SmileDirectClub SDC under CEO David Katzman

SmileDirectClub SDC under CEO David Katzman

 

HEXAGRAM 52 – Ken – Keeping Still, Mountain

Above    KEN    KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN

Below    KEN    KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN

The image of this hexagram is the mountain,

the youngest son of

• heaven and
  
• earth.
  

The male principle is at the top,

• because it strives upward by nature;
  

the female principle is below,

• since the direction of its movement is downward.
  

Thus

there is rest

• because the movement has come to its normal end.
  

In its application to man, the hexagram turns upon

the problem of achieving a quiet heart.

It is very difficult to bring quiet to the heart.

While Buddhism strives for

• rest through an ebbing away of all movement in nirvana,
  

the Book of Changes holds that

• rest is merely a state of polarity that always posits
  

  movement as its complement.
  

Possibly the words of the text embody directions for the practice of yoga.

 

THE JUDGMENT

KEEPING STILL.

Keeping his back still

So that he no longer feels his body.

He

• goes into his courtyard And
  
• does not see his people.
  

No blame.

True quiet means

• keeping still when the time has come to keep still, and
  
• going forward when the time has come to go forward.
  

In this way

• rest and movement are in agreement with the demands of the time,
  

and thus

• there is light in life.
  

The hexagram signifies the end and the beginning of all movement.

The back is named because in the back are located

all the nerve fibers that mediate movement.

If

• the movement of those spinal nerves is brought to a standstill,
  
• the ego, with its restlessness, disappears as it were.
  

When

a man has thus become calm,

he may turn to the outside world.

• He no longer sees in it the struggle and tumult of individual beings,
  

and therefore

• he has that true peace of mind which is needed
  
  • for understanding the great laws of the universe and
    
  • for action, in harmony with them.
    

Whoever

• acts from these deep levels
  
• makes no mistakes.
  

 

THE IMAGE

Mountains standing close together: The image of KEEPING STILL.

Thus the superior man

Does not permit his thoughts To go beyond his situation.

1The heart thinks constantly.

This cannot be changed,

but the movements of the heart – that is,

a man’s thoughts –

should restrict themselves to the immediate situation.

All thinking that goes beyond this only makes the heart sore.

 

THE LINES

 

Six at the beginning means:

Keeping his toes still.

No blame.

Continued perseverance furthers.

Keeping the toes still means halting before one has even begun to move.

The beginning is the time of few mistakes.

At that time

one is still in harmony with primal innocence.

Not yet influenced by obscuring interests and desires,

one sees things intuitively as they really are.

A man who halts at the beginning,

so long as he has not yet abandoned truth,

finds the right way.

But

persisting firmness is needed to keep one from drifting irresolutely.

 

Nine in the third place means:

Keeping his hips still.

Making his sacrum stiff.

Dangerous.

The heart suffocates.

This refers to enforced quiet.

The restless heart is to be subdued by forcible means.

But fire when it is smothered changes into acrid smoke

that suffocates as it spreads.

Therefore, in exercises in meditation and concentration,

one

• ought not to try to force results.
  

Rather,

• calmness must develop naturally out of a state of inner composure.
  

If

• one tries to induce calmness by means of artificial rigidity,
  
• meditation will lead to very unwholesome results.
  

 

 

MOVING HEXAGRAM

 

 

HEXAGRAM 27 – I – The Corners of the Mouth (Providing Nourishment)

Above    KEN    KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN

Below    CHEN    THE AROUSING, THUNDER

This hexagram is a picture of an open mouth;

• above and below are the firm lines of the lips, and
  
• between them the opening.
  

Starting with the mouth,

through which we take food for nourishment,

the thought leads to nourishment itself.

Nourishment

• of oneself, specifically of the body, is represented in the three lower lines,
  
• while the three upper lines represent nourishment and care of others, in a higher, spiritual sense.
  

 

THE JUDGMENT

THE CORNERS OF THE MOUTH.

Perseverance brings good fortune.

Pay heed

• to the providing of nourishment And
  
• to what a man seeks To fill his own mouth with.
  

In bestowing care and nourishment, it is important

• that the right people should be taken care of and
  
• that we should attend to our own nourishment in the right way.
  

If

• we wish to know what anyone is like,
  
• we have only to observe
  
  • on whom he bestows his care and
    
  • what sides of his own nature he cultivates and nourishes.
    

Nature nourishes all creatures.

The great man fosters and takes care of superior men,

in order to take care of all men through them.

Mencius says about this:

If

• we wish to know whether anyone is superior or not,
  
• we need only observe what part of his being he regards as especially important.
  

The body has

• superior and inferior,
  
• important and unimportant parts.
  

We

• must not injure important parts for the sake of the unimportant,
  
• nor must we injure the superior parts for the sake of the inferior.
  

• He who cultivates the inferior parts of his nature is an inferior man.
  
• He who cultivates the superior parts of his nature is a superior man. 1
  

 

THE IMAGE

At the foot of the mountain, thunder:

The image of PROVIDING NOURISHMENT.

Thus the superior man is

• careful of his words And
  
• temperate in eating and drinking.
  

“God comes forth in the sign of the Arousing” 2:

when in the spring the life forces stir again,

all things come into being anew.

“He brings to perfection in the sign of Keeping Still”:

thus

in the early spring, when the seeds fall to earth,

all things are made ready.

This is an image of providing nourishment through

• movement and
  
• tranquility.
  

The superior man takes it as a pattern for the

• nourishment and
  
• cultivation of
  

his character.

• Words are a movement going from within outward.
  
• Eating and drinking are movements from without inward.
  

Both kinds of movement can be modified by tranquility.

For

tranquility

• keeps the words that come out of the mouth from exceeding proper measure, and
  
• keeps the food that goes into the mouth from exceeding its proper measure.
  

Thus character is cultivated.

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