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Writer's pictureBenjamin Ho

Stay Centered

It is so easy to get caught up in the action, wanting to say something, act on something, be the Trimtab that makes a difference to a movement, to an awakening. But you must step back and not get "hooked" all of a sudden or the energies will carry you to a place you don't want to be. It's important to be mindful about your every action and to act in alignment with your purpose. Take care of you first. And when you do, all in your world is right.


The following pages came across my eyes last week before the Friday evening Meditation. It's from, The Book of Chuang Tzu and it sets the tone for how to be in this time period of strife and discourse:


Draw on the generosity of life to sustain your body. Protect yourself from cares and you will give life to your heart. Revere what is central within and manifest it. Do this, and even if a multitude of evils befall you, they will be Heavenly in origin, not the works of fellow human beings. They will not overcome your serenity, they will not enter into your Spirit Tower (the heart and mind). Your Spirit Tower has its guardian but unless you know this guardian, it will not guard you.
If you cannot see this see this sincerity within you and you try to manifest it, it will fail. You will be invaded by external influences and will be unable to rid yourself of them. Then, whatever you do will inevitably fail. If you act badly in full public view, then people will seize you and punish you. If you act badly by night, then you will be seized by ghosts and punished. Understand this properly, know how you stand with regard to both people and ghosts and then reflect on this alone.

Someone who focuses on the internal is not interested in fame.

Someone who focuses on the external is intent on gaining whatever he can.

The one who does things which bring no glory, shines brightly in all he does.

One who looks to make gains at any cost is just a trader.

Others see he is just standing on tiptoe, but he thinks he is above all others.

Someone who struggles to succeed gets worn out,

while someone who doesn't really mind can't be possessed by such forces.

To exclude others is to show lack of concern and not to be concerned with others

means that everyone is a stranger.

There is no weapon more lethal than the will - even Mo Yeh was inferior to it.

There are no greater adversaries than yin and yang, because

nothing in Heaven or on Earth escapes them.

But it is not yin and yang that do this - it is your heart that makes it so.


[from p 204, 205, Chapter 23 - Keng Sang Chu, The Book of Chuang Tzu, Penguin Books 2006]


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