Parting from the Self - Hexagram 43

Hexagram 43 – Parting

Parting.

Let it be known.

Blaming others possesses adversity.

Accuse the inner source.

                  Not Harvesting:  approaching weapons.

                             Harvesting:  possessing directed going.

 Structure: 

·          Power of joy above 8, strength below 1.  Power of joy made strong and enduring.

·          Five strong lines that rise below the top weak one.

Image:  A breakthrough releases long accumulated tensions, like a flooding river that overflows its banks and parts into different streams.            

Time:  In the ancient Chinese calendar, this hexagram marks the third month (April-May), the time when the dominance of darkness rapidly retreats from the advance of the strengthening light. 

The hexagram depicts the time when harmful forces have diminished as the result of a resolute development of the spiritual path.  Just as when a powerful surge of water breaks through barriers holding it back from its path, the time has come when the wise resolutely and joyfully overcome the roots of its self-cherishing and hostility for others.

Self-cherishing and hostility for others have deep roots.  When active, they separate us from the spirit and our fundamental interbeing.  We project our feelings of self-cherishing and hostility for others into the world, creating obstacle with which we struggle. External influences of worldly concerns[1] structure our reaction to these feelings. Wanting, not wanting, and fear driven impulses spring forth in a confused tangle all at once.  Eventually, the willingness to harm others for self-benefit feels normal.

The sage has mastered parting decisively from what separates them from the spirit.  They have learned how to recover their awareness of the spirit every time the willingness to harm others arises. 

The I Ching offers us guidelines on mastery of our self-cherishing and hostility for others, the roots of our suffering.

Union of determination and love

When confronted with deep-seated feelings of self-cherishing and hostility for others, the wise meet them with a gentle understanding and a glad mind. Even a single unguarded impulse of negativity and willingness to harm within the heart can obscure the spirit and its guidance. 

As we have learned within the transformational practice (Hexagram 44) how to dissolve our harmful feelings and thoughts, we know the outcome of this efforts is not in doubt. A strong resolve and a loving heart allow us to move through the dangers of harmful thoughts and feelings in ways that move us toward what benefits all, clearly the best way to accomplish the unseating of difficult feelings.

No compromise with what harms

We fully recognize the dangers of negative thoughts and feelings and openly discredit them.  Only one disturbing feeling can absorb our attention and separate us from the spirit.  We cannot at the same time be overcome with our self-cherishing and hostility for others and rest with the spirit.  Clear awareness of these dangers guards against yielding to them. 

No force

Because we have developed sufficient inner strength to finally overthrow the source of harmful behavior patterns and difficult obstacles, we approach it gently so not to entangle ourselves in what we seek to master. 

We avoid investigating the deeply embedded feelings of wanting to blame or change the other as we know from experience that leads to pointless conflict. Forcing our way against self-cherishing and hostile feelings will cause them to think of weapons that they will turn against our resolve. 

Mastery

Our dissatisfaction with whatever we experience and our perception of others as a threat holds on to the very last.  Once we clearly understand this negativity and its patterns of behavior, then we act to transform our lives by simply living what we have practiced.

We persistently choose to rest with the spirit with the aspiration to free ourselves from these long standing and difficult feelings and our projections of them in the world.  When we constantly choose to meet with loving care our self-cherishing and hostility for others, we have gained mastery over them and they weaken.  Instead of perceiving the obstacle as an enemy or demon, we constantly hold the other in our heart as a friend.

Once we have found the balance between intensity and laxity, we can part from the roots of suffering in a serene and calm way. Ultimately, we come to fathom interbeing and know ourselves as complete within the spirit.  We have mastered the self and now have the freedom to fully live our lives in ways that benefit all and the Earth.

Yet, because of this great entrenchment of what harms within ourselves and in the world, we cannot reasonably expect to once and for all overthrow our feelings of incompleteness and the fear that others threaten us. Like weeds, our willingness to harm others always spring forth again and again, always depending upon an unguarded moment to advance.  The wise remain vigilant and persevere in choosing what benefits all.

 

Line 1:  At the beginning of a resolute advance against self-cherishing and hostility for others, difficulties abound.  Our efforts to be rid of them meets their resistance.  We need to know our capacities and advance only so far as we can safely go.  We will experience a disastrous setback precisely at the beginning if we force our way through them as we will have cut ourselves off from the spirit and find ourselves unequal to the task.

Line 2:  Those who are firm but gentle part most easily from their self-cherishing and hostility for others. Our success depends upon readiness, and caution informs our resolve.  Those who can remain careful and aware do not become excited or alarmed.  They see danger as it approaches and do not fear it because they know to respond. In this way they live in the midst of difficulties as if they did not exist.

Line 3:  The situation exposes the virtuous line to danger because worldly concerns block its flow of life with the spirit and obscures the path.  Surrounded by those who self-cherish and feel hostile toward others, it withdraws from them and follows the path that benefits all.  Eventually, the line receives blessings and the strength to overcome what harms.  Even though its strong feelings against those willing to harm for self-benefit cause it to act too righteously in correcting injustice, it has no blame.

Line 4:  The line suffers from an inner restlessness as it cannot rest in its place.  It wants to advance regardless of the situation, but it encounters great obstacles beyond its capacity to overcome, yet it persists in enforcing its will.  If it desisted from its obstinacy, all would go well, but obstinate people ignore all good counsel.

To correct our faults and apply the wise guidance requires strength and understanding.  Yet the line does not appreciate the dangers of self-cherishing for it ignores the wisdom of how to part from it. 

Line 5:  The line faces the choice between self-cherishing or benefiting all and wisely moves toward the spiritual path.  The line persists and ultimately parts from what harms

Line 6:  Mastery of our self-cherishing and hostility for others does not mean we have banished them once and for all.   Like weeds, our willingness to harm others always spring forth again, depending upon an unguarded moment to advance.  The wise remain vigilant and persevere in choosing what benefits all.

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[1] 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 support the powerful.  The selfish consume as much as they can and seek constant distractions for the pleasures they derive from their addictions.