Hexagram Twenty Five and the Law of Motion

In furthering the development of the law of motion the commentary on hexagram twenty five says, "When, in accord with this, movement follows the law of heaven, man is innocent and without guile." Morals and morality have their place, and certainly have value, but morals are often man made and decided upon, and not everyone agrees with them. The Confucian principle is one of the proper setting of society, and how society should interact with the morals thereof. It has its place, but the Taoist principle is more a matter of acting in accord with the nature of heaven. The two principles do interact, and are not mutually exclusive, but the Taoist is more concerned with the natural order, the other more concerned with the moral order. Man becomes innocent, not so much by following a moral code or principle, but by acting in accordance with his or her own inner nature as defined in the commentary on hexagram one, "In this way, each thing receives the nature appropriate to it, which from the divine viewpoint, is called its appointed destiny. This explains the concept of furthering." It is by doing the natural thing, by acting in harmony with the cosmos, that we receive our "appointed destiny." When we act in accordance with our destiny, we are acting divinely, and we are without guile because our actions are in harmony with the wishes of the cosmos. (Notice that this way of thinking about things does not demand belief in a God out there somewhere, but rather a natural force of consciousness within the universe itself.) The commentary in twenty six goes on to say, "His mind is natural and true, unshadowed by reflection or ulterior design. For wherever conscious purpose is to be seen, there the truth and innocence of nature have been lost." It seems that so often we read these words, and while we don't dispute them, we gloss over them unthinkingly, and as time goes by they are removed from our mind. How many people can say they don't act by conscious purpose? Almost no one. It is not natural to act natural. How can that be so? Because our conscious minds have dominated so long, and they won't give up control. King Herod, in the Biblical nativity scene, is an allegory of the conscious mind, who when confronted with the Christ child, (the natural spontaneous part of us), seeks to kill him so that his rule is in no way diminished. The Taoist way is the natural way. Our conscious mind plans things in accordance with what appears at the time to be right and more beneficial to the individual, even often if that means stepping on some one else's toes, (morality issues) while the natural way simply does what is right and in accord with heaven. As we use the I Ching, we study, we divine, we realize we must let go of our personal ambitions and become a menber of the universe. In doing so we simply follow the natural way. We do not seek gain, nor do we avoid loss. We simply act in accordance with the nature that was given us as our natural birthright and thus carry out our "appointed destiny." Sometimes our apparent destiny tends to frighten us, so we try to avoid it, as Jonah tried to avoid his destiny of preaching to Ninevah, and ended up in the belly of a fish. (took on an undesirable karma) But the commentary on hexagram one, page 372, tells us that as we "find our mode, a great and lasting harmony arises in the world."

This is why the world is in so much disharmony today, why there are wars and rumors of war all over the globe. This is why tyranny is on the march and becoming more and more oppressive in every country. It is because we act with conscious purpose. Our egos are out of control. This is true on all levels. We think we must control everything. Therefore need as much power as we can get. If we don't control it, it will control us. If necessary we foment wars in foreign countries, keep the population down, rule by secrecy, get everybody else fighting and not ever realizing they are being ruled and dominated by ruthless men. We have been lied to by the ego powers in the world.

But there is a different way, and someday we will follow it. The conscious mind, the ego, must marry the subconscious, and become a unit. In doing so, our demand for control will no longer control us. The only thing we will be in control of is ourselves, and rightfully so. We will no longer serve self but serve spirit. We will let go of conscious purpose and allow the spirit within us to rule. At that time we will be at peace, both within ourselves and within the world at large. Heaven help us that that day come soon, for we are about to see horrific wars on this planet involving all nations. Wars of unbelievable proportions. Why? Because we always see the bad in other countries. We always see the bad in some other religion or social style, or tradition. If we are not in control, we blame it on somebody else who is opposing us. They want the same control that we want. When will it stop? This is where true morality begins, not in a socially controlled world where we have rules and dogmas about what constitutes morality, but when we stop using artifice and manipulation to get what we want, and simply live in accordance with the nature that was given us.

The commentary goes on to say, "Nature that is not directed by the spirit is not true, but degenerate nature." We find the same story in the "Garden of Eden" narrative. At first Adam and Eve just followed spirit. They acted innocently and naturally. But the Serpent gave them a new idea. It gave them the idea that they could consciously choose to do that which appeared to give them benefit. They could act with conscious intention and come out ahead. In doing so the spirit died because it was no longer guiding the personality. Now conscious intent was doing it. And the result was a massive enslavement of mankind to the ego and its demands for control. We have paid the price for generations, and soon will pay a price so high that much of the world we be engulfed in bloodshed. But then, maybe, just maybe we will see the error of our ways and be guided once again by spirit.

Gene