Poem: Changes 52/Keeping Still

1
The mountain is the youngest child
Of heaven and earth
Striving ever upward

And simultaneously tumbling down

Like the volcanoes
That surround me

2
It is difficult to bring quiet to the heart
Stillness is a state of polarity
With motion as its complement

True quiet means keeping still
When the time comes to keep still
And going forward

When the time comes to go forward
The end and the beginning of movement
Buddhism strives for rest

Through an ebbing away
Of all movement in nirvana
The Book of Changes holds that rest

Is a state of polarity
With movement as its complement
When you have thus become calm

You turn
To the outside world
To the mountains standing close together

3
The beginning is a time of few mistakes
When you are still in harmony
Not influenced by obscuring interests and desires

You see things as they really are
Like the man who plays
The Blue Guitar

4
A person who halts at the beginning
As long as they have not abandoned truth
Finds the way

But resolve is needed to prevent drifting
The leg cannot move independently
It depends on body movement

If a legs stops
While the body is in motion
The body falls

5

The restless heart may be subdued by forcible means
But a smothered fire
Changes into acrid smoke

That suffocates as it spreads
Calmness must develop organically
From inner composure
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