Hexagram 1- Heaven

[ValleyStream]

After reading a couple interpretations of this hexagram, I couldnt help but wonder what all of you fine individuals think of it.

 

 

Hexagram #1

 

Heaven- "Force", "the creative", "strong action", "the key", and "god".

 

What dos it mean to you to emulate the heavens?

Edited September 22, 2014 by ValleyStream

[Uroboros]

This is something I have been pondering lately...I too am interested in other opinions and insights.

 

The only thing I have to offer is a perspective to add to the mix. That Heaven and Earth also represent the Masculine and Feminine principles/ forces in their purest. By understanding Heaven and Earth, we can better understand how to embody these forces within us.

[beyonder]

 

After reading a couple interpretations of this hexagram, I couldnt help but wonder what all of you fine individuals think of it.

 

 

Hexagram #1

 

Heaven- "Force", "the creative", "strong action", "the key", and "god".

 

What dos it mean to you to emulate the heavens?

 

In terms of cosmology/conceptual structure, hex 1, together with hex 2 are yang and yin, respectively. In one of the comments (Wings), Confucius (or whoever wrote those) notes:

 

"All nines change means:

When the Creative and large changes al it's nines,

the world will be in order.

When the Creative and large changes al it's nines,

one witnesses the Law of Heaven."

 

"One witnesses the Law of Heaven." The Creative changing into the Receptive, all movement, at it's complete height, changing into it's opposite, stillness. But the "I Ching" also speaks of human affairs. This is highlighted in the "Ta Chuan", section 2, chapter 2:

 

"After the death of Shen-Neng, there arose Hwang Ti, Yao and Shun. They carried through the changes, so that the people did what was required of them, without being wearied; yea, they exerted such a spirit-like transformation, that the people felt constrained to approve their ordinances as right. When a series of changes has run all its course, another change ensues. When it obtains free course, it will continue long. Hence it was that 'these sovereigns were helped by heaven; they had good fortune, and their every movement was advantageous'.

Hwang Ti, Yao and Shun simply wore their upper and lower garments as patterns to the people, and good order was secured all under heaven. The idea of this was taken, probably, from the hexagrams Ch'ien (1. the Creative Principle) and K'un (2. the Passive Principle)."

 

...

 

... Oh, right, what it means for me to emulate heavens. Yeah, no. That's all too big a concept for me. I try to think in simpler terms. I prefer keeping an unobstructed mind, no thinking about the past, present or future, no clinging to opinions, ideas or thoughts. Note that I didn't say "no thinking". My stance regarding those matters is best said by Ji Kang, a daoist philosopher and poet:

 

"Music and poetry are alike entertainment

I am alone but not lonely,

needing nothing from others

My imagination,

if not soaring above mountains,

I guard carefully inside,

Where it rests."

 

So in my practice, I try integrating both mental "movement" and mental "rest".

[ValleyStream]

-beyonder

 

Of course, there can be no discussion about Yang without including Yin. I should be posting topics concerning the hexagrams in pairs. To analyze one hexagram without the corresponding hexagram would provide no contrast and therefore no picture of how Yin Yang is relating.

 

As for "What it means to emulate the heavens"; It is a general statement to invoke discussion from the populous. Perhaps it could be considered rhetorical because like you said, it is too big of a concept.

 

I do like your simplistic way of applying pure yin & yang to mental activity though ( if i understood that last part right XD ). Good stuff.

[beyonder]

-beyonder

 

Of course, there can be no discussion about Yang without including Yin. I should be posting topics concerning the hexagrams in pairs. To analyze one hexagram without the corresponding hexagram would provide no contrast and therefore no picture of how Yin Yang is relating.

Oh, that depends. I just chose that way of looking at the topic. There's plenty to discuss about the structure of just hexagram 1 though, so I think it's fine.

 

When looking at the individual lines, they all provide advice to someone with "the character of a dragon", as Confucius put it. This is in line with the hexagram as a whole, where the Creative action of Heaven is symbolised in the activity of the sage, which benefits the whole. Some hexagrams which speak about this are:

 

Hexagram 14, nine at the top means:

He is blessed by heaven.

Good fortune.

Nothing that does not further.

 

In the fullness of possession and at the height of power, one remains modest and gives honor to the sage who stands outside the affairs of the world. By this means one puts oneself under the beneficent influence descending form heaven, and all goes well. Confucius says of this line:

 

To bless means to help. Heaven helps the man who is devoted; men help the man who is true. He who walks in truth and is devoted in his thinking, and furthermore reveres the worthy, is blessed by heaven. He has good fortune, and there is nothing that would not further.

 

http://www.wisdomportal.com/IChing/IChing-Wilhelm.html#14

 

Hexagram 18, nine at the top means:

He does not serve kings and princes,

Sets himself higher goals.

 

Not every man has an obligation to mingle in the affairs of the world. There are some who are developed to such a degree that they are justified in letting the world go its own way and refusing to enter public life with a view to reforming it. But this does not imply a right to remain idle or to sit back and merely criticize. Such withdrawal is justified only when we strive to realize in ourselves the higher aims of mankind. For although the sage remains distant from the turmoil of daily life, he creates incomparable human values for the future.

 

http://www.wisdomportal.com/IChing/IChing-Wilhelm.html#18

 

Hexagram 26, nine at the top means:

One attains the way of heaven.

Success.

 

The time of obstruction is past. The energy long dammed up by inhibition forces its way out and achieves great success. This refers to a man who is honored by the ruler and whose principles now prevail and shape the world.

 

http://www.wisdomportal.com/IChing/IChing-Wilhelm.html#26

 

Each line in hexagram 1 represents such a person in various stages, and offers him or her advice about the relevant situation.

As for "What it means to emulate the heavens"; It is a general statement to invoke discussion from the populous. Perhaps it could be considered rhetorical because like you said, it is too big of a concept.

 

I do like your simplistic way of applying pure yin & yang to mental activity though ( if i understood that last part right XD ). Good stuff.

Heh, thanks.

[Daeluin]

Yang energy can be viewed as the firmness of stored up potential energy. Something strong and unmoving. A steel beam holding the weight of a skyscraper. The wound up energy of a drawn bow-string. A room full of gold with locked doors. The creative potential of ten thousand writers, artists and engineers.

Yang energy can also be viewed as strong force. The loosing of the arrow from that bow. The crushing might of hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes. Anger unleashed. People who like talking all the time and have difficulty listening. Anything wielding strength to manipulate things and events rather than flowing where there is room and acting with tact.

Yang in the context of the symbols of Heaven and Earth, is Heaven. Earth is the gravity, the substance, the empty cup, and Heaven is the life force of spirit drawn into and stored on Earth.

Hexagram #2 is called Receptivity, because the substance it provides allows all things to manifest within that substance. This Receptivity at its most pure is like an absolutely empty vessel, able to be filled by anything. In some Qi Gong practices, practitioners stand in meditation with palms facing the earth, emptying and grounding, cultivating receptivity and stilling the mind. Then maintaining roots they turn the palms upwards to embrace Heaven, allowing their empty vessel to be filled with this pure, creative, spiritual potential energy.

It is said understanding Hexagrams #1 and #2 can result in understanding the whole I Ching. One may read Hexagram #1, line #1 as an interpretation for any hexagram containing a Yang line as line #1. One may read Hexagram #2, line #1 as an interpretation for any hexagram containing a Yin line as line #1. And so on.

Hexagram #1 represents the strongest possible potential energy. It resonates with phases in time like the Summer Solstice. High Noon, the hottest part of the day. The full moon. The full moon is an interesting one, as the moon cycle has a slow enough pace to build up quite a bit of power, but also short enough for us to repeatedly observe and identify the effects.

When Yang culminates, Yin is born. When Yin Culminates, Yang is born. So here we have Hexagram #1, representing the culmination of Yang, the height of potential energy - and we're not talking about something static here, the I Ching is about CHANGE. So this energy is under great pressure to stay whole, and often is going to burst under that pressure, Yang culminating and allowing Yin to enter in from the bottom.

Day after day the moon waxes, growing fuller an fuller, until it reaches the fullest moment (when in opposition to the sun), and at that point Yang culminates and Yin enters from the bottom. This resulting change can be studied in hexagram #44, but all I'll say here is that one Yin line entering in at the bottom has the potential to use up all of that stored up Yang energy in one fell swoop. So the situation Hexagram #1 represents is rather precarious - on one hand representing the purest, strongest and most complete energy possible, but when the pressure breaks able to be used up in a heart-beat. Kinda like spending that hard earned paycheck all at once rather than saving it.

The I Ching, especially the Taoist I Ching, advises one to be firm (yang) on the inside, and flexible (yin) on the outside. In this way one avoids using force, and avoids spending what one has stored up in wasteful ways - only spending what is needed in little bits.

 

In the consumerist paradigm we are conditioned to spend even before we have saved anything up, using the potential stored in the future (in case it isn't clear, I'm talking about credit cards and loans). So this idea of self-discipline is very important in order to save what we have and only spend what is necessary, so as to cultivate longevity. More can be studied in hexagrams #26 and #28.

Edited September 24, 2014 by Daeluin

[joeblast]

inhaling

Edited May 23, 2016 by joeblast

[ChiDragon]

After reading a couple interpretations of this hexagram, I couldnt help but wonder what all of you fine individuals think of it.

 

 

Hexagram #1

 

Heaven- "Force", "the creative", "strong action", "the key", and "god".

 

What dos it mean to you to emulate the heavens?

 

Hexagrams are formed by two trigrams. The reason the hexagram #1 has all Yang lines is because it's the Yangest of all the hexagrams. All the others are changeable if the trigrams were flip-flopped but not this one. No matter how the trigrams were flipped or flopped; it is always the same and holds the Yang attribute. Thus it emulates "Heaven" perfectly is because nothing can change Heaven.

Edited December 28, 2014 by ChiDragon

[mYTHmAKER]

 

Hexagrams are formed by two trigrams. The reason the hexagram #1 has all Yang lines is because it's the Yangest of all the hexagrams. All the others are changeable if the trigrams were flip-flopped but not this one.

Flip earth and see what happens

[ChiDragon]

Earth is the Yin-est. It is similar to Heaven and nothing can change their attributes.

[Daeluin]

Flip earth and see what happens

 

I imagine it depends on how long the earth's been a settlin'

if the the top layer is all soiley and the bottom's all molten an' stuff

mix up the lines and its gonna get mighty interestin'

 

Earth is the Yin-est. It is similar to Heaven and nothing can change their attributes.

 

those darned weeds sure try... always yanging up the yin...

 

 

 

The I Ching is all about change - no yang is pure yang, no yin pure yin. Any real-world model of a given hexagram is going to be unique, and its "lines" will have personality, movement, pressure, influence, all slowly (or quickly) producing transformation.

 

No hexagram stays relevant forever, but the balance within is eternal.

[joeblast]

the crescendo has to crest sometime. cant have a whole song as just one

[Harmonious Emptiness]

After reading a couple interpretations of this hexagram, I couldnt help but wonder what all of you fine individuals think of it.

 

 

Hexagram #1

 

Heaven- "Force", "the creative", "strong action", "the key", and "god".

 

What dos it mean to you to emulate the heavens?

 

The heavens are in effortless order. When the heart, mind, spirit, and environment are in order "of themselves," this emulates the heavens.

[joeblast]

sometimes

Edited May 23, 2016 by joeblast

[mYTHmAKER]

After reading a couple interpretations of this hexagram, I couldnt help but wonder what all of you fine individuals think of it.

 

 

Hexagram #1

 

Heaven- "Force", "the creative", "strong action", "the key", and "god".

 

What dos it mean to you to emulate the heavens?

To emulate the heavens is to be one with the tao

[joeblast]

a

Edited May 23, 2016 by joeblast