One must understand that there is a divine principle that works throughout nature. If we believe the conscious mind is the sum total of human understanding, we split ourselves in two and do not recognize the other part of ourselves. When we do this it is as if a cylinder in an engine isn't firing. We may not notice it, for the engine will still run, just a little shakily. When we try to control with our conscious minds the world around us, we may hit or miss, as our karma will dictate, and especially if we hit we think all is right with our world. But we miss a big part of what is really going on in our life, and may develop a karma for ourselves that will register in a future lifetime.
In the I Ching the fifteenth hexagram speaks of the requisite for modesty. That is not always what we think it is. We do not downgrade or denigrate ourselves when we act with modesty. A less well known meaning for this hexagram is partnership. By being modest we recognize that there is a greater power and we need to become one with it. When we do this we accept that we do not control everything, but recognize that there is within us an unconscious power that works ultimately for our benefit. We do not "count on the harvest while plowing" as in hexagram 25, line 2. We do the work for its own sake, and leave the results to the divine principle. This only works however, when we are in harmony with the cosmos, with the divine principle, with the principle of love and tranquility. Otherwise, there is no benefit.
When we are in harmony and tranquility, we no longer "see in the world the struggle and tumult of individual beings, and therefore he has that true peace of mind which is needed for understanding the great laws of the universe, and for acting in harmony with them." (Hexagram 52.) This is the "Pearl of great price" mentioned in several of the world's religions. In the I Ching this is described as "Possession in Great Measure." (Hexagram 14.) And the image says, "Thus the superior man curbs evil and furthers good, And thereby obeys the benevolent will of heaven."
Much could be said of this, but we are at a stopping point for now. More will be said of this later.
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Hi Gene,
When I ponder modesty in the I Ching, I also think of not just acting in a modest way, but living in a modest way....living simply without ostentation or pretense to welth power, etc.
As you said, however much some people may disagree, we have no "power," no control. Our lives are easier, fuller, more satisfying and beneficial for ourselves and others when we align ourselves with the universal energies (the Dao).
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