Hexagram 30 Knowing

Fire.

Harvesting, the proven core.

Growing.  Accumulating yielding.

Significant.

Structure: 

·          Inner clarity 7, outer clarity 7.  Clarity within and without is one clarity.

·          Yielding open lines cling to the strong lines.  Within each trigram, openness and yielding are central. 

Fire depends upon a fuel for its existence.  Fire is not a substance but an event. The fundamental forces of light and darkness, although opposite, depend upon each other.  The dark clings to what is bright, like the moon reflecting the light of the sun.  The spiritual becomes visible by shining on the dark, the material realm. 

Ancient Chinese thought the sun concentrated the light of the cosmos.  The sunlight shining on the earth is concentrated cosmic light. The light of the sun depends upon the cosmos.

Clarity, seeing how things actually are, clings to what brightens it. With clarity, all beings clearly perceive one another. This brightness arises from contemplation, which is different from observation through which one draws conclusions from investigating the parts.  Contemplation, like intuition, accords with logic but transcends it.

Clarity, the open awareness of the spirit, dispels ignorance and darkness.  An open awareness tames our self-cherishing and hostility for others. The light of clarity emerges, and we know what is with as much certainty as we see in the light of the sun.  Effective action occurs when we clearly understand the other.  Action based on this understanding results in a lasting influence. Forceful actions only endure as long as the force is being applied.

From the standpoint of our spiritual path, we can know the forces acting within the world[1] and respond well to them.  Sages penetrate with understanding the forces that cause harm and then transform them in a balanced way.  They choose to make visible the spirit through their work in the world, just as nature does.  Through clarity, sages cause the light of the cosmos to spread farther and farther, fathoming the ways of the spirit ever more deeply. 

People commonly cling to those they depend upon, to their way of life, and to the work they do.  All have the capacity to cling to a spiritual life. It is a choice that each of us make to either benefit ourselves or benefit all and the Earth.  The selfish use their intelligence to benefit themselves and willingly harm others to do so. Many cling to the dark worldly concerns[2] of wealth, domination, status, and pleasure.  They ignore the spirit moving within their lives. Those who choose to cling to what benefits all follow the spiritual path. 

Sages exercise great caution in how they benefit all.  Rather than force their way through an a challenging experience, the wise penetrate the moment with understanding to overthrow self-cherishing and preserve the ways of the spirit. Rather than focus on dissatisfaction and differences, the wise turn toward the qualities of loving interbeing and rest within the spirit.  This deepening of our spiritual path is the greatest transformation within our experience of the world.

When the wise choose to depend upon the harmonious and beneficent forces of the spirit, their lives reflect the ways of the spirit. The path transforms the sage, and the sage transforms the world.  When our knowing clings to what benefits all, they practice of the spiritual path in their daily lives. 

Every fire has its source.  No fire burns without fuel.  In the same way, sages do not transcend the world but gain energy from transforming it. Without a source of spiritual nourishment, we lose our brilliance.  Sages cling to what they know is beneficial and wise.  The sage does not simply respond to a changing situation but shapes its changes.  The power of knowing brings light to others and an ever increasing radiance within the world.

Line 1:  The wise tread the spiritual path with devotion.  They clear away accumulated defilements and cast out unworthy conduct. 

Line 2:  The radiance of the Earth grounds and nourishes all things. The energies of the Creative surge outward. The sage acquires the center between them and faces all change, truly the spiritual path.

Line 3:  The light of the setting sun reflects life’s impermanence and conditioning.  When caught in this external bondage of mortality, people often lose their resolve to benefit others.  The sense of inescapable decline and death impels them to uninhibited indulgence to enjoy life while it lasts or to lament aging.  Such attitudes are unfortunate because they spoil their lives.

Sages care not whether death comes early or late but await their allotted time.  Even though they recognize that old-age is the path to oblivion, sages consider it pleasant to go along with the way things are. They simply continue to develop themselves and others.

Line 4: The line rushes out to attack and then comes back. It burns with energy then like burnt wood, it becomes fixed, stagnant.  Others reject the line as it has no capacities to contain and bear the difficulties of life.

Line 5: The line understands change and the inevitable decline of life.  It keeps to its intentions and retains its clarity of mind.  The ruling line yields to accepting change rather than resisting what is. 

Line 6:  The purpose of correction is not to blindly punish wrong doers but to create discipline.  The willingness to harm must be cured at its roots.  In educating ourselves, we root out harmful habits and tolerate those that are harmless.  Asceticism that is too strict, like sentences of undue severity, fails in its purpose. Within the world, we get rid of the roots of harm and spare the followers. In this way the symptoms resolve themselves. 

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[1] World does not refer to nature but to how people live within nature.  The world –  civilization, culture, history, society, beliefs, worldly influences – is embedded as a subsystem within the natural system.

[2] Worldly concerns are the amoral 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 seek the attention of others.  The selfish consume as much as they can and seek constant distractions from facing the harms they caused others, all life, and the Earth.