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

Fire—Light—Sun
|or| Clinging

Look for the opportunity to be clear and direct, yet not pedantic or overpowering. A bright light can cast deep shadows and engender great fear in others. Soften your light but remain enduring. Cultivate optimism and a positive mental outlook on life. (Bright-Fey 89)

Clinging is beneficial if correct. Then it will get you through. It is auspicious to raise a cow.

Yang 1: The steps are awry. Be serious about it, and there will be no blame.

Yin 2: Yellow fire is very auspicious.

Yang 3: In the fire of the setting sun, unless you drum on a jug and sing, the lament of old age is misfortune.

Yang 4: Coming forth abruptly, burning, dying, abandoned.

Yin 5: If you weep and worry you will be fortunate.

Yang 6: The king uses this to go on an expedition. There is rejoicing.

Break off the head, catch those who are not of a kind, and there will be no blame. (Cleary 174-180)

Fire is the element of light and upward-aims; it is that which clings to things and consumes them. Fire is attention, it is intellect, and it is ambition. And in the hexagram Clinging the trigrams for fire are both within and without.

But why the name, “clinging”? As mentioned, fire clings to other substances, but so too does water, and we do not see the same association drawn. The reason is because fire is ambition, which is desire of the ego in which the intellect rests within the seat of consciousness. Therefore, fire represents the desires at which we consciously aim and to which we cling. Like fire, our desires are both guiding lights and consumptive. Desire is how we orient ourselves in the world. Without them, we would be listless, and life would be without purpose. With them, however, we suffer, because to desire a thing is to have not yet obtained it. Such unfilled wants are our longest shadows thrown by the brightest lights within our vision.

This is why the I Ching says that clinging is beneficial if correct. Clinging will cause suffering, but if one’s desires are oriented in accordance with the Way, he will not stray into vice and succumb to despair. That is also the meaning of raising a cow. A cow is a docile animal, just as people ought to voluntarily subject themselves to the object that is the Way. That is to say, when one’s will contradicts with that-is-which-is, his values should change to become harmonious with the transcendent reality—like a docile cow—and not the other way around.

The first Yang warns against this as well. Yang strength at the outset in the body of fire represents the strong will and desires of the beginner. All have witnessed this, the fresh faced convert to whatever idea-set is almost always a bull in a China shop—bull (masculine), and not a cow (feminine). When one is like this, he is at great risk of putting his own ambitions before accordance with the Way. The man who does this is doomed to discord with others as well as with the Way. It must be the case, for the brightness of his ambition far exceeds his ability fulfill his wishes. He will have to try to subjugate others to get what he wants, and he will blame others for his own errors—such a long shadow is going to be rife with internal demons looking to be projected onto any one or thing onto which their silhouettes fit.

The only protection for the overly ambitions beginner is for him to take himself and his path seriously. If he cares to be correct, then though he will surely make some mistakes, he will reorient himself in accord with the way.

This leads into the second Yin. She is balanced and yielding in the direction of her desires. This represents transvaluation, the changing of one’s aims to be in accord with what is actually possible and right for herself. It is a kind of maturation beyond the immature state of mind of the overly ambitions beginner, and it is achieved through being like yellow fire—yellow being the color of royalty who rule by the mandate of heaven, which is itself another way of saying, “In accordance with the Way”.

The third Yang describes a fork in the Path. It is not really a fork, though it will feel like one: for at the end of his life and thereby his ambitions, a man must choose to cling to his desires or to cling to the Way. Yang strength here is to embrace the natural course of being. All things come to an end, and he who has matured by way of cultivating his character will be happy with this. That is the meaning behind drumming and singing. When one’s pursuit of ambition and desire has come to its natural end, it is proper to celebrate the pursuit for what it was and not to mourn its loss.

Lamenting the course of being is to invite meaningless suffering all the way to the end of life. Samurai and Buddhist, Tsunetomo Yamamoto described it thusly:

At first it is an oppressive thing to run until one is breathless. But it is an extraordinarily good feeling when one is standing around after the running. More than that, it is even better to sit down. More than that, it is even better to lie down. And more than that, to put down a pillow and sleep soundly is even better. A man’s whole life should be like this. To exert oneself to a great extent when one is young and then to sleep when he is old or at the point of death is the way it should be. But to first sleep and then exert oneself... To exert oneself to the end, and to end one’s whole life in toil is regrettable. (Yamamoto)

The fourth Yang is an echo of the first. Just as the beginner is bound to trip himself by getting out in front of his feet, people who gain small positions of influence with which they try to bring their ambitions into being by force are doomed to disaster. This is the mistake made by the uncultivated mind upon obtaining power. Suddenly, one feels as though he can make things happen, and he becomes blinded by what is meant to be the guiding light of his ego.

The fifth Yin is the opposite of this. Unlike the arrogant bureaucrat, the fifth Yin lies in the position of leadership, yet she is doubtful of herself. While self-doubt can be a vice, when in the body of fire and in a balanced position, it is the right amount of humility to allow for self-correction and guidance. This is why she who weeps and worries while occupying the leader position will be in good fortune; it is because she will accord herself and her decisions with the Way in the same fashion as the serious first Yang.

The final Yang is the culmination of the humility of the fifth Yin. With wisdom gained through maturation and transvaluation of values, the leader can direct his people toward virtue and away from vice. This is going on an expedition, or in other words, a war of some kind.

In a war, there is an enemy—to be either crushed or captured. The I Ching includes an unusual additional passage following and augmenting the sixth Yang. It says to “break the head” and to “catch those not of a kind”. This is not seeking revenge or domination, meaning that the aim is still in accord with the Way and not the king’s personal desires—desires which would most certainly go too far. Instead, the text suggests a certain level of discernment is required. That is, a proper amount of attention. The ego must know the difference between necessary enemies and happenstance opponents. The former will have to be destroyed utterly, for by their nature, coexistence is impossible. However, that will not be the majority of the opposing side. Mostly, those are a different kind of people, that kind which gets swept up in the norms and trends of the time. In the pursuit of one’s ends, it is proper that he be merciful to them. Doing this, he is blameless, for he has not imposed his will beyond the range in which it can play harmoniously with others.

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.

Yamamoto, Tsunetomo. Hagakure.