I Ching for Monday December 17, 2018

The I Ching casting for today, Monday, December 17, 2018

First hexagram: #60, Discipline, with the first yang line changing to yin, giving a second hexagram, #29, Abyss

The reading, taken from the commentary written in 1769 by Taoist adept named Liu I-ming of the Complete Reality school of Taoism, in particular that stream of the Complete Reality school known as the Clear Serene branch. The translation is by Thomas Cleary in The Taoist I Ching.

After reading the commentaries, on should then meditate on their application to one’s personal life, as well as to one’s nation and the contemporary world.


60. Discipline
Discipline is developmental, but painful discipline is
not to be held to.
EXPLANATION

Discipline means having limits that are not to be exceeded. As to the qualities
of the hexagram, above is water ~, a pitfall, and below is lake
joyous. Being capable of joy in danger, warding off danger by joyfulness, it
is therefore called discipline.

This hexagram represents practicing obedience in unfavorable circumstances,
adaptably keeping to the Tao; it follows on the previous hexagram
joy. In joy, joyfulness reaches outside; one can delight in the Tao and
practice the Tao. But if one can only be joyful in favorable circumstances
and not in unfavorable circumstances, joy is not real, and ultimately it will
be hard to get out of difficulty and danger, so one will not find joy.
Therefore those who practice reality and delight in the Tao do not let
difficulty disturb their minds, and do not let peril and trouble affect their
will; the situation may be dangerous, but their minds are not endangered,
the times may be perilous but the Tao is not imperiled. Pleased with
heaven and aware of the aim of life, they are at peace wherever they are:
They use danger to nourish joy, and use joy to guard against danger. The
situation may be up to others, but creation of destiny is up to oneself. Yin
and yang cannot restrict such people, the created universe cannot bind
them; whether in adversity or comfort, they do not lose their bearings.
This is why discipline is developmental.
However, even though discipline can develop you, if you do not
know how to adapt to changes, and cling fast to one discipline, that will
become restrictive and stifling; this is called painful discipline. When discipline
gets to the point of inflicting suffering, it brings on danger itself
even where there was no danger; you will only suffer toil and servility,
which is harmful and has no benefit. Not only does this not constitute discipline,
it loses the appropriate measure. This is not joy in the midst of
danger; it is enjoying the act of courting danger. Therefore it is not to be
held to.
When superior people practice the Tao and establish virtue, they
don't act in any way that is not just; their every step is orderly and regulated,
their every word is timely and reasonable. In substance they are always
calm, like a lake without waves; in function they act like water,
which conforms to its environment. Their calmness does not reach the
point of losing mindfulness, and their activity does not reach the point of
straying from essence. There is a consistency about their movement and
stillness, adjusted appropriately according to events, not restricted to a
single pattern. When the time comes to stop, they stop; encountering danger,
they deal with it. When the time comes to go on, they go on; getting
out of danger, they do not bring on danger. Going along with the time,
they deal with everything unminding, and therefore can get beyond yin
and yang, not being constrained by yin and yang.
This is because heaven and earth can coerce what has form, but not
what is formless; can coerce the minding, but not the unminding. Discipline
is not according to mind but according to time; this is called discipline
according to the time, having discipline yet according with the
ti me. It is like the sections of bamboo; each section has a boundary, each
section has a passage. In this way, how could one fail to develop?

■ First yang changing: Not leaving home, there is no blame.
EXPLANATION
In the beginning of discipline, firmly remaining upright, first becoming
able to distinguish right and wrong and then after that acting—this is discipline
not leaving home. "Not leaving home" means if one can be careful
in the beginning one will naturally be blameless in the end. This is the
discipline of the strong who are able to be upright.

From the Confucian School Great Commentary:

60. Regulation
water above,
lake below
There is water over a lake, regulated. Thus superior
people determine measures and discuss virtuous
actions.

Regulation means having limits. Above is water below is lake _;
there is water over a lake. There is a limit to which a lake can hold water; if
there is too much water, the lake overflows. This is the image of regulation.
What superior people see in this is that establishment of virtue is the
basis of everything that people should do or not do, and they should not
act arbitrarily. This is called regulation. However, there is a way of changing
adaptively according to the situation; if one holds to one regulation to
the end, one's practice will not be successful, but will instead damage one's
character. Therefore regulations must be distinguished, so superior people
determine measures to discuss virtuous actions.
The three hundred sixty-five days of a year is one of four ways of
measurement; the yearly cycle is also divided into four seasons, eight divisions,
and seventy-two periods, each with its boundaries. These are "measures."
People are born with certain measures of earthly and celestial energies
of the five elements, so they have the virtues of the five elements;
when they act without losing those virtues, that is virtuous action.
Superior people determine the measures of waxing and waning of
the earthly and celestial five elements and discuss the virtuous actions of
benevolence, justice, courtesy, knowledge, and truthfulness; this is to
cause people to be benevolent when it is appropriate to be benevolent, to
be just when it is appropriate to be just, to be courteous when it is appropriate
to be courteous, to be knowing when it is appropriate to be knowing,
and to be truthful when it is appropriate to be truthful. They also discuss
how the five virtues are one energy, how the earthly and the celestial
work together, without bias or partiality.
This is because they want people to embody the virtues of heaven
and earth as their own qualities and the processes of the four seasons as
their own conduct. The science of nature and life is a process of work that
is entirely a matter of the measure of evolution; if you conform to the appropriate
measure, you can cultivate celestial qualities—this is virtuous
action. If you lose the proper measure, you turn away from celestial qualities—
this is the demise of virtue. Actions that destroy virtue are actions
without regulation, taking the false to be real, taking what is wrong to be
right. Even if you can hold fast to one regulation, this still is sticking to
voidness or clinging to form, and ultimately is of no benefit to nature and
life. The intention of superior people in determining this and discussing
this so as to enlighten people and fulfill their work was profound indeed.


After changing the first line, the new hexagram is number 29:

29. Mastering Pitfalls (Double Pitfall)
In mastering pitfalls there is truthfulness; thus the
mind develops. There is excellence in practice.
EXPLANATION
Pitfalls means danger, as of a precipice or pitfall; mastering pitfalls means
getting through danger. As for the qualities of the hexagram, above is water
dangerous, and below is also water E-E, dangerous; going from
one danger to another, yet able to get through successfully in spite of danger,
it is therefore called mastering pitfalls.
This hexagram represents the presence of white within black, restoring
yang within yin; it follows on the previous hexagram nourishment.
Nourishment means seeking fulfillment by emptiness, seeking the true
yang that has fallen in a pit. In human beings, after heaven and earth
interact, the one point of original yang runs to the palace of earth E E;
earth is filled in and becomes water and heaven— changes into
fire =. At this point yin traps the yang; the celestial root is obscured and
the mind gets involved with things. Though near to reality by nature,
people become estranged from it by habit—descending lower and lower
by daily repetition of habit, they fall into a state of ignorant obstinacy and
do not know how to stop.
However, if one practices evil one becomes evil; if one practices good
one becomes good—it is simply a matter of how people habitually act.
Practice of evil is a way into danger, practice of good is a way out of danger.
Getting out of danger requires that one believe it is dangerous—belief
rules the mind. If one can believe in the danger, then one will not be seduced
by external things. Practicing good, one can then be good; as it is
said, once you reform, it is the same as if you were originally thus. Therefore
"in mastering pitfalls there is truthfulness; thus the mind develops."
If there is truthfulness, then the mind develops; without truthfulness,
the mind does not develop. The mind with truthfulness is the mind of Tao;
when the mind of Tao becomes manifest, the human mentality does not
arise—sane energy grows, aberrant energy recedes, and one can thus go
in and out of yin and yang without being constrained by yin and yang.
But believing there is danger requires one to practice so as to get out
of danger; believing but not practicing is like not believing. Once one can
believe and can practice, without hypocrisy or deception, practicing truly,
one improves daily with daily practice, rising from lowliness to loftiness,
gradually learning a state of exalted illumination, developing one's nature
to the fullest extent and realizing one's purpose in life, returning to the
fundamental, without difficulty. Therefore the text says, "There is excellence
in practice." If one practices this one can rise; without practice one
does not rise. Knowing this is only valuable when one puts it into practice.

From the Confucian School Great Commentary:

29. Double Water
water above,
water below
Water travels, double water. Thus do superior people
consistently practice virtue and learn how to teach.

Double water means water reaching from here to there. Above is water
~, below is water; this is water traveling from here to there,
from there to here, traveling, flowing throughout. This is the image of
double water.

What superior people see in this is that the work of sages is twofold,
involving both self-development and development of others. Self-development
is the practice of virtue; development of others is teaching. If
virtuous practice is inconsistent, it is hard to enter the universal Tao; if
teaching is not learned, students will not understand.
Therefore they work on virtuous practice day by day and month by
month, becoming familiar with the old and aware of the new, increasing
their efforts as time goes on, aiming for profound attainment of self-realization.
Then when it comes to teaching, they gradually develop guidance,
making clear presentations and subtle indications, leading students
further and further on until they penetrate thoroughly and are free from
doubt.
The practice of virtue is the study of body and mind, nature and life.
It is a very refined and subtle science, in which the slightest deviation can
produce an enormous loss. It can be accomplished only by constancy and
consistency, thoroughly investigating its principles, fulfilling nature and
arriving at the meaning of life.
Teaching is a matter of receiving from forebears and educating successors.
It is very urgent and necessary. If instruction is unclear, people
will be misled as to the course they should pursue. One can develop others
only if one learns how to teach, which involves searching out the profound
and the recondite and clarifying that which is obscure.
The work of teaching is based on the practice of virtue; teaching
means teaching the practice of virtue. Only if one is consistent and constant
in the practice of virtue can one learn and practice teaching. If one
cannot be consistent in the practice of virtue, then teaching will be baseless
and unguided. When one is consistent in the practice of virtue and
afterward learns how to teach, then what is consistent and constant in
oneself is what is learned by others. This is like water traveling from here
to there; it is all the same water, able to flow everywhere.