2seventy Bio TSVT under CEO Nick Leschly

2seventy Bio TSVT under CEO Nick Leschly

 

HEXAGRAM 03 – Chun – Difficulty at the Beginning

Above    K’AN    THE ABYSMAL, WATER

Below    CHEN    THE AROUSING, THUNDER

The name of the hexagram, Chun, really connotes

a blade of grass pushing against an obstacle

as it sprouts out of the earth hence the meaning, “difficulty at the beginning.”

The hexagram indicates the way in which heaven and earth bring forth individual beings.

It is their first meeting, which is beset with difficulties.

The lower trigram Chen is the Arousing;

• its motion is upward and
  
• its image is thunder.
  

The upper trigram K’an stands for the Abysmal, the dangerous.

• Its motion is downward and
  
• its image is rain.
  

The situation points to teeming, chaotic profusion;

thunder and rain fill the air.

But the chaos clears up.

• While the Abysmal sinks,
  
• the upward movement eventually passes beyond the danger.
  
• A thunderstorm brings release from tension, and
  
• all things breathe freely again.
  

 

THE JUDGMENT

DIFFICULTY AT THE BEGINNING works supreme success,

Furthering through perseverance.

Nothing should be undertaken.

It furthers one to appoint helpers.

Times of growth are beset with difficulties.

They resemble a first birth.

But these difficulties arise from the very profusion of all that is struggling to attain form.

Everything is in motion:

therefore if one perseveres there is a prospect of great success, in spite of the existing danger.

When it is a man’s fate to undertake such new beginnings, everything is still unformed, dark.

Hence he must hold back, because any premature move might bring disaster.

Likewise, it is very important not to remain alone;

in order to overcome the chaos he needs helpers.

This is not to say, however, that he himself should look on passively at what is happening.

He must lend his hand and participate with inspiration and guidance.

 

THE IMAGE

Clouds and thunder: The image Of DIFFICULTY AT THE BEGINNING.

Thus the superior man

Brings order out of confusion.

Clouds and thunder are represented by definite decorative lines;

this means that in the chaos of difficulty at the beginning, order is already implicit.

So too the superior man has to arrange and organize the inchoate profusion of such times of beginning, just as one sorts out silk threads from a knotted tangle and binds them into skeins.

In order to find one’s place in the infinity of being,

one must be able both

• to separate and
  
• to unite.
  

 

THE LINES

 

Six in the second place means:

Difficulties pile up.

Horse and wagon part.

He is not a robber.

He wants to woo when the time comes.

The maiden is chaste.

She does not pledge herself.

Ten years-then she pledges herself.

We find ourselves beset by difficulties and hindrances.

Suddenly there is a turn of affairs,

as if someone were coming up with a horse and wagon and unhitching them.

This event comes so unexpectedly that we assume the newcomer to be a robber.

Gradually it becomes clear that he

• has no evil intentions but
  
• seeks to be friendly and to offer help.
  

But this offer is not to be accepted, because it does not come from the right quarter.

We must wait until the time is fulfilled; ten years is a fulfilled cycle of time.

Then

• normal conditions return of themselves, and
  
• we can join forces with the friend intended for us.
  

Using the image of a betrothed girl who remains true to her lover in face of grave conflicts,

the hexagram gives counsel for a special situation.

When in times of difficulty a hindrance is encountered and unexpected relief is offered from a source unrelated to us,

we must be careful and not take upon ourselves any obligations entailed by such help;

otherwise our freedom of decision is impaired.

If we bide our time,

• things Will quiet down again, and
  
• we shall attain what we have hoped for. 1
  

 

Six in the third place means:

Whoever hunts deer without the forester

Only loses his way in the forest.

The superior man

• understands the signs of the time
  
• And prefers to desist.
  

To go on brings humiliation.

If a man tries to hunt in a strange forest and has no guide, he loses his way.

When he finds himself in difficulties he must not try to steal out of them unthinkingly and without guidance.

Fate cannot be duped;

premature effort, without the necessary guidance, ends in failure and disgrace.

Therefore the superior man, discerning the seeds of coming events,

• prefers to renounce a wish
  
• rather than to provoke failure and humiliation by trying to force its fulfillment.
  

 

Six at the top means:

Horse and wagon part.

Bloody tears flow.

The difficulties at the beginning are too great for some persons.

• They get stuck and never find their way out;
  
• they fold their hands and give up the struggle.
  

Such resignation is the saddest of all things. Therefore

Confucius says of this line:

“Bloody tears flow: one should not persist in this.”

 

 

MOVING HEXAGRAM

 

 

HEXAGRAM 09 – Hsiao Ch’u – The Taming Power of the Small

Above    SUN        THE GENTLE, WIND

Below    CH’IEN    THE CREATIVE. HEAVEN

This hexagram means the force of the small –

the power of the shadowy – that

• restrains,
  
• tames,
  
• impedes.
  

A weak line in the fourth place, that of the minister, 1 holds the five strong lines in check.

In the Image it is the wind blowing across the sky.

The wind

• restrains the clouds, the rising breath of the Creative, and
  
• makes them grow dense,
  
• but as yet is not strong enough to turn them to rain.
  

The hexagram presents a configuration of circumstances in which

a strong element is temporarily held in leash by a weak element.

It is only through gentleness that this can have a successful outcome.

 

THE JUDGMENT

THE TAMING POWER, OF THE SMALL

Has success.

Dense clouds, no rain from our western region.

This image refers to the state of affairs in China at the time when King Wen,

who came originally from the west,

was in the east at the court of the reigning tyrant Chou Hsin.

The moment for action on a large scale has not yet arrived.

King Wen could only keep the tyrant somewhat in check by friendly persuasion.

Hence the image of many clouds, promising moisture and blessing to the land,

although as yet no rain falls.

The situation is not unfavorable;

there is a prospect of ultimate success,

• but there are still obstacles in the way, and
  
• we can merely take preparatory measures.
  

Only through the small means of friendly persuasion can we exert any influence.

The time has not yet come for sweeping measures.

However, we may be able, to a limited extent, to act as a restraining and subduing influence.

To carry out our purpose we need

• firm determination within and
  
• gentleness and adaptability in external relations.
  

 

THE IMAGE

The wind drives across heaven: The image of THE TAMING POWER OF THE SMALL.

Thus the superior man

Refines the outward aspect of his nature.

The wind can indeed drive the clouds together in the sky;

yet, being nothing but air, without solid body,

it does not produce great or lasting effects.

So also an individual,

in times when he can produce no great effect in the outer world,

can do nothing except refine the expression of his nature in small ways.

 

Comments

comments