Hexagram 55 - Acting with Knowing

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.