Commotion and Tranquillity
An excerpt from the ‘Taoist I Ching’ ( Thomas Cleary translation) :-
Situations of ordinary commotion are even considered by some Taoists to be better for the practice of inner tranquillity than are situations of external quiet. In his ‘Annals of the Hall of Blissful Development’ the Yuan Dynasty adept Huang Yuan-ch’i says:
‘People are happy when there is quiet and vexed when there is commotion. Don’t they realize that since their energy has already been stirred by the clamor of people’s voices and the involvements and disturbances of people and affairs, rather than use this power to be annoyed at the commotion, it is better to use this power to cultivate stability. An ancient said “When people are in the midst of the disturbance, this is a good time to apply effort to keep independent.” Stay comprehensively alert in the immediate present, and suddenly an awakening will open up an experience in the midst of it all that is millions of times better than that of quiet sitting. Whenever you encounter people making a commotion, whether it concerns you or not, use it to polish and strengthen yourself, like gold being refined over and over until it no longer changes colour. If you gain power in this, it is much better than long drawn-out practice in quietude.”