The Great Way

Further on hexagram one, we have the commentary in Wilhelm/Baynes that says, "Here it is shown that the way to success lies in apprehending and giving actuality to the way of the universe (tao), which as a law running through end and beginning, brings about all phenomenon in time. Thus each step attained forthwith becomes preparation for the next. Time is no longer a hindrance but the means of making actual what is potential."

Anything that is to last must be accomplished over time. It cannot be done all at once. In this way patience becomes a paramount virtue. Arts and sciences that have not developed over a long period of time will not have a great and long term appeal. As hexagram thirty line four says, "It flames up, dies down, is thrown away." That which is not developed step by step, is doomed eventually to fail.

Both hexagram four and twenty nine give information about and instruction to the teacher. To a certain extent so do all the hexagrams but not to such an obvious extent. The commentary on the image in hexagram twenty nine says, "So likewise in teaching others everything depends on consistency, for it is only through repetition that the student makes the material his own." In studying the I Ching everything depends on consistency. There is a larger awareness here that comes from the depths of the universe itself. That universal subconscious mind, if we give it a chance, teaches us through such instruments as the I Ching, and other tools. It not only teaches us but it does so in a personal way, clear and concise, like the life giving water of a well, (hexagram forty eight). It teaches in such a personal way that it finds our weaknesses and settles upon them and hits on them until the lesson is learned. Then it goes on to the next step as pertinent to the individual who approaches it in a spirit of humility. (Hexagram fifteen.)

And finally, The image on hexagram one says, "The movement of heaven is full of power. Thus the superior man makes himself strong and untiring." In order to make ourselves strong and untiring, one must contemplate the "Tao" of the universe, in order to understand its way, method and manner. Then one must take that understanding, and apply it daily to develop greater and greater power and wisdom within him or her self.

Gene