Actually, we are all petty people because none of us can do this with any consistency. Hexagram fourteen lne three says, "He is harmed by great possessionsnother, ., because instead of sacrificing them, he would keep them for himself." There are certain principles and laws upon which the cosmos, or if you prefer, the universe, is founded. And often they are in computerese, counterintuitive. It seems that in order to have we must get, but all of the ancient sacred texts tell us that the true way to get is to give. As is said in the text, "A prince offers it to the Son of Heaven." In otherwords, he sacrifices in order to have. Like the monkey with his hand in the cookie jar, we cannot escape the jar until we let go of the cookie in our hand. Now, I am sure some will say, nonsense. You make your money, and you invest it. Yes, but to make that money requires a sacrifice of some kind or another. If not the sacrifice of money, then it is the sacrifice of time and labor. Then in investing it, one gives others a chance to use that money for their own good, and in return, both share a fortune. But more than this, I am talking about an attitude; an attitude that says, "it is not exclusively mine." An understanding isrequired here, that when we give to others, we are truly giving to ourselves, because we are all one.An attitude of sharing is an attitude that will eventually be returned to us, and in our hour of need...
Hoarding wealth at the exclusion of all else is a sign of fear, a fear of lack and poverty, and even if we do not experience that in this lifetime, we will eventually, for as Job said, "The thing that I have greatly feared has come upon me." The image in hexagram fourteen says, "...And thereby obeys the benevolent will of heaven." This is because he does not fear. He understands that what is his , upon being sacrificed, will by the belevlent will of heaven, be returned to him. In essence, everything, including money, is just energy, and the more energy is used and expended, the more becomes available to us. In this way, we can pray, "Give us this day, our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors."
That makes a lot of sense especially in the context of energy. Energy is constantly cycling between material-immaterial-material. If we hang on to something (which is probably more a mental grasping than a physical one), we are creating a forced stagnation which is probably creating all sorts of problems on the energetic level! It would be like damming a river...eventually the river is going to overflow or break through the dam.
ReplyDeleteHi Michelle
ReplyDeleteIn one sense this is true. In another sense, it is all energy, all the time, and is only perceived as material by the mind. See my next post.
Gene