Green Brick Partners GRBK under CEO James Brickman

Green Brick Partners GRBK under CEO James Brickman

 

HEXAGRAM 23 – Po – Splitting Apart

Above    KEN    KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN

Below    K’UN    THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH

The dark lines are about to

• mount upward and
  
• overthrow the last firm, light line
  

by exerting a disintegrating influence on it.

The inferior, dark forces overcome what is superior and strong,

• not by direct means,
  
• but by undermining it gradually and imperceptibly,
  

so that it finally collapses.

The lines of the hexagram

• present the image of a house, the top line being tile roof, and
  

  because the roof is being shattered
  

• the house collapses.
  

The hexagram belongs to the ninth month (October-November).

The yin power

• pushes up ever more powerfully and
  
• is about to supplant the yang power altogether.
  

 

THE JUDGMENT

SPLITTING APART.

It does not further one

To go anywhere.

This pictures a time when inferior people

• are pushing forward and
  
• are about to crowd out the few remaining strong and superior men.
  

Under these circumstances, which are due to the time,

it is not favorable for the superior man to undertake anything.

The right behavior in such adverse times is to be deduced from

• the images and
  
• their attributes.
  

• The lower trigram stands for the earth,
  
  • whose attributes are docility and devotion.
    
• The upper trigram stands for the mountain,
  
  • whose attribute is stillness.
    

This suggests that one

• should submit to the bad time and
  
• remain quiet.
  

For it is a question not of man’s doing but of time conditions,

which, according to the laws of heaven,

show an alternation of

• increase and decrease,
  
• fullness and emptiness.
  

It is impossible to counteract these conditions of the time.

Hence

it is not cowardice but wisdom to

• submit and
  
• avoid action.
  

 

THE IMAGE

The mountain rests on the earth: The image of SPLITTING APART.

Thus

those above can ensure their position

Only by giving generously to those below.

The mountain rests on the earth.

• When it is steep and narrow, lacking a broad base, it must topple over.
  
• Its position is strong only when it rises out of the earth
  
  • broad and great,
    
  • not proud and steep.
    

So likewise those who rule rest on the broad foundation of the people.

They too should be

• generous and
  
• benevolent,
  

  like the earth that carries all.
  

• Then they will make their position
  
  • as secure
    
  • as a mountain is in its tranquility.
    

 

THE LINES

 

Six at the beginning means:

The leg of the bed is split.

Those who persevere are destroyed.

Misfortune.

Inferior people

• are on the rise and
  
• stealthily begin their destructive burrowing from below
  

  in order to undermine the place where the superior man rests.
  

Those followers of the ruler who remain loyal are destroyed by

• slander and
  
• intrigue.
  

The situation bodes disaster,

yet there is nothing to do but wait.

 

0 Nine at the top means:

There is a large fruit still uneaten.

• The superior man receives a carriage.
  
• The house of the inferior man is split apart.
  

Here the splitting apart reaches its end.

When misfortune has spent itself, better times return.

The seed of the good remains and

it is just when

the fruit falls to the ground that

food sprouts anew from its seed.

The superior man again attains

influence and

effectiveness.

He is supported by public opinion as if in a carriage.

But the inferior man’s wickedness is visited upon himself.

His house is split apart.

A law of nature is at work here.

Evil is not destructive to the good alone but inevitably destroys itself as well.

For evil, which lives solely by negation,

cannot continue to exist on its own strength alone.

The inferior man himself fares best when held under control by a superior man.

 

 

MOVING HEXAGRAM

 

 

HEXAGRAM 24 – Fu – Return (The Turning Point)

Above    K’UN    THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH

Below    CHEN    THE AROUSING, THUNDER

The idea of a turning point arises from

the fact that

• after the dark lines have pushed all of the light lines upward and out of the hexagram,
  
• another light line enters the hexagram from below.
  

The time of darkness is past.

The winter solstice brings the victory of light.

This hexagram is linked with the eleventh month,

the month of the solstice (December-January).

 

THE JUDGMENT

RETURN. Success.

• Going out and coming in without error.
  
• Friends come without blame.
  
• To and fro goes the way.
  
• On the seventh day comes return.
  
• It furthers one to have somewhere to go.
  

After a time of decay comes the turning point.

The powerful light that has been banished returns.

There is movement, but

it is not brought about by force.

The upper trigram K’un is characterized by devotion;

thus the movement is natural,
arising spontaneously.

For this reason the transformation of the old becomes easy.

• The old is discarded and
  
• the new is introduced.
  

Both measures accord with the time;

therefore no harm results.

Societies of people sharing the same views are formed.

But since these groups

• come together in full public knowledge and
  
• are in harmony with the time,
  

• all selfish separatist tendencies are excluded, and
  
• no mistake is made.
  

The idea of RETURN is based on the course of nature.

• The movement is cyclic, and
  
• the course completes itself.
  

Therefore

it is not necessary to hasten anything artificially.

Everything comes of itself at the appointed time.

This is the meaning of heaven and earth.

All movements are accomplished in six stages, and

the seventh brings return.

Thus

• the Winter solstice, with which the decline of the year begins,
  
  • comes in the seventh month after the summer solstice;
    

so too

• sunrise
  
  • comes in the seventh double hour after sunset.
    

Therefore

seven is the number of the young light, and

it arises when six, the number of the great darkness, is increased by one.

In this way

the state of rest gives place to movement.

 

THE IMAGE

Thunder within the earth: The image of THE TURNING POINT.

Thus

• the kings of antiquity closed the passes At the time of solstice.
  
• Merchants and strangers did not go about, And
  
• the ruler Did not travel through the provinces.
  

The winter solstice has always been celebrated in China as the resting time of the year –

a custom that survives in the time of rest observed at the new year.

In winter the life energy, symbolized by thunder, the Arousing is still underground.

Movement is just at its beginning;

therefore

it must be strengthened by rest,

so that it will not be dissipated by being used prematurely.

This principle, i.e., of allowing energy that is renewing itself to be reinforced by rest,

applies to all similar situations.

• The return of health after illness,
  
• the return of understanding after an estrangement:
  

everything must be treated tenderly and with care at the beginning,

so that the return may lead to a flowering.

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