Real Versus Unreal

Hexagram four line four speaks of a situation in which the teacher has to leave us alone for a while as experience is the only real teacher. This line hints to us that we have a blind spot in our thinking. When this happens we often unwittingly cling to this blind spot and will not let it go, and even when our teacher tells us it is not so, we tend to realign the teaching to fit our way of thinking. Therefore, there is only one thing left that the teacher can do, and that is to let us go our own way. The teacher knows that life itself will bring us into conditions and circumstances in which we bump up against our concept of reality in such a way that it shakes us out of our illusion. The nature of the universe is to force us to grow, and it will do that one way or another. It may take us a short time or a long time to learn, but we will be forced eventually to shake loose of our illusions.

Once again the point must be made that the universe is a consciousness that points us to it. We do not see this through many lifetimes. We have allowed ourselves to be deluded to such an extent that we cannot accept this premise no matter what. And yet, sooner or later we end up having to admit that is an intelligence of a higher nature than our own conscious minds. That universal consciousness is the force that sets us up into situations where we are forced to shed our illusions. It is a school master that eventually gets us in touch with our own inner Christ, or Buddha, or Natural Way, (tao)

Hexagram two line three says that there are "hidden lines." In other words there is a much greater aspect of reality which we cannot see, hear, feel, touch, or smell. And yet it is there. And if we do not appreciate its existence, it will eventually in some way make its presence felt. Chapter fourteen of the "Tao Teh Ching" says of the tao, (the force, the natural way, the universal subconscious) "Look for it, and it cannot be seen. Listen for it, and it cannot be heard. Grasp for it, and it cannot be caught. These three things cannot be further described, so we treat them as the one." Universal mind cannot be seen, it cannot be heard, and it cannot be caught, and yet it is there, as real as anything else. And being real, will if need be, make its presence felt, so that, as painful as it might be, it chastises us into an understanding of its ways. It is the ultimate teacher, which our earthly teachers can merely mimic, knowing that the real teacher is unsubstantial yet real, has form yet cannot be seen, speaks to us yet cannot be heard, and forces us to recognize, sooner or later that there really are hidden lines, that can bite us in unimaginable places if we arrogantly assume that our conscious minds are all that exist, and insist on remaining trapped in our illusions, they biggest illusion of which is that we are separate beings.

On the other hand, chapter sixteen of the Tao Teh Ching says, "If you empty your mind of all thoughts your heart will embrace the tranquility of peace." We must quiet the conscious mind. It does have its place, but it also needs to recognize a greater power than itself, which can only be found in the "tranquility of peace." "Look for it, it cannot be seen." Yet it is there, but only in the tranquility of peace. Because when our minds are calm, relaxed, and open, the "inner truth" (hexagram sixty one) pours in. We don't hear it, we don't see it, we don't feel it, and yet we know. May the tao (the Lord, the Buddha) grant us that "peace that passes all understanding."