Hexagram Fifty Line Five

Whenever a nation wishes to become great, there is only one way to do it. And that is through spiritual principles. It matters not how industrious the people are, or how well meaning. If they do not have a spiritual backbone they will fail to become a great nation. Therefore, after any reformation, or revolution, or overthrow of tyranny, if the new form of government is not transformed by spiritual principles, the new government cannot last, nor can its people maintain freedom.

Line five of the I Ching says, The ting has yellow handles, golden carrying rings. The Ting must have the capability of being transported from one place to another. If the new kingdom, or the newly reborn person, does not have a basis in the understanding of spiritual connection with the universal subconscious mind, that country, as great as the principles it may be founded upon, will "fall back into the moat" (hexagram eleven, line six) if spiritual practices are not instituted. If we do not discipline ourselves,there will of certainty be an outside power that will do it for us in the most unpleasant of ways. We must build our personalities, our families, our communities, and our nations on spiritual principles. The I Ching has been carried from East to West. It now has handles, (line five) through which this could be done. The West also has the Bible, which respectively has been carried to the east also. When nations East or West honor their spiritual traditions, and use the "handles of the ting" to carry their spiritual sources with them throughout their daily lives, and apply the highest and best of the principles incorporated into their respective societies, they follow a spiritual tradition that can transform their lives, their communities, and their nations into a living and viable entity that empowers us the best that we can be. But if we disavow that spiritual tradition, if instead we rely on cold dead materialism, and science that rejects any evidence of that which goes beyond physics, and insists that the material world is all there is, we as a society will lose our place of leadership in the world. In time our Empire, personal or national will crumble, and be given over to another. We must depend and rely on our spiritual heritage, honor it, give it place in our lives, and learn to become a "Chuang Tzu," else we will devolve rather than evolve. This is universal law. If we do not choose to revitalize our spiritual life daily, if we do not "practice chariot driving," if we do not carry the "ting" into our daily lives, we will be like the "wall that falls back into the moat." We need to recognize the reality of the aliveness and the consciousness of the I Ching itself, show it its proper place of respect, (hexagram twenty line four) and partake of its wisdom daily, else we fail in the great work. And if we fail, we start over from scratch. Education will not help us evolve. The daily activities of most westerners, and in this age, most easterners as well, will not help us to evolve into Chuang Tzu's. We must restore the Sage,the Holy person, to his proper place of honor in our lives, and give him more than lip service. Only then can we carry the message meant for us into our daily lives, and become of greater service to our fellow man, and become a higher vibrational being, full of energy and love.