If you want to strengthen yourself, I’ll tell you five sentences from the I Ching that you can remember.
The first sentence is “Guo nang wu jiu.” Let me explain what “Guo nang” means. It means you should tighten your pocket, which is extended to mean that you should control your mouth and not speak too much or speak recklessly, so as to avoid the trouble caused by speaking too much. We often say “disease enters through the mouth, and disaster comes out of the mouth,” right? We use our mouths to speak and eat. I tell you, a person’s mouth carries the fortune of a lifetime. If you have a good mouth, then naturally you will have endless blessings.
The second one is “Zi tian you zhi, ji wu bu li.” On the surface, it seems that it’s about being protected by heaven to gain motivation. But actually, there is a character “zi” before “tian,” which means “self.” So it’s those who help themselves that can get help from others and heaven. Some students may ask, how can one have good fortune in meeting benefactors? I’ll tell you, when you actively cultivate yourself, the benefactor will come to you naturally.
The third one is “Qiong ze bian, bian ze tong, tong ze jiu.” There is an old saying in China, “When a tree is moved, it dies; when a person is moved, he lives.” The key to this saying lies in two characters, “change and adapt.” Everything in the world is changing. Those who learn to be adaptable are more likely to succeed. We can divide people into three categories. The first category is those who stick to their old ways. They refuse to change when they see others changing, and then they complain and regret when they see others doing well. The second category is the followers of change. They know how to follow when they see others changing, and they catch up with the rhythm of the world’s changes. The third category is the wise leaders. They are good at change and adaptation, and they are always ahead of the changes, so they can get all the advantages.
The fourth sentence is “Cang qi yu shen, dai shi er dong, he bu li zhi you.” What is “qi”? It’s a person’s knowledge and ability. “Cang qi yu shen” means to keep them hidden and not show off. A person can have “qi” without using it, but he cannot be without “qi.” This tells us three principles. First, a person cannot be without “qi.” Second, if you are too smart and don’t restrain yourself, you are likely to invite disaster. So you need to know how to hide your sharpness and not show it. The third principle is that you should not act blindly when the time is not right, but wait for the right moment to act. If you do these three things, what could be unfavorable to you?
The fifth sentence is also the most important one, “Qian heng, jun zi you zhong.” This sentence is from the “Qian” hexagram in the I Ching. Among the sixty-four hexagrams, almost every one has good and bad, fortune and misfortune intertwined. Only the “Qian” hexagram is a hexagram of six unbroken lines. “Qian” means humility, being low-key in doing things. Being humble and modest will definitely lead to smooth sailing. So in a word, it’s not a bad thing to be modest. If we just think and act in the direction of these five pieces of wisdom from the I Ching, I tell you, life will become much smoother and good luck will naturally come to you.
