Sarada sat behind him, reading all the while. The knowledge in the book was unlike anything she had ever seen.
"Teacher Yan, it says here, 'If I studied the Changes at fifty, I could avoid grave mistakes.' What book is the Changes?"
"The I Ching. Clever people can't understand this book. The simpler you are, the easier it is to understand.
"Someone like me, who's studied it for over twenty years, can only apply one passage from the I Ching to everyday life. That one passage has already benefited me immensely."
"What passage?"
"Qian governs the great beginning; Kun brings things to completion. Qian governs through ease; Kun accomplishes through simplicity. What is easy is easy to understand; what is simple is easy to follow. What is easy to understand wins affection; what is easy to follow brings achievement. Affection allows endurance; achievement allows greatness. Endurance is the virtue of the worthy; greatness is the undertaking of the worthy. Through ease and simplicity, the principles of the world are grasped. With the principles of the world grasped, one finds one's place within it."
"Huh?"
Sarada was bewildered. "Why don't I understand any of that? Is that even human language?"
"In plain language: success requires your mind and body to work together. Your mind gives instructions that are easiest for your body to act on, and your body only does the simplest things.
"For example, with reading, your mind tells you to read one line. The book happens to be beside you and already open, so your body only needs to take a look.
"The simpler something is, the easier it is to keep doing it. The longer you keep doing it, the easier it is to succeed. Of course, that success only applies to the individual. It has nothing to