Calm in Heat and Cold, in Joy and Sorrow
In one who is self-governed and at peace, the true self rests undisturbed through heat and cold, joy and sorrow, praise and blame.
Do I swell at praise and crumble at blame, handing my whole center over to another's single word?
📝Reflection
In this verse I see the calm of one in whom the true self has settled. Like heat and cold, praise and blame are only passing weather, and the house does not collapse in that weather. Hand your whole center to another's single word and you sway several times a day; but with the true self settled within, those words become wind brushing past the window. This equanimity, unshaken by praise or blame, is like Aurelius' inner citadel. To both praise and blame, I hold my center, one beat slower, regarding it as 'weather that also passes.'
🌱Apply It Today
When you hear praise or blame today, before reacting at once, murmur, 'this too is passing weather.'
This verse is read as universal humanistic wisdom, not religion — no faith is promoted, and the reflection is 100% original ONGO content.
