Premier Financial Corp (OHIO) PFC UNDER CEO Gary Small

Premier Financial Corp (OHIO) PFC UNDER CEO Gary Small

 

HEXAGRAM 29 – K’an – The Abysmal (Water)

Above    K’AN    THE ABYSMAL, WATER

Below    K’AN    THE ABYSMAL, WATER

This hexagram consists of a doubling of the trigram K’an.

It is one of the eight hexagrams in which doubling occurs.

The trigram K’an means a plunging in.

A yang line

• has plunged in between two yin lines
  

and

• is closed in by them like water in a ravine.
  

The trigram K’an is also the middle son.

The Receptive

• has obtained the middle line of the Creative,
  

and thus

• K’an develops.
  

As an image it represents water,

the water that

• comes from above
  

and

• is in motion on earth in streams and rivers,
  

  giving rise to all life on earth.
  

In man’s world K’an represents

• the heart,
  
• the soul locked up within the body,
  
• the principle of light inclosed in the dark – that is, reason.
  

The name of the hexagram, because the trigram is doubled,

has the additional meaning,

“repetition of danger.”

Thus the hexagram is intended to designate

• an objective situation to which one must become accustomed,
  
• not a subjective attitude.
  

For danger due to a subjective attitude means

either

• foolhardiness
  

or

• guile.
  

Hence too a ravine is used to symbolize danger;

it is a situation in which

a man is in the same pass as

the water in a ravine,

and,

like the water,

• he can escape
  

if

• he behaves correctly.
  

 

THE JUDGMENT

The Abysmal repeated.

If you are sincere,

• you have success in your heart,
  

And

• whatever you do succeeds.
  

Through repetition of danger

we grow accustomed to it.

Water sets the example for the right conduct under such circumstances.

• It
  
  • flows on and on,
    

  and
  

  • merely fills up all the places through which it flows;
    
• it
  
  • does not shrink from any dangerous spot nor from any plunge,
    

  and
  

  • nothing can make it lose its own essential nature.
    
• It
  
  • remains true to itself under all conditions.
    

Thus likewise,

• if one is sincere when confronted with difficulties,
  
  • the heart can penetrate the meaning of the situation.
    

And

• once we have gained inner mastery of a problem,
  
  • it will come about naturally that the action we take will succeed.
    

In danger all that counts is really

• carrying out all that has to be done – thoroughness –
  

and

• going forward, in order not to perish through tarrying in the danger.
  

Properly used,

danger can have an important meaning as a protective measure.

Thus

• heaven has its perilous height protecting it
  
  • against every attempt at invasion, and
    
• earth has its mountains and bodies of water,
  
  • separating countries by their dangers.
    

Thus also

rulers make use of danger to protect themselves

• against attacks from without
  

and

• against turmoil within.
  

 

THE IMAGE

Water

• flows on uninterruptedly
  

and

• reaches its goal:
  

The image of the Abysmal repeated.

Thus the superior man

• walks in lasting virtue
  

And

• carries on the business of teaching.
  

Water reaches its goal by flowing continually.

It fills up every depression before it flows on.

The superior man follows its example;

he is concerned that goodness should be

• an established attribute of character
  

rather than

• an accidental and isolated occurrence.
  

So likewise in teaching others everything depends on consistency,

for

it is only through repetition

that

the pupil makes the material his own.

 

THE LINES

 

0 Nine in the fifth place means:

The abyss is not filled to overflowing,

It is filled only to the rim.

No blame.

Danger comes because one is too ambitious.

In order to flow out of a ravine,

water does not rise higher than the lowest point of the rim.

So likewise

a man when in danger

has only to proceed along the line of least resistance;

thus

he reaches the goal.

Great labors cannot be accomplished in such times;

it is enough to get out of the danger.

 

Six at the top means:

• Bound with cords and ropes,
  
• Shut in between thorn-hedged prison walls:
  

For three years one does not find the way.

Misfortune.

A man who in the extremity of danger

• has lost the right way
  

and

• is irremediably entangled in his sins
  

has no prospect of escape.

He is like a criminal who sits shackled behind thorn-hedged prison walls.

 

 

MOVING HEXAGRAM

 

 

HEXAGRAM 04 – Meng – Youthful Folly

Above    KEN    KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN

Below    K’AN    THE ABYSMAL, WATER

In this hexagram we are reminded of youth and folly, in two different ways.

• The image of the upper trigram, Ken, is the mountain, that of the lower, K’an, is water;
  
  • the spring rising at the foot of the mountain is the image of inexperienced youth.
    
• Keeping still is the attribute of the upper trigram; that of the lower is the abyss, danger.
  
  • Stopping in perplexity on the brink of a dangerous abyss is a symbol of the folly of youth.
    

However, the two trigrams also show the way of overcoming the follies of youth.

Water is something that of necessity flows on.

When the spring gushes forth, it does not know at first where it will go.

But its steady flow fills up the deep place blocking its progress, and success is attained.

 

THE JUDGMENT

YOUTHFUL FOLLY has success.

It is not I who seek the young fool;

The young fool seeks me.

At the first oracle I inform him.

If he asks two or three times, it is importunity.

If he importunes, I give him no information.

Perseverance furthers.

In the time of youth, folly is not an evil.

One may succeed in spite of it, provided one

• finds an experienced teacher and
  
• has the right attitude toward him.
  

This means, first of all, that the youth himself

• must be conscious of his lack of experience and
  
• must seek out the teacher.
  

Without this modesty and this interest there is no guarantee that he has the necessary receptivity,

which should express itself in respectful acceptance of the teacher.

This is the reason why the teacher must wait to be sought out instead of offering himself.

Only thus can the instruction take place

• at the right time and
  
• in the right way.
  

A teacher’s answer to the question of a pupil ought to be clear and definite

like that expected from an oracle;

thereupon it ought to be accepted as

• a key for resolution of doubts and
  
• a basis for decision.
  

If mistrustful or unintelligent questioning is kept up,

it serves only to annoy the teacher.

He does well to ignore it in silence,

just as the oracle

• gives one answer only and
  
• refuses to be tempted by questions implying doubt.
  

Given in addition a perseverance that never slackens

until the points are mastered one by one,

real success is sure to follow.

Thus the hexagram counsels

• the teacher as well as
  
• the pupil.
  

 

THE IMAGE

A spring wells up at the foot of the mountain: The image of YOUTH.

Thus the superior man fosters his character

By thoroughness in all that he does.

A spring

• succeeds in flowing on and
  
• escapes stagnation by filling up all the hollow places in its path.
  

In the same way character is developed by thoroughness that skips nothing but, like water,

gradually and steadily fills up all gaps and so flows onward.

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