25 無妄 Innocence
Judgement
You act without duplicity, without ulterior motives, and that cleanness is your strength. There is great progress, on one condition: that you stay firm and upright. If the intention is not clean, mistakes follow and it does not help to move in any direction. Innocence is not naivety: it is coherence between what you feel, what you say and what you do. Ask yourself whether what moves you is what you say moves you.
Image
Thunder rolls under heaven and each thing is given its nature, clean of falsehood. The ancient kings fitted their rules fully to the seasons and so nourished all beings. The image invites you to follow the natural rhythm of things without forcing them or pretending. Ask yourself where you are going against the timing of what you look after.
Lines
Line 1
You are free of all falseness. If you move forward like this, it tends to go well. Plain sincerity is the best starting point: no strategy beats it. You need nothing more than to be who you are. Ask yourself whether anything in what you are starting is something you would not say aloud. If not, go ahead.
Line 2
You harvest without having plowed and gather the third year's fruit without having cultivated the first for that purpose. There is an advantage in any direction. It is acting without calculating the gain: you do what is yours to do and what comes, comes. Ask yourself how much of what you do is for what you expect to get.
Line 3
Misfortune strikes you although there is no falseness in you: like the tethered ox taken by a passerby, while the neighbors are the ones accused. Unjust things happen, and they have nothing to do with what you have done. Ask yourself which part of what you suffer is not yours.
Line 4
If you manage to stay firm and upright, you are unlikely to go wrong. There is no more to say. It is a simple line: staying in your place, with no flourishes. When everything is uncertain, constancy is enough. Ask yourself what your integrity asks of you today and whether you can do it without expecting anyone to notice.
Line 5
You are free of falseness and still you fall ill. It is an image: not every ailment is your fault, and there can be joy in recovery. If it is a real health matter, consult a professional. Ask yourself whether you treat as a fault what only needs time.
Line 6
You are free of falseness, but if you move you may make a mistake: little you do is likely to help. It is not your fault, it is the moment. Sometimes the honest thing is to stay still. Do not force action just to feel you are doing something. Ask yourself whether moving or waiting helps more now.
Reflection
- Is there anything in what you are starting that you would not say aloud?
- How much of what you do is for what you expect to get?
- Which part of what you suffer is not your fault?