Paramount Global PARA under CEO Robert Bakish

Paramount Global PARA under CEO Robert Bakish

 

HEXAGRAM 41 – Sun – Decrease

Above    KEN    KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN

Below    TUI    THE JOYOUS, LAKE

This hexagram represents

• a decrease of the lower trigram
  
• in favor of the upper,
  

because

• the third line, originally strong, has moved up to the top, and
  
• the top line, originally weak, has replaced it. 1
  

• What is below is decreased to the benefit of
  
• what is above.
  

This is out-and-out decrease.

If

• the foundations of a building are decreased in strength and
  
• the upper walls are strengthened,
  

the whole structure loses its stability.

Likewise,

• a decrease in the prosperity of the people
  
• in favor of the government
  

is out-and-out decrease.

And

the entire theme of the hexagram is directed to showing how

this shift of wealth can take place

without causing the sources of wealth in

• the nation and
  
• its lower classes
  

to fail.

 

THE JUDGMENT

DECREASE combined with sincerity

Brings about supreme good fortune

Without blame.

• One may be persevering in this.
  

It furthers one to undertake something.

How is this to be carried out?

• One may use two small bowls for the sacrifice.
  

Decrease does not under all circumstances mean something bad.

Increase and decrease come in their own time.

What matters here is

• to understand the time and
  
• not to try to cover up poverty with empty pretense.
  

If a time of scanty resource brings out an inner truth,

one must not feel ashamed of simplicity.

For simplicity is then the very thing needed to provide inner strength for further undertakings.

Indeed, there need be no concern if the outward beauty of the civilization,

even the elaboration of religious forms,

should have to suffer because of simplicity.

One must draw on the strength of the inner attitude to compensate for what is lacking in externals;

then the power of the content makes up for the simplicity of form.

There is no need of presenting false appearances to God.

Even with slender means, the sentiment of the heart can be expressed. 2

 

THE IMAGE

At the foot of the mountain, the lake: The image of DECREASE.

Thus the superior man

• controls his anger And
  
• restrains his instincts.
  

The lake at the foot of the mountain evaporates.

In this way

it decreases to the benefit of the mountain,

which is enriched by its moisture.

• The mountain stands as the symbol of a stubborn strength that can harden into anger.
  
• The lake is the symbol of unchecked gaiety
  

  that can develop into passionate drives at the expense of the life forces.
  

Therefore decrease is necessary;

• anger must be decreased by keeping still,
  
• the instincts must be curbed by restriction.
  

By this decrease of the lower powers of the psyche,

the higher aspects of the soul are enriched.

 

THE LINES

 

Six in the fourth place means:

If a man decreases his faults,

It makes the other hasten to come and rejoice.

No blame.

A man’s faults often prevent

even well-disposed people from coming closer to him.

His faults are sometimes reinforced

by the environment in which he lives.

But if in humility

• he can bring himself to the point of giving them up,
  
• he
  
  • frees his well disposed friends from an inner pressure and
    
  • causes them to approach the more quickly, and
    

    there is mutual joy.
    

 

 

MOVING HEXAGRAM

 

 

HEXAGRAM 38 – K’uei – Opposition

Above    LI    THE CLINGING, FLAME

Below    TUI    THE JOYOUS, LAKE

This hexagram is composed of the trigram

• Li above, i.e., flame, which burns upward, and
  
• Tui below, i.e., the lake, which seeps downward.
  

These two movements are in direct contrast.

Furthermore,

• Li is the second daughter and
  
• Tui the youngest daughter, and
  

although

they live in the same house

they belong, to different men;

hence their wills

• are not the same
  
• but are divergently directed.
  

 

THE JUDGMENT

OPPOSITION.

In small matters, good fortune.

When people live in

• opposition and
  
• estrangement
  

they cannot carry out a great undertaking in common;

their points of view diverge too widely.

In such circumstances

• one should above all not proceed brusquely,
  

  for that would only increase the existing opposition;
  

instead,

• one should limit oneself to producing gradual effects in small matters.
  

Here success can still be expected,

because

the situation is such that

the opposition does not preclude all agreement.

In general,

opposition appears as an obstruction, but when

• it represents polarity within a comprehensive whole,
  
• it has also its useful and important functions.
  

The oppositions of

• heaven and earth,
  
• spirit and nature,
  
• man and woman,
  

when reconciled,

bring about the creation and reproduction of life.

In the world of visible things,

the principle of opposites makes possible

the differentiation by categories

through which order is brought into the world.

 

THE IMAGE

Above, fire,

below, the lake:

The image of OPPOSITION.

Thus amid all fellowship

The superior man retains his individuality.

The two elements, fire and water,

never mingle

but even when in contact

retain their own natures.

So

• the cultured man is never led into baseness or vulgarity
  

  through intercourse or community of interests with persons of another sort;
  

  regardless of all commingling,
  

• he will always preserve his individuality.
  

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