I Ching 58 Hexagram duì (Open)

I Ching 58 Hexagram duì (Open)

I Ching 58 Hexagram duì (Open)

Keywords
Joy. Pleasure. Confident demonstrations.
Brief Interpretation of Hexagram 58 – The Serene
Voice your thoughts with joy and serenity. Favored job interviews. Calm is a quite force that will express itself in all relationships and in all areas of your life.

I Ching – General Description

Tui is, like Sunn, one of the eight double signs. Tui means the youngest daughter, has the smile of the lake as an image, happiness as a quality. Gladness is not founded, as it might at first seem, on the softness that shows itself in the upper line. The quality of the tender, that is, dark principle is not joy but sadness. The joy rests instead on the fact that inside there are two strong lines that are expressed through the softness. True joy therefore rests on the fact that inside there are firmness and strength, which towards the outside appear temperate and mild.

I Ching – Comment on sentence

The serene. Successful. Auspicious is perseverance.

The cheerful mood is contagious and therefore successful. Joy needs constancy as a foundation, in order not to degenerate into unbridled joy. Truthfulness and strength must abide in the heart, while meekness is revealed to the outside in the way of treating people. In this way, the right place before God and men is taken and something is achieved. With only intimidation without meekness one can also achieve something, for the moment, but it does not last. On the other hand, if the hearts of people are conquered with kindness, they are induced to willingly undertake every hardship, indeed, when it has to be, not to shy away even from death. Such is the power that joy has over men.

I Ching – Image

Lakes resting on each other: the image of the serene. Thus the noble meets with his friends to discuss and to learn.

A lake evaporates upwards and so slowly runs out. But when two lakes are connected to each other they do not run out so easily, because one enriches the other. This is also the case in the field of science. Science must be a refreshing and vivifying force. And this can only become in the life-giving company of friends of the same mentality, with whom we discuss and practice the application of the truths of life. Thus knowledge becomes more universal and acquires a serene ease, while the knowledge of the self-taught always retains a certain something that is heavy and one-sided.

I Ching – Series

When one has penetrated into a thing then one is cheerful. For this he follows the sign: the Serene. The Serene means to rejoice.

I Ching – Single Lines

Analytical description of each individual line

I Ching – First line:

Nine at the beginning means:
contented serenity. Health!

A quiet, silent joy, collected in itself, which demands nothing from the outside and which welcomes everything, remains free from all selfish sympathy and antipathy. Already in this freedom there is health, as it contains in itself the tranquil security of a heart steadfast in itself.

I Ching – Second line:

Nine in the second place means:
True serenity. Health. Repentance vanishes.

We are often in relationship with inferior people, from whose company we are attracted by joys other than those which are suitable for the superior man. If one were to partake in such joys, it would certainly bring repentance to follow; for a superior man cannot be truly satisfied with inferior joys. If, as a result of this intelligence, one does not allow oneself to be deviated from one’s intentions, so as not to find pleasure in this kind of joys, then not even a dubious environment will dare to offer us low amusement, since precisely these would not cheer us. With this only every cause of regret is eliminated.

I Ching – Third line:

Six in the third place means:
Serenity that comes. Woe!

True joy must flow from within. But if one is empty inside so that one gets lost in the outside, the joys come from outside. And these are welcome to the many who seek diversions. Those who need diversions because they are inwardly unstable, will always find the opportunity to get distracted. They attract outward joys by the emptiness of their nature. With that they lose, more and more of themselves, which is of course bad.

I Ching – Fourth line:

Nine in the fourth place means:
Thoughtful serenity does not settle down. Once the defects are eliminated, there is happiness.

Man often finds himself surrounded by various kinds of joys. Until he has yet decided which kind of joy he wants to choose, the higher or the lower, until then he is inwardly restless. Only when he has clearly recognized that passions cause suffering, is he able to make the decision to get rid of what is low and aspire to higher joys. When this decision has become irrevocable, true and intimate serenity and stillness are found, and the inner conflict is overcome.

I Ching – Fifth line:

Nine in the fifth place means:
Truthfulness towards the corrosive is dangerous.

Even the best of men approach dangerous elements. Accepting their presence, their corrosive influence acts very slowly, but surely, and inevitably draws its dangers with it. But whoever recognizes the situation and is capable of unmasking the danger, he who knows how to be on guard and remains free from harm.

I Ching – Sixth line:

Six above means:
Seductive serenity.

Inner vanity recalls the pleasures of distraction, and one will have to suffer from it (cf. six in third place). If one is not internally consolidated, the joys of the external world, from which one does not escape, act so strongly that one is dragged along with them. Here we no longer speak of danger, health or misfortune. He has let go of the helm of life and what will happen to us depends on chance and external influences.