MEDITATIONS: I CHING; THE BOOK OF CHANGES, CANTO ELEVEN

Great—Smooth—Advancing
|or| Tranquility

Look for opportunities to be cooperative and helpful. This will probably entail stepping aside and letting things happen. Spend time with likeminded people who share your values and goals. A great leader is the servant of those he leads. (Bright-Fey 51)

Tranquility: the small goes, the great comes; auspicious success.

Yang 1: Pulling one reed out by the roots takes others along. An expedition bodes well.

Yang 2: Including the uncultivated, actively crossing rivers, not overlooking what is far away, partisanship disappears, and one accords with balanced action.

Yang 3: There is no level without incline, no going without return; be diligent and steadfast, and there will be no fault. Do not worry; your sincerity will result in abundance of sustenance.

Yin 4: Flying swiftly, not wealthy, taking along the neighbors, not being admonished because of sincerity.

Yin 5: The emperor marries off his younger sister; thus there is good fortune, very auspicious.

Yin 6: The castle walls return to the moats. Do not mobilize the army. Proclaiming orders in one’s own domain, even if correct one is humiliated. (Cleary 53-63)

Hard times make strong men; strong men make good times; good times make weak men; and weak men bring about hard times—this is the cyclical model of societal progression typic of traditional views of history. The I Ching corresponds to this model, progressing from difficulty, immaturity, and waiting to contention, action, closeness, development, continuation, which ultimately arrives at tranquility before returning to obstruction.

All good things come to an end, and so all one can do is sustain peace and harmony for as long as is tenable while simultaneously preparing for the troubles ahead. This is what is captured by “The small goes; the great comes.” Yin and Yang forces are acting in a complementary manner toward one another. Wives and husbands are each fulfilling their respective roles. Citizens cooperate with their leaders, and those leaders act in the interest of the ruled. When times are good and these norms are maintained, tranquility is achieved, and people can allow the organs and machinery of culture to operate without interference, revision, or correction.

This kind of cooperation is represented in the first Yang. The reed pulled by the roots is a fortunate or talented man bringing up those around him as he advances. During golden ages, it is easier than other times to construct a successful life for oneself. The prevalence of this social fluidity allows the excess energy of the very productive man to build means for the advancement of his peers.

The advancement of peers is the subject matter of the second Yang, and it is vital if the auspicious opportunity of tranquility is to be maximized. The floods will come, but before they do, a great man can help others become great in there own ways, too. That is “including the uncultivated” and “actively crossing rivers” while “not overlooking what is far away.” As of yet, the troubles are far; but if people remember that disaster will arrive eventually, that the time of preparation is now, then useless partisanship, in-fighting, and unproductive competition will not seem tempting. Instead, people will channel their inward creativity in cooperation with others in order to bolster the whole against the storm to come—that is the spirit of the third Yang.

The fourth Yin describes the initiation of the outward expression. In this case, Yin presides over Yang. The feminine has taken the dominant expression, and it will naturally be overtaken as the condition of tranquility flies swiftly toward that of obstruction. This is the inverse of the first Yang. Where before, the rising masculine carries his peers upward, in this case, the descending feminine collectively aims toward the opposite of prosperity. During this early stage of the descent, one can maintain the fruits of tranquility if he is sincere.

In fact, the fifth Yin indicates that opportunities to climb can still be given even by those most high. “The emperor marries off his younger sister,” is a metaphor for raising a normal person to the state of nobility. Though the institutions are decaying, and though norms are degenerating, it is still possible for those occupying positions of privilege and power to cultivate the character of those around them. The unwashed masses can still be washed, and they should be, for society will need as much strength of character as possible to endure the inevitability.

And then the inevitable arrives. At the very end of a tranquil age, one must return to a state of waiting. During this time, misfortune is unavoidable. As the sixth Yin warns, any attempt at an expedition is very likely to not only fail, but to also bring on shame and blame to the undertaker. From the outside, it will seem as though the humiliation is a result of the undertaking. This may or may not actually be the case; for during a time of obstruction, even right action can be met with disaster. The hard times have come again.

I Ching; The Book of Changes, with commentaries by Cheng Yi, translated by Thomas Cleary, Shambala Library, 2003.

I Ching: The Book of Changes; An authentic Taoist translation, translated by John Bright-Fey, Sweetwater Press, 2006.