12 – Hexagram Twelve: P’i
StagnationHeaven and Earth move away from each other.
In the ensuing void, the small invade where the great have departed.
There is no common meeting ground, so the Superior Person must fall back on his inner worth and decline the rewards offered by the inferior invaders.
Difficult trials as you hold to your course.
ANALYSIS
It is natural to assume that, if Earth above Heaven forms the hexagram for Peace and Paradise, then the opposite configuration, with Heaven over Earth would represent the antithesis of Paradise, Hell.
Not so.
This hexagram is actually the Dark side of Peace, its unsavory byproduct, Stagnation.
In a time when most of our wants are provided, there is little need for the heroes, the artists, the great thinkers and innovators.
As they recede into the shadows, Idleness, Apathy, and Lassitude come to the forefront.
Peace has become boring, bland, unchallenging — Stagnant.
Now our attention turns to the quick fix, the instant celebrity, the fad, the one-nighter, the current buzz.
There is no room for depth.
If you are a passionate soul, you must wait for a better time to find kindred spirits. In these times, they are only curious legends, bas-relief, dead poets.
~To Not Amass~
Truthful words are not beautiful
Beautiful words are not truthful
Good men do not argue
One who argues is not good
One who knows, does not learn everything
One who learns everything, does not know
The sage does not hoard
The more done for others, the more accomplished
The more given to others, the greater the
achievement
The way of heaven gives benefit but no harm
The way of the sage accomplishes great deeds without
a claim
Tell me this ain’t so.
What’s not so?
I’m interested in all divination systems..if for nothing more than the symbolic language.
This one seemed to be appropriately contrarian – it praises inaction..