Hexagram 49 - The Great Transformation

Hexagram 29 - Moving Through Danger

Repeated danger.

Possessing conformity.

Holding-fast the heart.  Growing.

Movement possesses honor.

Ideogram:  Earth and an abyss.

Structure: 

·          Doubling of the trigram 3:  repetition of danger.  Going from one danger to another.

·          Water above danger.  Danger below water.  Weak lines enclose strong lines. 

Image:  Life flows through many dangers as does water in a treacherous ravine.

Action:  venture and fall.

The trigram 3 points to a plunging-in: a strong line has plunged in between two weak lines, enclosed by them like water in a ravine.  In the human world[1], the trigram represents the spirit enclosed within being.  Self-cherishing and hostility for others eclipse the spirit and alienate us from others.  Those who hold firmly to their resolve to benefit all can overcome these dangers and return to the spirit.

Our lives much resemble water cascading through a deep gorge filled with dangers, which we can get through if we behave like water, always finding the way to flow through whatever it experiences.  The wise overcome danger by holding firmly to the spirit and acting in ways that benefit all.

Being:  We must know our being, that which gives us the deep sense of vitality, of feeling alive and real. Healthy beings have the capacity to joyfully interact with their environment and others imaginatively and creatively, allowing the environment and others to do the same with them.  It is a primary human drive to know one’s place in the experience of life, to merge with the one, to fathom the meaning and purpose of life. 

The spiritual path leads us to become fully human.  Throughout history and within all cultures, human have distinguished themselves from other species in seeking the mystery greater than their material existence, a mystery into which they can retreat and renew.  The spirit lies beyond our understanding, which we can somehow still know. 

Just as water flowing through a ravine faces many dangers in its journey to the ocean, we must move through the many dangers in life that separate us from others and the spirit.  The primary dangers of being are self-cherishing and hostility for others.  When externalized, these tendencies cause suffering and great harm in the world as we willingly harm others for self-benefit and then ignore the suffering we cause.

To bring forth the world we want to live in depends upon our developing a spiritual path.  We hold in presence our selfishness and ill will until their energies release, and we can discern the path to benefit all.  We learn from the painful consequences of trespassing natural and moral limits and do not make the same mistakes again.  The wise aspire to live a virtuous life and continually practice pouring their love and life energy into whatever they experience.

Clinging to self-cherishing and hostility for others blocks opening to the spirit and discerning the way through the problem. Even though we may aspire to benefit all, the path to liberate our human beingness requires much effort and understanding.  It takes courage to live within the world with integrity and voluntarily live within natural and moral limits.  It takes courage to manifest the ways of the spirit within the world in ways that benefit all.  Such a human being we call a sage. 

The wise find happiness by obeying the sacred mandate to stop what harms and to promote what benefits all, the true purpose and meaning of our lives.  Creating the conditions so that the spirit manifests within is a great treasure to which no material possession can compare.  Without this direction, our lives have no meaning and feel empty.  When we try to fill this emptiness with anything other than our spiritual calling, we create suffering for ourselves and others. Abiding with the spirit overcomes the separation of self and restores interbeing.

Know the danger:  Dangers signal the approach of a natural and moral limit.  The dangers increase in severity as the limits are approached or exceeded.

The wise are keenly aware of the dangers of self-cherishing, hostility for other, and worldly concerns.[2] They not only endanger us, but they imperil all life on Earth. Knowing these dangers as truly dangerous motivate us to find a way through them. The wise dare not complacently gloss over harmful beliefs and biases, nor do they ignore how they harm others.  These dangers have their complete and total attention.

Those who do not question their beliefs and behaviors harm others and the Earth when they willingly harm others and the Earth for self-benefit.  Routinely practicing these harmful behaviors reinforces them and makes them feel normal.  Worldly concerns and self-cherishing enslave such people all their lives.

When they experience danger, the wise penetrate the meaning of the situation to understand how harmful thoughts and feelings have shaped their experience of danger.   If we focus on the symptoms of a problem without understanding its root, we live in increasing peril.  The sage clearly understands the inner and external forces in play from a selfless perspective. 

Act like Water:  Water flows through dangerous places, never avoiding them nor losing its dependability. It remains true to itself in all conditions. Human abuses and ignoring limits have brought us to the brink of a dangerous abyss, which we can only overcome by risking, venturing, and falling until we reach the bottom. Once we understand the dangers both within and in the world and have developed our spiritual capacities, the path forward emerges.  We must do what must be done and go forward so not to perish through tarrying in the danger. 

Water reaches its goal by flowing continuously.  It fills every depression before it flows without piling up anywhere and never avoiding its next challenge.  Even in perilous places it does not lose its virtuous character.  We get through danger by seeking to move in harmony with what arises, partnering and interacting with others in a gentle and friendly manner.  The wise remain firm but gentle, always moving toward what benefits others and away from what harms.

All our strategies and methods need to keep to the Way of humanity.[3] The entire outcome of the challenges we face depends upon how firmly we keep this resolve.  We hold fast to the good despite all the fear and temptations that surround us and remain vigilant for the sly ways of self-cherishing and ill-will so block them from compromising our resolve.

Acting to benefit all strengthen our capacities to resist the dangers of self-cherishing and ill-will and opens us to further virtuous actions.  The process reinforces itself.  In this way, we can manage ever greater dangers as we near uprooting the source of harm within ourselves and in the world.

When in great danger, our priority is not let the danger overwhelm us.  The wise calmly weigh the conditions of the time and feel satisfied with the small gains that they can make by following along the lines of least resistance, knowing that they cannot attain great success when the level of danger exceeds their capacities.  A spring flows sparingly at first and tarries for a while before it makes its way out into the open.  We can adapt to circumstances without losing sight of the great purpose to reduce suffering and increase the well-being of all.

If we do not act, negative energies will carry us into even deeper danger.  By practicing what benefits all, one gets out of the danger.  Believing in the danger and knowing what must be done without acting is like not believing. 

Line 1:  The weak line enters a dangerous situation and does not possess the inner strength to face the challenges.  The line does not hold to the spiritual path, which only makes the situation more dangerous.

Line 2:  The strong and balanced line has fallen into a dangerous situation.  Although it cannot overcome the danger as the time precludes a great success., it avoids even greater danger because it holds to the spiritual path.  The line considers the situation and finds ways to make small gains. A spring flows only sparingly at first and tarries for some time before it makes its way into the open.

Line 3:  Every step forward or backward leads into more danger.  The line cannot escape.  Action would only move the line into deeper danger.  The wise stay in a disagreeable situation and wait until a way out shows itself.

Line 4:  The line trusts wise and capable partners in times of danger and difficulty.  Those who have faith in the spiritual path defer to the wise.  They learn from them how to penetrate their own ignorance, using simplicity, sincerity, and openness to the wisdom of others.

Light enters a room through a window.  Teachers should address people’s strengths, what they clearly understand and have experienced.  Then they can extend this understanding to the underlying fundamentals. People trust what is clear to them.

Line 5:  Within an abyss, the water has risen nearly to the point of overflowing and overcoming the danger.  However, the strong line does not have the capacity on its own to escape the danger.  Even the strongest and most capable need help from others to get out of danger.  One person alone cannot rescue the world.  The wise partner with others to assist in the rescue.

Line 6:  Those who lose the right way in the extremity of danger entangle themselves irremediably in their faults and have no prospect of escape.  They become like criminals shackled behind thorn-hedged prison walls.

The weak in spirit cannot escape from their habituated patterns.  They never cultivate themselves and end up badly.  Everyone has an innate connection with the spirit, but the self-cherishing and hostile do not choose to develop their potential.  They bind and restrict themselves, entangling themselves in what harms, abandoning and ruining themselves, living in peril.  This is base foolishness. 

Water:  The Example of Natural Virtue by Hua Ching Ni

The following are eights ways in which people of universal virtue can learn from water.

1.      Be content with a “low” position.  By remaining low, one may be safe and free from competition.  Water always seeks the lowest level so that everything flows to it.

2.      Remain profound.  A profound mind is as quiet as the deep ocean.  It is undisturbed by the waves on the surface.

3.      Give generously.  Water constantly gives without asking to be repaid.

4.      Remain faithful to the Way.  The flow of water always faithfully goes toward the sea.

5.      Act gently.  Water, the most yielding of substances, can overcome even the hardest obstacle on Earth.

6.      Work capably and adapt to the situation. Water can fit what is square or what is round.  It keeps its true nature in any containment or circumstance.

7.      Take action opportunely.  Water freezes in winter and melts in spring.  Its inflexibility in the winter is like death.  Its softness in the spring generates new life.

8.      Never fight.  Water does not fight for itself; thus, it is beyond blame.

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[1] World does not refer to the Earth but to how people live on Earth.  The world – civilization, culture, history, society, science, economy, education, technology – is embedded as a subsystem within the natural system.  People create their world through the choices they make. 

[2] Worldly concerns are the ways in which the selfish willingly harm others for self-benefit and then ignore the suffering they cause.  Selfish individuals seek power and domination over others and willingly use violence to do so.  The selfish accumulate wealth through the unlimited exploitation and ultimate destruction of people, other life forms, and the Earth.  The selfish believe themselves superior to others and express their self-cherishing through patriarchy, discrimination, and subjugation, willing to use violence to protect their rung within the hierarchy and to support the powerful.  The selfish consume as much as they can and seek constant distractions for the pleasures they derive from their addictions.  

[3] The Way of humanity embodies the laws of Tao that govern the human beings, both in relationship to the spirit and with each other. It is the path of love that creatively responds to the experiences of life in ways that benefit all.  Sages shape the energies of Creation through the human virtues of caring for all, morality, justice, and wisdom, harnessing the creative energies of the spirit so that they manifest the spirit within the world, materializing the invisible.  The sage finds happiness by obeying the command of heaven to reduce inner faults and manifest the sacred within the world.  Suffering ends when we have the lived experience that the self and other are the same and arise from the sacred mystery.