A Fortified Heart

The commentary on hexagram fifty eight one speaks of the "quiet security of a heart fortified within itself." But make no mistake about it, a heart cannot be secure unless it believes in something bigger than the little ego. As much as the ego likes to maintain control, maintain control over the environment, maintain control of others, and all things, the more it tries, the more it finds it cannot. The ego does this for one reason and one reason only. It is full of fear. It fears if it does not control everything and everybody it will not be able to get what it wants, and may lose everything. The ego can never, ever, create a "quiet heart." And for this reason, no matter what we do, no matter how hard we try, as long as we are coming from ego, we can never have a "contented joyousness." The commentary says, "A quiet, self contained joy, DESIRING NOTHING FROM WITHOUT and resting content with everything, remains free of all egoistic likes and dislikes." It is only when we recognize a power greater than our little I, a power from the "greater I, that we can have any freedom or peace of mind. The big question that Einstein asked and attempted to answer was, "is the universe benevolent, or malevolent?" As long as we believe the universe is anything but benevolent, we find it to be anything but benevolent. When we understand that the consciousness of the universe, (and realize it is conscious) is love and only love, we come to realize that the universe truly is benevolent, and we can give up our egoistic fear, and just let go and let God. (See hexagram twenty five.) It is only when we recognize that greater power that we can have a heart fortified within itself.

The same is true in our relationships or any aspect of life. When we gjve up trying to control our partner, control the relationship, control how it goes, quit trying to change our partner, quit trying to manipulate the situation, that we find true peace and contentment within that relationship. We must, as the Beetles sang in the sixties and seventies, "Let it be, let it be, there will be an answer, let it be." But we cannot find that answer unless our hearts, our minds, are at peace, calm, quietly fortified within.

When we come to the place in our lives where it seems nothing is working for us, when it seems no one knows us or respects our work, when we seem to be laboring in vain, we can take comfort in the words of hexagram fifty line three. The commentary says, "If only he will see to it that he is possessed of something truly spiritual, the time is bound to come, sooner or later, when the difficulties will be resolved, and all will go well." But we must recognize this principle, and let life be. There will be an answer.