Weber Inc WEBR under interim CEO Alan Matula

Weber Inc WEBR under interim CEO Alan Matula

 

HEXAGRAM 17 – Sui – Following

Above    TUI    THE JOYOUS, LAKE

Below    CHEN    THE AROUSING, THUNDER

The trigram Tui, the Joyous, whose attribute is gladness, is above;

Chen, the Arousing, which has the attribute of movement, is below.

Joy in movement induces following.

The Joyous is the youngest daughter, while

the Arousing is the eldest son.

An older man

• defers to a young girl and
  
• shows her consideration.
  

By this he moves her to follow him.

 

THE JUDGMENT

FOLLOWING has supreme success.

Perseverance furthers.

No blame.

In order to obtain a following one must first know how to adapt oneself.

If a man would rule he must first learn to serve,

for only in this way does he secure from those below him the joyous assent

that is necessary if they are to follow him.

If he has to obtain a following

• by force or cunning,
  
• by conspiracy or
  
• by creating factions,
  

he invariably arouses resistance, which obstructs willing adherence.

But even joyous movement can lead to evil consequences,

hence the added stipulation,

“Perseverance furthers”-that is, consistency in doing right – together with “No blame.”

• Just as we should not ask others to follow us unless this condition is fulfilled,
  
• so it is only under this condition that we can in turn follow others without coming to harm.
  

The thought of obtaining a following through adaptation to the demands of the time is a great and significant idea;

this is why the appended judgment is so favorable.

 

THE IMAGE

Thunder in the middle of the lake: The image of FOLLOWING.

Thus the superior man at nightfall

Goes indoors for rest and recuperation.

In the autumn electricity withdraws into the earth again and rests.

Here it is the thunder in the middle of the lake that serves as the image –

• thunder in its winter rest,
  
• not thunder in motion.
  

The idea of following in the sense of adaptation to the demands of the time

grows out of this image.

Thunder in the middle of the lake indicates times of

• darkness and
  
• rest.
  

Similarly, a superior man, after being tirelessly active all day,

allows himself rest and recuperation at night.

No situation can become favorable until one

• is able to adapt to it and
  
• does not wear himself out with mistaken resistance.
  

 

THE LINES

 

Six in the second place means:

If one clings to the little boy,

One loses the strong man.

In friendships and close relationships an individual must make a careful choice.

• He surrounds himself either with good or with bad company;
  
• he cannot have both at once.
  

If

• he throws himself away on unworthy friends
  
• he loses connection with people of intellectual power who could further him in the good.
  

 

Six in the third place means:

If

• one clings to the strong man,
  
• One loses the little boy.
  

Through following one finds what one seeks.

It furthers one to remain persevering.

When

the right connection with distinguished people has been found,

a certain loss naturally ensues.

A man must part company with the

• inferior and
  
• superficial.
  

But in his heart

• he will feel satisfied, because
  
• he will find what he seeks and needs for the development of his personality.
  

The important thing is to remain firm.

He must

• know what he wants and
  
• not be led astray by momentary inclinations.
  

 

Six at the top means:

He

• meets with firm allegiance And
  
• is still further bound.
  

The king introduces him To the Western Mountain.

This refers to a man, an exalted sage,

who has already put the turmoil of the world behind him.

But a follower appears who

• understands him and
  
• is not to be put off.
  

So the sage

• comes back into the world and
  
• aids the other in his work.
  

Thus there develops an eternal tie between the two.

The allegory is chosen from the annals of the Chou dynasty.

The rulers of this dynasty honored men who had served them well

by awarding them a place in the royal family’s temple of ancestors on the Western Mountain.

In this way they were regarded as sharing in the destiny of the ruling family.

 

 

MOVING HEXAGRAM

 

 

HEXAGRAM 01 – Chien – The Creative

Above    THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN

Below    THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN

The first hexagram is made up of six unbroken lines.

These unbroken lines stand for the primal power, which is

• light giving,
  
• active,
  
• strong, and of
  
• the spirit.
  

The hexagram is consistently strong, in character, and

since it is without weakness,

its essence is power or energy.

Its image is heaven.

Its energy

• is represented as unrestricted by any fixed conditions in space and
  
• is therefore conceived of as motion.
  

Time is regarded as the basis of this motion.

Thus the hexagram includes also

• the power of time and
  
• the power of persisting in time, that is, duration.
  

The power represented by the hexagram is to be interpreted in a dual sense – in terms of

• its action on the universe and of
  
• its action on the world of men.
  

• In relation to the universe, the hexagram expresses the strong, creative action of the Deity.
  
• In relation to the human world, it denotes the creative action of the holy man or sage, of the ruler or leader of men, who through his power awakens and develops their higher nature. 1
  

 

THE JUDGMENT

THE CREATIVE works sublime success,

Furthering through perseverance. 2

According to the original meaning, the attributes (sublimity, potentiality of success, power to further, perseverance) are paired.

When an individual draws this oracle, it means

• that success come to him from the primal depths of the universe and
  
• that everything depends upon his seeking his happiness and that of others in one way only, that is, by perseverance in what is right.
  

The specific meanings of the four attributes became the subject of speculation at an early date.

The Chinese word here rendered by “sublime” means literally “head,” “origin,” “great.”

This is why Confucius says in explaining it:

“Great indeed is the generating power of the Creative; all beings owe their beginning to it. This power permeates all heaven. 3 For this attribute inheres in the other three as well.

The beginning of all things lies still in the beyond in the form of ideas that have yet to become real.

But the Creative furthermore has power to lend form to these archetypes of ideas.

• This is indicated in the word success, and
  
• the process is represented by an image from nature: “The clouds pass and the rain does its work, and all individual beings flow into their forms.” 4
  

Applied to the human world, these attributes show the great man the way to notable success:

“Because he sees with great clarity causes and effects, he

• completes the six steps at the right time and
  
• mounts toward heaven on them at the right time, as though of six dragons.”
  

The six steps are the six different positions given in the hexagram,

which are represented later by the dragon symbol.

Here it is shown that the way to success lies in

• apprehending understanding and
  
• giving actuality to the way of the universe (Tao), which, as a law running, through end and beginning, brings about all phenomena in time.
  

Thus each step attained forthwith becomes a preparation for the next.

Time is no longer a hindrance but the means of making actual what is potential.

The act of creation having found expression in the two attributes – sublimity and success,

the work of conservation is shown to be a continuous actualization and differentiation of form.

This is expressed in the two terms

• “furthering” (literally, “creating that which accords with the nature of a given being”) and
  
• “persevering” (literally, “correct and firm”).
  

“The course of the Creative alters and shapes beings until each attains its true, specific nature, then

it keeps them in conformity with the Great Harmony.

Thus does it show itself to further through perseverance.”

In relation to the human sphere, this shows how

the great man brings peace and security to the world through his activity in creating order:

“He towers high above the multitude of beings, and all lands are united in peace.”

Another line of speculation goes still further in separating the words “sublime,” “success,” “furthering” “perseverance,” and parallels them with the four cardinal virtues in humanity.

1)To sublimity, which, as the fundamental principle, embraces all the other attributes, it links love.

2) To the attribute success are linked the mores, which regulate and organize the expressions of love and thereby make them successful. 5

3) The attribute furthering is correlated with justice, which creates the conditions in which each receives that which accords with his being, that which is due him and which constitutes his happiness.

4) The attribute perseverance is correlated with wisdom, which discerns the immutable laws of all that happens and can therefore bring about enduring conditions.

These speculations, already broached in the commentary called Wen Yen, 6 later formed the bridge connecting the philosophy of the “five stages (elements) of change,” as laid down in the Book of History (Shu Ching) with the philosophy of the Book of Changes, which is based solely on the polarity of positive and negative principles. In the course of time this combination of the two systems of thought opened the way for an increasingly intricate number symbolism. 7

 

THE IMAGE

The movement of heaven is full of power.

Thus the superior man makes himself strong and untiring.

Since there is only one heaven, the doubling of the trigram Ch’ien, of which heaven is the image, indicates the movement of heaven.

One complete revolution of heaven makes a day, and the repetition of the trigram means that each day is followed by another.

This creates the idea of time.

Since it is the same heaven moving with untiring power, there is also created the idea of duration both in and beyond time, a movement that never stops nor slackens, just as one day follows another in an unending course.

This duration in time is the image of the power inherent in the Creative.

With this image as a model,

the sage learns how best to develop himself so that his influence may endure.

He must make himself strong in every way,

by consciously casting out all that is inferior and degrading.

Thus he attains that tirelessness,

which depends upon consciously limiting the fields of his activity.

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