The I Ching System

PERSONAL DEGREE ASSESSMENTS:

My Sun is in the 24th degree of Libra.

in Hexagram 62, with a special focus on line 6.

Hexagram 62. Preponderance of the Small

I have always been concerned over details and very elaborate intricacies like stars and degrees.

“Strength within – weakness outside”

This sums up some of my major dilemmas. I am very strong within, disciplined, and quite experienced spiritually, but I have trouble with weakness in others and I appear weak socially. I am too intense, self-absorbed and accomplished for my own good. Often I am seemingly lacking in social skills.

“If a man occupies a position of authority for which he is by nature really inadequate, extraordinary prudence is necessary.”

I often have to take on tasks that others would be better suited for, simply because there are no others willing or ready to do them. I get it done but it could be much better. I am impressed with my own ignorance daily!

THE JUDGMENT

“PREPONDERANCE OF THE SMALL. Success.

Perseverance furthers.

Small things may be done; great things should not be done.”

I value grassroots efforts – the invisible work that is the foundation of any accomplishment. I have suffered by trying to go too big or do too much. How can one know what a limit is until one reaches it?

“The flying bird brings the message:”

I have always been fascinated by birds and I do try to listen to them.

“It is not well to strive upward,

It is well to remain below.”

I tend to dress down and play down myself. When I get pumped up I make mistakes. The humble way, the middle way, ….. but there is a time when action and flight is needed.

“Great good fortune.”

“Exceptional modest and conscientiousness are sure to be rewarded with success; however, if a man is not to throw himself away, it is important that they should not become empty form and subservience but be combined always with a correct dignity in personal behaviour.”

This is a personal belief of mine.

“We must understand the demands of the time in order to find the necessary offset for its deficiencies and damages. In any event we must not count on great success, since the requisite strength is lacking.”

I feel that it is necessary to be self contained and to be aware of vulnerabilities. Freedom is the ability to find meaning in smaller and smaller cycles when the big cycles are blocked.

“In this lies the importance of the message that one should not strive after lofty things but hold to lowly things. Here the supporting weak lines are both outside and preponderant; this gives the image of a soaring bird. But a bird should not try to surpass itself and fly into the sun; it should descend to the earth, where its nest is. In this way it gives the message conveyed by the hexagram.”

I have learned (am learning) to rely on the light within. I hold pretty close to my centre, to my home, and to my office in my home, …. to my nest. I don’t have to fly into the sun if it burns within me.

THE IMAGE

“Thunder on the mountain:”

I have always loved thunder and mountains. They thrill me and do not cause any fear. They exhilarate me. My spiritual vision came through thunder, storm clouds, and lightning. I also like to chant “OM” the power of sound.

“The image of PREPONDERANCE OF THE SMALL.

Thus in his conduct the superior man gives preponderance to reverence.

In bereavement he gives preponderance to grief.

In his expenditures he gives preponderance to thrift.”

I do consider the opposite whenever I experience one extreme and the implications involved.

“Thunder on the mountain is different from thunder on the plain. In the mountains, thunder seems much nearer; outside the mountains, it is less audible than the thunder of an ordinary storm. Thus the superior man derives an imperative from this image: he must always fix his eyes more closely and more directly on duty than does the ordinary man, even though this might make his behaviour seem petty to the outside world.”

I work even when I am alone or relaxing. If angry I burn the energy off in work and duty and hence accomplish something in my own little way. I feel that I am thereby turning darkness into light, and bad energy into something good.

“He is exceptionally conscientious in his actions.”

Indeed I am. This is seemingly a fault in the eyes of some others.

“In bereavement emotion means more to him than ceremoniousness. In all his personal expenditures he is extremely simple and unpretentious.”

True. I hold to emotions and dislike vanity or shallowness. I have put almost all of my money back into the work that I do, and I don’t like shopping!

“ In comparison with the man of the masses, all this makes him stand out as exceptional. But the essential significance of his attitude lies in the fact that in external matters he is on the side of the lowly.”

It may not seem so at first, but ask any of my ex-wives. Perhaps it is the very fact of having ex-wives that keeps me lowly.

The special focus is on line 6 (at the top):

“Six at the top means:

He passes him by, not meeting him.

The flying bird leaves him.

Misfortune.

This means bad luck and injury.

If one overshoots the goal, one cannot hit it. If a bird will not come to its nest but flies higher and higher, it eventually falls into the hunter’s net. He who in times of extraordinary salience of small things does not know how to call a halt, but restlessly seeks to press on and on, draws upon himself misfortune at the hands of gods and men, because he deviates from the order of nature.“

Often I feel that I work hard and am not acknowledge by my peers. In fact sometimes my accomplishments arouse jealousy and antagonize others, which is unfortunate. Should I be less of myself so that others might not feel competitive or threatened? There is a fine line between outer weakness and inner strength. Usually I pull myself away from discord and continue to plod away on one of my many detailed, long term projects. Much of my best work is hidden from others. I tend to feel that if something doesn’t work out now, that if I wait and persevere, ….. my time will come. I don’t feel that I have to invoke the forces of nature by magic. I feel that when my heart and life is in the right place, nature will support me without my asking for it…….ra