I Ching

Truth involves establishing an aware relationship between your inner core and the circumstances in your life.  Centering in truth involves the ability to perceive a fundamental wisdom, reflected within yourself – and also in others.Truth is transformed into power when you disperse all prejudice and make yourself receptive to the world as it really is.  This power can be a remarkable force indeed – yet is rarer than generally imagined.  It can be maintained only by cultivating a genuine openness to things as they are – a willingness to see, rather than merely look.

Whenever your inner life is clouded, your influence in the world is under a shadow.  If you are fearful, you will be attacked; if you cloak genuine mysteries in dogma, opportunities for new insight will be lost.  If you vacillate in upholding your principles, you will be tested.  Yet, when you are firm and strong, the power of truth can break through even the most stubborn minds.

In any debate, the power to perceive the truth in the other side’s argument is essential to achieving success.  It is possible to influence even the most difficult people, or improve the most difficult circumstance, through the power of universal truth – for truth is something to which all things naturally respond.  Get in touch with that part of yourself that is aware of this universal force of truth.  Cultivate this inner resource, and you will become adept at using it to bind others to a common purpose.

1. Inner preparedness brings success.  Personal stability of character, and a steadfast dedication to the truth underlying every situation, inevitably leads to good fortune.  Relying on the perceptions of others, however, is not possible in this context; you must learn to stand on your own, to be inwardly self-reliant, to employ the power of inner truth for advancement.
2. A clear radiant unselfishness at the core of your being is a vital source of power and influence.  It spreads as surely as ripples on a pond when a stone is tossed into the center.  A sincere reliance on your own integrity generates supreme good fortune.
3. The life of a person who is dependent upon others for truth and purpose is like a ship tossing on the sea.  Until the ship’s anchor is dropped to the ocean floor, there will be no stability in the rolling waves.  Inner truth must be rooted in one’s own perceptions and experience; at the gate to the palace of truth, each of us stands alone.  Dare to know your own mind – and speak it!
4. Sometimes to live consistent with your own inner truth is not easy.  In order to do so, you must be able to work like the horse who plows straight ahead, bearing its burden resolutely, and refusing to glance sideways, even to its mate, while the workday is in progress.  Avoid trendy fashions and cliques, dig down deeply, and your field will yield a bountiful harvest in the end.
5. Great unity is possible when the force of a strong personality can radiate.  Such a personality is able to guide through the power of suggestion.  Prosperity itself resides in the heart of such a leader, and affects others through his or her very existence.  If such a person is true at heart, coming into his circle of influence brings great good fortune.
6. In the end, words are birds and experience the tree they roost in.  The power of inner truth is rooted in the tree.  Birds come and go.