MEDITATIONS: I CHING; THE BOOK OF CHANGES, CANTO FORTY-TWO

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Now is the time to avoid insincerity and selfishness. The energy of change beckons you to get moving, without delay. Do not become distressed or disheartened even if situations seem ominous or desperate. Stay upbeat. If you maintain a compassionate and optimistic disposition, then you will succeed. (Bright-Fey 113)

Increase is beneficial with somewhere to go, beneficial crossing great rivers.

Yang 1: Advantageously employed, one does great work, impeccable if it is great and good.

Yin 2: To help one, ten gather; even auguries cannot gainsay them. It bodes well to be always steadfast. It bodes well for the king to serve the lord.

Yin 3: Using what is beneficial in unfortunate situation is blameless. With sincerity in balanced action, one uses a jade in making the official pronouncement.

Yin 4: Balanced action made known to officials is followed. It is advantageous to be a dependent and move the homeland.

Yang 5: When there is sincerity and charity, needless to ask, that is very auspicious. The sincere consider one’s virtue charity.

Yang 6: No one will profit one. Someone may attack. Do not be constant in ambition, for that bodes ill. (Cleary 255-264)

Inside, one is stirring with the roaring activity of thunder. Outside, one’s actions are docile, cooperative, and obedient. This is thunder underneath which tells of great wind gusting above; and it is the natural development of reduction—that is, service and sacrifice by those below to empower those noble souls above to initiate progress. In this hexagram, Increase, the initiation is complete, as marked by the presence of the thunder trigram internally. The top trigram, wind, represents the progress being made. Wind is soft and infinitely pliable, yet it is also something which can travel great distances unimpeded by obstacles.

And so, those below stir to their work, and they do a good job of it. That is Yang strength at the outset of the body of activity. And if done with uprightness and sincerity, the first Yang—and those talented and hardworking people he represents—will find himself assisted by everyone wherever he goes.

This is especially true of the second Yin in her balanced position. Though she is weak and prone to temptation, if she can resist, than she will be like the lord receiving assistance from her king. None will speak against her, for her efforts are honest and they remain that way even in times of misfortune—such as those of the third Yin.

In the third position, Yin follows along cooperatively with society and its progression, and though some problems arise and misfortune might befall her and others, she is not blamed. She did her part with complete integrity and sincerity. Failure in such circumstances is the fault of those above.

Speaking of those above—we move into the body of obedience and penetration. In the fourth position, Yin follows the lead of the first and fifth Yangs. From below, talented and hardworking people model virtue and are rewarded, incentivizing society to reflect their good character. From above, wise decrees flow down to weak bureaucrats and flimsy institutions. These social bodies become dependent on their members and their governments for function and right moral action, and in these circumstances, this is correct. The institutions themselves are filled with individuals not sufficient to the task of bringing society forward into the new promised land, and so it is only correct that they let those more capable and honest do the directing for them.

The fifth Yang corresponds to the second Yin below. He is the strongman in a position of power, yet he is also benevolent. This kind of strong leadership models the norm of generously rewarding those below for their sincerity and work ethic. He is the king who serves his deserving lords, and much of that service is in the leadership itself. “The sincere consider one’s virtue charity,” means just that. Honest people understand that being virtuous is a gift to those below looking upward.

However, as always, it is good to know when to stop. The downward flow of rewards and benefits from those above can go too far. This is forewarned against by the sixth Yang. He is firmness in an extreme position beyond any social institution. He is the progressive impulse to completely abandon that which came before in favor of the new vision. His Road goes far, yet it is the Road to disaster. Do not follow him. He cannot discern right from wrong and will promise infinite and undeserved increase for those at the bottom. They will not receive it, though the top will fall. that is what the I Ching means when it says, “No one will profit one.”

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.