Outcome of Delta DAL buyout of Alitalia

 

HEXAGRAM 12 – P’i – Standstill (Stagnation)

Above    CH’IEN    THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN

Below    K’UN        THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH

This hexagram is the opposite of the preceding one.

• Heaven is above, drawing farther and farther away, while
  
• the earth below sinks farther into the depths.
  

The creative powers are not in relation.

It is a time of standstill and decline.

This hexagram is linked with the seventh month (August-September),

when

• the year has passed its zenith and
  
• autumnal decay is setting in.
  

THE JUDGMENT

STANDSTILL.

Evil people do not further

The perseverance of the superior man.

• The great departs
  
• the small approaches.
  

• Heaven and earth are out of communion and
  
• all things are benumbed.
  

• What is above has no relation to what is below, and
  
• on earth confusion and disorder prevail.
  

• The dark power within,
  
• the light power is without.
  

• Weakness is within,
  
• harshness without.
  

• Within are the inferior, and
  
• without are the superior.
  

• The way of inferior people is in ascent;
  
• the way of superior people is on the decline.
  

But the superior people do not allow themselves to be turned from their principles.

If the possibility of exerting influence is closed to them,

they nevertheless

• remain faithful to their principles and
  
• withdraw into seclusion.
  

THE IMAGE

Heaven and earth do not unite: The image Of STANDSTILL.

Thus

• the superior man falls back upon his inner worth In order to escape the difficulties.
  
• He does not permit himself to be honored with revenue.
  

When, owing to the influence of inferior men, mutual mistrust prevails in public life,

fruitful activity is rendered impossible,

because the fundaments are wrong.

Therefore

• the superior man knows what he must do under such circumstances;
  
• he does not allow himself to be tempted by dazzling offers to take part in public activities.
  

This would only expose him to danger, since he cannot assent to the meanness of the others.

He therefore

• hides his worth and
  
• withdraws into seclusion.
  

THE LINES

Six at the beginning means:

When ribbon grass is pulled up, the sod comes with it.

Each according to his kind.

Perseverance brings good fortune and success.

The text is almost the same as that of the first line of the preceding hexagram, but with a contrary meaning.

• In the latter a man is drawing another along with him on the road to an official career;
  
• here a man is drawing another with him into retirement from public life.
  

This is why the text says here,

• “Perseverance brings good fortune and success” and
  
• not “Undertakings bring good fortune.”
  

If

• it becomes impossible to make our influence count,
  
• it is only by retirement that we spare ourselves humiliation.
  

Success in a higher sense can be ours,

because we know how to safeguard the value of our personalities.

MOVING HEXAGRAM

HEXAGRAM 25 – Wu Wang – Innocence (The Unexpected)

Above    CH’IEN    THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN

Below    CHEN        THE AROUSING, THUNDER

• Ch’ien, heaven, is above;
  
• Chen, movement, is below.
  

The lower trigram Chen is under the influence of the strong line

it has received from above, from heaven.

When, in accord with this,

• movement follows the law of heaven,
  
• man is
  
  • innocent and
    
  • without guile.
    

His mind is

• natural and true,
  
• unshadowed by reflection or ulterior designs.
  

For

• wherever conscious purpose is to be seen,
  
• there the truth and innocence of nature have been lost.
  

Nature that is not directed by the spirit is

• not true
  
• but degenerate nature.
  

Starting out with the idea of the natural,

• the train of thought in part goes somewhat further and thus
  
• the hexagram includes also the idea of the unintentional or unexpected.
  

THE JUDGMENT

INNOCENCE. Supreme success.

Perseverance furthers.

If someone is not as he should be,

• He has misfortune,
  

And

• it does not further him To undertake anything.
  

Man has received from heaven a nature innately good,

to guide him in all his movements.

By devotion to this divine spirit within himself,

he attains an unsullied innocence that leads him to do right

• with instinctive sureness and
  
• without any ulterior thought of reward and personal advantage.
  

This instinctive certainty

• brings about supreme success and
  
• “furthers through perseverance.”
  

However,

• not everything instinctive is nature in this higher sense of the word,
  
• but only that which is right and in accord with the will of heaven.
  

Without this quality of rightness,

an unreflecting, instinctive way of acting brings only misfortune.

Confucius says about this:

• “He who departs from innocence,
  
  • what does he come to?
    
• Heaven’s will and blessing
  
  • do not go with his deeds.”
    

THE IMAGE

Under heaven thunder rolls: All things attain the natural state of innocence.

Thus the kings of old,

• rich in virtue, and
  
• in harmony with the time,
  

Fostered and nourished all beings.

In springtime

when thunder, life energy, begins to move again under the heavens,

• everything sprouts and grows, and
  
• all beings receive from the creative activity of nature
  

  the childlike innocence of their original state.
  

So it is with the good rulers of mankind:

drawing on the spiritual wealth at their command,

they

• take care of all forms of life and all forms of culture and
  
• do everything to further them, and at the proper time.
  

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