Cerner CERN under CEO David Feinberg

Cerner CERN under CEO David Feinberg

 

HEXAGRAM 02 – K’un – The Receptive

Above    K’UN    THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH

Below    K’UN    THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH

This hexagram is made up of broken lines only.

The broken line represents the dark, yielding, receptive primal power of yin.

The attribute of the hexagram is devotion;

its image is the earth.

It is the perfect complement of THE CREATIVE – the complement, not the opposite, 1

for the Receptive does not combat the Creative but complements it.

It represents

• nature in contrast to spirit,
  
• earth in contrast to heaven,
  
• space as against time,
  
• the female-maternal as against the male-paternal.
  

However, as applied to human affairs,

the principle of this complementary relationship is found

• not only in the relation between man and woman,
  
• but also in that between prince and minister and
  
• between father and son.
  

Indeed, even in the individual this duality appears in the coexistence of

• the spiritual world and
  
• the world of the senses.
  

But strictly speaking there is no real dualism here,

because there is a clearly defined hierarchic relationship between the two principles.

In itself of course the Receptive is just as important as the Creative,

but the attribute of devotion defines the place occupied by this primal power in relation to the Creative.

For the Receptive must be activated and led by the Creative;

then it is productive of good.

Only when it abandons this position and tries to stand as an equal side by side with the Creative,

does it become evil.

The result then is opposition to and struggle against the Creative,

which is productive of evil to both.

 

THE JUDGMENT

THE RECEPTIVE brings about sublime success,

Furthering through the perseverance of a mare.

If the superior man undertakes something and tries to lead,

He goes astray;

But if he follows, he finds guidance

It is favorable to find friends in the west and south,

To forego friends in the east and north.

Quiet perseverance brings good fortune.

The four fundamental aspects of the Creative –

“sublime success, furthering through perseverance”- are also attributed to the Receptive.

Here, however, the perseverance is more closely defined: it is that of a mare.

The Receptive connotes spatial reality in contrast to the spiritual potentiality of the Creative.

The potential becomes real and the spiritual becomes spatial through a specifically qualifying definition.

Thus the qualification, “of a mare,” is here added to the idea of perseverance.

The horse belongs to earth just as the dragon belongs to heaven.

Its tireless roaming over the plains is taken as a symbol of the vast expanse of the earth.

This is the symbol chosen because the mare combines

• the strength and swiftness of the horse with
  
• the gentleness and devotion of the cow.
  

Only because nature in its myriad forms corresponds with the myriad impulses of the Creative

can it make these impulses real.

Nature’s richness lies in its power to nourish all living things;

its greatness lies in its power to give them beauty and splendor.

Thus it prospers all that lives.

It is the Creative that begets things, but they are brought to birth by the Receptive.

Applied to human affairs, therefore,

what the hexagram indicates is action in conformity with the situation.

The person in question is not in an independent position, but is acting as an assistant.

This means that he must achieve something.

It is not his task to try to lead – that would only make him lose the way –

but to let him be led.

If he knows how to meet fate with an attitude of acceptance, he is sure to find the right guidance.

The superior man

• lets himself be guided;
  
• he does not go ahead blindly,
  
• but learns from the situation what is demanded of him and
  
• then follows this intimation from fate.
  

Since there is something to be accomplished,

we need friends and helpers in the hour of toil and effort,

once the ideas to be realized are firmly set.

The time of toil and effort is indicated by the west and the south,

for west and south symbolize the place where the Receptive works for the Creative,

as nature does in summer and autumn.

If in that situation one does not mobilize all one’s powers,

the work to be accomplished will not be done.

Hence to find friends there means to find guidance.

But in addition to the time of toil and effort, there is also a time of planning, and for this we need solitude.

The east symbolizes the place where a man receives orders from his master and

the north the place where he reports on what he has done.

At that time he must be alone and objective.

In this sacred hour

• he must do without companions so that
  
• the purity of the moment may not be spoiled by factional hates and favoritism.
  

 

THE IMAGE

The earth’s condition is receptive devotion.

Thus the superior man who has breadth of character

Carries the outer world.

Just as there is only one heaven, so too there is only one earth.

In the hexagram of the heaven the (doubling, of the trigram implies duration in time,

but in the hexagram of earth the doubling connotes the solidity and extension in space by virtue of which

the earth is able to carry and preserve all things that live and move upon it.

The earth in its devotion carries all things, good and evil, without exception.

In the same way the superior man gives to his character breadth, purity, and sustaining power,

so that he is able both

• to support and
  
• to bear with people and things.
  

 

THE LINES

 

0 Six in the second place means:

Straight, square, great.

Without purpose,

Yet nothing remains unfurthered.

• The symbol of heaven is the circle, and
  
• that of earth is the square.
  

Thus

• squareness is a primary quality of the earth.
  

On the other hand,

• movement in a straight line, as well as in magnitude, is a primary quality of the Creative.
  

But all square things have their origin in a straight line and in turn form solid bodies.

In mathematics, when we discriminate between lines, planes, and solids, we find that

• rectangular planes result from straight lines, and
  
• cubic magnitudes from rectangular planes.
  

The Receptive accommodates itself to the qualities of the Creative and makes them its own.

Thus

• a square develops out of a straight line and
  
• a cube out of a square.
  

This is compliance with the laws of the Creative;

• nothing is taken away,
  
• nothing added.
  

Therefore the Receptive has

• no need of a special purpose of its own,
  
• nor of any effort;
  

yet everything turns out as it should.

• Nature creates all beings without erring: this is its straightness.
  
• It is calm and still: this is its foursquareness.
  
• It tolerates all creatures equally: this is its greatness.
  

Therefore it attains what is right for all without artifice or special intentions.

 

Six in the fifth place means:

A yellow lower garment brings supreme good fortune.

Yellow is the color

• of the earth and
  
• of the middle;
  

it is the symbol of that which is reliable and genuine.

The lower garment is inconspicuously decorated – the symbol of aristocratic reserve.

When anyone is called upon to work in a prominent but not independent position,

true success depends on the utmost discretion.

A man’s genuineness and refinement should not reveal themselves directly;

they should express themselves only indirectly as an effect from within.

 

MOVING HEXAGRAM

 

HEXAGRAM 29 – K’an – The Abysmal (Water)

Above    K’AN    THE ABYSMAL, WATER

Below    K’AN    THE ABYSMAL, WATER

This hexagram consists of a doubling of the trigram K’an.

It is one of the eight hexagrams in which doubling occurs.

The trigram K’an means a plunging in.

A yang line

• has plunged in between two yin lines
  

and

• is closed in by them like water in a ravine.
  

The trigram K’an is also the middle son.

The Receptive

• has obtained the middle line of the Creative,
  

and thus

• K’an develops.
  

As an image it represents water,

the water that

• comes from above
  

and

• is in motion on earth in streams and rivers,
  

  giving rise to all life on earth.
  

In man’s world K’an represents

• the heart,
  
• the soul locked up within the body,
  
• the principle of light inclosed in the dark – that is, reason.
  

The name of the hexagram, because the trigram is doubled,

has the additional meaning,

“repetition of danger.”

Thus the hexagram is intended to designate

• an objective situation to which one must become accustomed,
  
• not a subjective attitude.
  

For danger due to a subjective attitude means

either

• foolhardiness
  

or

• guile.
  

Hence too a ravine is used to symbolize danger;

it is a situation in which

a man is in the same pass as

the water in a ravine,

and,

like the water,

• he can escape
  

if

• he behaves correctly.
  

 

THE JUDGMENT

The Abysmal repeated.

If you are sincere,

• you have success in your heart,
  

And

• whatever you do succeeds.
  

Through repetition of danger

we grow accustomed to it.

Water sets the example for the right conduct under such circumstances.

• It
  
  • flows on and on,
    

  and
  

  • merely fills up all the places through which it flows;
    
• it
  
  • does not shrink from any dangerous spot nor from any plunge,
    

  and
  

  • nothing can make it lose its own essential nature.
    
• It
  
  • remains true to itself under all conditions.
    

Thus likewise,

• if one is sincere when confronted with difficulties,
  
  • the heart can penetrate the meaning of the situation.
    

And

• once we have gained inner mastery of a problem,
  
  • it will come about naturally that the action we take will succeed.
    

In danger all that counts is really

• carrying out all that has to be done – thoroughness –
  

and

• going forward, in order not to perish through tarrying in the danger.
  

Properly used,

danger can have an important meaning as a protective measure.

Thus

• heaven has its perilous height protecting it
  
  • against every attempt at invasion, and
    
• earth has its mountains and bodies of water,
  
  • separating countries by their dangers.
    

Thus also

rulers make use of danger to protect themselves

• against attacks from without
  

and

• against turmoil within.
  

 

THE IMAGE

Water

• flows on uninterruptedly
  

and

• reaches its goal:
  

The image of the Abysmal repeated.

Thus the superior man

• walks in lasting virtue
  

And

• carries on the business of teaching.
  

Water reaches its goal by flowing continually.

It fills up every depression before it flows on.

The superior man follows its example;

he is concerned that goodness should be

• an established attribute of character
  

rather than

• an accidental and isolated occurrence.
  

So likewise in teaching others everything depends on consistency,

for

it is only through repetition

that

the pupil makes the material his own.

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