The Goldman Sachs Group GS under CEO David Michael Solomon

 

 

 

HEXAGRAM 20 – Kuan – Contemplation (View)

Above    SUN    THE GENTLE, WIND

Below    K’UN    THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH

A slight variation of tonal stress gives the Chinese name for this hexagram a double meaning.

It means both

• contemplating and
  
• being seen, in the sense of being an example.
  

These ideas are suggested by the fact that the hexagram can be understood as picturing a type of tower characteristic of ancient China.

• A tower of this kind commanded a wide view of the country;
  

  at the same time, when situated on a mountain,
  

• it became a landmark that could be seen for miles around.
  

Thus the hexagram shows a ruler

• who contemplates the law of heaven above him and the ways of the people below, and
  
• who, by means of good government, sets a lofty example to the masses.
  

This hexagram is linked with the eighth month (September – October).

• The light-giving power retreats and
  
• the dark power is again on the increase.
  

However, this aspect is not material in the interpretation of the hexagram as a whole.

THE JUDGMENT

CONTEMPLATION.

• The ablution has been made,
  

But

• not yet the offering.
  

Full of trust they look up to him.

The sacrificial ritual in China began with

• an ablution and
  
• a libation by which the Deity was invoked,
  

after which the sacrifice was offered.

The moment of time between these two ceremonies is the most sacred of all,

the moment of deepest inner concentration.

If piety is

• sincere and
  
• expressive of real faith,
  

the contemplation of it has a transforming and awe-inspiring effect

on those who witness it.

Thus also in nature

a holy seriousness is to be seen in the fact that

natural occurrences are uniformly subject to law.

Contemplation of the divine meaning underlying the workings of the universe gives

to the man who is called upon to influence others

the means of producing like effects.

This requires that power of inner concentration which religious contemplation

develops in great men strong in faith.

• It enables them to apprehend the mysterious and divine laws of life, and
  

  by means of profoundest inner concentration
  

• they give expression to these laws in their own persons.
  

Thus

a hidden spiritual power emanates from them,

influencing and dominating others

without their being aware of how it happens.

THE IMAGE

The wind blows over the earth: The image of CONTEMPLATION.

Thus the kings of old

• visited the regions of the world,
  
• Contemplated the people, And
  
• gave them instruction.
  

When the wind blows over the earth it

• goes far and wide and
  
• the grass must bend to its power.
  

These two occurrences find confirmation in the hexagram.

The two images are used to symbolize a practice of the kings of old;

1. in making regular journeys the ruler could, in the first place,
   

   survey his realm and
   

   make certain that none of the existing usages of the people escaped notice;
   

2. in the second,
   

   he could exert influence through which such customs as were unsuitable
   

   could be changed.
   

All of this points to the power possessed by a superior personality.

• On the one hand, such a man
  
  • will have a view of the real sentiments of the great mass of humanity and therefore
    
  • cannot be deceived;
    
• on the other, he
  
  • will impress the people so profoundly,
    
    • by his mere existence and
      
    • by the impact of his personality,
      

    that they will be swayed by him as the grass by the wind.
    

THE LINES

Six at the beginning means:

Boy like contemplation.

For an inferior man, no blame.

For a superior man, humiliation.

This means contemplation from a distance, without comprehension.

A man of influence is at hand,

but his influence is not understood by the common people.

This matters little in the case of the masses,

for they benefit by the actions of the ruling sage

whether they understand them or not.

But for a superior man it is a disgrace.

• He must not content himself with a shallow, thoughtless view of prevailing forces;
  
• he must
  
  • contemplate them as a connected whole and
    
  • try to understand them.
    

Six in the second place means:

Contemplation through the crack of the door.

Furthering for the perseverance of a woman.

Through the crack of the door

• one has a limited outlook;
  
• one looks outward from within.
  

Contemplation is subjectively limited.

One

• tends to relate everything to oneself and
  
• cannot put oneself in another’s place and understand his motives.
  

This is appropriate for a good housewife.

It is not necessary for her to be conversant with the affairs of the world.

But for a man who must take active part in public life,

such a narrow, egotistic way of contemplating things is of course harmful.

Six in the third place means:

Contemplation of my life

Decides the choice Between

• advance and
  
• retreat.
  

This is the place of transition.

We

• no longer look outward to receive pictures that are more or less limited and confused,
  
• but direct our contemplation upon ourselves in order to find a guideline for our decisions.
  

This self-contemplation means the overcoming of naive egotism

in the person who sees everything solely from his own standpoint.

He begins to reflect and in this way acquires objectivity.

However,

• self-knowledge does not mean preoccupation with one’s own thoughts; rather,
  
• it means concern about the effects one creates.
  

It is only the effects our lives produce that give us the right to judge

whether what we have done means progress or regression.

0 Nine in the fifth place means:

Contemplation of my life.

The superior man is without blame.

A man in an authoritative position to whom others look up

must always be ready for self-examination.

The right sort of self-examination, however, consists

• not in idle brooding over oneself
  
• but in examining the effects one produces.
  

Only

• when these effects are good, and
  
• when one’s influence on others is good,
  

will the contemplation of one’s own life

bring the satisfaction of knowing oneself to be free of mistakes.

0 Nine at the top means:

Contemplation of his life.

The superior man is without blame.

• While the preceding line represents a man who contemplates himself,
  
• here in the highest place everything that is personal, related to the ego, is excluded.
  

The picture is that of a sage who stands outside the affairs of the world.

Liberated from his ego, he

• contemplates the laws of life and so
  
• realizes that knowing how to become free of blame is the highest good.
  

MOVING HEXAGRAM

Hexagram 11 – T’ai – Peace

Above    K’UN        THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH

Below    CH’IEN    THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN

• The Receptive, which moves downward, stands above;
  
• the Creative, which moves upward, is below.
  

Hence their influences meet and are in harmony,

so that all living things bloom and prosper.

This hexagram belongs to the first month (February-March), at which time

the forces of nature prepare the new spring.

THE JUDGMENT

PEACE.

• The small departs,
  
• The great approaches.
  

Good fortune.

Success.

This hexagram denotes a time in nature when heaven seems to be on earth.

Heaven has placed itself beneath the earth, and so their powers unite in deep harmony.

Then peace and blessing descend upon all living things.

In the world of man it is a time of social harmony;

• those in high places show favor to the lowly, and
  
• the lowly and inferior in their turn are well disposed toward the highly placed.
  

There is an end to all feuds.

• Inside, at the center, in the key position, is the light principle;
  
• the dark principle is outside.
  

Thus

• the light has a powerful influence, while
  
• the dark is submissive.
  

In this way each receives its due.

• When
  
  • the good elements of society occupy a central position and are in control,
    
  • the evil elements come under their influence and change for the better.
    
• When
  
  • the spirit of heaven rules in man,
    
  • his animal nature also
    
    • comes under its influence and
      
    • takes its appropriate place.
      

The individual lines

• enter the hexagram from below and
  
• leave it again at the top.
  

Here

• the small, weak, and evil elements are about to take their departure, while
  
• the great, strong, and good elements are moving up.
  

This brings good fortune and success.

THE IMAGE

Heaven and earth unite: the image Of PEACE.

Thus the ruler

• Divides and
  
• completes
  

the course of heaven and earth;

He

• furthers and regulates the gifts of heaven and earth, And so
  
• aids the people.
  

Heaven and earth are in contact and combine their influences,

producing a time of universal flowering and prosperity.

This stream of energy must be regulated by the ruler of men.

It is done by a process of division.

Thus men

• divide the uniform flow of time into the seasons, according to the succession of natural phenomena, and
  
• mark off infinite space by the points of the compass.
  

In this way

nature in its overwhelming profusion of phenomena is

• bounded and
  
• controlled.
  

On the other hand,

nature must be furthered in her productiveness.

This is done by adjusting the products to

• the right time and
  
• the right place,
  

which increases the natural yield.

This controlling and furthering activity of man in his relation to nature

is the work on nature that rewards him.

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