Hexagram 61 - Inner Truth

[Lost in Translation]

Hexagram 61 ䷼ - Chung Fu / Inner Truth

 

The Gentle (Wind/Wood) sits atop The Joyous (Lake). The eldest daughter in communion with the youngest. 

 

THE JUDGEMENT

INNER TRUTH. Pigs and fishes.

Good fortune.

It furthers one to cross the great water.

Perseverance furthers.

 

THE IMAGE

Wind over lake: the image of INNER TRUTH.

Thus the superior man discusses criminal cases

In order to delay executions.

 

(Wilhelm/Baynes)

 

This hexagram came up last night in my reading. It was static, with no changing lines. Such readings are always challenging to me.

 

Wilhelm writes "In dealing with persons as intractable and as difficult to influence as a pig or a fish, the whole secret of success depends on finding the right way of approach. One must first rid oneself of all prejudice and, so to speak, let the psyche of the other person act on one without restraint. Then one will establish contact with him, understand and gain power over him."

 

This in particular interests me, since it implies that to influence another, one must first allow oneself to be vulnerable, by "let[ting] the psyche of the other person act on one without restraint."

 

 

 

[Zhongyongdaoist]

53 minutes ago, Lost in Translation said:

Wilhelm writes "In dealing with persons as intractable and as difficult to influence as a pig or a fish, the whole secret of success depends on finding the right way of approach. One must first rid oneself of all prejudice and, so to speak, let the psyche of the other person act on one without restraint. Then one will establish contact with him, understand and gain power over him."

 

5 - Seek first to understand, then to be understood:

 

Quote

    Use empathetic listening to genuinely understand a person, which compels them to reciprocate the listening and take an open mind to being influenced by you. This creates an atmosphere of caring, and positive problem solving.
    Habit 5 is greatly embraced in the Greek philosophy represented by 3 words:
    1) Ethos -- your personal credibility. It's the trust that you inspire, your Emotional Bank Account.
    2) Pathos is the empathetic side -- it's the alignment with the emotional trust of another person's communication.
    3) Logos is the logic -- the reasoning part of the presentation.
    The order is important: ethos, pathos, logos -- your character, and your relationships, and then the logic of your presentation. (Wikipedia summary of Chap. Five of Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People)

 

This type of empathic listening is also basic to real Confucianism, which is not to be confused with the caricatures of popular Taoism.

 

1 hour ago, Lost in Translation said:

This in particular interests me, since it implies that to influence another, one must first allow oneself to be vulnerable, by "let[ting] the psyche of the other person act on one without restraint."

 

It is possible to be open to someone and not vulnerable.  The "Doctrine of the Mean", Zhongyong, talks about dealing with people from ones own center, open, but effectively invulnerable.  Of course real Daoists can do this too.

 

ZYD