Deep harmony with the spirit: abundance of blessings.
Benefit from entering the stream of life with a great purpose
Benefit from caring for all and the Earth.
Image:
· The wind blows over the lake and stirs the water into waves.
· A heart that is open to truth.
Structure:
· Below 8 inner joy. Above 6 outer accord with others.
· Open in the center. Strong lines above and below. Open and solid balance each other.
Truth, the deep harmony between spirit and being, connects being
with spirit, the aspect of the Tao within the realm of life. When being detaches from worldly concerns[1],
the great light arises within, unfolding the union of spirit and being. Being is one with the whole and not apart.
This harmony releases spiritual energies within being to benefit all and
influences others to do the same.
The empty center defines the hexagram and represents the emptiness
of the selfless heart, the attractor of the good. A heart free of self-cherishing and hostility
for others opens to the truth and becomes one with the Tao. Strength and firmness assure the essential
clarity of selflessness. Freedom from
wanting and not-wanting and openness to the spirit defines selflessness.
The sage aligns its being with the Way of humanity[2]
and fully lives the spiritual path. With a mind faithful and united with the Way,
distractions and ruminations cease, and the clarity within reaches
outward. When we release the energies
bound by our self-cherishing and hostility for others into the spiritual path,
then urges for self-benefit can do no harm.
Our being and actions harmonize with the way if the spirit.
When the energies of being are aligned with the ways of the
Tao, then the sage appears. The sage has
the power to shape its destiny and to extend to other the blessings it has
received. When selfishness and ill-will
die, we open fully to the spirit, and the spirit moves us from within. Being and cosmos merge.
Even situations hard to endure do not weaken the sage’s faith
in the transformative power of the path.
Truly living the Way of humanity brings joy and awe to life. The sage
shows its trust in the Way through a joyful devotion. Those who remain unmoved and unperturbed by
difficulties while keeping a glad mind can get through the dangers and
difficulties of life in ways that that benefit all. The trigram 7
represents the powerful light of knowing the spirit. The image of the hexagram , doubles the power of the light of knowing, like an enormous
projected light of a beacon. Such great
power of knowing transforms even the least spiritual.
The wind blows over the lake and stirs the water into
waves. In the same way, the sage
manifests the invisible sacred. Clear expressions of knowing voiced with
feelings and deeds exert a mysterious and far-reaching effect, which penetrates
the hearts of others. Truthfulness
communicates, and perfect truthfulness touches others. This form of communication at first acts on
the already receptive, but the circle grows larger and larger.
When their being and actions rest deeply within the spirit,
sages naturally move others, the echo of awakened spiritual attraction. Sages communicate
deeply with other beings and respond well to myriad situations. A realm can be transformed by the strength of
a selflessness that opens to the spirit.
Inner truth knows no separation by distance or obscurity,
and the world[3]
responds to the sage. The strength of
devotion to the spirit can transform a whole realm. Following of the Way of humanity establishes
the foundation of trust necessary to create the new era.
All associations based on worldly concerns hold only up to a
certain point. Selfish alliances may act
as a force, but they cannot endure.
Where the community of selfishness ceases, the holding together ceases,
and the closest partnerships may change into opposition. The force of inner truth depends upon
steadfast devotion to what benefits all.
Only then will a bond based on faith in the path remain so firm that it
triumphs over everything.
The force of inner truth must grow great indeed before its influence can extend to deeply selfish and hostile people. Great sages influence even those not on the path and harmonize them with the Way of humanity. All respond to the sage’s inner abiding with the Tao because the sage’s influence opens the Way for everyone.
[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, enriching the exploiters.
[2] The Way of humanity: 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 our being and other are the same and arise from the sacred mystery.
[3] 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.
Inside the hexagram is emptiness, nothing. The ego, born of delusion and prejudice, and petty purposes that yield new purposes in the very moment of fulfillment, this ego must die. When the ego, as it oscillates hopelessly between cause and effect, between purpose and fulfilment, desirous of pleasure and languishing in pleasure for desire, when this ego is extinguished, great Silence and Emptiness begin. The noise of the day ceases, and all at once the great unearthly light shines forth and fills the heart and makes it firm, establishing the connection between heaven and the sage, unfolding the Truth. Truth having been realized at this point, can be effective at any other point; wherever proper conditions prevail, where the moment is ripe, and when the time has come. Hence spatial or temporal distances are of no consequence. It is merely necessary to comprehend fully ultimate reality, and to unite with that of heaven. When internal forces are transformed into Truth, then there is victory; then the masses are powerless, they can do no harm. And our only concern now is to make our heart wholly true, and to make actual contact with what we know to be Truth. Such contact is possible when the empirical self is silent, when it has died, so that God can live in us. Ultimate art exists when this Truth is present – the art to shape our destiny and the art that enables us to pass on creatively that which we ourselves have received. Destiny determines the sphere of our activity, the field of our duties. But it is up to us to perceive these duties from the deepest viewpoint and verify them to ourselves. Then their fulfillment is assured.
Richard Wilhelm, Lectures on the I Ching (1979)
Line 1: The line has a strong resolve to have a
spiritual path, but it understands that the path ahead of it has many
challenges and dangers. At the beginning
of complete trust and faith in the path, the wise carefully consider what they
believe, aware that putting faith in the untrustworthy leads to regret. Once they know the path, then they can commit
and proceed.
Line 2: The resonance of having a deep harmony of
spirit and being affects kindred spirits, the echo awakened in the hearts of
others through spiritual attraction.
Whenever a sage voices a sincere feeling with truth and clarity,
whenever a deed clearly manifests the spirit, a far-reaching influence is
exerted. At first such an influence acts
on the inwardly receptive, but the circle grows larger and larger.
The desire to extend our spiritual blessings with others comes
from truthfulness in the center. The
other mutually responds with the same voice, shares the same spirit. Our truths are the same.
Line 3: The line does not rest within the spirit but is constantly tossed to and fro by external events. When it experiences life going its way, it feels joy but despairs when circumstances block it. This describes those who depend on life always meeting their expectations. This is not the behavior of wise people.
Line 4: Just as the moon receives light from the sun,
the wise face the source of knowing with reverence and emptiness as they know
they have much to learn. This requires
selflessness, as when the moon is not yet full.
Complete fullness causes opposition as one has become full of self.
The line renounces preferences and prejudice. When working with others, the sage serves others
without relinquishing the path; thus, it preserves its inner freedom.
Line 5: Only the spiritually advanced can bring about
and maintain external unity by the power of its virtues. Such an influence increases the interbeing of
all those who share the path. Without
the openness and devotion of a sage to the spiritual path, the hearts of others
waver.
Line 6: The line wants to fly to heaven, but it
cannot. Its sound flies upward but the
reality does not follow. The line can
call but not attain what it says it will achieve.
The line marks the end of harmony with the spirit. Those who
count on mere words to awaken the faith of others may succeed now and then, but
they will have cause for regret if they persist in this manner.
[1] The Way of humanity: 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 our being and other are the same and arise from the sacred mystery.
[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 support the powerful. The selfish consume as much as they can and seek constant distractions for the pleasures they derive from their addictions, enriching the exploiters.
