I Ching 8 Hexagram Bǐ (Holding Together)
I Ching 8 Hexagram Bǐ (Holding Together)
Keywords
Team up with others. Make arrangements. Join. Together we win.
Short interpretation of the hexagram 8 – Solidarity
Well health, try not to command or want to change others neither in love nor in work. Joining with others in the professional sphere bears good fruit.
I Ching – General Description
Water on earth flows and collects wherever it can. For example in the sea where all rivers gather. It is a symbol that hints at solidarity and its laws. The same idea is suggested by the fact that all lines are tender except the solid line in fifth place, that of the sovereign. The weak are in solidarity with each other by the influence of the firm will which is in the leadership post, and which is their center of union. But even this strong directive personality is in solidarity with others, finding in them a complement to its own essence.
I Ching – Comment on sentence
Solidarity brings health.
Scan the oracle once more, To know if you possess sublimity, duration and perseverance.
Then there is no blemish.
The uncertain ones slowly approach. Whoever comes too late has misfortune
It is about joining with others to complement each other and foster in solidarity. For such a gathering there must be a center around which others gather. Becoming a gathering center for men is a difficult thing and a great responsibility. It takes inner greatness, consequentiality and strength to do so. Therefore, to establish if he is equal to the enterprise, he examines himself who wants to gather others around him; because whoever wants to gather others around himself without the seal of whoever is called to do so, causes more confusion than there would be if the gathering had not taken place. Where, however, there is a true meeting center, those who feel uncertain, who at first still hesitate, slowly approach alone. Those who come too late suffer the damage themselves, since even in the gathering it is the right time. Relationships are knotted and strengthened according to certain inner laws. Common experiences are strengthened, and those who arrive too late and cannot participate in these fundamental common experiences will suffer by finding the door closed as the last to arrive. However, those whohave recognized the need to gather and do not feel the strength to act as a center of solidarity, have the duty to join another organic community (cf. with this the couplet: ″ Always aspire towards the total, and if you yourself cannot become a total, associated as a serving member with a total ″).
I Ching – Image
On earth is water: the
image of solidarity.
Thus the kings of the early days granted the individual states as fiefdoms and took care of friendly relations with the feudal princes.
Water on earth fills all the gaps and adheres firmly to them. The social organization of antiquity was founded on this principle of solidarity between employees and sovereigns. The waters come together by themselves because the water is in all its parts under the same laws. So too human society must be in solidarity on the basis of a commonality of interests that makes each individual feel a member of a totality. The central power of a social organism must see to it that each member finds his true interest in being in solidarity with others, as was the case in the paternal relationship of the great king with his feudal lords in Chinese antiquity.
I Ching – Series
There is certainly a reason among the masses to associate. This is why the sign follows: Solidarity. Being in solidarity means coming together.
I Ching – Single Lines
Analytical description of each individual line
I Ching – First line:
Six at the beginning means:
Follow him sincere and faithful:
this is not stain.
Truth as a full bowl: So in the end health comes from outside!
When it comes to building a relationship, complete sincerity is the only right foundation. Represented by the image of a full earthenware bowl, in which everything is contained and nothing is empty form, this attitude is not expressed in beautiful combined words, but through the force of interiority; and this force is so great that it powerfully attracts health from without.
I Ching – Second line:
Six in the second place means:
Keep for him internally.
Perseverance brings health!
If the solicitations that invite us to act from above are accepted with rectitude and perseverance, relationships with others are at the forefront of an interior nature; you don’t lose yourself. On the other hand, those who seek a sticky and creeping attachment do not follow the path of the noble who preserves his dignity; but he prostitutes himself.
I Ching – Third line:
Six in the third place means:
You are sympathetic to people who are not the right ones.
We often find ourselves exclusively in the company of people who do not belong to our sphere. In this case one must not allow oneself to be led to an erroneous confidence by force of habit. It goes without saying that this would be bad. Sociability without intimacy is the only right thing in front of such people; only in this way does one remain free for a subsequent relationship with one’s peers.
I Ching – Fourth line:
Six in the fourth place means:
Even outwardly stick to him.
Perseverance brings health!
Relations with a man who is the center of the association are already firmly regulated here. Then one can and must also show one’s affection openly. You just have to stay still and not be distracted for any reason.
I Ching – Fifth line:
Nine in the fifth place means:
Revealing solidarity.
During the hunt, the king only knocks from three sides And renounces the game that deviates earlier.
The bourgeois do not need to be warned.
Health!
It was customary in ancient China, during driven hunts, for game to be beaten from three sides. On the fourth side, the beaten game could deviate. The animals that did not then had to pass through an opening, behind which the king was ready to strike. Only those animals that passed by were killed. Those who deviated earlier let themselves escape. This custom corresponded to the royal soul, which did not intend to turn hunting into a slaughterhouse, but only killed the game that had, so to speak, voluntarily surrendered. A ruler appears here, you also want an influential man, to whom people fall into the lap. He welcomes whoever comes to him, lets go whoever does not come. No one prays, no one flatters: they all come alone.In this way, a free dependence is formed among those on his side. People don’t need to force their feelings, on the contrary they can spontaneously show their soul. No police measures are needed. They are spontaneously fond of their lord. This freedom is also valid for life in general. We must not court those who can favor; developing in themselves the purity and strength necessary for a collection center, those men who are destined for it come alone.
I Ching – Sixth line:
Six above means:
He finds no leader to join in solidarity.
Misfortune.
The boss is the beginning. Without a good start there is no good end. If you have missed the moment and now hesitate, shunning true full dedication, you will regret the mistake too late.
