Upstart Holdings UPST under CEO Dave Girouard

Upstart Holdings UPST under CEO Dave Girouard

 

HEXAGRAM 47 – K’un – Oppression (Exhaustion)

Above    TUI    THE JOYOUS, LAKE

Below    K’AN    THE ABYSMAL, WATER

1. The lake is above, water below; the lake is empty, dried up. (1)
   

Exhaustion is expressed in yet another way:

1. at the top, a dark line is holding down two light lines;
   

   below, a light line is hemmed in between two dark ones.
   

2. The upper trigram belongs to the principle of darkness,
   

   the lower to the principle of light.
   

Thus everywhere superior men are oppressed and held in restraint by inferior men.

 

THE JUDGMENT

OPPRESSION.

Success.

Perseverance.

The great man brings about good fortune.

No blame.

When one has something to say,

It is not believed.

• Times of adversity are the reverse of times of success,
  

but

• they can lead to success if they befall the right man.
  

When

a strong man meets with adversity,

• he remains cheerful despite all danger,
  

and

• this cheerfulness is the source of later successes;
  

it is that stability which is stronger than fate.

He who

• lets his spirit be broken by exhaustion certainly
  
• has no success.
  

But

if adversity only bends a man,

• it creates in him a power to react that is bound in time to manifest itself.
  

No inferior man is capable of this.

Only the great man

• brings about good fortune
  

and

• remains blameless.
  

It is true that for the time being outward influence is denied him,

because his words have no effect.

Therefore in times of adversity

it is important to be

• strong within
  

and

• sparing of words.
  

 

THE IMAGE

There is no water in the lake:

Thus

the superior man

stakes his life

On following his will.

When the water has flowed out below,

the lake must

• dry up
  

and

• become exhausted.
  

That is fate.

This symbolizes an adverse fate in human life.

In such times there is nothing a man can do

but

• acquiesce in his fate
  

and

• remain true to himself.
  

This concerns the deepest stratum of his being,

for this alone is superior to all external fate.

 

THE LINES

 

Six at the beginning means:

One

• sits oppressed under a bare tree
  

And

• strays into a gloomy valley.
  

For three years one sees nothing.

When adversity befalls a man,

it is important above all things for him

• to be strong
  

and

• to overcome the trouble inwardly.
  

If

he is weak,

• the trouble overwhelms him.
  

Instead of proceeding on his way,

he

• remains sitting under a bare tree
  

and

• falls ever more deeply into gloom and melancholy.
  

This makes the situation only more and more hopeless.

Such an attitude comes from an inner delusion

that

he must by all means overcome.

 

Nine in the second place means:

One is oppressed while at meat and drink.

The man with the scarlet knee bands is just coming.

It furthers one to offer sacrifice.

To set forth brings misfortune.

No blame.

This pictures a state of inner oppression.

Externally, all is well,

one has meat and drink.

But

one

• is exhausted by the commonplaces of life,
  

and

• there seems to be no way of escape.
  

Then help comes from a high place.

A prince – in ancient China princes wore scarlet knee bands –

is in search of able helpers.

But there are still obstructions to be overcome.

Therefore it is important to meet these obstructions in the invisible realm by

• offerings
  

and

• prayer.
  

To set forth without being prepared would be disastrous,

though not morally wrong.

Here a disagreeable situation must be overcome by patience of spirit.

• how can he then still see his wife?
  

 

Nine in the fourth place means:

He comes very quietly, oppressed in a golden carriage.

Humiliation, but the end is reached.

A well-to-do man

• sees the need of the lower classes
  

and

• would like very much to be of help.
  

But

instead of proceeding with speed and energy where there is need,

• he begins in a hesitant and measured way.
  

Then

• he encounters obstructions.
  

Powerful and wealthy acquaintances draw him into their circle;

he

• has to do as they do
  

and

• cannot withdraw from them.
  

Hence

he

• finds himself in great embarrassment.
  

But the trouble is transitory.

• The original strength of his nature offsets the mistake he has made,
  

and

• the goal is reached.
  

 

 

MOVING HEXAGRAM

 

 

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.
  

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