Murphy Usa MUSA under CEO R. Andrew Clyde

Murphy Usa MUSA under CEO R. Andrew Clyde

 

HEXAGRAMA 13 – T’ung Jen – Fellowship with Men

Above    CH’IEN    THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN

Below    LI        THE CLINGING, FLAME

The image

• of the upper trigram Ch’ien is heaven, and that
  
• of the lower, Li, is flame.
  

It is the nature of fire to flame up to heaven.

This gives the idea of fellowship.

It is the second line that, by virtue of its central character,

unites the five strong lines around it.

This hexagram forms a complement to Shih, THE ARMY (7).

1. In the latter, danger is within and obedience without –
   

   the character of a warlike army, which, in order to hold together, needs
   

   one strong man among the many who are weak.
   

2. Here, clarity is within and strength without –
   

   the character of a peaceful union of men, which, in order to hold together, needs
   

   one yielding nature among many firm persons.
   

 

THE JUDGMENT

FELLOWSHIP WITH MEN in the open.

Success.

It furthers one to cross the great water.

The perseverance of the superior man furthers.

True fellowship among men must be based upon a concern that is universal.

It is

not the private interests of the individual that create lasting fellowship among men,

but rather the goals of humanity.

That is why it is said that fellowship with men in the open succeeds.

If unity of this kind prevails,

even difficult and dangerous tasks, such as crossing the great water,

can be accomplished.

But in order to bring about this sort of fellowship,

a persevering and enlightened leader is needed –

a man with

• clear, convincing, and inspiring aims and
  
• the strength to carry them out.
  

• (The inner trigram means clarity;
  
• the outer, strength.)
  

 

THE IMAGE

Heaven together with fire: The image of FELLOWSHIP WITH MEN.

Thus the superior man

• organizes the clans And
  
• makes distinctions between things.
  

Heaven

• has the same direction of movement as fire,
  
• yet it is different from fire.
  

Just as

• the luminaries in the sky serve for the systematic division and arrangement of time,
  

so

• human society and all things that really belong together must be organically arranged.
  

Fellowship should not be a mere mingling, of individuals or of things –

that would be chaos, not fellowship.

If fellowship is to lead to order, there must be organization within diversity.

 

THE LINES

 

Nine at the beginning means:

Fellowship with men at the gate.

No blame.

The beginning of union among people should take place before the door.

All are equally close to one another.

• No divergent aims have yet arisen, and
  
• one makes no mistakes.
  

The basic principles of any kind of union must be equally accessible to all concerned.

Secret agreements bring misfortune.

 

Nine in the third place means:

• He hides weapons in the thicket;
  
• He climbs the high hill in front of it.
  

For three years he does not rise up.

Here fellowship has changed about to mistrust.

Each man

• distrusts the other,
  
• plans a secret ambush, and
  
• seeks to spy on his fellow from afar.
  

We are dealing with an obstinate opponent whom

we cannot come at by this method.

Obstacles standing in the way of fellowship with others are shown here.

One

• has mental reservations for one’s own part and
  
• seeks to take his opponent by surprise.
  

This very fact makes one mistrustful,

• suspecting the same wiles in his opponent and
  
• trying to ferret them out.
  

The result is that one departs further and further from true fellowship.

• The longer this goes on,
  
• the more alienated one becomes.
  

 

Nine in the fourth place means:

• He climbs up on his wall;
  
• he cannot attack.
  

Good fortune.

Here the reconciliation that follows quarrel moves nearer.

It is true that there are still dividing walls on which we stand confronting one another.

But the difficulties are too great.

• We get into straits, and this brings us to our senses.
  
• We cannot fight, and therein lies our good fortune.
  

 

0 Nine in the fifth place means:

Men bound in fellowship

• first weep and lament,
  
• But afterward they laugh.
  

After great struggles they succeed in meeting.

Two people are outwardly separated,

but in their hearts they are united.

They are kept apart by their positions in life.

Many difficulties and obstructions arise between them and cause them grief.

But, remaining true to each other, they allow nothing to separate them, and

although it costs them a severe struggle to overcome the obstacles,

they will succeed.

When they come together their sadness will change to joy.

Confucius says of this:

Life leads the thoughtful man on a path of many windings.

• Now the course is checked,
  
• now it runs straight again.
  
• Here winged thoughts may pour freely forth in words,
  
• There the heavy burden of knowledge must be shut away in silence.
  

But

• when two people are at one in their inmost hearts,
  
  • They shatter even the strength of iron or of bronze.
    

And

• when two people understand each other in their inmost hearts,
  
  • Their words are sweet and strong, like the fragrance of orchids.
    

 

Nine at the top means:

Fellowship with men in the meadow.

No remorse.

The warm attachment that springs from the heart is lacking here.

We are by this time actually outside of fellowship with others.

However, we ally ourselves with them.

The fellowship

• does not include all, but
  
• only those who happen to dwell near one another.
  

The meadow is the pasture at the entrance to the town.

At this stage,

• the ultimate goal of the union of mankind has not yet been attained,
  
• but we need not reproach ourselves.
  

We join the community without separate aims of our own.

 

 

MOVING HEXAGRAM

 

 

HEXAGRAM 02 – K’un – The Receptive

Above    K’UN    THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH

Below    K’UN    THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH

This hexagram is made up of broken lines only.

The broken line represents the dark, yielding, receptive primal power of yin.

The attribute of the hexagram is devotion;

its image is the earth.

It is the perfect complement of THE CREATIVE – the complement, not the opposite, 1

for the Receptive does not combat the Creative but complements it.

It represents

• nature in contrast to spirit,
  
• earth in contrast to heaven,
  
• space as against time,
  
• the female-maternal as against the male-paternal.
  

However, as applied to human affairs,

the principle of this complementary relationship is found

• not only in the relation between man and woman,
  
• but also in that between prince and minister and
  
• between father and son.
  

Indeed, even in the individual this duality appears in the coexistence of

• the spiritual world and
  
• the world of the senses.
  

But strictly speaking there is no real dualism here,

because there is a clearly defined hierarchic relationship between the two principles.

In itself of course the Receptive is just as important as the Creative,

but the attribute of devotion defines the place occupied by this primal power in relation to the Creative.

For the Receptive must be activated and led by the Creative;

then it is productive of good.

Only when it abandons this position and tries to stand as an equal side by side with the Creative,

does it become evil.

The result then is opposition to and struggle against the Creative,

which is productive of evil to both.

 

THE JUDGMENT

THE RECEPTIVE brings about sublime success,

Furthering through the perseverance of a mare.

If the superior man undertakes something and tries to lead,

He goes astray;

But if he follows, he finds guidance

It is favorable to find friends in the west and south,

To forego friends in the east and north.

Quiet perseverance brings good fortune.

The four fundamental aspects of the Creative –

“sublime success, furthering through perseverance”- are also attributed to the Receptive.

Here, however, the perseverance is more closely defined: it is that of a mare.

The Receptive connotes spatial reality in contrast to the spiritual potentiality of the Creative.

The potential becomes real and the spiritual becomes spatial through a specifically qualifying definition.

Thus the qualification, “of a mare,” is here added to the idea of perseverance.

The horse belongs to earth just as the dragon belongs to heaven.

Its tireless roaming over the plains is taken as a symbol of the vast expanse of the earth.

This is the symbol chosen because the mare combines

• the strength and swiftness of the horse with
  
• the gentleness and devotion of the cow.
  

Only because nature in its myriad forms corresponds with the myriad impulses of the Creative

can it make these impulses real.

Nature’s richness lies in its power to nourish all living things;

its greatness lies in its power to give them beauty and splendor.

Thus it prospers all that lives.

It is the Creative that begets things, but they are brought to birth by the Receptive.

Applied to human affairs, therefore,

what the hexagram indicates is action in conformity with the situation.

The person in question is not in an independent position, but is acting as an assistant.

This means that he must achieve something.

It is not his task to try to lead – that would only make him lose the way –

but to let him be led.

If he knows how to meet fate with an attitude of acceptance, he is sure to find the right guidance.

The superior man

• lets himself be guided;
  
• he does not go ahead blindly,
  
• but learns from the situation what is demanded of him and
  
• then follows this intimation from fate.
  

Since there is something to be accomplished,

we need friends and helpers in the hour of toil and effort,

once the ideas to be realized are firmly set.

The time of toil and effort is indicated by the west and the south,

for west and south symbolize the place where the Receptive works for the Creative,

as nature does in summer and autumn.

If in that situation one does not mobilize all one’s powers,

the work to be accomplished will not be done.

Hence to find friends there means to find guidance.

But in addition to the time of toil and effort, there is also a time of planning, and for this we need solitude.

The east symbolizes the place where a man receives orders from his master and

the north the place where he reports on what he has done.

At that time he must be alone and objective.

In this sacred hour

• he must do without companions so that
  
• the purity of the moment may not be spoiled by factional hates and favoritism.
  

 

THE IMAGE

The earth’s condition is receptive devotion.

Thus the superior man who has breadth of character

Carries the outer world.

Just as there is only one heaven, so too there is only one earth.

In the hexagram of the heaven the (doubling, of the trigram implies duration in time,

but in the hexagram of earth the doubling connotes the solidity and extension in space by virtue of which

the earth is able to carry and preserve all things that live and move upon it.

The earth in its devotion carries all things, good and evil, without exception.

In the same way the superior man gives to his character breadth, purity, and sustaining power,

so that he is able both

• to support and
  
• to bear with people and things.
  

Comments

comments