Block SQ under CEO Jack Dorsey

Block SQ under CEO Jack Dorsey

 

HEXAGRAM 08 – Pi – Holding Together [Union]

Above    K’AN    THE ABYSMAL, WATER

Below    K’UN    THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH

The waters on the surface of the earth flow together wherever they can,

as for example in the ocean,

where all the rivers come together.

Symbolically this connotes

• holding together and
  
• the laws that regulate it.
  

The same idea is suggested by the fact that

all the lines of the hexagram except the fifth, the place of the ruler, are yielding.

The yielding lines hold together because they are influenced by

• a man of strong will in the leading position,
  
• a man who is their center of union.
  

Moreover, this strong and guiding personality in turn holds together with the others,

finding in them the complement of his own nature.

 

THE JUDGMENT

HOLDING TOGETHER brings good fortune.

Inquire of the oracle once again

Whether you possess sublimity, constancy, and perseverance;

Then there is no blame.

Those who are uncertain gradually join.

Whoever comes too late

Meets with misfortune.

What is required is that we unite with others, in order that

all may complement and aid one another through holding together.

But such holding together calls for a central figure around whom other persons may unite.

To become a center of influence holding people together is a

• grave matter and
  
• fraught with great responsibility.
  

It requires

• greatness of spirit,
  
• consistency, and
  
• strength.
  

Therefore let him who wishes to gather others about him ask himself whether he is equal to the undertaking,

for anyone attempting the task without a real calling for it

only makes confusion worse than if no union at all had taken place.

But when there is a real rallying point,

those who at first are hesitant or uncertain gradually come in of their own accord.

Late-comers must suffer the consequences, for in holding together the question of the right time is also important.

Relationships are formed and firmly established according to definite inner laws.

Common experiences strengthen these ties, and he who comes too late to share in these basic experiences must suffer for it if, as a straggler, he finds the door locked.

If a man

• has recognized the necessity for union and
  
• does not feel strong enough to function as the center,
  

it is his duty to become a member of some other organic fellowship.

 

THE IMAGE

On the earth is water: The image Of HOLDING TOGETHER.

Thus the kings of antiquity

• Bestowed the different states as fiefs And
  
• cultivated friendly relations With the feudal lords.
  

Water

• fills up all the empty places on the earth and
  
• clings fast to it.
  

The social organization of ancient China was based on this principle of the holding together of

• dependents and
  
• rulers.
  

Water flows to unite with water, because all parts of it are subject to the same laws.

So too should human society hold together through a community of interests that

allows each individual to feel himself a member of a whole.

The central power of a social organization must see to it that

every member finds that his true interest lies in holding together with it,

as was the case in the paternal relationship between king and vassals in ancient China.

 

THE LINES

 

Six at the beginning means:

Hold to him in truth and loyalty;

This is without blame.

Truth, like a full earthen bowl:

Thus in the end

Good fortune comes from without.

Fundamental sincerity is the only proper basis for forming relationships.

This attitude,

symbolized by a full earthen bowl, in which the content is everything and the empty form nothing,

shows itself

• not in clever words but
  
• through the strength of what lies within the speaker.
  

This strength is so great that it has power to attract good fortune to itself from without.

 

0 Nine in the fifth place means:

Manifestation of holding together.

In the hunt the king uses beaters on three sides only

And foregoes game that runs off in front.

The citizens need no warning.

Good fortune.

In the royal hunts of ancient China it was customary to drive up the game from three sides,

but on the fourth the animals had a chance to run off.

If they failed to do this

they had to pass through a gate behind which the king stood ready to shoot.

Only animals that entered here were shot;

those that ran off in front were permitted to escape.

This custom accorded with a kingly attitude;

the royal hunter did not wish to turn the chase into a slaughter,

but held that the kill should consist only of those animals which had so to speak

voluntarily exposed themselves.

There is depicted here a ruler, or influential man, to whom people are attracted.

• Those who come to him he accepts,
  
• those who do not come are allowed to go their own way.
  

He invites none, flatters none – all come of their own free will.

In this way there develops a voluntary dependence among those who hold to him.

They do not have to be constantly on their guard but may express their opinions openly.

Police measures are not necessary, and they cleave to their ruler of their own volition.

The same principle of freedom is valid for life in general.

We should not woo favor from people.

If a man cultivates within himself

• the purity and
  
• the strength
  

that are necessary for one who is the center of a fellowship,

those who are meant for him come of their own accord.

 

Six at the top means:

He finds no head for holding together.

Misfortune.

The head is the beginning.

If the beginning is not right, there is no hope of a right ending.

If we

• have missed the right moment for union and
  
• go on hesitating to give complete and full devotion,
  

we shall regret the error when it is too late.

 

 

MOVING HEXAGRAM

 

 

HEXAGRAM 27 – I – The Corners of the Mouth (Providing Nourishment)

Above    KEN    KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN

Below    CHEN    THE AROUSING, THUNDER

This hexagram is a picture of an open mouth;

• above and below are the firm lines of the lips, and
  
• between them the opening.
  

Starting with the mouth,

through which we take food for nourishment,

the thought leads to nourishment itself.

Nourishment

• of oneself, specifically of the body, is represented in the three lower lines,
  
• while the three upper lines represent nourishment and care of others, in a higher, spiritual sense.
  

 

THE JUDGMENT

THE CORNERS OF THE MOUTH.

Perseverance brings good fortune.

Pay heed

• to the providing of nourishment And
  
• to what a man seeks To fill his own mouth with.
  

In bestowing care and nourishment, it is important

• that the right people should be taken care of and
  
• that we should attend to our own nourishment in the right way.
  

If

• we wish to know what anyone is like,
  
• we have only to observe
  
  • on whom he bestows his care and
    
  • what sides of his own nature he cultivates and nourishes.
    

Nature nourishes all creatures.

The great man fosters and takes care of superior men,

in order to take care of all men through them.

Mencius says about this:

If

• we wish to know whether anyone is superior or not,
  
• we need only observe what part of his being he regards as especially important.
  

The body has

• superior and inferior,
  
• important and unimportant parts.
  

We

• must not injure important parts for the sake of the unimportant,
  
• nor must we injure the superior parts for the sake of the inferior.
  

• He who cultivates the inferior parts of his nature is an inferior man.
  
• He who cultivates the superior parts of his nature is a superior man. 1
  

 

THE IMAGE

At the foot of the mountain, thunder:

The image of PROVIDING NOURISHMENT.

Thus the superior man is

• careful of his words And
  
• temperate in eating and drinking.
  

“God comes forth in the sign of the Arousing” 2:

when in the spring the life forces stir again,

all things come into being anew.

“He brings to perfection in the sign of Keeping Still”:

thus

in the early spring, when the seeds fall to earth,

all things are made ready.

This is an image of providing nourishment through

• movement and
  
• tranquility.
  

The superior man takes it as a pattern for the

• nourishment and
  
• cultivation of
  

his character.

• Words are a movement going from within outward.
  
• Eating and drinking are movements from without inward.
  

Both kinds of movement can be modified by tranquility.

For

tranquility

• keeps the words that come out of the mouth from exceeding proper measure, and
  
• keeps the food that goes into the mouth from exceeding its proper measure.
  

Thus character is cultivated.

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