Believe Nothing.
Entertain Possibilities.

Ancient cultures throughout the world revered those who were exceptionally gifted or beautiful as manifestations of God’s grace on earth - a link between the divine creator and humankind. Today we call such people “stars”, but what we really revere is their celebrity and fame rather than their individual qualities. To be a true star, however, is to radiate well-being and an attitude that says, “I feel at home with myself and with the world”. Everyone, in this sense, has the potential for stardom; it is our birthright, regardless of our physical appearance, social standing, abilities, or the whims of fashion.

   
Despite what the cult of stardom would have us believe, real beauty and the grace that surrounds it is never contrived. It is a luminosity that emanates from within, ephemeral and ageless, a natural glow that arises from living a balanced life. Like the lotus blossom that appears above the muddiest of waters, the lifelong challenge we face is to transform the dark and the difficult into light, fragrance, and ultimately, the flower of consciousness.

Beauty and our perception of it manifests in myriad ways. For a scientist, it might appear as a flash of clarity when one of the mysteries of the universe reveals its hidden design. For a painter, it could be in the interplay of shifting color or light and shadow in the landscape. A composer might hear music in the night sky or in sunlit waters. The creative impulse in us springs from those moments of grace when all the divergent elements of life seem to harmonize perfectly; when, everywhere we look, we perceive the brilliance and mystery of a masterwork that transcends the knowable. Our expressions of creativity are essentially a homage to the Tao.

 
Awareness of beauty is inextricably bound with a sense of impermanence. Everywhere in nature beauty is born, fades, and returns again to beget beauty, in a continuous, creative unfoldment. We create many problems for ourselves by wanting to demystify and possess beauty and grace, to reproduce an essentially ephemeral experience and make it permanent. When all efforts fail, as they inevitably must, we become stuck in an impossible longing to re-create what was lost through some contrivance of our own. If we can manage to withdraw from this desire to grasp and possess, the experience of grace becomes a source of inner nourishment that deepens our aesthetic pleasure and joy in life.

 
Learn simply to greet beauty when it comes, to reflect upon it and become one with it, with no demands or expectations. Contemplate beauty and allow it to infuse your life; you will be beautified by it, and an aesthetic sense will naturally arise in you. Recognize that beauty is fleeting; meditate on the transitoriness of all things, which will kindle in you the desire to be aware in every moment and to give life’s beauty some form of expression. This moment is an invitation to shine and to give of your best, graciously and wholeheartedly. Let your model be Mother Nature, whose elegance and generosity knows no bounds, and whose capacity to beautify is never less than perfect. The beauty of nature is love.    

There are basically two modes of conduct in human life: conduct that arises from ego, and conduct that arises from essence. While it can be a lifelong endeavor to acquire the inner awareness, centering, and integration that enable you to act from essence, the hexagram of TREADING characterizes a situation where the differences between these two modes of conduct come sharply into focus.

  
When you feel impatient or irritated with someone or something, it is a sure sign that the ego is agitated by the possibility its desires won’t be met. The ego isn’t hard to identify once it begins aggressively promoting its own cause and pushing others aside to get its way, regardless of the consequences. Cut off from any influence other than its own wants, the ego fuels an inner attitude that undervalues other people and, consciously or unconsciously, oversteps their personal boundaries. You tend to believe you have special dispensation to go for it regardless of whether “it” is in sync with the rest of life or not. Anyone who is seen to be working at cross purposes to the ego’s agenda is self-righteously dismissed as irrelevant, inept, or impossible.

In situations involving the completion of a project, or working together with a team, ego-driven conduct never takes responsibility for the glitches, but it is quick to claim the credit for any success. In situations of private unhappiness, it is the ego that wants to avoid all responsibility by placing blame on some other person, superstition, or outside force like fate.

  
Once we have lost the awareness and integrity of essence and become distracted by the demands of the ego, we tend to start acting like robots, using old conditioned-behavior patterns that are so entrenched that we start thinking this is what makes up “me”. For the ego, functioning from habit is trouble-free because it can play out its favorite program of fantasies and projections without interference from the risky reality that opens up when sensitivity, spontaneity, and trust are allowed to lead the way.

  
The essence, on the other hand, is so self-assured and at home in its own skin that it has no need to prove itself by advancing its own goals against the goals of others. It is happy to move on the middle path and takes great interest in the challenge of remaining aware of each step on the way. When you act from essence, in other words, you act with awareness and sensitivity to all the variables in play, including the feelings of those around you, the demands of the times, and how your actions might best promote a greater sense of harmony and understanding. This is particularly true when you sense that there is trouble brewing somewhere “out there: or within your Self. When you act from essence, you understand that marching to the beat of your own drum is not contradictory to playing in harmony with the band. We tread this fine line between egoistic drives and essential awareness throughout the whole of our lives. Getting savvy to these individual attributes of human nature makes the going a lot less treacherous, and a lot more rewarding.    

 

When the time to mobilize “the army” has arisen, it is a clarion call for self-discipline and much needed clarity that is stripped of emotional excess and undaunted by mounting chaos. It may seem now that you are surrounded on all sides by potentially undermining forces that threaten to chip away at the foundations of all you stand for. This is neither the time to act hastily nor the time to allow the present conditions to continue any longer without your intervention in the hope that they will change of their own accord.

  
You may be experiencing your own reserves dwindling, and you can ill afford to wait any longer for others to come to the rescue. By not taking matters in hand now, you risk being drawn into emotional tangles or swept up in conflict and bickering that will only worsen the already degenerating circumstances.

In order to achieve long-term objectives you must avoid any tendency to go for the quick-fix. Cutting your losses by taking the easy way out might seem to satisfy an understandable desire for resolution, but the effect of such actions can only be short term. Whether you are in a position of leadership and your actions affect many, or the conflict you face is within your own consciousness, you are being tested to the maximum now.

  
The spotlight is on the urgent need to get a handle on your diminishing resources. Whether the challenge facing you is social, spiritual, or physical, the fact remains that you cannot afford the slightest trace of immature or undisciplined behavior. Marshal all your strength now to focus on taking care of each situation as it arises, and in doing so, leave no detail unattended, no stone unturned. Do not relax your awareness even for a moment. This will need all your skill in spotting and reining in any little tricks of the mind that might interfere with your awareness by besieging you with fearfulness or self-doubt.

 
However threatening the current situation may seem, it should be carefully considered from different angles before any action is taken. Gaining some overview now will enable you to formulate the right strategy. Put aside any restlessness and anxiety that might surface, and don’t fall prey to reactionary tactics. Confronting others head-on will only create resentment and a desire for revenge, although the opposition may not be obvious and it is wise to play it very close to the hip in order to plan your next moves in privacy.

  
Don’t shy away from or deny the powerful energy that wants to forcefully assert itself through you now. Instead, work to harness it so that it can be creative and support a solution to the present dilemma. You might have to act alone, or if you are fortunate you will be able to find companions to help you in your task. Like defusing a bomb, addressing the situation that confronts you now will require a good deal of patience and skill. But if you succeed, it will benefit you and everyone around you.

 

  

The Creative represents ultimate potential. It only manifests in an atmosphere of receptivity so charged that the quickening flash of inspiration can arc across it. In ancient China this potentiality, brimming on the point of being, was accorded the highest respect and was attributed to heaven. Known as the dragon power, it was depicted as an illuminated dragon continuously twisting in the darkness of the void. In the West it has been called the hand of God that creates all things. Because its very nature is the lack of a fixed form, the enormous energy of The Creative is undefinable. This is the primary active force that is spontaneous and unpredictable, untiring in a nature that is eternally in motion effecting change.

Remaining in an attitude of openness, with a yes to the twists and turns of life unfolding, attracts The Creative. When expectations are dropped, we are able to yield to, and be transformed by, what comes from heaven. In that receptivity we become available for The Creative to descend - stimulating inspiration. It is as if, waiting in an attitude of openness, you are impregnated with the seed of creative expression. Through its potency, everything is made manifest: the entire universe is governed by its principles, across all dimensions from the molecular to the cosmic. Its signature is visible throughout nature and human consciousness.

  
The Creative is yang, the active principle balancing The Receptive, the yin principle. Their entwined harmony is depicted as the yin/yang symbol; they are utterly independent and can never be separated. This mighty force must have something to act upon, and inspire into being.

  
This moment is ripe with potential and the Tao is emphasizing the male dynamic, highlighting energetic going forward, expansiveness, and tenacity. Heaven wants to work through you, and it requires fortitude to channel that energy for the greater good. To operate freely, this principle relies upon the yielding, receptivity of the yin feminine principle; nothing will cause it to retreat faster than rigidity that masks as power. There is tremendous advantage in being blessed by the power of heaven; therefore, it must be used intelligently with humility and respect.

  
This compelling yang power cannot be prevented - or manipulated to your will. Any attempts to egotistically impose upon it only distorts the outcome. Then the “best laid plans ... often go awry”. Because mind is always dissatisfied, always hankering for the “new and improved”, we fiddle around, interfering with the steady unfolding of The Creative. It is foolish to hurry it along impatiently, or to try to alter the dynamic that is at work.

 
To remain in harmony with its course, and so benefit from its infinite resource, remain open and willing to work intuitively and spontaneously with what is offered to you now. You are empowered to inspire by having been inspired, so thing big, let your dreams be grand. Cultivate integrity, kindness, and humanity. Allow your nature to develop a relaxed alertness, in harmony with the way of the Tao, for then the power of The Creative can become the wind beneath your wings. Let the hand of this heaven principle reveal the higher, visionary perspective which is there in potential for us all.