The Essence of Power

It must be reiterated here that Hexagram one represents the primal power of the universe. Power creates movement, but movement cannot be accomplished if there is no space in which the movement can take place. Therefore, there can be no yang without yin, and no yin without yang. It is important too to conceptualize that these two powers are really one and the same thing. Energy in itself is a form of a field and space is also a field. We will talk more about that with lines one and two in the first two hexagrams.

But when it comes down to the human affair, hexagram one is embodied, according to the Wilhelm/Baynes commentary, in the holy man or sage. In the west, the holy man has traditionally been the priests and pastors. In the past they were able to give a lot of consolation to their congregation. But the time is past, and the world is in many, many ways more sophisticated than it was then. They do not have the appeal they once had. Now men and women go to the psychiatrist or psychologist, but they have been materialistically educated and do not have the means to give a great deal of guidance beyond a certain level. In the east, there once were holy men and wise men as well, but to access them one had to show the greatest dignity and protocol and respect or the wise man could not be reached. Now in the east, as in the west, the value of the holy man or sage has eroded. But even the holy man or sage must have a place to go to learn wisdom higher than this world has to offer, and that is the I Ching itself.

So, in hexagram one, the I Ching starts off immediately with information about the nature of the universe and the holy man. The Judgment in hexagram one says, "The Creative works sublime success, Furthering through perseverance." Right away we know there are four attributes ascribed to "The Creative" which we must also instill within ourselves. Those four attributes are:

1. Sublimity
2. Potentiality of Success
3. Furthering, or making greater, accomplishing
4. Perseverance

These will be discussed in greater depth later

The Wilhelm/Baynes commentary also says, "When an individual draws this oracle,it means that success will come to him from the depths of the universe.: Herein is the primary and most important lesson in all of the I Ching. It is not we ourselves that do the work, but a greater power, hidden from us. These powers are hidden deep within the subconscious which the average man does not have access to. In order to access this power, we must have humility, (hexagram fifteen) and recognize this power greater than the conscious mind, or, as we would say in the west, the ego.

Therefore, when we speak of sublimity, we are speaking of recognizing the source of power. The source of power is pure, creative, yang essence. We must be able to access this power in order to make anything in our lives work to their fullest extent. We must know the attributes and the nature of this pure power which includes the deepest aspects of yin, and yang. We must become like "two eyes working together," (hexagram fifteen) in contradistinction to the "one eyed man" of hexagram fifty four line two. The one eyed man is still able to see, although not far. When our conscious and subconscious are not married, we are like the "one eyed man." We can accomplish things, but they are not likely to last because they were not built on a sure foundation. The one eyed man cannot see far.

The commentary also says, "The beginning of all things lies still in the beyond in the form of ideas yet to become real." It is "in the beyond." It is not within our limited conscious mind. Our limited conscious mind may access the form but only through imagination. When the imagination is activated we create as we wish, but only by being in harmony with that universal power in the beyond. This is how all things are created. They are created by the imagination, ours, or the power of the universal subconscious mind which ultimately imagines all things into existence through its creative power and the receptivity of space, the yin power. In that sense, all things in space are the prodigal son because they all are emanations from the Father. They return to the Father through recognizing their oneness with Spirit, or yin's oneness with yang. Most seekers of truth east and west miss this one extremely important point. With it you understand the nature of space and time, without it there is no understanding at all, but we continue to deceive ourselves as did the prodigal son.

More on this later,

Gene