Hexagram 26---one perspective

[gene]

Dear I Ching friends

During last Sunday's chat, I was asked a question something like, how would I use the energy of hexagram 26? Have forgotten exactly what the question was but it was something to that effect. Anyway, as far as hexagram 26 goes, we have a situation where the creative, which has awesome power, and in a sense is power itself, is trapped within the mountain, which is immovable. The natural tendency and desire for power is to expand, and here it has no place to go, so it builds up and builds up and builds up until finally there is an explosion. But the question is, which is stronger, the power of the creative? Or the power of the inhibitor? In the hexagram itself, we have the image of the growth of the horns of a wild animal being forestalled by using a headboard. This forces the energy inward where it can be used for a different purpose. The question becomes, what do we want to use the energy for? The horns of a wild beast can be a force that is very destructive, and the wild beast is indiscriminate in how it uses that force. The idea of forestalling that great force is not to dissipate it, nor to inhibit it forever, but to direct it into the right channels. If it were merely a matter of dissipating the force, we would not have the judgment that says, "Not eating at home brings good fortune, It furthers one to cross the great water." If we dissipate the force, then we no longer have it to undertake projects such as "Crossing the great river."

When we reach a point in our lives, where we cannot handle the stress any longer, where we cannot handle, "the flow of energy," the energy level has reached an unbearable height, then we tend to compensate by "dissipating" the energy. So we blow the excess energy off. This can be done by a violent outburst of anger, it can be done by shutting down and becoming depressed, which is anger directed inwardly, it can be done by isolating ourselves, or overeating, or drinking, or a myriad of ways. But these solutions do not solve the problem, they allow some steam to escape, they allow us some temporary relief, but we also lose useful energy. Blowing off steam, or becoming depressed, or overeating, is like the young animal who's horns are growing, and he rages around and uses that force indiscriminately, and without conscious thought. This sometimes can have some negative effects also in that the horns can be damaged, the animal can be counterattacked, etc, etc, etc.

This subject can become very intense, and very involved, and take a long time to cover. So I am going to take a time out for now, and continue this a little later.

Gene

 

[gene]

So, in terms of allowing the energy to build, even though we want to rant and rave, and scream, and eat ice cream, there is a process, in which we can become observers of ourselves. And when we sit back and watch our behavior as an independent and unbiased observer, we begin to see ourselves in a different light. We see ourselves being attacked, and our desire for outrage, and retaliation, and as independent observers we say, oh, that is interesting. We begin to see ourselves as if we are onstage, and playing a part. We are not the part, we are just playing the part, and a new perspective begins to merge...

 

[gene]

Let's just discuss for a moment the meaning of the term universe. Uni comes I believe from the Latin word for one. In Spanish it is Uno. In English, we have terms like unite, which means to become as one. And verse. The universe is "One Verse." What does that mean? Well, it means that it is all one. One story. And the term history, where does it come from? It is, "His Story" Whose story? Jesus story. Who is Jesus? Well, according to the church, not necessarily according to me, he is God. Who is God? Well, that is the universe. All one story. So, as long as we are talking about Biblical things, let's just assume, and I do mean just assume, for a moment, that at least some of the concepts of the Bible are right. Now lets use some basic mathematics. In mathematics, it is an axiom, or a theorum, I forget my high school terminology for these things, but the idea is, if a=b and b=c then a=c. Therefore, if we accept the axiom that God is light, and we accept the axiom that God is love, then by definition, light is love, and love is light. And from what little physics I have had, my understanding is that the basic unit of light is a photon. But what is a photon, and where is it? I will cut it off here for a while, and let us all, myself especially, think about this and the ramifications of this.

Gene

 

[gene]

In the ancient world there seems to have been one and only one basic religion. In the East we still see the remnants of that. In the West, not so true. Even so, we can see that though there are many variations on that one basic religion, they are all describing something very similar. In the beginning there was nothing. But that nothing was something. Because there is an eternal energy, or force or what you might call it. That energy is in a sense, everywhere, everywhen, and at the same time nowhere. That energy also has a consciousness. That energy had no particular goal, had nothing to do or accomplish, and simply was, and therefore it was very much at peace with itself. Very calm, and very ordered. To just be there, however, and have no goal or prospectus, becomes in a sense very boring. So that energy, with its awareness, decided to divide itself, and therefore attain polar opposites. That created dynamic tension. And through this dynamic tension, the polar opposites, the yin and the yang, created the myriad things. Through this dynamic tension, things tended to break down further and further until they totally fragmented, and then they recreated themselves on a higher order. So as such the dynamics of entropy and evolution were born. With entropy and evolution, came cycles. Another result of this occurrence was multiplicity. But the basic premise is that it is all one energy. So, if it is all one energy, then the multiplicity, or the separateness if you will, must by necessity, be an illusion...

Gene

 

[gene]

So, if it is all one energy, and that energy has awareness, then it behooves us to come to an understanding of that energy and awareness. The Chinese had a concept they called, Ch'i, which can also be called Ki, as they do in Japan, or prana in India, or mana as the Polynesian term. But it entailed of concept that went beyond what we call energy. For in the Chinese system of Daoism, or the Buddhist concept, or what have you, this Ch'i, this energy is alive and has awareness. In the past popular movie, "The Empire Strikes Back," Luke Skywalker is taught about "The Force." This force that Yoda speaks of is basically the same thing, it is Ch'i. By learning to manipulate the force, the Jedi developed great powers. But remember, this force is alive, it might be wise to decide carefully how we use it...And at this point, I may just return to the discussion of hexagram 26. Or maybe not just yet, depending on what I decide needs to be said prior to that.

Gene