Corruption.
Creative. Spiritual influence nourishing all.
Benefit from entering the stream of life with a great purpose
Before acting, discern the way forward.
After acting, observe the consequences of acting.
Ideogram: A bowl in whose contents worms breed.
Structure:
· Above stopping 4, below wind 6. The strong stops the weak.
· Strength of a mountain above and gentleness below.
· Gentle indifference of the lower trigram has come together with the rigid inertia of the upper, resulting in decay.
Ignoring the suffering we cause others and the
Earth corrupts social and natural conditions.
This situation has roots in the abuse of human freedom: people choosing to willingly harm others and
the Earth for self-benefit. This corruption
of the group or community has been allowed to increase to the point that the
organization no longer functions properly.
People have failed to act against the corruption and have allowed it to
fester, but the situation demands removal of the cause, to work on what has
been spoiled.
These harms can only be remedied by people freely
choosing to benefit all. In this
challenging time, unless we stop harming others and the Earth, then our
species, along with much of life of Earth, will struggle to survive. What
has been spoiled through human fault can be made whole again through human
effort. We must not recoil from work and
danger but must take hold energetically.
People have the power and capacity to choose
between self-benefit and benefiting all.
This choice has great consequences.
We return to the Way by mastering our self-cherishing and hostility for
others, turning toward the spirit for guidance.
When we understand the fundamentals of the Way of humanity[1],
the path grows our willingness to get rid of what harms and return to the
highest good by benefiting all. Developing the spiritual path occurs when we
correct our own degeneration in the midst of the arising of self-cherishing and
hostility for others.
When people have allowed worldly concerns[2] to
proliferate within their lives and in the world for a long time, we come to
consider these abuses against others and nature as normal. Rigid adherence to how things have been for
generation resists any change, especially among those who benefit from the
corruption. People lose their skills and
capacities to remedy a social decay if they allow for it to fester for
generations and no longer see the clear way to undo the harm. Powerlessness overwhelms them as their
disconnection from community atomizes their vision, and they search for heroes
to do their work.
Success depends on proper deliberation. When we do not fathom the cause and instead
rely on speculation, our efforts will not get to the root of the danger and likely
increase the danger. We must look for
its source and uproot that rather than confusedly focus on the myriad symptoms of
the decay.
Once they understand the root cause of the
corruption in the world, the wise can then work together to remove it and
uplift the oppressed. Such an effort
accords with the possibilities of the time.
Once we act to remove the source of suffering without abandoning our gentleness
with others and keeping our trust in the transformative power of the good, healing
and regeneration begin. We then need to see
that the new way is safely entered upon to avoid a relapse by paying attention
to the time after the start.
We cannot recoil from this work, which we know will
lead us through great danger and difficulty, nor can we do it alone. The task is now to bring awareness and action
to the place that suffering begins: selfishness and hostility for the
other. Decisiveness and energy take the place
of the inertia and indifference that have led to the decay so that uprooting
the cause leads to a new beginning.
We need to courageously go beyond the constraints
of worldly concerns and do what is best for all and the Earth. As we move closer to the corruption’s
source, dangers press ever closer. The
wise persistently act virtuously[3]
together, which renews their strength and resolution to do great things,
including crossing into the new era.
The hexagram Gu does not address those who have
corrupted the world, but those who have been called to heal it. It is only by shouldering this responsibility
and acting to benefit all that we become the courageous leaders we seek. There is no other way. We must free ourselves from the convention of
ignoring the corruption and act.
Decisiveness and energy take the place of the inertia and indifference
that have led to decay so that a new beginning can follow its ending.
And love must prevail and extend over both the
beginning and the end.
Line 1: This line remedies the decay, knowing the decay
of social conditions cannot be ignored.
Previous generations have allowed the corruptions; however, as it has not
yet penetrated deeply, the line easily remedies it. The line knows the dangers connected with
reforming conditions; thus, its efforts turn out well.
Line 2: Corruption, that has been allowed to fester
due to weakness and complicity, has brought about decaying conditions. In setting things right, the situation
requires the line to exercise gentle consideration. In order not to wound, the line does not
proceed too drastically. It restrains
its anger and self-righteousness and approaches the situation as if correcting
the mistakes of a beloved mother, gently helping her make beneficial decisions.
The strong and talented line does the work of those
who actually have the duty to remedy corruption. It helps those responsible to fulfill their responsibilities
in ways that benefit all. An aggressive
and brusque approach with those who have the responsibility to stop corruption will
cause them to resist. If those
responsible do not go along with the line’s advice and bring about failure, the
fault lies with the advisor who did not find ways to agreeably guide reforms.
Line 3: The line works on what past actions have spoiled. In this situation, it expresses anger for the
degeneracy of those responsible and exerts excessive force to right their mistakes. The line may have a slight cause for regret,
but it remains free of blame as its good intentions compensate for the
imbalance.
To proceed too vigorously in righting our mistakes
or injustices within the world invites discord but no serious harm
results. In this time, too much effort
is better than not enough
Line 4: The line benefits from the corruption caused
by earlier generations, ignoring its duty to root out the decay. The time comes that it will experience shame
and regret for the ruin it had tolerated.
Decay must be met with clarity and firmness.
Line 5:
This line, a sage who follows the Way of humanity, is called upon to manage the
corruption originating from neglect of the path in former times. The line gives the credit of its successful
efforts to others.
Line 6: The highly developed sage distances itself from
the turmoil of the world life in order to create incomparable human values for
the future. It does not enter public
life to reform it but does not remain idle and merely criticize. The sage works not for one era but for all
life and for all time.
[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 virtues of love, morality, justice, and wisdom. 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 the 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 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] Virtues shape our behavior and align us with the spirit. The Tao brings forth the good and great, which we experience as love. The Tao causes all life to develop and flow within natural limits, regulating and organizing love, which we call a moral discipline that benefits all. The Tao transforms life so that each attains its true nature, a power that we call justice that ensures that all life has the means to achieve its potential according to its being. The Tao harmonizes all life within interbeing, which we call wisdom, and separates what endures from what perishes. The completed sage uses these virtues to shape the world.
