Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2018 18:52:52 GMT -5
The Phoenix and the Peacọck.
A phoenix appears but rarely, so it is considered an auspicious omen. Peacọcks are always showing off their feathers, so they are taken captive. What I realise as I observe this is the Tao of concealment and revelation, good and bad fortune.
Those who are bright and presume upon their talent, proud of their ability, contentious and competitive, giving their fortune and attention to artificialities, are prone to bring on bad fortune.
Those who are inconspicuous and disregard brilliance and wit, who empty their hearts and humble themselves, who direct their effort to self-refinement, tend always to bring on good fortune.
Those who bring misfortune on themselves are those who use their brilliance outwardly. Those who bring on good fortune are those who use their brilliance inwardly.
Outward application means accepting the artificial and losing the real, wearing out the vitality and using up the spirit, walking into the road of death. Inward application means getting rid of falsehood and maintaining truthfulness, building up the vitality and nurturing the spirit, returning to the doorway of life.
Good and bad fortune, life and death, are directly connected to the internal or external use of awareness. Therefore enlightened people cut off externals to govern the internal, while petty people strive for externals and thereby lose the internal.
This is like the difference between the concealment and display of the phoenix and the peacọck, whereby one brings on good fortune and the other brings on calamity. Surely we must be careful how we use our awareness.
A phoenix appears but rarely, so it is considered an auspicious omen. Peacọcks are always showing off their feathers, so they are taken captive. What I realise as I observe this is the Tao of concealment and revelation, good and bad fortune.
Those who are bright and presume upon their talent, proud of their ability, contentious and competitive, giving their fortune and attention to artificialities, are prone to bring on bad fortune.
Those who are inconspicuous and disregard brilliance and wit, who empty their hearts and humble themselves, who direct their effort to self-refinement, tend always to bring on good fortune.
Those who bring misfortune on themselves are those who use their brilliance outwardly. Those who bring on good fortune are those who use their brilliance inwardly.
Outward application means accepting the artificial and losing the real, wearing out the vitality and using up the spirit, walking into the road of death. Inward application means getting rid of falsehood and maintaining truthfulness, building up the vitality and nurturing the spirit, returning to the doorway of life.
Good and bad fortune, life and death, are directly connected to the internal or external use of awareness. Therefore enlightened people cut off externals to govern the internal, while petty people strive for externals and thereby lose the internal.
This is like the difference between the concealment and display of the phoenix and the peacọck, whereby one brings on good fortune and the other brings on calamity. Surely we must be careful how we use our awareness.
