Peace Elements
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just a workspace to work out bugs prior to launching real page.
 
just a workspace to work out bugs prior to launching real page.
   
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Construction Sites:<br>
<table border="1" width="100%">
 
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[[HTMLx]] - [[HTMLx2]] - [[HTMLx3]] - [[HTMLx4]] - [[CSSx1]] - [[Image Garden]] - [[Photo Sandbox]] - [[Under Construction]] - [[Site Map]]
<tr>
 
<td align="center" bgcolor="#bbbbbb"> [[Story|Stories]]</td>
 
<td align="center" bgcolor="#cccccc"> [[Ma Nature]]</td>
 
<td align="center" bgcolor="#dddddd">[[Shamanism]]</td>
 
<td align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee"> [[The Papalagi]]</td>
 
</tr>
 
</table>
 
   
  +
===math===
   
  +
== Examples ==
----
 
<font face=Comic size=5>
 
:::::''HsinHsinMing<br>
 
</font>
 
::::::(with commentary)
 
   
  +
<center>
   
  +
<math>\left(3-x\right) \times \left( \frac{2}{3-x} \right) = \left(3-x\right) \times \left( \frac{3}{2-x} \right)</math>
   
:'''''THERE IS NOTHING DIFFICULT ABOUT THE GREAT WAY,<br>
 
:'''''BUT, AVOID CHOOSING!
 
   
  +
<math>2 = \left( \frac{\left(3-x\right) \times 3}{2-x} \right)</math>
:We suffer, at one and the same time, from excessive pride and
 
:excessive humility. On the one hand, our intellect rushes in
 
:where angels fear to tread. On the other hand, we are too humble
 
:before the Buddhas and saints, not realizing that we too are the
 
:Buddha, as the "Avatamsaka" ("Kegonkyo") declares:
 
   
   
  +
<math>4-2x = 9-3x \!</math>
:''The mind, the Buddha, living creatures, --
 
:''these are not three different things.
 
   
:Haiku are divided, rather arbitrarily, into seven sections:
 
:The Season, Sky and Elements, Fields and Mountains, Gods and Buddhas,
 
:Human Affairs, Animals and Birds, Trees and Flowers.
 
:With all these but one, the fifth, in the petals of the barley leaf,
 
:the tender smile on the lips of Kwannon, the moonlight on the valley
 
:stream, the voices of insects in autumn, the coldness of winter,
 
:we can see the Great Way that stretches out in every direction,
 
:throughout past, present and future.
 
:But when we come to man, to ourselves, it is a different story.
 
   
  +
<math>-2x+3x = 9-4 \!</math>
   
:''So, beneath the starry dome
 
:''And the floor of plains and seas,
 
:''I have never felt at home,
 
:''Never wholly been at ease.
 
   
  +
<math>\int_a^x \int_a^s f(y)\,dy\,ds = \int_a^x f(y)(x-y)\,dy\,</math>
   
:''The First Day of the Year:
 
:''I remember
 
:''A lonely autumn evening.
 
:~ Basho ~
 
   
  +
<math>\sum_{m=1}^\infty\sum_{n=1}^\infty\frac{m^2\,n}{3^m\left(m\,3^n+n\,3^m\right)}</math>
   
:''Scattering rice too,
 
:''This is a sin:
 
:''The fowls are fighting each other.
 
:~ Issa ~
 
   
  +
<math>u'' + p(x)u' + q(x)u=f(x),\,\,\,x>a</math>
   
:In "The Sphinx", Emerson tells us:
 
   
  +
<math>|\bar{z}| = |z|, |(\bar{z})^n| = |z|^n, arg(z^n) = n\,arg(z)\,</math>
   
:''Erect as a sunbeam,
 
:''Upspringeth the palm;
 
:''The elephant browses,
 
:''Undaunted and calm.
 
:''But man crouches and blushes,
 
:''Absconds and conceals;
 
:''He creepeth and peepeth,
 
:''He palters and steals.
 
   
  +
<math>\lim_{z\rightarrow z_0} f(z)=f(z_0)\,</math>
   
:In other words, Sengtsan, in declaring that the Way in not
 
:difficult, is flatly contradicting the experience of mankind both
 
:in regard to the complexities of ordinary life and the perception
 
:of the natural poetry of apparently unpoetical things.
 
:His meaning is faintly adumbrated by the well known verse of Yamazaki
 
:Sokan, d. 1553, included in a collection of poems he made called
 
:"Inutsukuba":
 
   
  +
<math>\phi_n(\kappa) = \frac{1}{4\pi^2\kappa^2} \int_0^\infty \frac{\sin(\kappa R)}{\kappa R} \frac{\partial}{\partial R}\left[R^2\frac{\partial D_n(R)}{\partial R}\right]\,dR\,</math>
   
:''How I wish to kill!
 
:''How I wish
 
:''Not to kill!
 
:''The thief I have caught
 
:''Is my own son.
 
   
  +
<math>\int_0^\infty x^\alpha \sin(x)\,dx = 2^\alpha \sqrt{\pi}\, \frac{\Gamma(\frac{\alpha}{2}+1)}{\Gamma(\frac{1}{2}-\frac{\alpha}{2})}\,</math>
   
:This corresponds to the English proverb,
 
   
  +
<math>\phi_n(\kappa) = 0.033C_n^2\kappa^{-11/3},\,\,\,\frac{1}{L_0}<\!\!<\kappa<\!\!<\frac{1}{l_0}\,</math>
   
:''He who follows truth too closely, will have dirt kicked into his face.
 
:''It is the very search, and the excessive zeal of it, which causes the
 
:''truth to disappear. In our hot grasp the truth wilts away.
 
   
  +
<math>f(x) = {a_0\over 2} + \sum_{n=1}^\infty a_n\cos({2n\pi x \over T}) + b_n\sin({2n\pi x\over T})\,</math>
   
:''There is no one
 
:''Who dyes them,
 
:''But of themselves
 
:''The willow is green,
 
:''The flowers red.
 
   
  +
<math>f(x) = \begin{cases}1 & -1 \le x < 0\\
  +
\frac{1}{2} & x = 0\\x&0<x\le 1\end{cases}</math>
   
:If we just remain quiet, and live in all simplicity, no problems arise.
 
   
  +
<math>\Gamma(z) = \int_0^\infty e^{-t} t^{z-1} \,dt\,</math>
   
:''Were I a king, pensively
 
:''Would I pace the corridors of the palace.
 
:''The path I walk goes through the pine-trees;
 
:''The sea is blue, a butterfly flits by. ~ Miyoshi Tatsuji
 
   
  +
<math>J_p(z) = \sum_{k=0}^\infty \frac{(-1)^k\left(\frac{z}{2}\right)^{2k+p}}{k!\Gamma(k+p+1)}\,</math>
   
:Sengtsan attributes all our uneasiness, our dissatisfaction with
 
:ourselves and other people, our inability to understand why we are
 
:alive at all, to one great cause: choosing this and rejecting that,
 
:clinging to the one and loathing the other.
 
:There is a profound saying:
 
   
  +
<math>{}_pF_q(a_1,...,a_p;c_1,...,c_q;z) = \sum_{n=0}^\infty \frac{(a_1)_n\cdot\cdot\cdot(a_p)_n}{(c_1)_n\cdot\cdot\cdot(c_q)_n}\frac{z^n}{n!}\,</math>
   
:''The flowers fall, for all our yearning;
 
:''Grasses grow, regardless of our dislike.
 
   
  +
<math>\Gamma(n+1) = n \Gamma(n), n>0\,</math>
 
:Other verses that express this fact of the life that comes from
 
:the death of self and its wants and distastes, are the following:
 
   
   
  +
<math>\int_0^1 \frac{1}{\sqrt{-lnx}} dx\,</math>
:''Just get rid
 
:''Of that small mind
 
:''That is called "self",
 
:''And there is nothing in the universe
 
:''That can harm or hinder you.
 
:''How delightful it is
 
:''To make all space
 
:''Our dwelling place!
 
:''Our hearts and minds
 
:''Are perfectly at ease.
 
   
   
  +
<math>\int_0^\infty e^{-st}t^{x-1}\,dt,\,\,\,s>0\,</math>
:D.H.Lawrence says the same thing in "Kangaroo":
 
   
   
  +
</center>
:''Home again. But what was home? The fish has vast ocean for home.
 
:''And man has timelessness and nowhere. "I won't delude myself with
 
:''the fallacy of home", he said to himself. "The four walls are a
 
:''blanket I wrap around in, in timelessness and nowhere, to go to
 
:''sleep".
 
   
 
 
:'''''ONLY WHEN YOU NEITHER LOVE NOR HATE
 
:'''''DOES IT APPEAR IN ALL CLARITY
 
   
  +
===table===
:There is love and Love, but only hate; there is no such thing as
 
  +
<table border="1" width="100%">
:Hate. In Love is included that which might be called Hate, what
 
  +
<tr>
:Lawrence calls "the dark side of love". In so far as we love, in
 
  +
<td align="center" bgcolor="#bbbbbb"> [[Story|Stories]]</td>
:the sense of being attached to a thing, we hate. In so far as we
 
  +
<td align="center" bgcolor="#cccccc"> [[Ma Nature]]</td>
:Love, whether it be with pain or joy, the Way is walked in by us,
 
  +
<td align="center" bgcolor="#dddddd">[[Shamanism]]</td>
:we are the Way. Ryoto, a pupil of Basho, says:
 
  +
<td align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee"> [[The Papalagi]]</td>
  +
</tr>
  +
</table>
 
 
  +
----
   
  +
{|
:''Yield to the willow
 
  +
| colspan=2 style="padding: .4em .9em .9em; border: 1px solid #98E8CF; color: #000; background-color:#F6FEFB;" |
:''All the loathing,
 
  +
Greetings
:''All the desire of your heart.
 
  +
|}
   
   
:Another didactic verse is the following:
 
   
   
:''In my hut this spring,
 
:''There is nothing,
 
:''There is everything.
 
:~ Sodo ~ (1641-1716)
 
 
 
 
:'''''A HAIR'S BREADTH OF DEVIATION FROM IT,
 
:'''''AND A DEEP GULF IS SET BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH.
 
 
:A miss is as good as a mile. The slightest thought of self, that
 
:is, by self, and the Great Way is irretrievably lost. A drop of
 
:ink, and a glass of clear water is all clouded. Once we think,
 
:"This flower is blooming for me; this insect is a hateful
 
:nuisance and nothing else; that man is a useful rascal; that
 
:woman is a good mother, and she must therefore be a good wife",
 
:-- when such thoughts arise in our minds, all the cohesion
 
:between things disappear; they rattle about in a meaningless and
 
:irritating way. Instead of being united into a whole by virtue of
 
:their own interpenetrated suchness, they are pulled hither and
 
:thither by our arbitrary and ever-changing preferences, out whims
 
:and prejudices. We suppose this particular man to be a Buddha,
 
:ourselves to be ordinary people, this action to be charming, that
 
:to be odious, and fail to see how "All things work for good"
 
:(Romans VIII, 28). In actual fact, Heaven and Earth cannot be
 
:separated; one cannot exist without the other.
 
:Together they are the Great Way.
 
 
:The two points to bear in mind are first the nearness of the Way
 
:and second, its corollary, the fact that we and the Way are not
 
:two things. It seems so far that we can never attain to it:
 
 
 
:''Far, far from here
 
:''Is the Heavenly Land,
 
:''A million million miles away;
 
:''We can hardly get there
 
:''On just one pair of straw sandals.
 
 
 
:But as Ikkyu punningly says:
 
 
 
:''Paradise is in the West;
 
:''It is in the East also.
 
:''Look for it in the North
 
:''That you came through,
 
:''It is all in yourself (the South).
 
 
 
:[There is a pun on the Japanese words
 
: *minami*, south, and *mina mi*, all oneself.]
 
 
:The moment you place your happiness in the fulfillment of any want
 
:or wish, that is, outside yourself, outside the Way, in anything
 
:but the thing as it is, as it is becoming, at that moment your
 
:balance is lost and you fall straight from Heaven to Hell.
 
 
:Things are one; things are many. The intellect cannot grasp these
 
:two simultaneously, but experience can, if it will. If we fall,
 
:only by a hair's breadth, into the error of supposing that we are
 
:different, weariness and envy and triumph and shame and fear
 
:succeed one another in an endless train. We must be in the
 
:condition that Paul describes:
 
 
 
:''Who is weak and I am not weak?
 
:''Who is offended and I burn not? (Corinthians, XI, 29)
 
 
 
:If this state could only be attained, we can say of man with
 
:Matthew Arnold in "A Summer Night":
 
 
 
:''How boundless might his soul's horizons be,
 
:''How vast, yet of what clear transparency.
 
   
  +
<table border="1" width="100%">
  +
<tr>
  +
<td align="center" bgcolor="#dddddd" width="400"> [[Image:Ice2.jpg|none|400px]]</td>
  +
<td align="left" bgcolor="#dddddd">
 
 
  +
<center>
  +
<font color=#556688>
  +
::::''Why
  +
::::''Are some icicles long
  +
::::''Some short?
  +
::::'''-Onitsura-'''
  +
</font>
  +
</center>
  +
:We are poets and sages in so far as we
  +
:do not ask such questions, or rather ...
  +
:in asking them we expect no answer and
  +
:do not desire one.
   
  +
:To keep things in this state of wonder
:'''''IF YOU WANT TO GET HOLD OF WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE,
 
  +
:and suspense, to want without desire to
:'''''DO NOT BE ANTI OR PRO ANYTHING.
 
  +
:love deeply without attachment, this is
  +
:the real part of all our living.
   
  +
:Then the different lengths of the icicles,
:Since the Great Way is one, it is impossible for us to be for
 
  +
:the different heights of wooden pilings,
:this, and aiding that which needs no aid. There is a certain
 
  +
:the difference between the sun and the
:current, a Flow of the universe. We may swim with it or against
 
  +
:moon, these things are of perpetual and
:it, float in the middle of the stream or stagnate in a
 
  +
:never-ending surprise, for ...
:back-water, but nothing we can do will accelerate or retard that
 
:Flow. Yet his Flow is not something separate from ourselves; it
 
:is our own flowing; we are not corks bobbing up and down on a
 
:stream of inevitability. It is not as Fitzgerald says:
 
   
  +
<center>
  +
<font color=#556688>
  +
''"A long thing is ...<BR>
  +
''the Long Body of Buddha;<BR>
  +
''A short thing is ...<BR>
  +
''the Short Body of Buddha."<BR>
  +
</font>
   
  +
'''-R.H.Blyth-'''<BR>
:''The Ball no question makes of Ayes or Noes,
 
  +
Haiku Vol4 Autumn/Winter
:''But Here or There as strikes the Player goes.
 
  +
</center></td>
  +
</tr>
  +
</table>
   
   
  +
<img alt="Chinese for &quot;utilization&quot;" src="http://www.duckdaotsu.org/2/utilization.gif" style="width: 52px; height: 16px;">
:Or rather, it would be better to say that this is true, and that
 
:Henley's words are equally true, not in alternation but
 
:synchronously:
 
   
  +
== Table Template ==
   
  +
These are some useful templates.
:''I am the master of my fate;
 
:''I am the captain of my soul.
 
   
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{| border=1 align=right cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 width=300 style="margin: 0 0 1em 1em; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;"
  +
|+ <big>'''Nombre Completo de la Nación'''</big><br> <big>'''Full name of nation'''</big>
  +
|-
  +
|'''Official language''' || Official language(s)
  +
|-
  +
|'''Capital''' || Capital
  +
|-
  +
|'''Head of state''' || Head-of-state
  +
|-
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|'''Head of government''' || Head-of-government
  +
|-
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|'''Area''' || Area
  +
|-
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|'''Population''' || Population
  +
|-
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|'''Independence''' || Date
  +
|-
  +
|'''Currency''' || Currency
  +
|-
  +
|colspan=2 align=center | [[image:wiki.png]]
  +
|}
   
  +
To the right is an example of a Wikipedia-style country info box. Below is what it looks like raw. An explanation will be given below. Don't panic!
:This submergence and assertion of self, this living fully without
 
:taking sides which Sengtsan urges upon us, is the poetical life.
 
:The unpoetical life is of two kinds. First, by aversion, we live
 
:in a limited world, a half-world. Second, by infatuation, we
 
:exaggerate, sentimentalize, weary by repetition.
 
   
  +
<nowiki>{| border=1 align=right cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 width=300 style="margin: 0 0 1em 1em; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;"</nowiki><br>
 
  +
<nowiki>|+ <big>'''Nombre Completo de la Nación'''</big><br> <big>'''Full name of nation'''</big></nowiki><br>
  +
<nowiki>|-</nowiki><br>
  +
<nowiki>|'''Official language''' || Official language(s)</nowiki><br>
  +
<nowiki>|-</nowiki><br>
  +
<nowiki>|'''Capital''' || Capital</nowiki><br>
  +
<nowiki>|-</nowiki><br>
  +
<nowiki>|'''Head of state''' || Head-of-state</nowiki><br>
  +
<nowiki>|-</nowiki><br>
  +
<nowiki>|'''Head of government''' || Head-of-government</nowiki><br>
  +
<nowiki>|-</nowiki><br>
  +
<nowiki>|'''Area''' || Area</nowiki><br>
  +
<nowiki>|-</nowiki><br>
  +
<nowiki>|'''Population''' || Population</nowiki><br>
  +
<nowiki>|-</nowiki><br>
  +
<nowiki>|'''Independence''' || Date</nowiki><br>
  +
<nowiki>|-</nowiki><br>
  +
<nowiki>|'''Currency''' || Currency</nowiki><br>
  +
<nowiki>|}</nowiki>
   
  +
This looks quite complex, but really isn't as bad as it looks. The first line (up to font-size: 95%;") must be kept unaltered, in order to preserve uniformity.
:'''''THE CONFLICT OF LONGING AND LOATHING,<br>
 
:'''''THIS IS JUST THE DISEASE OF THE MIND.
 
   
  +
The second line gives the header to the table. It is suggested that the last line of the header be the English translation of the name, and the first be the name in the native language(s). If a different script is used, that should be at the very top (for an example, see [[Japan (Rebellion of 61)]]). Each heading begins with <nowiki><big>'''</nowiki> and ends with <nowiki>'''</big></nowiki>. The <nowiki><br></nowiki> tag separates multiple headings.
:Something arises which pleases the mind, which fits in with our
 
:notions of what is profitable for us, -- and we love it.
 
:Something arises which thwarts us, which conflicts with our
 
:wants, and we hate it. So long as we possess this individual
 
:mind, enlightenment and delusion, pain and pleasure, accepting
 
:and rejecting, good and bad toss us up and down on the waves of
 
:existence, never moving onwards, always the same restlessness and
 
:wabbling, the same fear of woe and insecurity of joy. So
 
:Wordsworth say, in the "Ode to Duty":
 
   
  +
Each data point is in the following form:<br>
  +
<nowiki>|'''Category''' || Data</nowiki><br>
   
  +
And each point is sperated by<br>
:''My hopes must no more change their name.
 
  +
|-<br>
   
  +
Finally, the table must end with |}
   
  +
To make a cell that covers two columns (as in, for example, the flag, motto, and world maps in Wikipedia's country entires - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxembourg for an example), use a line like this:
:In addition, the mirror of our mind being distorted, nothing
 
:appears in its natural, its original form. The louse appears a
 
:dirty, loathsome thing, the lion a noble creature. But when we
 
:see the louse as it really is, it is not merely neutral thing; it
 
:is something to be accepted as inevitable in our mortal life, as
 
:in Basho's verse:
 
   
  +
<nowiki>|colspan=2 align=center | [[image:wiki.png]]</nowiki>
   
  +
This will add the image file (in this case, our wiki's logo) to the table
:''Fleas, lice,
 
:''The horse pissing
 
:''By my pillow.
 
   
  +
==new projects ==
   
  +
<h3>How Strange and Marvelous!</h3>
:It may be seen as something charming and meaningful as in Issa's haiku:
 
   
  +
from "The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation," by Padmasambhava, trans W.
  +
Y. Evans-Wentz, ed Stephen Mitchell, in "The Enlightened Mind," p62-64:
   
  +
Since there is really no duality, separation is unreal. Until duality is
:''Giving the breast,
 
  +
transcended and at-one-ment realized, enlightenment cannot be
:''While counting
 
  +
attained. Both samsara and nirvana, an inseparable unity, are your own
:''The flea-bites.
 
  +
mind. It is only because of deluded ideas, which you are free to accept or
  +
reject, that you wander in the world of samsara. Practice the Dharma,
  +
grasp the essence of these teachings, and free yourself from every attachment.
  +
When you seek your mind in its true state, you will find it quite
  +
intelligible, although it cannot be seen. In its true state, mind is
  +
naked, immaculate, transparent, empty, timeless, uncreated, unimpeded; not
  +
realizable as a separate thing, but as the unity of all things, yet not
  +
composed of them; undifferentiated, self-radiant, indivisible, and without
  +
qualities. Your own mind is not separate from other minds; it shines
  +
forth, unobscured, for all living beings.
  +
Your own mind is originally as pure and empty as the sky. To know
  +
whether or not this is true, look inside your own mind.
  +
Without beginning or ending, your original wisdom has been shining
  +
forever, like the sun. To know whether or not this is true, look inside
  +
your own mind.
  +
Your original wisdom is as continuous and unstoppable as the current of
  +
a mighty river. To know whether or not this is true, look inside your own
  +
mind.
  +
When you realize that all phenomena are as unstable as the air, they
  +
lose their power to fascinate and bind you. To know whether or not this is
  +
true, look inside your own mind.
  +
All phenomena are your own ideas, self-conceived in the mind, like
  +
reflections in a mirror. To know whether or not this is true, look inside
  +
your own mind.
  +
Arising spontaneously and free as the clouds in the sky, all phenomena
  +
fade away by themselves. To know whether or not this is true, look inside
  +
your own mind.
  +
Again and again, look inside your own mind. When you look outward into
  +
the emptiness of space, you will find no place where the mind is
  +
shining. When you look into your own mind in search of the radiance, you
  +
will find nothing that shines.
  +
This self-originated clear light is eternal and unborn. How strange
  +
and marvelous!
  +
Since it is unborn, it cannot die. How strange and marvelous!
  +
Although it is absolute reality, there is no one to perceive it. How
  +
strange and marvelous!
  +
Although it wanders in samsara, it is undefiled by evil. How strange
  +
and marvelous!
  +
Although it sees the Buddha, it is unattached to good. How strange and
  +
marvelous!
  +
Although it is possessed by all beings, it is not recognized by
  +
them. How strange and marvelous!
  +
Although the clear light of reality shines inside their own mind, most
  +
people look for it outside. How strange and marvelous!
  +
Since there is nothing to meditate on, there is no meditation. Since
  +
there is nowhere to go astray, there is no going astray. Without
  +
meditating, without going astray, look into the true state, where
  +
self-awareness, self-knowledge, self-illumination shine
  +
resplendently. This is called the enlightened mind.
  +
These teachings are immeasurably deep and contain all wisdom. Although
  +
they are to be contemplated in a variety of ways, there are no two such
  +
things as contemplation and contemplator. When fully contemplated, these
  +
teachings merge with the seeker, although when sought, the seeker himself
  +
cannot be found. Thereupon the goal of the seeking is attained, and the
  +
end of the search. At this point there is nothing more to be sought, and
  +
no need to seek anything.
  +
Although there are no two such things as knowing and not knowing, there
  +
are profound and innumerable forms of meditation; and it is surpassingly
  +
excellent in the end to know your own mind.
  +
Since there are no two things as meditation and meditator, if, by those
  +
who practice or do not practice meditation, the meditator is sought and not
  +
found, thereupon the goal of meditation is reached and also the end of
  +
meditation itself.
  +
Since there are no two such things as meditation and object of
  +
meditation, there is no need to fall under the sway of ignorance; for as
  +
the result of meditation on the original serenity of the mind, the
  +
uncreated wisdom instantaneously shines forth.
  +
Although there is an innumerable variety of profound practices, they do
  +
not exist for your mind in its true state; for there are no two such things
  +
as existence and non-existence.
  +
Since there are no two such things as practice and practitioner, if, by
  +
those who practice or do not practice, the practitioner of practice is
  +
sought and not found, thereupon the goal of practice is reached and also
  +
the end of practice itself.
  +
The uncreated, self-radiant wisdom of your original mind, actionless,
  +
immaculate, transcendent over acceptance and rejection, is itself the
  +
perfect practice.
   
   
  +
from "The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation," Padmasambhava, trans
:There is nothing intrinsically more beautiful or poetical about
 
  +
Evans-Wentz, p236:
:the moon than about a dunghill; if anything, the contrary, for
 
:the latter is full of life and warmth and energy.
 
   
  +
It matters not what name may carelessly be applied to mind; truly
:The "Vaipulya-mahavyuha Sutra" says:
 
  +
mind is one, and apart from mind there is naught else.
  +
That Unique One Mind is foundationless and rootless.
  +
There is nothing else to be realized.
   
  +
<h2>The Hermit in Lore: the <i>I Ching</i></h2>
  +
<p>The <i>I ching</i> or <i>Book of Changes</i>
  +
is an ancient Chinese literary source originating as a divination manual. It
  +
presents hexagrams accompanied by explanatory commentaries and text. Although
  +
consulted for divination, the work acquired the reputation of being a
  +
reservoir of philosophical wisdom, for which it was as widely consulted in
  +
subsequent centuries. Because this origin and transformation is
  +
pre-Confucian, the <i>I ching</i> provides an excellent resource not interpolated
  +
by later tradition. It has special relevance to the study of Chinese
  +
eremiticism.</p>
   
  +
<p>Renunciation of service became a
:''The lotus arises form the mud, but is not dyed therewith.
 
  +
philosophical issue under Confucius, whose ethics took up the perennial
  +
issue of service to society and state versus reclusion. The Confucian
  +
concept of reclusion, it must be remembered, is still rudimentary, referring
  +
to abstention, not a hermit lifestyle. There should be no antiquarianism or
  +
historical anachronism in studying the <i>I ching.</i></p>
  +
<p>
  +
The <i>I ching</i> likely was
  +
originally consulted by government officials for making decisions. Advice to
  +
the ruler of the state is a common application of divination in all
  +
cultures, using devices such as taking of augury and astrology.
  +
But as a literary source, the <i>I ching</i> embodies specific modes of behavior
  +
and responses to crises. Their meanings are general, of course, even
  +
vague, but the consultant is expected to apply the established principle of
  +
the hexagram to an immediate situation. Some hexagrams advise
  +
actions which came to be understood as the origins of eremiticism, advising
  +
an "eremitic" solution.</p>
  +
<p>A hexagram consists of a unit of six
  +
horizontal lines, with accompanying commentary: Judgment, Image, and Lines,
  +
the latter a descriptive meaning of each line in detail. The lines are of
  +
two sets (top and bottom) and are
  +
solid or broken into two. The sequence of the lines from lowest to
  +
highest represents a specific natural phenomenon that, in turn, suggests an interpretation relevant to the consultant.</p>
  +
<p>
   
  +
<img src="../images/tun.gif" align="left" border="0" height="66" hspace="10" vspace="2" width="54">The most obvious hexagram relevant to the
  +
construction of a Chinese personality of eremiticism is number 33: <i>tun</i> or
  +
the pinyin <i>dun</i>. Here the hexagram represents "retreat." The original sense
  +
suggests caution and the avoidance of danger, as in a military situation,
  +
but the commentary universalizes the context to human affairs in general.
  +
Retreat is not cowardice or flight. Retreat is perspicacious, the wise
  +
perception of when to abandon the field&nbsp; (of battle, social engagement,
  +
etc.). The commentary for Judgment is more specific: </p>
  +
<blockquote>
  +
<p>Mountain under heaven: the image of retreat.<br>
  +
Thus the superior man keeps the inferior at
  +
a distance,<br>
   
  +
Not angrily but with reserve.</p>
:This is expressed less ambitiously in the following waka:
 
  +
</blockquote>
  +
<p>The mountain and the firmament part of
  +
retreat from one another. The wise man ("superior" as heaven, embodying
  +
wisdom) rises above the inferior man ("inferior" as mountain). He keeps
  +
distance because the mountain can never reach him, neither in the
  +
psychological nor physical sense. The wise man's retreat is not motivated by
  +
hatred or anger but dignity. The mountain reaches a standstill, while the
  +
heavens ascend ever indefinitely.</p>
  +
<p>The <i>I ching</i> further analyzes each line of
  +
the hexagram. The top line retreats, representing a period of danger or
  +
precariousness. The commentary advises inaction (the famous <i>wu-wei</i> of later
  +
Taoism).</p>
  +
<blockquote>
  +
<p>At the tail in retreat.<br>
   
  +
This is dangerous.<br>
  +
One must not wish to undertake anything.</p>
  +
</blockquote>
  +
<p>The second line from the top means:</p>
  +
<blockquote>
  +
<p>He holds him fast with yellow ox hide.<br>
  +
No one can tear him loose.</p>
   
  +
</blockquote>
:''Just get rid of
 
  +
<p>The color yellow signifies "middle." The
:''The mind that thinks
 
  +
inferior man is held fast by strong ox hide, hence bound by duty. The
:''"This is good, that is bad",
 
  +
inferior man presses the superior and does not allow the latter to go, as in
:''And without any special effort,
 
  +
the Judgment statement.</p>
:''Wherever we live is good to live in.
 
  +
<p>Line three:<br>
 
  +
</p><blockquote><p>
 
  +
A halted retreat<br>
:Quite devoid of sententiousness or literary ambition, with no
 
  +
Is nerve-wracking and dangerous.<br>
:longing or loathing, Basho's verse on the mountain violets:
 
  +
To retain people as men and maid servants<br>Brings good fortune.</p></blockquote>
 
 
:''Coming along the path,
 
:''There is something touching
 
:''About these violets.
 
 
 
 
:'''''NOT KNOWING THE PROFOUND MEANING OF THINGS,
 
:'''''WE DISTURB OUR (ORIGINAL) PEACE OF MIND TO NO PURPOSE.
 
 
:When we are in the Way, when we act without live or hate, hope or
 
:despair of indifference, the meaning of things if self-evident,
 
:not merely impossible but unnecessary to express. Conversely,
 
:while we are looking for the significance of things, it is
 
:non-existent. Our original nature is one of perfect harmony with
 
:the universe, a harmony not of similarity or correspondence nut of
 
:identity. The "Tsaikentan" ("Seikontan") [By Hung Yingming. fl.
 
:1600 A.D. A compound of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism.]
 
:says:
 
 
 
:''The mind that is free form itself, -- why should it look within?
 
:''This introspection taught by Buddha only increases the
 
:''obstruction. Things are originally one; why then should we
 
:''endeavour to unite them? Chuangtse preached the identity of
 
:''contraries, thus dividing up that unity.
 
 
 
 
:'''''PERFECT LIKE GREAT SPACE,<br>
 
:'''''THE WAY HAS NOTHING LACKING, NOTHING IN EXCESS.
 
 
:Without beginning, without end, without increase or decrease, the
 
:Great Way is perfect, like a circle, with nothing too small in
 
:the smallest thing, nothing too large in the largest. And this
 
:perfection in the dew-drop and in the solar system we are
 
:enabled to see, we are driven to see, by the perfection in
 
:ourselves. Beyond all this confusion and asymmetry there is a
 
:deep harmony and proportion without us and within us that
 
:satisfies us when we submit to it, when we take it as it is, but
 
:can never be perceived or conceived intellectually. This supreme
 
:Form of Things is called "Formlessness" in the "Hannyashingyo":
 
 
 
:''All things are formless, without growth or decay, without purity
 
:''or sin, without increase or decrease.
 
 
 
:In poetry the three are expressed as follows:
 
 
 
:''Age cannot wither her not custom stale
 
:''Her infinite variety.
 
:("Anthony and Cleopatra", II, 2)
 
 
:''The young girl
 
:''Blew her nose
 
:''In the evening glory.
 
:~ Issa ~
 
 
:''The desire of power in excess caused the angels to fall;
 
:''the desire of knowledge in excess caused man to fall.
 
:(Bacon, "Of Goodness")
 
 
 
:In poetry as in life, too much soon wearies. This is why we turn
 
:to Virgil, to Chaucer, to Basho. The circle expresses this
 
:moderation however large or small it may be. In the Oxherding
 
:pictures used in Zen, it portrays serenity. The circular mirror
 
:is used in Shinto. Emerson has an essay on Circles.
 
 
 
:'''''TRULY, BECAUSE OF OUR ACCEPTING AND REJECTING,<br>
 
:'''''WE HAVE NOT THE SUCHNESS OF THINGS.
 
 
:Our state of mind is not to be fatalistic, saying of bad things,
 
:"It can't be helped", and of good things, "What difference does
 
:it make?" It must be to want what the universe wants, in the way
 
:it wants it, in that place, at that time. This wanting *is* the
 
:Way, this wanting *is* the suchness of things; there is no Way,
 
:no suchness apart from it.
 
 
:The suchness of things is what the poet is looking for, listening
 
:to, smelling, and tasting. And in so far as he and we listen and
 
:touch and see, the suchness has an existence, a meaning, a value.
 
:Unless we taste the world, it is tasteless; it is void of
 
:suchness. But this tasting is not to be a choosing, tasting some
 
:and not tasting others. Hung Yingming, following Chuangtse, and
 
:using almost the same words as Sengtsan, says:
 
 
 
:''All the things in heaven and earth, all human emotions,
 
:''all the things that happen in the world, when looked at
 
:''by the unenlightened eye, are seen as multifarious and
 
:''disparate. When viewed by the Eye of the Way, all this
 
:''variety is uniformity; why should we distinguish them,
 
:''why accept these and reject those?
 
 
 
 
:'''''NEITHER FOLLOW AFTER, NOR DWELL WITH<br>
 
:'''''THE DOCTRINE OF THE VOID.
 
 
:We are not to be beguiled by the senses, by the apparent
 
:differences of things.
 
 
 
:''Rain, hail and snow,
 
:''Ice too, are set apart,
 
:''But when they fall, --
 
:''The same water
 
:''Of the valley stream.
 
 
 
:On the other hand, we are not to fall into the opposite error of
 
:taking all things as unreal and meaningless. This is the basis of
 
:much of the poetical thinking of Swinburne, of Shelley and Byron.
 
:It tinges the poetry of Matthew Arnold, Clough, Christina
 
:Rossetti. It is the basis of all passive, quietistic thought.
 
:Both these extreme views are wrong; Yungchia describes the
 
:position in the following way:
 
 
 
:''Getting rid of things and clinging to emptiness
 
:''Is an illness of the same kind;
 
:''It is just like throwing oneself into a fire
 
:''To avoid being drowned.
 
 
 
:'''''IF THE MIND IS AT PEACE,
 
:'''''THESE WRONG VIEWS DISAPPEAR OF THEMSELVES.
 
 
:Dogen has a waka:
 
 
:''Ever the same,
 
:''Unchanged of hue,
 
:''Cherry blossoms
 
:''Of my native place:
 
:''Spring now has gone.
 
 
 
:Here the eternal and temporal, the unchanged and changing are
 
:one, because the flowers are allowed to be the same colour as
 
:always; they are allowed to fall as always. The flowers are not
 
:separated, in their blooming and in their falling, from the poet
 
:himself, nut neither is it a dream world, an eternal world where
 
:all is vanity. It is a world of form and colour, of change and
 
:decay, yet it is beyond time and place, a world of truth. A verse
 
:by Gyosei Shonin,
 
 
 
:''All the various
 
:''Flowers of spring,
 
:''Tinted leaves of autumn,
 
:''Tokens in this world
 
:''Untainted with falsity.
 
 
 
:The ordinary world and the world of reality are here one; life
 
:and death are Nirvana. The great mistake of life and of poetry
 
:is the desire to get away from things, instead of getting into
 
:them, escaping form this world into the dream world. Yet even
 
:this world of day-dreams, of escapist poetry, Wagnerian music
 
:and pictures of Paradise, is also a way of life, is also, when we
 
:realize it, the Great Way. Thus it is again that enlightenment is
 
:ignorance, salvation is damnation, Heaven and Hell are one self
 
:place.
 
 
 
 
:'''''WHEN ACTIVITY IS STOPPED AND THERE IS PASSIVITY,<br>
 
:'''''THIS PASSIVITY AGAIN IS A STATE OF ACTIVITY.
 
 
:The modern theories of repression may be taken as an example of
 
:the meaning of this verse. When we thwart nature, suppress our
 
:instincts, control our desires, the energy thus restricted and
 
:yet augmented is still active, and may at any time burst forth
 
:with volcanic force in some unsuspected direction.
 
 
 
:''Naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret.
 
 
 
:In the poetic life precisely the same thing happens. Only the
 
:charming, picturesque aspects of nature, only innocuous creatures
 
:are described.
 
 
:But this is only one half of life or less; this is not the Way at
 
:all. But all day and every day, Nature is giving us all kinds of
 
:experiences, ghastly as well as pleasant. Germs of disease are
 
:attacking us, wives are unfaithful, children ungrateful, the
 
:cesspool awaits us, cats catch mice, and men kill one another. In
 
:tragic drama, a great deal of this is expressed, but in general
 
:poetry, vast tracts are omitted. A glance at the list of subjects
 
:for Haiku [See the author's ''"Haiku"'', four vols.] shows us how
 
:limited they are. Here and there a snake shows its head, a
 
:dustbin or a corpse appear, but these are rare until we come to
 
:modern times.
 
 
:But whatever the subject may be, there must be what Wordsworth
 
:calls ''"a wise passiveness"'', that is, an active rest, such as we
 
:find described in the following haiku:
 
 
 
:''I came to the flowers;
 
:''I slept beneath them;
 
:''This is my leisure.
 
: ~ Buson ~
 
 
 
:In regard to everything, the double, compensatory use of things
 
:must never be lost sight of. In summer, we like airy, spacious
 
:rooms. but the ceiling is low and the walls press in on us. Let
 
:us bear it gladly:
 
 
 
:''My hut has a low ceiling:
 
:''What happiness,
 
:''In this winter seclusion!
 
: ~ Buson ~
 
 
 
:''"Every ceiling is a good ceiling"'', not merely sometimes, but
 
:always, for this means that it is good by the mere fact of being
 
:what it is. And what is it? It is a no-ceiling, it is nothing, it
 
:is everything, it is what we make it, -- and yet it is a ceiling,
 
:and a low ceiling at that, in all the four seasons, hot in summer,
 
:snug in winter.
 
 
 
 
:'''''REMAINING IN MOVEMENT OF QUIESCENCE,
 
:'''''HOW SHALL YOU KNOW THE ONE?
 
 
:Not only movement and quiescence but enlightenment and illusion,
 
:life and death and Nirvana, salvation and damnation, profit and
 
:loss, this and that, -- all these are our lot and portion from
 
:moment to moment, if we do not realize that the Great Way is one
 
:and indivisible however we delude ourselves that we have divided it.
 
 
 
 
:'''''NOT THOROUGHLY UNDERSTANDING THE UNITY OF THE WAY,<br>
 
:'''''BOTH (ACTIVITY AND QUIESCENCE) ARE FAILURES.
 
 
:In other words, mere activity, activity without quiescence, mere
 
:quiescence without its inner activity, are no good, neither has
 
:its proper quality and function. Freedom is impossible without
 
:law, man is nothing without God, illusion non-existent except for
 
:enlightenment, this is this because that is that. ut freedom and
 
:law, illusion and enlightenment, this and that are two names of
 
:one thing. Unless this is realized (in practical life) none of
 
:these is its real self. This is not this until and unless it is
 
:that; only when the two are one are they really two.
 
 
:In practical life, this means that the composure we feel at home
 
:among our family, is only an illusion that is broken when we go
 
:out into the world and meet with vexation and disappointment,
 
:becoming irritated and depressed. Our activity when playing chess
 
:is not the true activity, as we see when we are beaten and our
 
:opponent's face and voice become hateful to us. It lacks the
 
:balance that preserves the mind from spite though we properly
 
:enough feel gloomy at losing.
 
 
:In the poetical life it is equally important that we realize,
 
:through each all of the senses, that true diversity is the unity.
 
:Even in the scientific world, the nature, for example, of a
 
:many-legged caterpillar is only understood when we know it is a
 
:six-legged insect. The nature of feathers, skin, nails, scales,
 
:and so on is perceives when we find that they are all one thing.
 
:The poet delights is all the many names of things, because he
 
:knows in his heart that as Laotse said,
 
 
 
:''The name that can be named is not an eternal name.
 
 
 
:''All the various
 
:''Difficult names, --
 
:''Weeds of Spring.
 
: ~ Shado
 
 
 
:More specifically referring to the present verse of Sengtsan, we
 
:may note that the poet has to regulate his creative and receptive
 
:functions, that is, to unify them, otherwise the true fruit of
 
:each will be list. On the one hand we get the effusions of
 
:Swinburne, of Keats and Shelley, with their kaleidoscope of
 
:words; on the other, the didactic and descriptive verses that
 
:have nothing of the author in them, only the outside and shell of
 
:things. A great many haiku suffer from the absence of the life of
 
:the poet himself, whose abnegation is excessive, for example:
 
 
 
:''The thatcher
 
:''Is treading the fallen leaves
 
:''Over the bed-room.
 
: ~ Buson ~
 
 
 
   
  +
<p>During the dangerous retreat, it is advised
:'''''IF YOU GET RID OF PHENOMENA, ALL THINGS ARE LOST;
 
  +
to take care of clinging servants. Obviously, the advise is addressed to men
:'''''IF YOU FOLLOW AFTER THE VOID, YOU TURN YOUR BACK
 
  +
at court, of some means, who have run into trouble with
:'''''ON THE SELF-LESSNESS OF THINGS.
 
  +
the court ethos. By naming servants as a distinct group which the consultant
  +
should not abandon in hardheartedness as he withdraws from the court, it
  +
becomes clear that the inferior men are not the servants but those who
  +
gentlemen who serve
  +
the emperor and officials. This passage may reflect charity or pragmatism.
  +
The clinging inferiors of line two are no longer here.</p>
  +
<p>Line 4:</p>
  +
<blockquote>
  +
<p>Voluntary retreat brings good fortune to
  +
the superior man<br>
  +
And downfall to the inferior man.</p>
  +
</blockquote>
  +
<p>This line reemphasizes the superior man's
  +
disposition as positive and marked by integrity. He is not forced to retreat
  +
but chooses a wiser more dignified way. His absence will further plunge the
  +
inferior onto downfall, already anticipated by the superior.</p>
   
  +
<p>Line 5:</p>
:In this translation, the first is taken as things as they
 
  +
<blockquote>
:appear to us, the second as Real Things; the first as
 
  +
<p>Friendly retreat.<br>
:Emptiness, unreality, the second as the Real Self-less Nature
 
  +
Perseverance brings good fortune.</p></blockquote>
:of things. If we suppose that all things are illusion, that
 
:everything is meaningless in the ordinary sense of the word, we
+
<p>This line confirms that the timing of the
  +
retreat allows for an amicable resolution between superior and inferior,
:are misunderstanding the doctrine that all is mind, and losing
 
  +
despite the danger referred to in an earlier commentary. The superior must
:our grasp on the reality outside us. The difficulty is to hold
 
  +
be firm in conviction, nevertheless, to achieve the desired outcome.</p>
:firmly in the mind the two contradictory elements.
 
  +
  +
  +
<p>Line 6:</p>
  +
<blockquote><p> Cheerful retreat<br>
   
  +
Everything serves to further.</p>
:In the early morning we work out into the garden and see a spider
 
  +
</blockquote>
:finishing its web. With skill and assiduity all is completed, and
 
  +
<p>Circumstances for retreat are now clear and
:it sits in the centre, a thing of beauty with its duns and deep
 
  +
a mood of cheerfulness can be entertained. Such a clarity establishes
:blue of arabesque designs. A butterfly flits by, drops too low
 
  +
success for the path ahead.</p>
:and is immediately struggling in the mesh. The spider, though not
 
  +
<p>The thirty-third
:hungry, approaches, seizes it in his jaws and poisons it. He
 
  +
hexagram has been detailed because it so irrefutably establishes an ethos of reclusion so
:returns to the centre of the web, leaving a mangled creature for
 
  +
early in ancient China. Though the contexts deals with civil service in a
:a future meal. A nation conquers the then known world and
 
  +
literal sense, and cannot be presumed to establish a universal motive for
:organizes it with intelligence and ability; a great man appears,
 
  +
eremiticism, this hexagram does lay out the circumstances necessary for an
:is caught and nailed to a cross, a spectacle for all ages and
 
  +
eremiticism of the future. Chinese eremiticism would thus, in this and the
:generations. These two examples are identical, despite the
 
  +
immediate Confucian period that follows, be characterized by a
:addition of intelligence, morality, and religion to the second.
 
  +
highly-principled social criteria, namely, the individual's capacity to
:Both are to be seen exactly in the same way though with differing
 
  +
reject social and civic norms in favor of personal integrity and freedom.</p>
:degrees of intensity. Whether your children are killed by God
 
  +
<p>Here are other hexagrams indirectly
:(allias an earthquake) or by God (allias a robber) or by God
 
  +
confirming and extending the concepts of the third-third:</p>
:(allias old age) the killing is to be received in the same way.
 
  +
<blockquote><p>
:One's attitude to the earthquake and to the robber as such is
 
  +
&nbsp;&nbsp;1. The Creative (Ch'ien or qian)<br>
:different, since these two things are intrinsically different.
 
  +
&nbsp;&nbsp;2. The Receptive (k'un),<br>
   
  +
&nbsp;&nbsp;6. Conflict (Sung or song)<br>
:In the poetical attitude we must have the same lack of censure.
 
  +
18. Work on What has been Spoiled (Ku or gu)<br>
:Our response to things must be similar to that of Maupassant,
 
  +
36. Darkening of the light (Ming I or mingyi)<br>
:Somerset Maugham, D.H.Lawrence, Thomas Hardy, in so far as they
 
  +
52. Keeping Still, Mountains (Ken or gen)<br>
:have no hatred for the villains or love of the heroes.
 
  +
60. Limitation (Chieh or jie)
  +
</p></blockquote>
  +
<p>Each develops a perspective on the concept of
  +
reclusion, all within the context of government service. Exploring the I
  +
ching from this historical angle is a refreshing experience. As a
  +
conclusion, the commentary on
  +
line six of hexagram 18 (Ku) is unambiguous and aptly describes the earliest
  +
philosophy of wisdom as reclusion, and the wise man as recluse:</p>
  +
<blockquote>
  +
<p>He does not serve kings and princes,<br>
   
  +
Sets himself higher goals.</p></blockquote>
::::[[HsinHsinMing2|Page 2]]
 

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table

Stories Ma Nature Shamanism The Papalagi

Greetings



Ice2

Why
Are some icicles long
Some short?
-Onitsura-

We are poets and sages in so far as we
do not ask such questions, or rather ...
in asking them we expect no answer and
do not desire one.
To keep things in this state of wonder
and suspense, to want without desire to
love deeply without attachment, this is
the real part of all our living.
Then the different lengths of the icicles,
the different heights of wooden pilings,
the difference between the sun and the
moon, these things are of perpetual and
never-ending surprise, for ...

"A long thing is ...
the Long Body of Buddha;
A short thing is ...
the Short Body of Buddha."

-R.H.Blyth-
Haiku Vol4 Autumn/Winter


<img alt="Chinese for "utilization"" src="http://www.duckdaotsu.org/2/utilization.gif" style="width: 52px; height: 16px;">

Table Template

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Nombre Completo de la Nación
Full name of nation
Official language Official language(s)
Capital Capital
Head of state Head-of-state
Head of government Head-of-government
Area Area
Population Population
Independence Date
Currency Currency
Wiki

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{| border=1 align=right cellpadding=4 cellspacing=0 width=300 style="margin: 0 0 1em 1em; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 95%;"
|+ <big>'''Nombre Completo de la Nación'''</big><br> <big>'''Full name of nation'''</big>
|-
|'''Official language''' || Official language(s)
|-
|'''Capital''' || Capital
|-
|'''Head of state''' || Head-of-state
|-
|'''Head of government''' || Head-of-government
|-
|'''Area''' || Area
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|'''Population''' || Population
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|'''Independence''' || Date
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How Strange and Marvelous!

from "The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation," by Padmasambhava, trans W. Y. Evans-Wentz, ed Stephen Mitchell, in "The Enlightened Mind," p62-64:

Since there is really no duality, separation is unreal. Until duality is transcended and at-one-ment realized, enlightenment cannot be attained. Both samsara and nirvana, an inseparable unity, are your own mind. It is only because of deluded ideas, which you are free to accept or reject, that you wander in the world of samsara. Practice the Dharma, grasp the essence of these teachings, and free yourself from every attachment. When you seek your mind in its true state, you will find it quite intelligible, although it cannot be seen. In its true state, mind is naked, immaculate, transparent, empty, timeless, uncreated, unimpeded; not realizable as a separate thing, but as the unity of all things, yet not composed of them; undifferentiated, self-radiant, indivisible, and without qualities. Your own mind is not separate from other minds; it shines forth, unobscured, for all living beings. Your own mind is originally as pure and empty as the sky. To know whether or not this is true, look inside your own mind. Without beginning or ending, your original wisdom has been shining forever, like the sun. To know whether or not this is true, look inside your own mind. Your original wisdom is as continuous and unstoppable as the current of a mighty river. To know whether or not this is true, look inside your own mind. When you realize that all phenomena are as unstable as the air, they lose their power to fascinate and bind you. To know whether or not this is true, look inside your own mind. All phenomena are your own ideas, self-conceived in the mind, like reflections in a mirror. To know whether or not this is true, look inside your own mind. Arising spontaneously and free as the clouds in the sky, all phenomena fade away by themselves. To know whether or not this is true, look inside your own mind. Again and again, look inside your own mind. When you look outward into the emptiness of space, you will find no place where the mind is shining. When you look into your own mind in search of the radiance, you will find nothing that shines. This self-originated clear light is eternal and unborn. How strange and marvelous! Since it is unborn, it cannot die. How strange and marvelous! Although it is absolute reality, there is no one to perceive it. How strange and marvelous! Although it wanders in samsara, it is undefiled by evil. How strange and marvelous! Although it sees the Buddha, it is unattached to good. How strange and marvelous! Although it is possessed by all beings, it is not recognized by them. How strange and marvelous! Although the clear light of reality shines inside their own mind, most people look for it outside. How strange and marvelous! Since there is nothing to meditate on, there is no meditation. Since there is nowhere to go astray, there is no going astray. Without meditating, without going astray, look into the true state, where self-awareness, self-knowledge, self-illumination shine resplendently. This is called the enlightened mind. These teachings are immeasurably deep and contain all wisdom. Although they are to be contemplated in a variety of ways, there are no two such things as contemplation and contemplator. When fully contemplated, these teachings merge with the seeker, although when sought, the seeker himself cannot be found. Thereupon the goal of the seeking is attained, and the end of the search. At this point there is nothing more to be sought, and no need to seek anything. Although there are no two such things as knowing and not knowing, there are profound and innumerable forms of meditation; and it is surpassingly excellent in the end to know your own mind. Since there are no two things as meditation and meditator, if, by those who practice or do not practice meditation, the meditator is sought and not found, thereupon the goal of meditation is reached and also the end of meditation itself. Since there are no two such things as meditation and object of meditation, there is no need to fall under the sway of ignorance; for as the result of meditation on the original serenity of the mind, the uncreated wisdom instantaneously shines forth. Although there is an innumerable variety of profound practices, they do not exist for your mind in its true state; for there are no two such things as existence and non-existence. Since there are no two such things as practice and practitioner, if, by those who practice or do not practice, the practitioner of practice is sought and not found, thereupon the goal of practice is reached and also the end of practice itself. The uncreated, self-radiant wisdom of your original mind, actionless, immaculate, transcendent over acceptance and rejection, is itself the perfect practice.


from "The Tibetan Book of the Great Liberation," Padmasambhava, trans Evans-Wentz, p236:

It matters not what name may carelessly be applied to mind; truly mind is one, and apart from mind there is naught else. That Unique One Mind is foundationless and rootless. There is nothing else to be realized.

The Hermit in Lore: the I Ching

The I ching or Book of Changes is an ancient Chinese literary source originating as a divination manual. It presents hexagrams accompanied by explanatory commentaries and text. Although consulted for divination, the work acquired the reputation of being a reservoir of philosophical wisdom, for which it was as widely consulted in subsequent centuries. Because this origin and transformation is pre-Confucian, the I ching provides an excellent resource not interpolated by later tradition. It has special relevance to the study of Chinese eremiticism.

Renunciation of service became a philosophical issue under Confucius, whose ethics took up the perennial issue of service to society and state versus reclusion. The Confucian concept of reclusion, it must be remembered, is still rudimentary, referring to abstention, not a hermit lifestyle. There should be no antiquarianism or historical anachronism in studying the I ching.

The I ching likely was originally consulted by government officials for making decisions. Advice to the ruler of the state is a common application of divination in all cultures, using devices such as taking of augury and astrology. But as a literary source, the I ching embodies specific modes of behavior and responses to crises. Their meanings are general, of course, even vague, but the consultant is expected to apply the established principle of the hexagram to an immediate situation. Some hexagrams advise actions which came to be understood as the origins of eremiticism, advising an "eremitic" solution.

A hexagram consists of a unit of six horizontal lines, with accompanying commentary: Judgment, Image, and Lines, the latter a descriptive meaning of each line in detail. The lines are of two sets (top and bottom) and are solid or broken into two. The sequence of the lines from lowest to highest represents a specific natural phenomenon that, in turn, suggests an interpretation relevant to the consultant.

<img src="../images/tun.gif" align="left" border="0" height="66" hspace="10" vspace="2" width="54">The most obvious hexagram relevant to the construction of a Chinese personality of eremiticism is number 33: tun or the pinyin dun. Here the hexagram represents "retreat." The original sense suggests caution and the avoidance of danger, as in a military situation, but the commentary universalizes the context to human affairs in general. Retreat is not cowardice or flight. Retreat is perspicacious, the wise perception of when to abandon the field  (of battle, social engagement, etc.). The commentary for Judgment is more specific:

Mountain under heaven: the image of retreat.
Thus the superior man keeps the inferior at a distance,
Not angrily but with reserve.

The mountain and the firmament part of retreat from one another. The wise man ("superior" as heaven, embodying wisdom) rises above the inferior man ("inferior" as mountain). He keeps distance because the mountain can never reach him, neither in the psychological nor physical sense. The wise man's retreat is not motivated by hatred or anger but dignity. The mountain reaches a standstill, while the heavens ascend ever indefinitely.

The I ching further analyzes each line of the hexagram. The top line retreats, representing a period of danger or precariousness. The commentary advises inaction (the famous wu-wei of later Taoism).

At the tail in retreat.
This is dangerous.
One must not wish to undertake anything.

The second line from the top means:

He holds him fast with yellow ox hide.
No one can tear him loose.

The color yellow signifies "middle." The inferior man is held fast by strong ox hide, hence bound by duty. The inferior man presses the superior and does not allow the latter to go, as in the Judgment statement.

Line three:

A halted retreat
Is nerve-wracking and dangerous.

To retain people as men and maid servants
Brings good fortune.

During the dangerous retreat, it is advised to take care of clinging servants. Obviously, the advise is addressed to men at court, of some means, who have run into trouble with the court ethos. By naming servants as a distinct group which the consultant should not abandon in hardheartedness as he withdraws from the court, it becomes clear that the inferior men are not the servants but those who gentlemen who serve the emperor and officials. This passage may reflect charity or pragmatism. The clinging inferiors of line two are no longer here.

Line 4:

Voluntary retreat brings good fortune to the superior man
And downfall to the inferior man.

This line reemphasizes the superior man's disposition as positive and marked by integrity. He is not forced to retreat but chooses a wiser more dignified way. His absence will further plunge the inferior onto downfall, already anticipated by the superior.

Line 5:

Friendly retreat.
Perseverance brings good fortune.

This line confirms that the timing of the retreat allows for an amicable resolution between superior and inferior, despite the danger referred to in an earlier commentary. The superior must be firm in conviction, nevertheless, to achieve the desired outcome.


Line 6:

Cheerful retreat
Everything serves to further.

Circumstances for retreat are now clear and a mood of cheerfulness can be entertained. Such a clarity establishes success for the path ahead.

The thirty-third hexagram has been detailed because it so irrefutably establishes an ethos of reclusion so early in ancient China. Though the contexts deals with civil service in a literal sense, and cannot be presumed to establish a universal motive for eremiticism, this hexagram does lay out the circumstances necessary for an eremiticism of the future. Chinese eremiticism would thus, in this and the immediate Confucian period that follows, be characterized by a highly-principled social criteria, namely, the individual's capacity to reject social and civic norms in favor of personal integrity and freedom.

Here are other hexagrams indirectly confirming and extending the concepts of the third-third:

  1. The Creative (Ch'ien or qian)
  2. The Receptive (k'un),

  6. Conflict (Sung or song)
18. Work on What has been Spoiled (Ku or gu)
36. Darkening of the light (Ming I or mingyi)
52. Keeping Still, Mountains (Ken or gen)
60. Limitation (Chieh or jie)

Each develops a perspective on the concept of reclusion, all within the context of government service. Exploring the I ching from this historical angle is a refreshing experience. As a conclusion, the commentary on line six of hexagram 18 (Ku) is unambiguous and aptly describes the earliest philosophy of wisdom as reclusion, and the wise man as recluse:

He does not serve kings and princes,
Sets himself higher goals.