iSpecimen ISPC under CEO Christopher Ianelli

iSpecimen ISPC under CEO Christopher Ianelli

 

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.
  

 

THE LINES

Six in the third place means:

Undeserved misfortune.

The cow that was tethered by someone

Is

• the wanderer’s gain,
  
• the citizen’s loss.
  

Sometimes

undeserved misfortune befalls a man at the hands of another,

as for instance when someone

• passes by and
  
• takes a tethered cow along with him.
  

His gain is the owner’s loss.

In all transactions, no matter how innocent,

we must

• accommodate ourselves to the demands of the time,
  
• otherwise unexpected misfortune overtakes us.
  

 

 

MOVING HEXAGRAM

 

 

HEXAGRAMA 13 – T’ung Jen – Fellowship with Men

Above    CH’IEN    THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN

Below    LI        THE CLINGING, FLAME

The image

• of the upper trigram Ch’ien is heaven, and that
  
• of the lower, Li, is flame.
  

It is the nature of fire to flame up to heaven.

This gives the idea of fellowship.

It is the second line that, by virtue of its central character,

unites the five strong lines around it.

This hexagram forms a complement to Shih, THE ARMY (7).

1. In the latter, danger is within and obedience without –
   

   the character of a warlike army, which, in order to hold together, needs
   

   one strong man among the many who are weak.
   

2. Here, clarity is within and strength without –
   

   the character of a peaceful union of men, which, in order to hold together, needs
   

   one yielding nature among many firm persons.
   

 

THE JUDGMENT

FELLOWSHIP WITH MEN in the open.

Success.

It furthers one to cross the great water.

The perseverance of the superior man furthers.

True fellowship among men must be based upon a concern that is universal.

It is

not the private interests of the individual that create lasting fellowship among men,

but rather the goals of humanity.

That is why it is said that fellowship with men in the open succeeds.

If unity of this kind prevails,

even difficult and dangerous tasks, such as crossing the great water,

can be accomplished.

But in order to bring about this sort of fellowship,

a persevering and enlightened leader is needed –

a man with

• clear, convincing, and inspiring aims and
  
• the strength to carry them out.
  

• (The inner trigram means clarity;
  
• the outer, strength.)
  

 

THE IMAGE

Heaven together with fire: The image of FELLOWSHIP WITH MEN.

Thus the superior man

• organizes the clans And
  
• makes distinctions between things.
  

Heaven

• has the same direction of movement as fire,
  
• yet it is different from fire.
  

Just as

• the luminaries in the sky serve for the systematic division and arrangement of time,
  

so

• human society and all things that really belong together must be organically arranged.
  

Fellowship should not be a mere mingling, of individuals or of things –

that would be chaos, not fellowship.

If fellowship is to lead to order, there must be organization within diversity.

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