Hi there,
In the spirit of the threads about unchanging hexagrams, and because of some of the discussion in this thread, I thought it might be a fun experiment to see if we can come up with links between the judgment text and and the image text for all the hexagrams. And I expect there to be hearty discussion and disagreement :)
I was thinking I might post a new thread like this once a week or so, approximately.
So let's start with hexagram 1.
In WB's translation (and feel free to bring in others! I know there are critical differences) the judgment is:
"The Creative works sublime success, furthering through perseverance."
And the image is:
"The movement of heaven is full of power. Thus the superior man makes himself strong and untiring."
So I would note here that the image does not say that the superior one acts on the external world. It says that he makes himself strong and untiring.
In the judgment, I'd argue that the sublimity here refers to the world of imagination and ideas, to the world of forms from which our existence is modeled, that pure sphere of creativity beyond ordinary thought.
So that's the place to which you're advised to connect yourself. That is how you make yourself a strong, untiring instrument of something beyond the human mind that then works through you, that then leads through you (by which we get to hex 2).
It's almost like infusing yourself with creative energy. It's delving into the world of imagination and instinct and drawing excitement and energy and strength from there, from the sublime realm of heaven.
It's like charging yourself up like this ball of lightning with electrical energy by connecting with the divine aspect of yourself, and it's like that deep breath which says "Get ready!" right before something explosive is about to happen.
In the spirit of the threads about unchanging hexagrams, and because of some of the discussion in this thread, I thought it might be a fun experiment to see if we can come up with links between the judgment text and and the image text for all the hexagrams. And I expect there to be hearty discussion and disagreement :)
I was thinking I might post a new thread like this once a week or so, approximately.
So let's start with hexagram 1.
In WB's translation (and feel free to bring in others! I know there are critical differences) the judgment is:
"The Creative works sublime success, furthering through perseverance."
And the image is:
"The movement of heaven is full of power. Thus the superior man makes himself strong and untiring."
So I would note here that the image does not say that the superior one acts on the external world. It says that he makes himself strong and untiring.
In the judgment, I'd argue that the sublimity here refers to the world of imagination and ideas, to the world of forms from which our existence is modeled, that pure sphere of creativity beyond ordinary thought.
So that's the place to which you're advised to connect yourself. That is how you make yourself a strong, untiring instrument of something beyond the human mind that then works through you, that then leads through you (by which we get to hex 2).
It's almost like infusing yourself with creative energy. It's delving into the world of imagination and instinct and drawing excitement and energy and strength from there, from the sublime realm of heaven.
It's like charging yourself up like this ball of lightning with electrical energy by connecting with the divine aspect of yourself, and it's like that deep breath which says "Get ready!" right before something explosive is about to happen.