I have talked some in the past about hexagrams one and two, and a little about Tai Chi. For anyone who is new here and questions why these types of things are posted, it was a request of Hilary's years ago, regarding Tai Chi anyway, but also, hexagrams one and two are the foundations for all that follows in the book of changes. This is a followup to a certain extent to work I was doing here a couple of months or three or four ago here.
If we compare the "Book of Changes" with the "Tao Teh Ching" we can understand things a little better. The "Tao Teh Ching" explains to us right at the beginning that everything has its opposite. And that means, 'everything.' There are no exceptions. And in fact, without an opposite, nothing can exist. It is simply impossible. There is vast scientific evidence now that we are living in an 'electromagnetic universe.' At least that is one way of putting it. Terms can be deceiving however, but unless we are psychic, we have to use terms, even though they are not adequate. An electron cannot function without its opposite, nor can a proton, for without an electron and a positron, or a proton, there can be no interaction, and without interaction, since all things only exist in relationship to something else, there is no universe. Some may not agree with this. Fine, but let us not belabor the point right now, but look at this a little more.
Since nothing can exist without an opposite, we must try to imagine as many possible existences as we can and find their opposites. In many cases this is easy, in some cases it is not. The first two hexagrams challenge us to come to terms with this on the deepest levels, and make deep sense out of it in order to understand the "Book of Changes" in depth.
We also see opposites in the sequence of hexagrams, In hexagram three we try to figure things out. That can be true in hexagram four as well, but it is also possible that we are so struck by seeing our own image that we choose to remain in ignorance and doubt. In hexagram five we wait for the beneficient influences of heaven. In hexagram six we try to force the issue ourselves, without heaven. In hexagram seven we fight. In hexagram eight we unite. These are all superficial overviews of course of the hexagrams, but they do serve a purpose. In hexagram thirty three we retreat, in thirty four we advance, and so it goes. But this is of paramount importance that we understand that nothing can exist without its opposite.
So hexagram one starts out with an active force, and hexagram two with a passive force. Both are forces. Both accomplish their goals, although they do it by uniting with their opposite. But each hexagram within itself has its own form of power. I talked before about line one in the first two hexagrams. Now, let's look at the second line. First, recall that odd numbered lines when correct are yang, and even numbered lines, when correct are yin. So in the second line of hexagram one we have a yang incorrectly placed in the second position. However, here it is not bad, because it is centrally placed. The text says, "Dragon appearing in the field." All images have both a literal, and several, allegorical meanings. In our readings we can find the literal to be very true, or the allegorical, or both. The field can be a literal field, although the dragon is not likely to be literal, except in the sense of a form of energy. A dragon is a symbol of energy and time (something appears in time), and the field a symbol of space and material. So the yang line symbolizes the dragon, or energy, and 'appearing' symbolizes time. The field symbolizes the physical, and also space. So time and space come together, as well as energy (or spirit) and the physical. It is impossible for the physical to exist without at the same time being spiritual (sorry atheists, but it is just the facts) and it is impossible for time to exist without space and vice versa. This is just the way it is.
Since the "Book of Changes" is a book of changes, we can see how that nothing ever stays static. Absolutely nothing, which just simply could not be possible in a cold dead materialistic world. It is just not possible. Everything changes into its opposite, and it does so all of the time. Some changes being unimaginably fast, others unimaginably slow. But everything changes. In reality, the universe, and all that we observe in it, is nothing more than an illusion created by mind, which every thing is, and nothing exists outside of it. Sorry atheists, nothing can exist without mind, and sorry Christians, God cannot exist as an outside force. It is all one thing, an illusion. In the Sanskrit and in Hebrew, one of the terms for God is "Ain Sof," which literally means, 'nothing' No-thing. No thing. Nothing exists, except in the mind. All chemical and electronic actions and reactions only exist in this universal mind. And there is no outside agent pulling strings. All happens within, within no-thing, and within everything. The dragon is the cause for the field, and the field is the cause for the dragon.
So everything is sacred. Very sacred. And yet, absolutely nothing is sacred. For there is nothing out there. Absolutely nothing. And if we want to learn the I Ching, we have to understand this very basic and fundamental principle. The dragon and the field are one and the same thing, although they are opposites. And hexagrams one and two are exactly the same thing, and cannot exist apart from each other. They are an integrated whole, and one absolutely cannot exist without the other.
Our own human brains are wired exactly the same, with a left brain and a right brain. A conscious mind and a subconscious mind. We cannot have one without the other, and unfortunately humanity gives little more than lip service to the fact that both exist. But they do, and they are one and the same. They function very differently, but they also do not. Humans tend to give the left brain credit for everything, and therefore are not acting in accordance with hexagram fifteen which teaches us to be humble. But more on that later.
If we compare the "Book of Changes" with the "Tao Teh Ching" we can understand things a little better. The "Tao Teh Ching" explains to us right at the beginning that everything has its opposite. And that means, 'everything.' There are no exceptions. And in fact, without an opposite, nothing can exist. It is simply impossible. There is vast scientific evidence now that we are living in an 'electromagnetic universe.' At least that is one way of putting it. Terms can be deceiving however, but unless we are psychic, we have to use terms, even though they are not adequate. An electron cannot function without its opposite, nor can a proton, for without an electron and a positron, or a proton, there can be no interaction, and without interaction, since all things only exist in relationship to something else, there is no universe. Some may not agree with this. Fine, but let us not belabor the point right now, but look at this a little more.
Since nothing can exist without an opposite, we must try to imagine as many possible existences as we can and find their opposites. In many cases this is easy, in some cases it is not. The first two hexagrams challenge us to come to terms with this on the deepest levels, and make deep sense out of it in order to understand the "Book of Changes" in depth.
We also see opposites in the sequence of hexagrams, In hexagram three we try to figure things out. That can be true in hexagram four as well, but it is also possible that we are so struck by seeing our own image that we choose to remain in ignorance and doubt. In hexagram five we wait for the beneficient influences of heaven. In hexagram six we try to force the issue ourselves, without heaven. In hexagram seven we fight. In hexagram eight we unite. These are all superficial overviews of course of the hexagrams, but they do serve a purpose. In hexagram thirty three we retreat, in thirty four we advance, and so it goes. But this is of paramount importance that we understand that nothing can exist without its opposite.
So hexagram one starts out with an active force, and hexagram two with a passive force. Both are forces. Both accomplish their goals, although they do it by uniting with their opposite. But each hexagram within itself has its own form of power. I talked before about line one in the first two hexagrams. Now, let's look at the second line. First, recall that odd numbered lines when correct are yang, and even numbered lines, when correct are yin. So in the second line of hexagram one we have a yang incorrectly placed in the second position. However, here it is not bad, because it is centrally placed. The text says, "Dragon appearing in the field." All images have both a literal, and several, allegorical meanings. In our readings we can find the literal to be very true, or the allegorical, or both. The field can be a literal field, although the dragon is not likely to be literal, except in the sense of a form of energy. A dragon is a symbol of energy and time (something appears in time), and the field a symbol of space and material. So the yang line symbolizes the dragon, or energy, and 'appearing' symbolizes time. The field symbolizes the physical, and also space. So time and space come together, as well as energy (or spirit) and the physical. It is impossible for the physical to exist without at the same time being spiritual (sorry atheists, but it is just the facts) and it is impossible for time to exist without space and vice versa. This is just the way it is.
Since the "Book of Changes" is a book of changes, we can see how that nothing ever stays static. Absolutely nothing, which just simply could not be possible in a cold dead materialistic world. It is just not possible. Everything changes into its opposite, and it does so all of the time. Some changes being unimaginably fast, others unimaginably slow. But everything changes. In reality, the universe, and all that we observe in it, is nothing more than an illusion created by mind, which every thing is, and nothing exists outside of it. Sorry atheists, nothing can exist without mind, and sorry Christians, God cannot exist as an outside force. It is all one thing, an illusion. In the Sanskrit and in Hebrew, one of the terms for God is "Ain Sof," which literally means, 'nothing' No-thing. No thing. Nothing exists, except in the mind. All chemical and electronic actions and reactions only exist in this universal mind. And there is no outside agent pulling strings. All happens within, within no-thing, and within everything. The dragon is the cause for the field, and the field is the cause for the dragon.
So everything is sacred. Very sacred. And yet, absolutely nothing is sacred. For there is nothing out there. Absolutely nothing. And if we want to learn the I Ching, we have to understand this very basic and fundamental principle. The dragon and the field are one and the same thing, although they are opposites. And hexagrams one and two are exactly the same thing, and cannot exist apart from each other. They are an integrated whole, and one absolutely cannot exist without the other.
Our own human brains are wired exactly the same, with a left brain and a right brain. A conscious mind and a subconscious mind. We cannot have one without the other, and unfortunately humanity gives little more than lip service to the fact that both exist. But they do, and they are one and the same. They function very differently, but they also do not. Humans tend to give the left brain credit for everything, and therefore are not acting in accordance with hexagram fifteen which teaches us to be humble. But more on that later.