Invitae NVTA under CEO Sean George

Invitae NVTA under CEO Sean George

 

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.

 

THE LINES

 

Nine at the beginning means:

• You let your magic tortoise go, And
  
• look at me with the corners of your mouth drooping.
  

Misfortune.

The magic tortoise is a creature possessed of such supernatural powers that

it

• lives on air and
  
• needs no earthly nourishment.
  

The image means that

a man fitted by nature and position to live freely and independently

• renounces this self-reliance and instead
  
• looks with envy and discontent at others who are outwardly in better circumstances.
  

But such base envy only arouses derision and contempt in those others.

This has bad results.

 

Six in the third place means:

Turning away from nourishment,

Perseverance brings misfortune.

Do not act thus for ten years.

Nothing serves to further.

He who seeks nourishment that does not nourish

• reels from desire to gratification and
  
• in gratification craves desire.
  

Mad pursuit of pleasure for the satisfaction of the senses

never brings one to the goal.

One should never (ten years is a complete, cycle of time) follow this is path,

for nothing good can come of it.

 

0 Nine at the top means:

The source of nourishment.

Awareness of danger brings good fortune.

It furthers one to cross the great water.

This describes a sage of the highest order,

from whom emanate all influences that provide nourishment for others.

Such a position brings with it heavy responsibility.

If

• he remains conscious of this fact,
  
• he
  
  • has good fortune and
    
  • may confidently undertake even great and difficult labors,
    

    such as crossing the great water.
    

These undertakings bring general happiness

• for him and
  
• for all others.
  

 

 

MOVING HEXAGRAM

 

 

HEXAGRAM 15 – Ch’ien – Modesty

Above    K´UN    THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH

Below    KEN    KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN

This hexagram is made up of the trigrams

• Ken, Keeping Still, mountain, and
  
• K’un.
  

The mountain is the youngest son of the Creative, the representative of heaven on earth.

It

• dispenses the blessings of heaven, the clouds and rain that gather round its summit, and thereafter
  
• shines forth radiant with heavenly light.
  

This shows

• what modesty is and
  
• how it functions in great and strong men.
  

K’un, the earth, stands above.

Lowliness is a quality of the earth:

this is the very reason why it appears in this hexagram as exalted,

by being placed above the mountain.

This shows how modesty functions in lowly, simple people: they are lifted up by it.

 

THE JUDGEMENT

MODESTY creates success.

The superior man carries things through.

It is the law of heaven

• to make fullness empty and
  
• to make full what is modest;
  

• when the sun is at its zenith,
  
  • it must, according to the law of heaven, turn toward its setting, and
    
• at its nadir
  
  • it rises toward a new dawn.
    

In obedience to the same law,

the moon

• when it is full begins to wane, and
  
• when empty of light it waxes again.
  

This heavenly law works itself out in the fates of men also.

It is the law of earth

• to alter the full and
  
• to contribute to the modest.
  
• High mountains are worn down by the waters, and
  
• the valleys are filled up.
  

It is the law of fate

• to undermine what is full and
  
• to prosper the modest.
  

And men also

• hate fullness and
  
• love the modest.
  

The destinies of men are subject to immutable laws that must fulfill themselves.

But

man has it in his power to shape his fate,

according as his behavior exposes him to the influence of benevolent or of destructive forces.

When

• a man holds a high position and is nevertheless modest,
  
• he shines with the light of wisdom;
  

if

• he is in a lowly position and is modest,
  
• he cannot be passed by.
  

Thus the superior man

• can carry out his work to the end
  
• without boasting of what he has achieved.
  

 

THE IMAGE

Within the earth, a mountain: The image Of MODESTY.

Thus the superior man

• reduces that which is too much, And
  
• augments that which is too little.
  

He

• weighs things and
  
• makes them equal.
  

The wealth of the earth in which a mountain is hidden is not visible to the eye,

because the depths are offset by the height of the mountain.

Thus

high and low complement each other, and

the result is the plain.

Here an effect that it took a long time to achieve,

but that in the end seems easy of accomplishment and self-evident,

is used as the image of modesty.

The superior man does the same thing when he establishes order in the world;

he

• equalizes the extremes that are the source of social discontent and thereby
  
• creates just and equable conditions. 1
  

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