Consequences of Our Actions

In keeping with the spirit of the previous theme, hexagram sixty four line one teaches us that sometimes we do not perceive the consequences of our actions. This is an unfortunate fact for human beings and is true because we are disconnected at least partially from our higher selves, and can only see what is immediately before us.

Another part of the commentary on hexagram sixty four line one is that there is often a temptation to "advance oneself as quickly as possible." This happens once again because we do not perceive the consequences of our actions. All too often we are ready to approach another, develop a relationship, or build a business before the time is ripe. When we come to this position, and we have failed, we have like the little fox gotten our tail in the water, we realize that although "the time of transition has arrived, we are too weak to complete the transition (line three). This is because we have not properly prepared the foundations before we attempted the crossings. In any aspect of life, whether it be relationships, business, sporting, the foundations must be built before we can create the walls and ceiling of the building so to speak.

When things go wrong, as would happen when we push too hard too fast, often we must create a whole new situation. In other words, we must rebuild and do it correctly the next time around. If a relationship is damaged, but not completely destroyed, we may have to recreate the original magic that sparked the chemistry in the first place. That is hard to do, but sometimes it can be done.

Often, in cases like this, it seems to us that "everything is conspiring against us." (hexagram thirty eight line three) This is typical human psychology, and believe me, I have experienced that feeling many times in my own life. But once again, we come back to the same position that we experience this because our conscious minds do not have access to full knowledge, and we are limited in how much of our world we can perceive at any one time. So the answer is to use a tool such as the I Ching to understand the signs of the times, and to find the "hidden dragon" of line one hexagram one, that would spoil our attempts to create that which we wish to create. The universe does not conspire against us. When we do the things that duty commands us to do, and live in harmony with nature and humanity, we find that "fate is favorable." The universe is benevolent, not malevolent. We see things conspiring against us because we want things to be a certain way, and we expect them to be a certain way, and we expect that we should be able to accomplish our goals, often, even at the expense of someone else's goals and dreams. If we don't get our way, we feel the "universe is conspiring against us."

The commentary on thirty eight line three goes on to say, "However, he must not let himself be misled, despite this opposition he must cling to the man whom he knows he belongs. Thus notwithstanding the bad beginning, the matter ends well." We are misled when we continue to insist that the universe is conspiring against us, when we rail against circumstances, and as forty seven line three says, "he butts his head against a wall and in consequence feels himself oppressed by the wall." The only disasters we experience are created simply by our perception of the experience, nothing more. When we give up the feeling that the universe is conspiring against us, we find everlasting peace in the knowledge that we just have to let go and go with the flow, and in time, all things right themselves. Then the start that seemed to go so badly ends up being good after all. We need to simply relax and let the universe flow through us. The more we trust it, the more it works in our favor.