Fullness.
Spiritual influence nourishing all.
The sage imagines it.
No grief. Properly the sun in the center.
Structure:
· Action, thunder above 2. Flame, brilliance, clarity below 7. Thunder and lightning fill the sky, a moment of tremendous power.
· Action above clarity. Clarity within movement. Acting with clarity and acting to bring about clarity.
· Both movement and flame surge upward, an image of great power.
Clarity means understanding how things are, and acting on clarity
carries out that understanding. The wise
first discern the path forward and then act decisively and with great
power. Sages complete and prove their clarity
through their actions. The
interdependence of action and clarity are as fundamental as the interdependence
of form and content, inside and outside. Clarity within movement produces greatness and abundance.
Within a state of quiet observation,
the wise free themselves from self-cherishing and ill-will for others, the thoughts
and feelings which veil the spirit and awareness of changing experience. A mind
clear of self-cherishing and ill-will allows us to know what benefits and what
harms, when to advance and withdraw, and how to forestall danger. Within clear awareness, the sage understands how
to act and acts with understanding. In
this way clarity and action grow more effective daily. When we apply clarity and action together,
the spiritual path is easy.
The sage brings about a time of abundance because it
single-mindedly focuses on bringing to life what benefits all. The wise cooperate with trusted partners who have
a common understanding and strengthen each other’s actions to change what needs
changing. Solitary knowing cannot
produce abundance within the world, and thus acting on our own loses the merit
of great clarity.
This hexagram points to the time when self-cherishing
and hostility for others have been subdued. The wise can now act with clarity and
bring about greatness and well-being within the world, like the sun shining on
all. Sages take this time of great
influence to joyfully manifest the spirit within the world even while knowing
the time will not last.
Within fullness are the seeds of regression
as the mutability of all things remains the fundamental law. Increase is followed by decrease, fullness
with emptiness. The sage knows this time
of fullness will change in the same way that it knows the sun rises and
sets. The wise follow this rhythm by observing the
effects of their influence upon others and the world, ready to advance or
retreat when possible or necessary. In
this way, the sage experiences the time of fullness with the regularity of the
sun reaching midday. Such times are brief, which might cause some to despair,
but the sage is free of sorrow and radiates joy and love to all life and the
Earth.
Our influence in the world naturally
ebbs and flows. When the receptivity of others to our influence turns into
resistance, our influence wanes, and we cannot advance. The sage does not struggle against changing
times but turns inward toward the spirit for rest and renewal and to prepare
for the next change. When once again we experience the world opening to our
influence, we can move forward.
However, the time of abundance can
endure if ever larger groups are brought to share in this time of spiritual
expansion, for only then can the movement continue without turning into its
opposite. Otherwise, those restricted
from greatness resist and hasten the decline as every sort of limitation brings
a bitter retribution in its train.
The I Ching advises to not remain within
quietude but to practice and test our knowing through action. We waste our time if we do not put into
action what we have learned. Knowing without action has no use. We need to act upon our clear understanding
of how to overcome what harms life and the Earth and bring forth what benefits
all. Effort and intelligence working
together restores what the selfish have spoiled. Knowing within and action in the world
produces greatness and abundance.
The sage does not allow thoughts about
the inevitable decline of its influence to shadow the time in which its
influence shines forth like the sun at midday, illuminating and gladdening the
world. The hexagram describes the moment
of fullness, when the spiritual path opens for all. The time we have long sought arrives.
Line
1: To bring about a time of
abundance requires a union of knowing and energetic movement. Two partners possess these attributes and
complement each other. They cooperate to
manifest abundance. Once they complete
their purpose, they wisely end their partnership, stopping at the right
moment.
The knowing line goes forth to make its
influence felt. It seeks out others who
can act effectively. The line also knows
to stop when it has completed its task or when it has lost its knowing. The line does not cling to the means that allowed
it to move through the difficulties.
Line 2: Dimming clarity causes doubt and worry,
making a beneficial influence impossible. Those who hold firmly to the spirit
and act energetically to benefit all will succeed.
Line 3: The line knows only how to increase its
clarity but does put its understanding to use. The imbalance between clarity
and action is extreme, which damages clarity and darkens the way forward. The
line brings failure upon itself.
Line 4: The powerful line cannot by itself bring
about the ways of the spirit within the world. As if by accident, the line discovers
wisdom, its hidden master, unseen and concealed. Energy is complemented by wisdom. Interrelated elements come together, and what
is sought is accomplished. Wisdom
reaches into the world through action.
Line 5: The sage attains abundance and radiates the
spirit’s love to all like the sun at midday. The line fulfills the spiritual
path with the support of the cosmos.
Line 6: The line at the peak of action goes too far, continuing to rise higher and away from knowing, falling into a hopelessly isolated state. Arrogance and obstinacy, self-righteousness and spiritual materialism lead to the opposite of what it seeks. Grandiosity in the extreme of abundance leads to disaster.
