Biting Through the Wrappings

Hexagram thirty eight is about finding our way back to unity when the way has been lost. On the personal level it is about reforming relationships that are breaking apart but not yet hopeless. In the spiritual realm it never becomes truly hopeless. Nevertheless, one must confine him or her self to small matters. The situation must be resolved gradually as in hexagram fifty three. To simply chase after someone will not work. (See line one.) To chase after someone would be ignoring the advice in line one and it would not be confining oneself to small matters. Nevertheless it is important to "bite through the wrappings." The commentary on line five says, "Coming upon a sincere man he fails to recognize him at first. However, he bites his way through the wrappings that are causing the general separation." Here line five is the ruling line, as such it is his duty to to go meet the man of ability and work with him. The commentary in book three says, "The person in the superior position must go out to meet the companion. The rule demands this. A man of ability will not take the initiative and offer himself." In the same way, the higher self seeks us out because in a sense we are lost without that connection. The same story is mentioned in the gospels where Jesus leaves the ninety nine sheep and finds the one that is lost.

However, the Higher Self in itself does not do this. The commentary in book three says, "This describes the leader who finds a capable assistant to help in clearing up misunderstandings." It is up to us to come to the Higher Self. The Higher Self is the crane calling in the shade in hexagram sixty one line one. The commentary on line two says, "At first it acts on those who are inwardly receptive." And that is the key. The Higher Self calls to us, ("Behold I knock at the door. If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Revelations three: twenty.) The Higher Self calls to us, but we must have a spiritual affinity. We must be a match, or we do not hear the call. The line, (hexagram thirty eight line five) says, "The companion bites his way through the wrappings." Therefore the Higher Self can only stand at the door and knock. It can only be the "Crane calling in the shade." It is the companion, we ourselves that must hear and heed the call, and make our way back to the spiritual light as soon as possible. In order to heed the call we must have a spiritual affinity.
We must have hearts that are soft, as the middle lines of hexagram sixty one are soft. We must put our ego aside. The ego will interfere with the voice of the crane, of the Buddha, of the Christ, of the Higher Self, of the I Ching. We will not have the spiritual affinity to hear the voice calling to us from the shade. (The shade is a symbol of our inner or higher selves.)

In relationships, somehow we know deep down inside whether someone calls to us or not. We know whether they are a "bird of the same feather." They have an "involuntary influence" upon us. We recognize those of a kindred spirit. This is done automatically, not voluntarily. The commentary says, "Any deliberate intention of an effect would only destroy the possibility of producing it. In our relationships, when we try to manipulate, cajole, or change our partner. When we consciously attempt to gain a certain advantage, we destroy any chance of finding a "kindred spirit."

In the same way. If we try to force our way into the kingdom of heaven we find we are knocking at the wrong door. Nothing at all can be accomplished unless we are spiritually prepared to "answer the call." In hexagram sixty one, the inner person, (line two) is the one who calls. The inner person is the Christ, or the Buddha, or the Higher Self. Line five is the outer person, the one who responds to the call. Yet ultimately they change places, (being both yang, the same hexagram results) The fifth line becomes the one who calls out. The fifth line becomes the Higher Self, who "possesses truth." The second line, through the law of correspondence, in this case, of like kind, becomes the fifth, and possesses truth. When we are inspired by our Higher Self, and hear the call, we attain the central force, which creates the power to hold all elements together, and the Christ child, the Buddha, the I Ching, is born in us, and we are a new person.