There is an old story of Confucius.
Visiting the temple of a long-departed duke.
Together with his students.
Beside the altar hung a bronze vessel.
And it was set in such a position so that it could tilt.
Confucius asked the temple keeper what it was.
And he was told.
The Duke kept it beside him as a reminder.
Confucius turned to his students and said,
I have heard of such a vessel.
Empty it leans.
Fold halfway,
It stands upright.
Pull to the brim It tips over.
Then he asked one of the students to bring some water.
The student poured.
And it happened just as he said.
Empty,
The vessel leaned to one side.
Halfway,
It settled straight and steady.
And as the water reached the brim,
It overturned and spilled.
All across the floor.
Confucius then pondered.
Is there anything that grows full?
And does not overturn.
The sage within you is the part of you that knows how and when to empty your cup.
Each of us carries this inner sage,
The one who watches before speaking,
Who listens beneath the noise.
Who has lived in you long enough to recognize what matters.
And to know what can be allowed to pass.
Often it waits quietly behind all the doing and the knowing.
Until we make a little room.
Let's take a breath together.
As you contemplate.
Where in my life is my cup already full?
Notice what comes to mind.
And then feel into the physical body.
Let the breath slow and deepen.
And notice the stillness that sits underneath your thoughts.
The part of you that was here before thinking began.
And will still be here when it settles.
This is where the sage lives.
Sense into that.
As you now contemplate.
What does the quiet part of me already know?
Notice.
And then release the noticing.
In the language of the elements,
The sage belongs to the mountain.
The mountain holds its place through every season.
Weather moves across,
Clouds gather and clear.
The mountain stays steady.
And hurried rooted deep in the earth while its peak rests in the open sky.
It knows how to wait.
And how to wait without wanting anything.
In the I Ching this quality appears in hexagram 52.
Where we see two expressions of the mountain appearing.
Mountain above mountain.
And it's talking about stillness.
It speaks of stopping when it is time to stop.
Moving when it is time to move.
And letting the mind rest.
Where you are.
Rather than running on ahead.
To explore the depths of the stillness.
And to encounter further qualities of your Sage within.
I invite you to join me in the contemplation for Hexagram 52.
Where we will rest with the mountain together.
You can find this track.
In the eaching playlist.
At the bottom of my profile page.
For now,
Let the mountain be still.
As the sage within you knows and trusts your wisdom.
