PrincipiaVita
The real secrets of life, the universe, and everything
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OBSTACLES 010100 (20)
The hexagram is number 39 of the I Ching called
Obstruction. The image is of water above mountain.
001 The oracle: An immovable obstacle requires one to retreat and
grow in strength before moving ahead. Overcoming obstacles builds
character.
010 The meditation: The voice of obstacles: Large things appear that
seem impassable.
What is it?
The task seems huge and impossible. You know you must do
it but it seems too difficult. Is there any reason to start something that
seems so big? You are facing an obstacle. An obstacle is that which
blocks the way. Obstacles are the landmarks of any significant task.
They require consideration and effort to overcome. Obstacles may be
physical or they may be only in the mind but they are the accumulation
of fear of the unknown, fear of failure, a list of limited skills, lack of
information and experience, and fear of the ultimate cost. It is rare that
an obstacle is purely physical. Obstacles are measured by the difficulty
in overcoming them.
Why is it?
Obstacles appear because a new or difficult task requires us to
leave a comfortable place. Why should we pay the price for an unsure
outcome? The obstacles are a part of human intelligence and have
survival value. They cause the pause to check the laws of life. Stop, be
sure you are right, and then go ahead.
How is it?
Work has told me of obstacles. Most of them are tasks that
seem too big to begin. But a sun or solar system or a planet is built
from dust piled upon dust. To do an impossible task, decide what the
first step would be. Do it. "Inch by inch any big job is a cinch."
The world shouts at me of obstacles. We meet obstacles in the
work place, at home, in hobbies, in decisions to be made, and anywhere
things seem to get difficult or complicated. We meet obstacles on all
the battlefields of life. They cause us to question before acting.
Sometimes the decision goes unnoticed, sometimes it changes a life,
and sometimes it changes history. Obstacles are overcome by finding
the motivation to start the path to resolution. Ask why it should be
done. If the cost is too great and the result insignificant, abandon the
idea. If the task is worthy, take one small step toward the goal. The
task may be impossible but if you never start it, you will certainly not
succeed. Failure after effort is success in proving it impossible. Many
things in life must be learned by experimentation and experience.
Experiment and gain experience. To pass an obstacle we may go
through it, around it, over it, or under it. Each way there is a cost and a
reward.
Success has taught me to try. There are many obstacles to
deciding how to start. If there are unknown consequences, list the
possible consequences, pick the worst one then decide if the risk is
worth it. If there are complex factors, try to simplify them by
classifying them. If you worry about other opinions, make a list of the
options you see and choose, because many times the choice is arbitrary
at best. If you fear mistakes, remember that most mistakes can be
corrected even though the cost may be higher than you thought. If there
are simply too many choices of equal consequence, pick one and
consider it an experiment by which to learn the correct path.
Difficult things have shown me that the trouble may not be
what you think it is. When an obstacle seems like a person, beware!
Usually the obstacle is within the person who has that perception.
People who are considered lazy often face invisible obstacles. If the
action is legal and will not hurt people, why not go ahead. Maybe it is
worth it. Remember that your expectations for cost and gain can both
be an illusion. If something needs to be done, do it. Any job requires
cleanup afterwards. How you face troubles is the real test. Those who
overcome obstacles are called courageous or foolish depending on the
outcome. Fear of looking like a fool is a very bad reason to not
overcome obstacles.
Persistence has told me to begin and then let it take over.
Make a list of the things that must be done to accomplish the task. Put
the list in priority order. Put this list in sequential order. Do the first
thing on the list. Then do the other things on the list. Any job requires
patience and action in turn. If you can, do; if not, don't worry.
011 The scriptures
Analects:
* When an obstacle appears we must often find the motivation
within ourselves continue.
(15:22) The Master said, "The superior man dislikes the thought of his
name not being mentioned after his death." The Master said, "What the
superior man seeks, is in himself. What the mean man seeks, is in
others."
Bhagavad-Gita:
* If you must overcome an obstacle, do not think of self - only the
overcoming.
(3:30-31) Renouncing all action in Me, with your thought resting on the
Self, being free from hope, free form selfishness, devoid of fever, do
you fight. Men who constantly practice this teaching of Mine with faith
and without caviling, they too are liberated from actions.
Dhammapada:
* Life is difficult - go for it!
(14:4) It is difficult to be born as a human being; difficult is the life of
mortals; difficult is the hearing of the true path; difficult is the
awakening of enlightenment.
Koran:
* When you are not sure which action to take ask, "Which is the
right way?"
(90:4-10) Certainly We have created man to be in distress. Does he
think that no one has power ove
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About the Book
Is there a nexus where the world's major religions, philosophy, mathematics and computer science meet? Is there a way of scientifically quantifying the deepest issues of our human existence? What are the great questions and issues of our age and are they addressed through ageless Scriptures of the major religions?
Here is a new book of wisdom so rich that it offers, indeed requires, contemplation and meditation. It must be lingered over like some precious fruit for all its rich, sweet and subtle essences to be savored.
The author has presented this book, with all its layers of wisdom, in a simple, straightforward conversational style. It is a book for today, a book for all days, a book for everyone.
About the Author
A computer scientist, teacher, author, musician, published poet, philosopher, and father, Ross Grable has been writing this book all of his life. Raised in a conservative Protestant home, he asked the question, "Why should one group of people be singled out by God to receive the message of truth?" As a student of engineering, physics, mathematics, and computer science he asked the question, "How do things know how to be what they are?" The search took him through experiences as a computer technician in the U.S. Navy, a high school teacher, a Buddhist monk, a back-to-the-land commune dweller of the sixties, an Army researcher, and a college professor. He wrote a technical textbook on the characteristics of information to collect his thoughts.
Grable had played with the idea that information was the forming and formulating power of the universe. He realized one day that, when the Bible said that God spoke and the universe was created, there was a deeper than obvious truth. All of the rest was just a matter of how to write it down.
Today Dr. Grable lives with his wife Harriet in the wooded mountains of southwestern