ShiftPixy Inc PIXY under CEO Scott Absher

ShiftPixy Inc PIXY under CEO Scott Absher

 

HEXAGRAM 48 – Ching – The Well

Above    K’AN    THE ABYSMAL, WATER

Below    SUN    THE GENTLE, WIND, WOOD

• Wood is below,
  
• water above.
  

The wood goes down into the earth to bring up water.

The image derives from the pole-and-bucket well of ancient China.

1. The wood represents
   

• not the buckets, which in ancient times were made of clay,
  
• but rather the wooden poles by which the water is hauled up from the well.
  

1. The image also refers to the world of plants,
   

• which lift water out of the earth by means of their fibers.
  

1. The well from which water is drawn conveys the further idea of
   

• an inexhaustible dispensing of nourishment.
  

 

THE JUDGMENT

THE WELL.

• The town may be changed,
  
• But the well cannot be changed.
  

It

• neither decreases
  
• nor increases.
  

They come and go and draw from the well.

If

• one gets down almost to the water And
  
• the rope does not go all the way, Or
  
• the jug breaks,
  

it brings misfortune.

In ancient China the capital cities were sometimes moved,

• partly for the sake of more favorable location,
  
• partly because of a change in dynasties.
  

• The style of architecture changed in the course of centuries,
  
• but the shape of the well has remained the same from ancient times to this day.
  

Thus the well is the symbol of that social structure which,

• evolved by mankind in meeting its most primitive needs,
  
• is independent of all political forms.
  

• Political structures change, as do nations,
  

but

• the life of man with its needs remains eternally the same –
  

  this cannot be changed.
  

• Life is also inexhaustible.
  
  • It grows neither less nor more;
    
  • it exists for one and for all.
    

• The generations come and go, and
  
• all enjoy life in its inexhaustible abundance.
  

However, there are

two prerequisites for a satisfactory political or social organization of mankind.

• We must go down to the very foundations of life.
  

  For any merely superficial ordering of life that leaves its deepest needs unsatisfied
  

  is as ineffectual as if no attempt at order had ever been made.
  

• Carelessness – by which the jug is broken – is also disastrous.
  

  If for instance
  

  the military defense of a state is carried to such excess that
  

  it provokes wars by which the power of the state is annihilated,
  

  this is a breaking of the jug.
  

This hexagram applies also to the individual.

However men may differ in disposition and in education,

• the foundations of human nature are the same in everyone. And
  
• every human being can draw in the course of his education from
  

  the inexhaustible wellspring of the divine in man’s nature.
  

But here likewise two dangers threaten:

a man

• may fail in his education to penetrate to the real roots of humanity and
  
• remain fixed in conventions partial education of this sort is as bad as none or
  

he

• may suddenly collapse and neglect his self-development.
  

 

THE IMAGE

Water over wood: the image of THE WELL.

Thus the superior man

• encourages the people at their work, And
  
• exhorts them to help one another.
  

• The trigram Sun, wood, is below, and
  
• the trigram K’an, water, is above it.
  

Wood sucks water upward.

Just as

• wood as an organism imitates the action of the well,
  

  which benefits all parts of the plant,
  

• the superior man organizes human society,
  

  so that, as in a plant organism,
  

  its parts cooperate for the benefit of the whole.
  

 

THE LINES

 

Six at the beginning means:

One does not drink the mud of the well.

No animals come to an old well.

If a man wanders around in swampy lowlands,

his life is submerged in mud.

Such a man loses all significance for mankind.

He who throws himself away is no longer sought out by others.

In the end no one troubles about him anymore.

 

 

MOVING HEXAGRAM

 

 

HEXAGRAM 05 – Hsu – Waiting (Nourishment)

Above    K’AN        THE ABYSMAL, WATER

Below    CH’IEN    THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN

All beings have need of nourishment from above.

But the gift of food comes in its own time, and

for this one must wait.

This hexagram shows the clouds in the heavens, giving rain

• to refresh all that grows and
  
• to provide mankind with food and drink.
  

The rain will come in its own time.

• We cannot make it come;
  
• we have to wait for it.
  

The idea of waiting is further suggested by the attributes of the two trigrams –

• strength within,
  
• danger in front. 2
  

• Strength in the face of danger does not plunge ahead but bides its time, whereas
  
• weakness in the face of danger
  
  • grows agitated and
    
  • has not the patience to wait.
    

 

THE JUDGMENT

WAITING. If you are sincere,

You have light and success.

Perseverance brings good fortune.

It furthers one to cross the great water.

Waiting is not mere empty hoping.

It has the inner certainty of reaching the goal.

Such certainty alone gives that light which leads to success.

This leads to the perseverance that

• brings good fortune and
  
• bestows power to cross the great water.
  

One is faced with a danger that has to be overcome.

Weakness and impatience can do nothing.

Only a strong man can stand up to his fate,

for his inner security enables him to endure to the end.

This strength shows itself in uncompromising truthfulness (with himself).

It is only when we have the courage to face things exactly as they are,

without any sort of self-deception or illusion,

that a light will develop out of events,

by which the path to success may be recognized.

This recognition must be followed by resolute and persevering action.

For only the man who goes to meet his fate resolutely is equipped to deal with it adequately.

Then he will be able to cross the great water –

that is to say,

he will be capable

• of making the necessary decision and
  
• of surmounting the danger.
  

 

THE IMAGE

Clouds rise up to heaven: The image of WAITING.

Thus the superior man

• eats and
  
• drinks,
  
• Is joyous and
  
• of good cheer.
  

When clouds rise in the sky, it is a sign that it will rain.

There is nothing to do but to wait until the rain falls.

It is the same in life when destiny is at work.

• We should not worry and seek to shape the future by interfering in things before the time is ripe.
  
• We should quietly fortify the body with food and drink and the mind with gladness and good cheer.
  

Fate comes when it will, and thus we are ready.

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