否
GUA 12 · PI
SEPARATING
Overall Image (大象)
Heaven and earth do not interact
Separating
The noble young one, accordingly,
conserves virtue and avoids trouble
Not allowing himself luxury in the form of compensation▼
Overall Image (大象)
Heaven and earth do not interact
Separating
The noble young one, accordingly,
conserves virtue and avoids trouble
Not allowing himself luxury in the form of compensation
A sacred kind of sadness and heartbreaking beauty accompany the fall. A cold and
indolent sky torments a field of parched grain. You envy those geese going south,
going their own separate ways. The parasites and the rot do have their proper places.
Half of the healthiest forests are death and decay. Not growing is not a stagnation.
Nations, cultures and civilizations have their autumns as well, wherein the parasites
might well belong, when decay might be a good thing. But there is not much here
for a sage or great leader. They may become uninvolved and withdraw to conserve
their resources, not taking bait, not giving wrongness something to rally and live for.
Main Judgment (Separating) (卦辞)
Separating*
oneself from inferior people*
Those not worth the young noble’s loyalty
Greatness departs, smallness arrives▼
Main Judgment (Separating) (卦辞)
Separating*
oneself from inferior people*
Those not worth the young noble’s loyalty
Greatness departs, smallness arrives
Greatness is done here. The small move in and seize power. All intelligence leaves
the masses. Now petty tyrants, passive aggressives, parasites and looters take over
the kingdom. Scavengers gnaw on what’s left. Do not fear the wolves here: selection
brought evolution this far. Beware instead of sheep in sheep’s clothing. The wolves
might be their salvation. Priorities now are established by polls, and values by a vote.
Rules will stand in for ethics. Majorities stand just as ready as any dictator could be
to play the part of the tyrant. The will of the people is only peer pressure writ large,
like mob rule but in slower motion. A world goes numb as the work of our glorious
progress is left to decay and gravity. The middle ground is barren, more tedium than
toil. How many times have we done this now? How many cultures collapsed has this
one oracle seen? And yet this is how things should be. The things which have failed
to merit survival fail to survive; things which are not sustainable cannot be sustained.
How evolved and smart can we be and not learn this? So what are young nobles to
do here? Just leave things? Or leave things which can be rediscovered next spring?
Commentary on the Judgment (彖传)
Separating oneself from inferior people
(Who) are not worth a noble young one’s loyalty
Greatness departs, smallness arrives:
When this occurs heaven (and) earth do not interact
And so the myriad beings do not communicate
High (and) low do not interact
And so all under heaven lack government
Within (is) darkness and without (is) light
Within (is) weakness and without (is) strength
Within (are) the common people and without (is) the noble young one
The common people’s principles prevail
The noble young one’s principles fade▼
Commentary on the Judgment (彖传)
Separating oneself from inferior people
(Who) are not worth a noble young one’s loyalty
Greatness departs, smallness arrives:
When this occurs heaven (and) earth do not interact
And so the myriad beings do not communicate
High (and) low do not interact
And so all under heaven lack government
Within (is) darkness and without (is) light
Within (is) weakness and without (is) strength
Within (are) the common people and without (is) the noble young one
The common people’s principles prevail
The noble young one’s principles fade
Key Words (关键词)
Disjunction, discontinuity, disengagement, pulling apart, alienation, indifference▼
Key Words (关键词)
Disjunction, discontinuity, disengagement, pulling apart, alienation, indifference
Denial, negation, division, schism, pettiness, aloofness, apathy, numbness, decay Stagnation, entropy, disorder, decadence, standstill; to misunderstand, disapprove Ignorance, small-mindedness, lowest common denominators, leaders out of touch Stratification, abstraction, disintegrity, disarray, dissonance, disharmony, discord, Non-participation, non-cooperation, negating and the need to negate, wrongness
Structure & Connections
Structure Class
Sovereign Gua, 7th Moon (Sep)
This classification indicates the hexagram's role in the 12 Sovereign Cycle (Earthly Branches) or its structural family.
Astrology
note:Neptune in Air
planet:Neptune
element:Air
Qabalah
note:Briah in Yetzirah
sphere:Briah
The Lines
11st • YangPulling up thatch grass roots
And with this, another cluster
Persistence is promising and satisfying▼
1
1st • YangPulling up thatch grass roots
And with this, another cluster
Persistence is promising and satisfying
12.1x Pulling up thatch grass, persistence (is) promising:
The purpose remains noble
Things just begin to feel and go wrong. Already a cluster of citizens know it, but it isn’t the old and wise ones: it’s mostly young sprouts, and a handful of older artists and poets. The network begins underground, to counter the culture. As if informed by some hidden connections, they begin to uproot and then to transplant themselves. The fabric of things connected already makes up in microcosm a new, little culture and seed for the mulch of the past. Radical means from the root, and so it is true that this group gets carried away before wisdom has come to full bloom. But what they leave behind is in an advanced decay and away is where they should go, a homeless band of refugees, not yet wise to tactics and stratagems, yet mature enough to get out from under a failing system. The tribe they now belong to is far, far older than this.
22nd • YangEmbracing servitude
The common one’s promise
Is the mature one’s worthless fulfillment▼
2
2nd • YangEmbracing servitude
The common one’s promise
Is the mature one’s worthless fulfillment
12.2x The mature one’s worthless fulfillment:
Avoid the herd’s distractions
The decadent civilization makes up a world all its own. Its principles and its truths will define themselves into existence and just hang there with nothing to stand on, with only a little past and a little less future, in some void between heaven and earth. Its laws are its order and its coin its religion. A sage will lose most of his family, and mature human beings will question their own mental health. The people are sold on their sins and then get sold on salvation. And whoever holds praise and forgiveness is master. Want some roundabout power? Establish your place in a victimized class, then come forth to claim special privilege. The system is rigged, there is no way to get free here. So how do you win with self-rule forbidden, when you prize a clear conscience above the rules of the game? You do a great job choosing your battles.
33rd • YangEmbracing the unworthy▼
3
3rd • YangEmbracing the unworthy
12.3x Embracing the unworthy:
The position is not appropriate
We all have heard some story of a man who loses his life while saving a dog or a chicken. Society does this too when it loses sight of objectives and tries to move past selection. They will scold: Don’t be judgmental, or ask: Why be so negative? All things are relatives to all other things, in the interest of fairness, all things are just being equal. Buried under this hooey is a primate’s cortex that begs them to stop and look to first needs first. But the lowest common denominator does not want to hurt its brain, so looters and leaders weigh the same, principles go unchallenged, excellence is perversely rejected and authority cannot even question itself. Simply existing has the same value as working a lifetime on merit. Sometimes there is a great weakness in numbers. You must have a value to say that this is not worth it.
44th • YangHaving higher purpose is not a mistake
But this kind of thing differs from happiness▼
4
4th • YangHaving higher purpose is not a mistake
But this kind of thing differs from happiness
12.4x Having higher purpose is not a mistake:
The intentions (are) carried out
There are higher laws than the kingdom’s, higher mandates and purposes than kings either give or follow. There may never be social pressure to step up or reach up and grasp these. Almost all the rewards are given for being some bland kind of normal, so praise and support will not be pouring in. But deep inside the mammalian brain, a mind wants its social support. Not selling out has a steep price as well. The person of conscience, the one who is able to give or withdraw consent, who claims the right to civilly disobey, who looks more often to the next generations than to the next appointment, is not overwhelmed with rewards. The transformation of humankind is called the great work and not the big fun. But higher purpose is not about gain, it is that you must give and can’t stop. Happiness will measure things elsewhere.
55th • YangEasing out of separation
The mature human being’s promise:
This passes, that passes
As surely as mulberry seedlings▼
5
5th • YangEasing out of separation
The mature human being’s promise:
This passes, that passes
As surely as mulberry seedlings
12.5x The mature human being’s promise:
The position (is) correct (and) appropriate
The end of a difficult time is approaching. What has rotted and decayed begins to be known as compost and mulch. Now the small things that are growing are the young and their hopes for a better tomorrow. As each full set of seasons will bring its own lessons to bear, and several bring history’s teachings, the flexible young one is now given learnings to lean on, about what went wrong in the past. Against the ill winds that we now know are out there, we stake our hopes for a future. Mulberry seedlings might pass in a couple of ways, but we want them to outgrow the need for the stakes and this means living and breathing, provisional plans, a healthy mix of the firm and the flexible. Later a grove of strong trees might even change the climate. For today through twenty years hence, life is reconstitution: the roots are fed well enough now.
6Top • YangOvercoming the separation
At first denial, then rejoicing▼
6
Top • YangOvercoming the separation
At first denial, then rejoicing
12.6x Separation ends (and is) then overcome:
(But) how could this be sustained?
The wheel of fortune has come back around, spun off a new group of bright-eyed young sages, carried away an old load of dimwits, with their baggage of hope and despair, their little deaths and rebirths. Neither will joy last forever, although from what it has just undergone it can learn to last a bit longer, assuming some lessons in expectation and gratitude. The good and the true will not hold themselves erect. A higher order is endless work, as life is work against heat-death and falling apart. Have we learned yet why up and down are so oft interchanged? To look first for the longer trend and a larger arrangement? And above all, why do we seek our security in things that we don’t think will change? Change is so foreign and scary to people they would choose endless boredom, or endless damnation, if only these be eternal.
Reference in Original Text & Resources
This content is derived from Bradford Hatcher's THE BOOK OF CHANGES: Yijing, Word By Word.
Original text for Hexagram 12 begins on Page 132-140.
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