Hexagram Fifty Part Four

Once again to reiterate, going over ground already covered to a certain extent, The image says, "Thus the superior man consolidates his fate by making his position correct. We often think of fate as a negative thing, and from the human perspective it can be, but we certainly modify it by "making our position correct." The words in themselves seem like just words, but we get a little more hint of their meaning in the commentary which says, "It is the same in human life; there is in man likewise a fate that lends power to his life. And if he succeeds in assigning the right place to life and to fate, thus bringing the two into harmony, he puts his fate on a firm footing." In other words, we must find harmony within our inner being, and remember, love is harmony. Our actions and our desires must be born out of love. When Jesus said "love your neighbor as yourself," he meant that your neighbor IS yourself, since we are all one. The true Holy Man seeks harmony through love, and does not condemn others nor wish them evil, nor desire revenge. The true Holy Man can be discerned by his or her relationship to the divine. That does not mean doing good per se, nor being purposely holy. It means having a proper relationship with the divine. When he attains this connection, he finds that "fate is favorable," and that "everything serves to further." By bringing life and fate into harmony, the superior person creates a more favorable fate for him or herself. This is done, as we have previously stated, according to the commentary in line one, through purification. As such he "attains a station in which he can prove himself fruitful in accomplishment, and as a result he gains recognition. When we truly become the superior person, we attain an air surrounding us that has an unconscious influence on others. as such he is able to influence, per hexagram sixty one, even pigs and fishes.

Just as in hexagram two line one, we have the prototype situation where "hoarfrost turns into solid ice," here too, in line one of hexagram fifty, we must purify ourselves, remove the stagnating stuff, before the real work can go on. Then one can undertake the "secret training of Chinese yoga and kung fu," in order to become a "chuang tzu," or a self realized one. Even if he starts out, (the hoarfrost) in an inferior position, he can become recognized by the scope and value of his work as symbolized in the commentary with the words, "for the sake of her son. He accomplishes something, and if he will devote himself fully and whole heartedly to the task at hand, he gains recognition for his accomplishments. For even if people do not understand the nature that the superior person adhere's too, it will still affect them like the "crane calling in the shade." In hexagram thirty seven line six it says, "His work commands respect." Even though people do not consciously recognize the true nature of the Holy Sage, they will feel something within because as hexagram sixty one line five says, "He possesses truth, which links together." The commentary says, "Only when the strength of his character is so ample that he can influenced all who are subject to him, is he as he needs to be." This is the direction we must head, toward completion of unity with our Higher Self, so that we within our own being truly is that truth that links together, yin and yang, conscious and subconscious, and individual with the Higher Self.