Seres Therapeutics MCRB under CEO Eric Shaff

Seres Therapeutics MCRB under CEO Eric Shaff

 

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

 

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.

 

Nine in the fifth place means:

His nose and feet are cut off.

Oppression at the hands of the man with the purple knee bands.

Joy comes softly.

It furthers one to make offerings and libations.

An individual who has the good of mankind at heart is oppressed from

• above
  

and

• below
  

(this is the meaning of the cutting off of nose and feet).

He finds no help among the people whose duty it would be to aid in the work of rescue

(ministers wore purple knee bands) .

But little by little, things take a turn for the better.

Until that time,

he should

• turn to God, firm in his inner composure,
  

and

• pray and offer sacrifice for the general well-being.
  

 

 

MOVING HEXAGRAM

 

 

HEXAGRAM 16 – Yu – Enthusiasm

Above    CHEN    THE AROUSING, THUNDER

Below    K’UN    THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH

The strong line in the fourth place, that of the leading official,

meets with response and obedience from all the other lines, which are all weak.

• The attribute of the upper trigram, Chen, is movement;
  
• the attributes of K’un, the lower, are obedience and devotion.
  

This begins a movement that

• meets with devotion
  

and therefore

• inspires enthusiasm, carrying all with it.
  

Of great importance, furthermore, is

the law of movement along the line of least resistance,

which in this hexagram is enunciated as the law

• for natural events and
  
• for human life.
  

 

THE JUDGMENT

ENTHUSIASM.

It furthers one

• to install helpers And
  
• to set armies marching.
  

The time of ENTHUSIASM derives from the fact that there is at hand

an eminent man who

• is in sympathy with the spirit of the people and
  
• acts in accord with it.
  

Hence he finds universal and willing obedience.

To arouse enthusiasm it is necessary for a man to adjust himself and his ordinances

to the character of those whom he has to lead.

The inviolability of natural laws rests on this principle of

movement along the line of least resistance.

These laws are not forces external to things

but represent the harmony of movement immanent in them.

That is

• why the celestial bodies do not deviate from their orbits and
  
• why all events in nature occur with fixed regularity.
  

It is the same with human society:

• only such laws as are rooted in popular sentiment can be enforced,
  
• while laws violating this sentiment merely arouse resentment.
  

Again,

it is enthusiasm that enables us to install helpers

for the completion of an undertaking without fear of secret opposition.

It is enthusiasm too that can unify mass movements, as in war,

so that they achieve victory.

 

THE IMAGE

Thunder comes resounding out of the earth: The image of ENTHUSIASM.

Thus the ancient kings

• made music In order to honor merit, And
  
• offered it with splendor To the Supreme Deity,
  
• Inviting their ancestors to be present.
  

When, at the beginning of summer,

• thunder – electrical energy – comes rushing forth from the earth again, and
  
• the first thunderstorm refreshes nature,
  

a prolonged state of tension is resolved.

Joy and relief make themselves felt.

So too,

music has power

• to ease tension within the heart and
  
• to loosen the grip of obscure emotions.
  

The enthusiasm of the heart expresses itself involuntarily

• in a burst of song,
  
• in dance and rhythmic movement of the body.
  

From immemorial times

the inspiring effect of the invisible sound that

• moves all hearts, and
  
• draws them together,
  

has mystified mankind.

Rulers have made use of this natural taste for music;

they elevated and regulated it.

Music was looked upon as something serious and holy,

designed to purify the feelings of men.

It fell to music

• to glorify the virtues of heroes and thus
  
• to construct a bridge to the world of the unseen.
  

In the temple men drew near to God with music and pantomimes

(out of this later the theater developed).

Religious feeling for the Creator of the world was united with

the most sacred of human feelings,

that of reverence for the ancestors.

The ancestors were invited to these divine services

• as guests of the Ruler of Heaven and
  
• as representatives of humanity in the higher regions.
  

This uniting of the human past with the Divinity

in solemn moments of religious inspiration

established the bond between God and man.

The ruler who revered the Divinity in revering his ancestors

became thereby the Son of Heaven,

in whom the heavenly and the earthly world met in mystical contact.

These ideas are the final summation of Chinese culture.

Confucius has said of the great sacrifice at which these rites were performed:

“He who

• could wholly comprehend this sacrifice
  
• could rule the world as though it were spinning on his hand.”
  

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