Walgreens Boots Alliance WBA under CEO Rosalind Brewer

Walgreens Boots Alliance WBA under CEO Rosalind Brewer

 

HEXAGRAM 36 – Ming I – Darkening of the Light

Above    K’UN    THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH

Below    LI    THE CLINGING, FIRE

Here the sun

• has sunk under the earth and
  
• is therefore darkened.
  

The name of the hexagram means literally “wounding of the bright”; hence

the individual lines contain frequent references to wounding.

The situation is the exact opposite of that in the foregoing hexagram.

In the latter

• a wise man at the head of affairs
  
  • has able helpers, and in company with them
    
  • makes progress;
    

here

• a man of dark nature
  
  • is in a position of authority and
    
  • brings harm to the wise and able man.
    

 

THE JUDGMENT

DARKENING OF THE LIGHT.

In adversity

It furthers one to be persevering.

One

• must not unresistingly let himself be swept along
  

  by unfavorable circumstances,
  

• nor permit his steadfastness to be shaken.
  

He can avoid this by

• maintaining his inner light, while
  
• remaining outwardly yielding and tractable.
  

With this attitude

he can overcome even the greatest adversities.

In some situations indeed a man

• must hide his light, in order to
  
• make his will prevail in spite of difficulties in his immediate environment.
  

Perseverance

• must dwell in inmost consciousness and
  
• should not be discernible from without.
  

Only thus is

a man able to maintain his will in the face of difficulties.

 

THE IMAGE

The light has sunk into the earth: The image of DARKENING OF THE LIGHT.

Thus does

• the superior man live with the great mass:
  
• He
  
  • veils his light,
    
  • yet still shines.
    

In a time of darkness it is essential to be

• cautious and
  
• reserved.
  

One should not needlessly awaken overwhelming enmity

by inconsiderate behavior.

In such times

• one ought not to fall in with the practices of others;
  
• neither should one drag them censoriously into the light.
  

In social intercourse

• one should not try to be all-knowing.
  
• One should let many things pass, without being duped.
  

 

THE LINES

 

Six at the top means:

Not light but darkness.

• First he climbed up to heaven,
  
• Then he plunged into the depths of the earth.
  

Here the climax of the darkening is reached.

• The dark power at first held so high a place that
  
• it could wound all who were on the side of good and of the light.
  

But in the end

• it perishes of its own darkness,
  
• for evil
  
  • must itself fall at the very moment when
    
• it
  
  • has wholly overcome the good, and thus
    
  • consumed the energy to which it owed its duration.
    

 

 

MOVING HEXAGRAM

 

 

HEXAGRAM 22 – Pi – Grace

Above    KEN    KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN

Below    Li    THE CLINGING, FIRE

This hexagram shows a fire that

• breaks out of the secret depths of the earth and, blazing up,
  
• illuminates and beautifies the mountain, the heavenly heights.
  
• Grace – beauty of form – is necessary in any union
  

if

• it is to be
  
  • well ordered and pleasing
    
• rather than
  
  • disordered and chaotic.
    

 

THE JUDGMENT

GRACE has success.

In small matters

It is favorable to undertake something.

Grace brings success.

However,

• it is not the essential or fundamental thing;
  
• it is only the ornament and must therefore be used
  
  • sparingly and
    
  • only in little things.
    

1. In the lower trigram of fire
   

   a yielding line
   

• comes
  between two strong lines and
  
• makes them beautiful,
  

but

• the strong lines are the essential content and
  
• the weak line is the beautifying form.
  

1. In the upper trigram of the mountain,
   

   the strong line
   

• takes the lead, so that here again
  
• the strong element must be regarded as the decisive factor.
  

1. In nature we see in the sky the strong light of the sun;
   

   the life of the world depends on it.
   

   But this strong, essential thing is
   

• changed and
  
• given pleasing variety by the moon and the stars.
  

1. In human affairs,
   

   aesthetic form comes into being when
   

   traditions exist that, strong and abiding like mountains, are made pleasing
   

   by a lucid beauty.
   

1. By contemplating the forms existing in the heavens
   

   we come to understand time and its changing demands.
   

2. Through contemplation of the forms existing in human society
   

   it becomes possible to shape the world. 1
   

 

THE IMAGE

Fire at the foot of the mountain: The image of GRACE.

Thus does

• the superior man proceed When clearing up current affairs.
  

But

• he dare not decide controversial issues in this way.
  

• The fire, whose light illuminates the mountain and makes it pleasing,
  
  • does not shine far;
    

in the same way,

• beautiful form suffices to brighten and to throw light upon matters of lesser moment,
  
  • but important questions cannot be decided in this way.
    

They require greater earnestness.

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