend. We were both pretty adrift, single mothers of a sudden (mates gone missing) and worried about the future. We met almost daily and we ritualized our I Ching sessions. It was a comfort.
After Maria moved back to South America, and I met new crises, I often turned to the I Ching. I had my own copy now and I covered it with pretty Japanese paper, like a school book, so that it would stay nice. It's considered appropriate to keep the pennies attached so that the same pennies are in use, but after, several moves, there are no pennies with my book. And I don't open it daily any longer.
But I quote it constantly. And I have thrown the pennies for young people who have difficulty deciding on a path to take. Along with the Sermon on the Mount and the first paragraphs of The Great Gatsby, it is the greatest wisdom I have ever experienced.
I leave you with this:
We cannot lose what really belongs to us, even if we throw it away. Therefore, we need have no anxiety. All that need concern us is that we should remain true to our own natures and not listen to others.