Silvergate Capital Corp SI under CEO Alan Lane

Silvergate Capital Corp SI under CEO Alan Lane

 

HEXAGRAM 59 – Huan – Dispersion (Dissolution)

Above    SUN    THE GENTLE, WIND

Below    K’AN    THE ABYSMAL, WATER

Wind blowing over water

disperses it,

dissolving it into

• foam and
  
• mist.
  

This suggests that when a man’s vital energy is dammed up within him

(indicated as a danger by the attribute of the lower trigram),

gentleness serves to

• break up and
  
• dissolve
  

the blockage.

 

THE JUDGMENT

Dispersion,

Success.

The king approaches his temple.

It furthers one to cross the great water.

Perseverance furthers.

The text of this hexagram resembles that of Ts’ui, GATHERING TOGETHER (45).

In the latter,

the subject is the bringing together of elements that have been separated,

as water collects in lakes upon the earth.

Here

the subject is the dispersing and dissolving of divisive egotism.

DISPERSION shows the way, so to speak, that leads to gathering together.

This explains the similarity of the two texts.

Religious forces are needed to overcome the egotism that divides men.

1. The common celebration of the great
   

• sacrificial feasts and
  
• sacred rites,
  

which gave expression simultaneously to the

• interrelation and
  
• social articulation of
  
  • family and
    
  • state,
    

was the means employed by the great rulers to unite men.

• The sacred music and
  
• the splendor of the ceremonies
  

aroused a strong tide of emotion

• that was shared by all hearts in unison, and
  
• that awakened a consciousness of the common origin of all creatures.
  

In this way

• disunity was overcome and
  
• rigidity dissolved.
  

A further means to the same end is

1. cooperation in great general undertakings that
   

set a high goal for the will of the people;

in the common concentration on this goal,

all barriers dissolve,

just as,

• when a boat is crossing a great stream,
  
• all hands must unite in a joint task.
  

But only a man

• who is himself free of all selfish ulterior considerations, and
  
• who perseveres in justice and steadfastness,
  

is capable of so dissolving the hardness of egotism.

 

THE IMAGE

The wind drives over the water: The image of DISPERSION.

Thus

the kings of old

• sacrificed to the Lord And
  
• built temples.
  

In the autumn and winter,

water begins to freeze into ice.

When

the warm breezes of spring come,

• the rigidity is dissolved, and
  
• the elements that have been dispersed in ice floes are reunited.
  

It is the same with the minds of the people.

Through

• hardness and
  
• selfishness
  

the heart grows rigid, and

this rigidity leads to separation from all others.

• Egotism and
  
• Cupidity
  

isolate men.

Therefore

the hearts of men

• must be seized by a devout emotion.
  

They

• must be shaken by a religious awe in face of eternity –
  
• stirred with an intuition of the One Creator of all living beings, and
  
• united through the strong feeling of fellowship experienced in the ritual of divine worship.
  

 

THE LINES

 

Six at the beginning means:

He brings help with the strength of a horse.

Good fortune.

It is important

• that disunion should be overcome at the outset,
  
  • before it has become complete –
    
• that the clouds should be dispersed
  
  • before they have brought storm and rain.
    

At such times when

hidden divergence’s in temper

• make themselves felt and
  
• lead to mutual misunderstandings,
  

we must take quick and vigorous action to dissolve the

• misunderstandings and
  
• mutual distrust.
  

 

Six in the third place means:

He dissolves his self.

No remorse.

Under certain circumstances,

a man’s work may become so difficult

that

he can no longer think of himself.

He must

• set aside all personal desires and
  
• disperse whatever the self gathers about it to serve as a barrier against others.
  

Only on the basis of a great renunciation can

he obtain the strength for great achievements.

By setting his goal in a great task outside himself,

he can attain this standpoint.

 

Six in the fourth place means:

He dissolves his bond with his group. (1)

Supreme good fortune.

Dispersion leads in turn to accumulation.

This is something that ordinary men do not think of.

When

• we are working at a task that affects the general welfare,
  
• we must leave all private friendships out of account.
  

Only by

rising above party interests

can we achieve something decisive.

He who has the courage thus to

• forego what is near
  
• wins what is afar.
  

But in order to comprehend this standpoint,

one must have a wide view of the interrelationships of life,

such as only unusual men attain.

 

 

MOVING HEXAGRAM

 

 

HEXAGRAM 01 – Chien – The Creative

Above    THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN

Below    THE CREATIVE, HEAVEN

The first hexagram is made up of six unbroken lines.

These unbroken lines stand for the primal power, which is

• light giving,
  
• active,
  
• strong, and of
  
• the spirit.
  

The hexagram is consistently strong, in character, and

since it is without weakness,

its essence is power or energy.

Its image is heaven.

Its energy

• is represented as unrestricted by any fixed conditions in space and
  
• is therefore conceived of as motion.
  

Time is regarded as the basis of this motion.

Thus the hexagram includes also

• the power of time and
  
• the power of persisting in time, that is, duration.
  

The power represented by the hexagram is to be interpreted in a dual sense – in terms of

• its action on the universe and of
  
• its action on the world of men.
  

• In relation to the universe, the hexagram expresses the strong, creative action of the Deity.
  
• In relation to the human world, it denotes the creative action of the holy man or sage, of the ruler or leader of men, who through his power awakens and develops their higher nature. 1
  

 

THE JUDGMENT

THE CREATIVE works sublime success,

Furthering through perseverance. 2

According to the original meaning, the attributes (sublimity, potentiality of success, power to further, perseverance) are paired.

When an individual draws this oracle, it means

• that success come to him from the primal depths of the universe and
  
• that everything depends upon his seeking his happiness and that of others in one way only, that is, by perseverance in what is right.
  

The specific meanings of the four attributes became the subject of speculation at an early date.

The Chinese word here rendered by “sublime” means literally “head,” “origin,” “great.”

This is why Confucius says in explaining it:

“Great indeed is the generating power of the Creative; all beings owe their beginning to it. This power permeates all heaven. 3 For this attribute inheres in the other three as well.

The beginning of all things lies still in the beyond in the form of ideas that have yet to become real.

But the Creative furthermore has power to lend form to these archetypes of ideas.

• This is indicated in the word success, and
  
• the process is represented by an image from nature: “The clouds pass and the rain does its work, and all individual beings flow into their forms.” 4
  

Applied to the human world, these attributes show the great man the way to notable success:

“Because he sees with great clarity causes and effects, he

• completes the six steps at the right time and
  
• mounts toward heaven on them at the right time, as though of six dragons.”
  

The six steps are the six different positions given in the hexagram,

which are represented later by the dragon symbol.

Here it is shown that the way to success lies in

• apprehending understanding and
  
• giving actuality to the way of the universe (Tao), which, as a law running, through end and beginning, brings about all phenomena in time.
  

Thus each step attained forthwith becomes a preparation for the next.

Time is no longer a hindrance but the means of making actual what is potential.

The act of creation having found expression in the two attributes – sublimity and success,

the work of conservation is shown to be a continuous actualization and differentiation of form.

This is expressed in the two terms

• “furthering” (literally, “creating that which accords with the nature of a given being”) and
  
• “persevering” (literally, “correct and firm”).
  

“The course of the Creative alters and shapes beings until each attains its true, specific nature, then

it keeps them in conformity with the Great Harmony.

Thus does it show itself to further through perseverance.”

In relation to the human sphere, this shows how

the great man brings peace and security to the world through his activity in creating order:

“He towers high above the multitude of beings, and all lands are united in peace.”

Another line of speculation goes still further in separating the words “sublime,” “success,” “furthering” “perseverance,” and parallels them with the four cardinal virtues in humanity.

1)To sublimity, which, as the fundamental principle, embraces all the other attributes, it links love.

2) To the attribute success are linked the mores, which regulate and organize the expressions of love and thereby make them successful. 5

3) The attribute furthering is correlated with justice, which creates the conditions in which each receives that which accords with his being, that which is due him and which constitutes his happiness.

4) The attribute perseverance is correlated with wisdom, which discerns the immutable laws of all that happens and can therefore bring about enduring conditions.

These speculations, already broached in the commentary called Wen Yen, 6 later formed the bridge connecting the philosophy of the “five stages (elements) of change,” as laid down in the Book of History (Shu Ching) with the philosophy of the Book of Changes, which is based solely on the polarity of positive and negative principles. In the course of time this combination of the two systems of thought opened the way for an increasingly intricate number symbolism. 7

 

THE IMAGE

The movement of heaven is full of power.

Thus the superior man makes himself strong and untiring.

Since there is only one heaven, the doubling of the trigram Ch’ien, of which heaven is the image, indicates the movement of heaven.

One complete revolution of heaven makes a day, and the repetition of the trigram means that each day is followed by another.

This creates the idea of time.

Since it is the same heaven moving with untiring power, there is also created the idea of duration both in and beyond time, a movement that never stops nor slackens, just as one day follows another in an unending course.

This duration in time is the image of the power inherent in the Creative.

With this image as a model,

the sage learns how best to develop himself so that his influence may endure.

He must make himself strong in every way,

by consciously casting out all that is inferior and degrading.

Thus he attains that tirelessness,

which depends upon consciously limiting the fields of his activity.

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