I awoke this morning with a feeling of excitement. It was if something good was about to happen today, that it was already happening and I wasn’t aware of it yet, but would be soon. Being excited about things and people was something that I had to keep in check upon my recent adventures in Austin and Fort Worth because my ego has a tendency to want to take credit for good things. While I was working with clients I had to constantly keep my ego in check by acknowledging to the Higher Power my thankfulness for the many gifts that were being presented and then remind my ego that it had no involvement in my successes.
Keeping my ego in check isn’t easy. I’m learning that it is something I have to do every moment. I’m even asking myself what feelings I am feeling to determine if I am following my path in a correct and good manner. This morning’s I Ching reading was Hsien/Influence (wooing) – An ‘influence’ is about to take place, an unexpected event that will challenge our inner stability. Just reading the introduction for the reading was enough to cause concern, but as I read, it talked about just such concerns. It talked about being receptive to others no matter how they have or will approach us. We should keep an open mind. Through this open mind we can deprive a negative situation of its tension and even reverse it. “Readiness also means that one’s attitude is innocent and independent, free of self-importance and emotional pressure. Thus balanced and alert, we automatically and without effort or intention receive and transmit good influences to others, acting as a conduit for the Cosmos to speak and act. Emotions such as desire, anxiety, feelings of negation and alienation, not only block our ability to receive from the Cosmos; they also transmit our dependence and weakness with a destructive effect. A weak inner self that vacillates from desire to doubt, from hope to fear, and from like to dislike, is immediately perceived by others. Moreover, weakness and dependence makes us objects of contempt, challenge and aggression, invoking the king-of-the-heap game; in this weakened state we are more affected by others’ positive or negative feelings. A correct inner attitude, in addition to making us a conduit for the creative, holds other people’s egos in check, cultivates the superior man within them, and frees us from being unconsciously affected by their inner feelings.”
It said that be receiving this hexagram that an influence was about to take place in which we will be challenged to hold to the correct way of influencing others. The only way to do this is to maintain a constant and good thought or mental attitude. In other words to remain detached through monitoring our inner feelings and not to react to elements of desire, fear, anger or a relaxation of inner discipline. “If our attitude is perseveringly neutral, then the creative energies of the Cosmos will be aroused and our response will be correct; if not, the pressures of the moment will cause our ego to surface and spoil the good influence we would otherwise have.” It talked about not intentionally creating responses in others by our actions or words and we shouldn’t be drawn into their attempts through flattery, seduction, manipulation, or irritation to engage us because these things are to incite a response in us and doesn’t allow us to remain steadfast.
As I’ve read I’m learning a lot about how to keep my ego in check, how not to respond to other’s influences and that I’m to keep myself in check at all times. I usually end each of my writings with a thought, however, this mornings I Ching reading said it best:
Thought for now: “The state of our mind and the attitude of our spirit affect the whole universe. Therefore, it is best to be conscientiously correct, even out of the sight and hearing of others. IN Chinese philosophy it is said that the slightest wave of the hand moves molecules all the way to the end of the universe. It is also true that the slightest change in our inner attitude affects those to whom we are connected, however far away they may be. Should we not, then, be careful of our innermost thoughts?”
NOTE: All quotes taken from A Guide to the I Ching by Carol K. Anthony.
