46. Sheng / Pushing Upward

rosada · Aug 16, 2008

46. Sheng / Pushing Upward

__ __
__ __ above K'UN THE RECEPTIVE, EARTH
__ __
_____
_____ below SUN THE GENTLE, WIND, WOOD
__ __

The lower trigram, Sun, represents wood, and the upper, K'un, means the earth. Linked with this is the idea that wood in the earth grows upward. In contrast to the meaning of Chin, PROGRESS (35), this pushing upward is associated with effort, just as a plant meeds energy for pushing upward through the earth. That is why this hexagram, although it is connected with success, is associated with the effort of the will. In PROGRESS the emphasis iss on expansion; PUSHING UPWARD indicates rather a vertical ascent - direct rise from obscurity and lowliness to power and influence.

The ruler of the hexagram is the six in the fifth place. The Commentary on the Decision refers to it as follows: "The yielding pushes upward with the time." The six in the fifth place is the most honored line among those pushing up. However, the pushing up certainly begins at the bottom. The hexaram pictures wood growing within the earth. But the six at the beginning is the ruler of the trigram Sun and the root of wood; therefore it is at least a constituting ruler of the hexagram.

The Sequence
Massing toward the top is called pushing upward. Hence there follows the hexagram of PUSHING UPWARD.

Miscellaneous Notes
That which pushes upward does not come back.

On the face of it this hexagram is very favorably organized.
-Wilhelm

Sparhawk · Aug 16, 2008

my_key · Aug 16, 2008

46 = The One Tree
Nice picture Luis.

rosada · Aug 17, 2008

On the face of it this hexagram is very favorably organized. The movement of the upper trigram K'un is downward, hence the lower trigram Sun (penetration,wood) strives unhindered toward the top. However, the pushing upward is neither as easy nor as extensive as the rising of the sun in the hexagram of PROGRESS (35). The upward movement is furthermore reinforced by the nuclear trigrams, Chen and Tui, both of which tend upward. This hexagram is the inverse of the preceding one.
-Wilhelm

rosada · Aug 17, 2008

With 45. Gathering Together I was seeing lots of synergy with the Gathering Together of the world community at the Olympics. Perhaps 46. Pushing Upward is refering to the efforts of the individual athletes.

solun · Aug 17, 2008

For all the bombastics in the western mind implied by words like power, influence, success ... I have to go with the more inner journey of progess
seeing this in terms of gentle penetration and receptivity, being content with taking small steps in relation to the matter, but being persistent and vigilant in the sense of taking action or using will. That expression 'by effort of will' I am uncertain about.
Potential progress ( of an unexpected kind perhaps) is indicated by consistency and openness and sincere intent is how I see it.
Nice picture sparhawk.

rosada · Aug 18, 2008

Thinking about the athletes and how the tiniest fraction of a second makes the difference between the silver medal and the gold. I think how much is determined by fate, by luck, by genes and how most likely it is only the tiniest fraction of a difference that is made by our prayers and affirmations, and yet we see that 100th of a second is all it takes. So seeing 45. Gathering Together flow into 46. Pushing Upward seems like a lesson in the importance of will power, even though it may not be very strong, if the prayers of the whole country are with one, like the Receptive Earth in the upper trigram, the Gentle Wind can rise to the top.
I think it would be interesting if after an Olympic event they would have the winner of the Gold repeat the event and this time have the whole world rooting for them and see if they are able to improve their time, even if by only a 100th of a second. See it as proof Mankind's combined focus, prayers, dissolve resistance, create reality.

dobro p · Aug 18, 2008

solun said:
That expression 'by effort of will' I am uncertain about. Potential progress ( of an unexpected kind perhaps) is indicated by consistency and openness and sincere intent is how I see it.

Well, how about just 'effort' then? These stairs ain't gonna climb themselves now, are they? You can have all the consistency and openness and sincerity in the world, but if the situation requires effort then until you provide it, you're still gonna be at the bottom of the stairs. Stairs are an image in 46 too, right?

meng · Aug 18, 2008

Will

Never underestimate the power to grow beyond your current limitations

.

meng · Aug 18, 2008

Couple of good observations, Rosada. Especially like your 45/46 analogy of group vs individual effort.

solun said:
For all the bombastics in the western mind implied by words like power, influence, success ... I have to go with the more inner journey of progess
seeing this in terms of gentle penetration and receptivity, being content with taking small steps in relation to the matter, but being persistent and vigilant in the sense of taking action or using will. That expression 'by effort of will' I am uncertain about.
Potential progress ( of an unexpected kind perhaps) is indicated by consistency and openness and sincere intent is how I see it.
Nice picture sparhawk.

How you choose to apply 46 can be inward and subtle, or it can be as worldly and materialistic as climbing the corporate ladder. The nature of 46 is the same in either case. The Buddha willed to see what lived outside, and then to transcend it.

If everything in this natural world is contained within just 64 hexagrams, then we need to give a wide berth to each one to exist. If a given meaning doesn't belong there, then we must assign it elsewhere. Everything that exists needs room to exist somewhere.

rosada · Aug 18, 2008

THE JUDGMENT

PUSHING UPWARD has supreme success.
One must see the great man.
Fear not.
Departure toward the south
Brings good fortune.

The pushing upward of the good elements encounters no obstruction and is therefore accompanied by great success.

The pushing upward is made possible not by violence but by modesty and adaptability.

Since the individual is borne along by the propitiousness of the time, he advances.

He must go to see authoritative people.

He need not be afraid to do this, because SUCCESS IS ASSURED.

But he must set to work, for activity (this is the meaning of "the south") brings good fortune.

rosada · Aug 20, 2008

Commentary on the Decision

The yielding pushes upward with the time. Gentle and devoted.
The firm is in the middle and finds correspondence, hence it attains great success.
"One must see the great man. Fear not," for it brings blessing.
"Departure toward the south brings good fortune." What is willed is done.

The yielding element that, borne by the time, pushes upward, is the yielding line at the beginning; it stands for the root of wood, the lower trigram. The lower trigram is gentle, the upper devoted. These are preconditions of the time that make it possible for the strong line in the second place - which finds correspondence in the weak line in the place of the ruler - to achieve great success. It is said, "One must see the great mann," as is usually the case. for the ruler of the hexagram is not the great man; it is, on the contrary, a yielding line. The reason for success is not an earthly but a transcendental one. Therefore it is said further, "Fear not," and, "It brings blessing." The favorableness of the conditions comes from the invisible world; we must make the most of them, however, through work. Departure toward the south means work. The south is the region of the heavens between Sun and K'un, the two components of the hexagram.
-Wilhelm

rosada · Aug 20, 2008

THE FAVORABLENESS OF THE CONDITIONS COMES FROM THE INVISIBLE WORLD,
WE MUST WORK TO MAKE THE MOST OF THEM, HOWEVER, THROUGH WORK.
-Wilhelm

--I just thought that was such a good insight for 46 that I'd post it again.

solun · Aug 21, 2008

It's strange, I was actually thinking of SUN SUN The Gentle when I posted earlier, but I think it relates well to 46...?

rosada said:
Thinking about the athletes and how the tiniest fraction of a second makes the difference .

amazing, that time element to it, isn't it?

rosada · Aug 22, 2008

I think there will be a quantum leap in the understanding of what time is this fall as Pluto leaves Sagittarius the sign of Truth and enters Capricorn the sign that rules Time.

rosada · Aug 23, 2008

THE IMAGE

Within the earth, wood grows:
The image of PUSHING UPWARD.
Thus the superior man of devoted character
Heaps up small things
In order to achieve something high and great.

Adapting itself to obstacles and bending around them, wood in the earth grows upward without haste and without rest. Thus to the superior man is devoted in character and never pauses in his progress.

The heaping up of small things - steady, imperceptible progress - is suggested by the gradual and invisible growth of wood in the earth. "Devoted character" corresponds with the trigram K'un; "something high and great" corresponds with Sun, whose image is a tree.
-Wilhelm

rosada · Aug 25, 2008

46.1
# Six at the beginning means:
Pushing upward that meets with confidence
Brings good fortune.

This is the situation at the beginning of ascent. Just as wood draws strength for its upward push from the root, which is in the lowest place, so the power to rise comes from this low and obscure station. But there is a spiritual affinity with the rulers above, and this solidarity creates the confidence needed to accomplish something.

"Pushing upward that meets with confidence brings great good fortune.": those above agree in purpose.

The yielding line at the beginning agrees in nature with the yielding lines of the upper trigram K'un. Therefore it meets with confidence and has success in its pushing upward, just as the hidden root connects the tree with the earth, and through this connection makes growth possible.

rosada · Aug 25, 2008

We haven't had a whole lot of comment on this thread so far. Perhaps this is in keeping with line one and the idea of starting off by oneself, yet with the awareness there is group affinity.
46.1 changes to 11. Peace.

charly · Aug 25, 2008

rosada said:
THE JUDGMENT

PUSHING UPWARD has supreme success.
One must see the great man.
Fear not.
Departure toward the south
Brings good fortune.
...

Rosada:

Chinese characters , pinyin, usual meanings, W/B

元 yuan2: primary / principal / first / supreme / SUPREME
亨 heng1: feast / sacrifice / SUCCESS

用 yong4: to use / to apply / [ONE] MUST
見 jian4: to see / to meet / SEE
大 da4: big / large / great / [THE] GREAT
人 ren2: man / person / MAN

勿 wu4: do not / NOT
恤 xu4: worry / FEAR

南 nan2 / south / sothern / [TOWARDS THE] SOUTH
征 zheng1: attack / advance / trip / expedition / DEPARTURE
吉 ji2: lucky / fortunate / [BRINGS] GOOD FORTUNE

征 zheng1 is a conflictive character for YI translators, sometimes it's translated as 正 , to be upright, the sense is maybe more dinamic that «departure», but it retain nevertheless that our homeland is in the NORTH.

to journey far away / to attack / to reduce / to tame / to levy taxes / to collect taxes / to take / to snatch
from: http://www.chineseetymology.org/CharacterASP/CharacterEtymology.aspx?characterInput=%E5%BE%81&submitButton1=Etymology

I wonder why it's auspicious to go toward the SOUTH, it's a constant in the YI, the SOUTH is good to PROCEED and to make FRIENDS.

Maybe southern expeditions were easy adventures, always ending luckyly.

Maybe there are more meanings.

(to be continued)

Yours,

Charly

rosada · Aug 27, 2008

Hi Charly,
I consulted the I Ching and asked "Why is it auspicious to go SOUTH?" and received 41.6. Not sure what to make of it, but it's a friendly line.

rosada · Aug 27, 2008

46.2
Nine in the second place means:

If one is sincere,
It furthers one to bring even a small offering.
No blame.

meng · Aug 28, 2008

I see line 2 speaking of letting go of what has been attained, or at least part of what has been attained in this, as yet, small ascent. It is the tithe of the Bible, the reinvesting of profits, keeping the collective coffer refilled, and not regarding gains to solely elevate ones wealth and status.

rosada · Aug 28, 2008

Yes, tithing sounds fitting. I was also thinking about some Christmas poem, can't remember it all now, but it was about a little boy wanting to give something to the Christ child but not having anything. The last line is "What can I give him? I will give him my heart."

Also got to thinking about how a ruler might send his people out to explore the territory and then they would return with small gifts, samples of the bounty available in the New World. And sometimes all one can bring back at the end of the day is a story, but that is good too.

meng · Aug 28, 2008

rosada said:
Also got to thinking about how a ruler might send his people out to explore the territory and then they would return with small gifts, samples of the bounty available in the New World. And sometimes all one can bring back at the end of the day is a story, but that is good too.

meng · Aug 28, 2008

Also got to thinking about how a ruler might send his people out to explore the territory and then they would return with small gifts, samples of the bounty available in the New World. And sometimes all one can bring back at the end of the day is a story, but that is good too.

Rosada, what you've said here is HUGE.

Sending out scouts, nerves, sensors, returning with information (stories), and building upon that knowledge. That is a great view of this stage of 46. It is literally how biological life evolves.

rosada · Aug 28, 2008

Thanks Bruce!
That thought came to me just after I posted the info about Tibet over on Open Space. I had the distinct impression connecting with Tibet somehow caused me to be connected with a higher frequency, clearer understanding.

charly · Aug 28, 2008

rosada said:
Hi Charly,
I consulted the I Ching and asked "Why is it auspicious to go SOUTH?" and received 41.6. Not sure what to make of it, but it's a friendly line.

Rosada:

I remember something about that the North was among ancient chinese people the Land of Shadows and Deads, thus, the Soth should be the Land of Clarity and Life (1).

In later chinese history there was a North / South counterpoint, being the North more conservative, having more political power and the South more liberal, prone to romanticism and challenger of the political power (2).

But I suspect that the sense of this line points to some advantages that Southern expeditions could have in ancient times: more primitive inhabitants, richer lands, more diversity in hunting and war booty, included captives (3).

In other words, an easy adventure.

About 41.6, maybe,

«to get servant without family (bonds)»

advices to look for servants or allies from outside our own clan, say, from the South.

得 de2: obtain / get / gain
臣 chen2: vassal / courtier / minister // servant
无 wu2: without / not / no // avoid
家 jia1: home / family // clan / kinship

Yours,

Charly

__________________
(1) say the Land of Hilary

(2) as in this ...

First, north-to-south was from earliest Chinese history the principal orientation of any view of the south. Both cosmology and geography reinforce this view. While the North Polar Star serves as the guiding reference point of cosmic bearing, the Chinese compass has always been called "South-pointing needle (zinanzhen.) To the extent that early Chinese cosmology was intricately involved in conceptions and theories of kingship, often invoked to lend earthly rule cosmic sanction, the ruler on earth took on the position of the North Polar Star and was also known as the nanmianjun (south-facing ruler). The Classic of Change (Yi Jing) is a rich source for this topic. Facing south has become not only propitious in the celestial and terrestrial affairs of life itself, but also a position of enormous honor, often, in social situations, offered to the guest of honor...

... [The] southern character of Chinese [is] slight of build, wiry and diligent, alert in wit and commercial acumen, restless and yet purposeful, defiant of the North and of orthodoxy of power (undifferentiated most of the time) as well as patriotic to a China of imagined unity, and resilient in every human situation.

From: The "South" in Chinese History, by D. W. Y .Kwok
at: http://sunyatsenhawaii.org/english/research/kwok-south.html

(3) from the same source:

Not all connotations of the south in early lore, however, enjoyed cultural salubriousness. The notion of man, denoting barbarity, was reserved for inhabitants of the southern lands. Such a usage, in company of the yi or hu of the East, the di of the North, and the rong of the West, reflects the earlier-mentioned orientation of the five directions now coupled with cultural disposition regarding "self" and "others." Thus, in a narrow sense, the center is occupied by the Han people, arrayed on four sides by the non-Han barbarians. In the larger sense, all these peoples, Han and non-Han together form Zhongguo, the Central Kingdom.
...
From: The "South" in Chinese History, by D. W. Y .Kwok
at: http://sunyatsenhawaii.org/english/research/kwok-south.html

rosada · Aug 29, 2008

Here a strong man is presupposed, he does not fit in with his environment, inasmuch as he is too brusque and pays too little attention to form. But as he is upright in character, he meets with response, and his lack of outward form does no harm. Here uprightness is the outcome of sound qualities of character, whereas in the corresponding line of the preceding hexagram it is the result of innate humility.

The sincerity of the nine in the second place brings joy.

This line is the lowest of the nuclear trigram Tui, meaning joy. The oracle is the same as that pertaining to the second line in the preceding hexagram. In the latter a weak line is intimately connected with the king in the fifth place; here a strong line has an equally intimate relation with the weak line in the fifth place. In each case the spiritual affinity is so close that gifts may be small in extrinsic value without disturbing the mutual confidence.
-Wilhelm

rosada · Aug 29, 2008

I think this line has a message for us. I think it is reminding us we all have a message within us to share.

Tui: Share your message joyfully!

charly · Aug 29, 2008

rosada said:
I think this line has a message for us. I think it is reminding us we all have a message within us to share.

Tui: Share your message joyfully!

Ros:

46.2...
If one is sincere,
It furthers one to bring even a small offering.
No blame.

chinese characters, pinyin, usual meanings, W/B:

孚 fu2: trust / sincere // captive / catch / [IF ONE IS] SINCERE
乃 nai3: thus / so / therefore / then [...]
利 li4: benefit / profit / profitable IT FURTHERS [ONE]
用 yong4: to use / to apply // sacrifice / TO BRING [EVEN]
禴 yue4 :spring ancestral sacrifice // [A] SMALL OFFERING

无 wu2: without / not / no / NO
咎 jiu4: blame / to blame / mistake / BLAME

I wonder:

If it's about the YUE royal sacrifice, the it's not a SMALL SACRIFICE
if it's about a SMALL SACRIFICE then it's not the YUE SACRIFICE

Maybe I'm wrong, but I think that it is the same captive making music that appeared at H.45, or maybe:

If you are sincere, better play the flute, no bad.

Or maybe is about a female captive playing the flute. Say making ambient.

Yours,

Charly

46. Sheng / Pushing Upward

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