Bruce Lee said, “It’s not the daily increase but daily decrease. Hack away at the unessential.” Although Lee was referring to technical martial art excellence, it is relevant in every day life. That quote comes from the most ancient of Chinese thought, and you ware likely to find it running through the culture stream of any wisdom tradition.
Our focus this month is stress control. Part of that work is getting rid of what you do not need. A recent I Ching reading cast hexagram #41, decrease. Good advice for these times. Sometimes it is called “empty the cauldron”. It is the trigrams of the mountain over the lake. The water evaporates, and though not visible, the moisture nourishes the mountain. It moves deep inside, hidden – yet is fosters new growth.
It is a time not of accumulation, but meaning. What seems to be lost, and in many ways is lost, is, in the end, just change. The external gives way to the internal. Maybe its a reduction in material possessions. Their loss can leave room for something else: things that are not visible, but felt, understood. Known only in a way that manifests when you make space for it.
Clean up your sh*t. Cutting through excess could be cleaning out a closet, or clearing out your own cobwebs. Streamline efforts in your daily life, or in your martial art or wellness practice. Clearing a place for deeper exploration of thought or spirit. Is it time to talk less and listen more? Maybe the anger has to go. Or frustration. Judgment. Jealousy. Feeling lost. All baggage you do not need to carry. It weighs you down. Hack away at it, let it go. Empty the cauldron. Dissolve into the mountain, see what grows.
Toni Josephson
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Tags: hexagram 41, i ching, kung fu, Martial Arts, stress awareness month, tandao, toni josephson
