More on hexagram fifty three

Another statement in the commentary on hexagram fifty three is as: "...within is tranquility, which guards against precipitous actions, and without is penetration, which makes development and progress possible." Here there is some afinity with hexagram sixty one, which speaks of "inner truth," or the way that people who naturally belong with each other attract each other, or find each other. It is through tranquility that the natural truths of the universe come to rest within the individual mind. Only when we have tranquility do we receive "inner truths" from the universe. It is then that we are able to contact spirit and have communication lines open between spirit and person. Line two of hexagram sixty one says, "A crane calling in the shade. Its young answer it." The one's who hear the call are the ones that truly belong to us. The shade can be a metaphor for that time in which we are quiet, and undistracted by the calls of the world. When we focus on that which belongs to us, we hear the call of our own. The young can be a metaphor for the individual person and the crane for our higher selves. It is only through meditation that we can receive communication from the deeper part of ourselves.

This is a gradual process. We do not get in touch with our deeper self, at least not normally, through one meditation practice no matter how exceptional we may be. We must practice. Those who have natural ability will still fall behind those who practice daily. (In hexagram twenty six line three it says, "Practice chariot driving and armed defense daily.") It is tranquility which guides us in actions such that we do not make precipitous mistakes. In other words, we are not hasty. Tranquility comes from an inner confidence that can be derived only from daily contact with our higher self, and with a modesty, (hexagram fifteen) that comes from knowing there is a higher self, something greater than the ego.
When we open the doors of communication with the higher self, through tranquility, and we trust that communication with the higher self, which is a very high form of self confidence, then we are not subject to precipitous actions, or actions that are taken on the basis of limited or inadequate knowledge of the situation. Instead, our actions work properly with the right timing, in accordance with the nature of the teachings in hexagram twenty five which tells us that our actions should come from innocence, not contrived manipulation.
Hexagram twenty five, sixty three and fifty three all have a definite correlation, as do to a certain extent all of the hexagrams in the book of changes. More on this later

Gene