Hexagram Fifty

This is another digression from what I have been promising, but as I looked at it, I felt it is an important part of this discussion at this time. I will get back to relationships soon, especially with hexagram fifty three, and to the archetypal meanings of hexagram fifty four, but at this point I think some information on hexagram fifty is important.

There are three important concepts in hexagram fifty that should be covered, and I will list those, but today, more of a general overview is all that can be given. These three are not necessarily the only ones, but they are ones that pop out as being very important, and essential to a true understanding. There is also some tie in to previous discussions where we have been talking about unity and religious forces. The concepts to be discussed are:

1. The idea of transformation.

2. The idea of taking up the new

3. The idea of nourishment

In terms of transformation as well, there are three primary levels of transformation. They are as follows:

1. Moral transformation.

2. Physical transformation

3. Spiritual transformation

Each one of these, though conceptually separate, are actually integrated and inseparable. Without moral and physical transformation we cannot have spiritual transformation, and without spiritual transformation we cannot have moral or physical transformation. They go together. Yet as true as this is, there has to be moral transformation before there can be anything else, as paradoxical as that may seem.

Moral transformation is not what we might think of it in the west as we are, even those who are not of any church group, taught and have been led to believe. Moral transformation has nothing or at least little to do with good deeds, and nothing to do with following a list of do's and don'ts, especially as taught to us in Sunday school. Moral transformation is equivalent to doing things the "natural way" without conscious thought or manipulation. In other words, it has to do with following the guidance of the deeper, or Higher Self. Of course we have to do things that are right and fair, that do not harm our neighbors, but above this we must do the things that transform our lives, and that means following the Higher Self, not our conscious dictates, our egoistic desires for control over others, or slavishly depending on other people to make our choices for us out of fear that we will make the wrong choice.

Physical transformation comes out of preparing our bodies to transform ourselves through our DNA using yoga, practicing "chariot driving daily," (chi kung forms of exercise) and proper eating habits that nourish the body and keep it healthy. (This can be categorized under the "nourishment" idea of hexagram fifty as well.) If we know the secrets of health, that embody more than just healthy eating, we can transform our bodies into higher and higher levels of energy until we "spiritualize" our body, and ultimately make it pure energy. The Wilhelm/Baynes version of the I Ching hints at this at the end of the commentary on the image in saying, "These words contain hints about the fostering of life as handed on by oral tradition in the secret teachings of Chinese yoga." Here we can see there was an oral tradition as well as the written word. Compare that to the ancient Hebrew scriptures where it is said of the priesthood that they too had an oral tradition not written down that completed the written text and was proof that the text was esoteric, not to just be taken literally, and had hidden meanings only to be discerned by those who of the priestly class. This is true both east and west. It was through the Taoist and Buddhist practices of meditation, chi kung, and moral integrity that the fostering of life was accomplished.

Spiritual transformation is in many ways the same as physical in that the physical is just a mirror image of the spiritual. The physical world is simply the spiritual world with vibrations slowed down to the extent that the spiritual appears physical. Since science does not understand that, (though they are now coming to, at least some scientists) they scoff at the idea of a spiritual world, since they do not understand the true meaning of the spiritual. It is important to understand that all physical activity is nothing more than the result of higher level energies interacting with each other, slowing down in the process, and appearing to be physical. And we need to understand that energy is conscious. It is aware. It is the heavenly Father to whom the physical, (the Prodigal Son) eventually returns. Therefore, the physical transformation of the body is spiritual as well, because physical transformation returns the body to the spiritual level, or in other words, that of higher energy vibration. This process is true not only for human entities, but for all forms of physical nature.

Let's take a quick look at the image for hexagram fifty, and then take a break until tomorrow. The image says, "Thus the superior man consolidates his fate By making his position correct." In order to "make his position correct," the superior man must find balance, and he must unite and integrate elements that belong together. Thus in the commentary it 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." And here is the key, "bringing the two, (yin and yang, conscious and subconscious) into harmony. It is only when we have made this connection that our lives really take on a spiritual journey of its own, and we "consolidate our fate." This requires meditation, (hexagram fifty two) willingness to be taught, (hexagrams four and twenty) and a willingness to search out our inner demons (hexagram fifty seven).

More on this later.