Hexagram 12 - Oppression

To oppression belongs amoral people.

Not benefiting from a sage’s virtue.

The worthy going, the unworthy coming.

Structure: 

·          Creative 1 above Earth 5, spirit rising and Earth sinking deeper. 

·          Darkness is within, light without. The above moves away from the below. 

Image: The Creative and Earth move apart, numbing all things.  The above does not relate to the below.  Within the world[1], confusion and disorder prevail. Weakness is within and strength is harshly expressed.   

The hexagram represents a time of disintegration, marking the 7^th month in the Chinese calendar (August to September.)  The Book of Changes holds that the union of spirit and Earth produces life.  This hexagram describes the natural occurrence when the sun has passed it zenith and the spirit and the Earth draw apart. The season for growth has ended, and autumnal decline sets in. Natural changes bring about this withdrawal of the conditions for growth and cannot be stopped.

In the human world, when selfishness and hostility increase within ourselves and in the world, the ways of the spirit decline.  The life-destroying forces prosper and oppress all. In this disadvantaged time, the selfish and powerful increasingly produce more dangers as they indulge themselves in worldly concerns[2] without limits and create ever greater imbalances, marginalizing the wise. The declining human devotion to the spirit darkens the way forward.

Self-cherishing and hostility disrupt the flow of life and sever communion with the sacred and Earth.  When we value worldly concerns more than the spirit, we become an object among objects and turn our lives over to external influences. We suffer and cause the suffering of others.  Mutual mistrust prevails in community life. The influence of the sage within the world dwindles.  

Those who benefit from domination and exploitation resist and deny the truth.  When entangled with worldly concerns, the false dominates and the real departs. Wisdom has no influence over those whose unchecked self-cherishing and willingness to harm others threaten to destroy the very natural systems upon which all life depends.

When the destructive forces of oppression block sages from benefiting all, they do not allow themselves to be turned from their principles.  If the possibility of exerting influence is closed to them, they retreat and wait and further develop their spiritual being and preserve the spiritual path in dark times. By not yielding to harming others, they succeed. When the times change, the path forward reemerges. 

Pulling out the roots

Our self-cherishing and hostility for others have roots that deepen through our lives: the self objectifies the other and reactively opposes it.  When we pull out the roots of self-cherishing, all its harms come with it. 

The more profoundly we understand self-cherishing, the more we can perceive it influence within ourselves and in the world and how we struggle against it and suffer. In the Book of Changes, natural processes cannot remedy the abuse of human freedom: the choice to harm others for self-benefit.  Only people can stop abusing each other and the Earth and undo the harm they have done. We have to free ourselves and all life from oppression. 

Within the world, the wise replace competition and victory-seeking with cooperation. When immersed within the spirit, material gain becomes a burden.  The wise honor the Earth’s blessings and the good works of others. It is gradual work, but great changes emerge from the changes of the smallest parts.

 

Line 1:  Pulling out the tangled roots of self-cherishing and hostility for others is difficult work. When the roots of the oppression are pulled out, its harms come with it. The virtuous line is firm in discipline, necessary for dealing with what blocks the spirit.  The best time to forestall the emergence of what harms is when it first appears, before obstruction takes place.

Line 2: When the dangers of the time draw near, the undeveloped willingly obey their oppressors to escape harm, which personally benefits them.  Those on spiritual path manage the situation differently.  They persevere in virtue and the ways of the spirit when surrounded by difficulties and thus further develop their spiritual path. 

The wise do not compromise their spiritual path by submitting to the selfish.   Instead, they bear the consequences of the time of standstill, willing to suffer personally to preserve the fundamental principles of the path. The wise limit themselves to making small steps toward what benefits all as they know the conditions of the time prevent them from doing more.

Line 3:  Those without talent or skill have taken on responsibilities beyond their capacities to fulfill and now feel shame for what they have done.

Line 4:  The time nears when the standstill changes.  The line is truly called to the task of advancing the ways of the spirit within the world, and the time favors the line’s efforts.  A path emerges that leads back to advancing within the world the ways that benefits all. All share in the blessings. When capable people aligned with the spirit advance when the opportunity arises, then they become whole and have joy.

Line 5:  The time of standstill begins to yield. The wise, however, remain cautious about losses, which serves them well as dangers still exist.  Such periods of transition should make us fear and tremble.  To successfully overcome oppression within oneself and in the world requires the greatest caution.  The wise attach themselves to the spirit firmly. The sage regains its influence in the world, which benefits all.

Line 6:  According to natural law, when things come to a peak or culmination, they inevitably reverse.  Oppression weakens and the ways of the spirit strengthen.  The time has come to overthrow oppression, which brings great joy to all.

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[1] World does not refer to nature but to how people live within nature.  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. 

[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.