261. Pride

Pride is a false sense of worth that derives from something that is not organically part of your Self. It comes from Ahankara - the identification by the mind of your Self with some external thing in the Creation. It gives emphasis to the superiority of a person's status in the eyes of others. There is fear and insecurity in pride because when you aim for status and being highly esteemed and achieve it, you are automatically involved in fear of losing that status. Protection of status then appears to you to be your most important need and this creates anxiety. Pride is very different from self-respect. All respect, including self-respect, springs from knowledge and memory of the Self and your origins and home in the Self. The less you are grounded in the Self, the more imperative is the need for pride. One is proud when he identifies with the ego. The core of pride is Self-rejection.

260. Doing and Attention Seekers. Extremes of Greediness

The world is full of people who are determined to be somebody or to give trouble; they seek attention. Do not become one of them.

One who tries to stand on tip-toe cannot stand still.
One who stretches his legs too far cannot walk.
One who advertises himself too much is ignored.
One who is too insistent on his own view finds few to agree with him.
One who claims too much credit does not get even what he deserves.
One who is too proud is soon humiliated.

These are rightly condemned as extremes of greediness and self-destructive activity, therefore, one who acts naturally avoids such extremes.

259. Unity, Non-Interference

Do not interfere with your own actions (self-sabotage). Lose yourself by giving up all subjective notions of the separate individual and become one with your opponent. Inside your mind allow all oppositions to become mutually co-operative. Yield to the power of the Self. Avoid doing, acting, striving, straining, trying or busyness. Adopt a supple attitude and from rest, allow all actions to take place without interfering. Study well the two Chinese texts, I Ching and Tao Te Ching

258. The Non-Stopping Mind

In combat (life) allow your mind to concentrate by not allowing it to stop anywhere. If you block, follow up immediately with your counters; Do not allow the space to develop that would give your opponent the chance to strike you. Remain aware of the whole field of action. Where there are multiple attackers, as soon as you have disposed of one, move immediately on to the next one without permitting the mind (and therefore the body) to stop. This is only possible when the mind is not permitted to stop for anything. Then all opponents will be dealt with in succession.

The mind is present everywhere because it is attached nowhere to any particular object. Even when relating to this or that object, it does not cling to it. Allow your flow of thought to be like water filling a pond - it is ready to move off again. It can work powerfully because it is free. It is open to everything brcause it is empty, like a tidy desk.

This is what is meant by Serene Reflection, it is the vivid and clear awareness that comes out of the tranquility of no thought.

257. Non-Attachment

A quiet and calm mind is important; beyond that, it is essential that the mind seeks not to grasp anything, that it does not place a claim of any kind on anything. Let your mind be employed as a mirror, grasping nothing, refusing nothing, receiving everything and keeping nothing for itself.

256. Mind Over Matter

As the mind is in control of the body, everything that affects the mind has a stronger influence on the body than those things that affect only the body. Every conflicting centre, every extraneous disrupting, decentralising emotion jars the natural rhythm and reduces a man's efficiency. Mark well the emotions that destroy the inner rhythms of a man and avoid them at all costs. They are :

* Jealousy
* Hatred
* Lust
* Envy
* Pride
* Vanity
* Covetousness
* Anger
* Fear

They are also known as Deadly Sins.

Keep your mind agile and free and work to eliminate all these negative emotions from your character.

255. Yin and Yang and The Law of Harmony

The basic principle of Tai Chi is that nothing is so permanent as to never change. The two "opposing" forces of Yin and Yang are really mutually interdependent. Be in harmony with your opponent's strength and force. This is the Law of Harmony. Do nothing that is not natural or spontaneous. Do not strain in any way.