I wrote this to myself this morning:

The numbers at the bottom are from a consultation of the Yijing. I thought it was worth elaborating upon what exactly I think a sage / unencumbered spirit is. I picked up “sage” from the Daodejing. I got the term “unencumbered spirit” from the title of a book I found at Half Priced Books: “The Unencumbered Spirit: Reflections of a Chinese Sage”. I suppose I could throw a third term in here that seems to accurately reflect my aim. “Unfettered Mind.” Earlier today I noticed I have a PDF of the book “The Unfettered Mind: Writings from a Zen Master to a Master Swordsman.” I think I’ll start reading that one tonight.

What these terms express to me is mastering the necessary disciplines to actively participate in life, but allowing nothing in life to muddy the clear waters of my mind. This is difficult to do because I have to master the skills necessary to bring clarity to my mind as well as the skills necessary to protect those clear waters.

Most of my life I’ve practiced functioning with muddy waters. Even muddying them myself when things started looking too clear. Sometimes consciously, mostly unconsciously. I’ve always told myself that keeping my waters crystal clear was too easy. It’s funny the things we tell ourselves.

The passage above is trying to reflect the fact that all I really need to focus on is doing “the work” every day. The work of clearing the waters and the work of protecting them.

I found my spelling mistake at the end of the passage somewhat enlightening. “I” was suppose to be “it.”

“I will arise spontaneously.”