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Wealth14
Abundance is present. Use your resources wisely and share generously. Celebrate success with humility and grace, knowing that true wealth comes from balance and integrity.
↓ Line 2
Preparedness and capability allow for successful undertakings.
↓ Line 4
Maintaining clear boundaries and self-awareness leads to a blameless life.
↓ Grace22
Refinement and grace enhance your presence. Focus on beauty and elegance in actions, but do not let appearance overshadow substance. Simplicity often holds the truest value.
Original Readings
14 Wealth
Other titles: Possession in Great Measure, The Symbol of Great Possession, Sovereignty, Great Having, Great Possessing, The Great Possessor, Great Wealth, Abundance, Having What is Great, "Often means things other than material possessions or achievement. Count your blessings for they are many." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge:Wealth means great progress and success.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Possession in Great Measure. Supreme success.
Blofeld: He who possesses much -- supreme success!
Liu: Great Possessions. Great Success.
Ritsema/Karcher: Great Possessing, Spring Growing. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of your relation to an overriding concern or central idea. It emphasizes that organizing all your efforts around this idea is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy: The Great Possession: Prime receipt.
Cleary (1): In great possession are creation and development.
Cleary (2): Great possession is great success.
Wu: Great Wealth is primordial and pervasive.
The Image
Legge: Fire over Heaven -- the image of Wealth. The superior man represses evil and nurtures virtue in accordance with the benevolent will of heaven.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Fire in heaven above: the image of Possession in Great Measure. Thus the superior man curbs evil and furthers good, and thereby obeys the benevolent will of heaven.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes fire in the heavens. [When the trigram for heaven is above, whatever is below may be separated from it; when it is below, it indicates fusion or intermixture with what is above. The significance here is that the splendor of a very great man lights up the heavens.] The Superior Man suppresses those who are evil and upholds the virtuous. Most gladly he accords with heaven and carries out its commands.
Liu: Fire over heaven symbolizes Great Possessions. The superior man suppresses evil and honors virtue, and thus follows the will of heaven and waits upon destiny.
Ritsema/Karcher: Fire located above heaven. Great Possessing. A chun tzu uses terminating hate to display improvement. A chun tzu uses yielding-to heaven to relinquish fate.
Cleary (1): Fire is in the sky;great possession.Thus does the superior person stop evil and promote good, obeying heaven and accepting its order.
Cleary (2): … Leaders obey nature and accept its order by stopping the bad and promoting the good.
Wu: Fire above and heaven below form Great Wealth.Thus the jun zi suppresses the evil and promotes the good; he abides by the will of heaven to enrich his life.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge:Wealth shows the magnetic line in the central ruler's place, and honored by the dynamic lines above and below. The figure is composed of the trigrams of Strength and Clarity. The central line of Clarity responds to the central line of Strength, eventuating in timely action. This indicates great progress and success.
Legge: Wealth means "great havings," and symbolizes a kingdom, family or individual in a state of prosperity. The danger in such a position arises from the pride it is likely to engender. Here however, everything is against that: the place of honor is occupied by a magnetic line, so that the ruler will be humble, and all the dynamic lines will respond to her with sympathetic allegiance. The ruler's seat is in the central position of the trigram of Clarity, and hence her strength is directed by intelligence, and all her actions are timely, like the seasons of heaven.
Fire above the sky shines far -- symbolizing the vastness of the territory of wealth. To develop virtue and repress evil is in accordance with the will of heaven, which has given to all men a nature fitted for goodness.
Cleary (2): All states of being have this essence inherent in them and are indeed made of this essence, but all states other than that of complete enlightenment are out of harmony with this essence in some way. Buddhahood is when you accord with this essence.
Wu: As the sun shines brightly high in the sky, both the good and the bad will be exposed. The responsibility of the jun zi is to discriminate between them. He acts in accordance with the nature of goodness (the will of heaven) to enrich his life.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: The greatest kind of Wealth accrues from furthering the Work.
The Superior Man manages his forces in accordance with the goals of the Work.
Wealthis the inverse of the preceding figure, Union of Forces. If the thirteenth hexagram depicts a process of uniting, the fourteenth might be seen as the completion of that process. To have one's inner forces correctly united is indeed Possession in Great Measure, which is the title that Wilhelm gives to this figure.
It is emphasized in the Image that this Wealth must be administered in accordance with the "benevolent will of heaven,” which is to say: the principles of the Work must always guide one's choices if one is not to lose equilibrium and become pauperized by illusion.
The superior man considers a rich possession of moral principles to be honor, and peace in his person to be wealth. Chou Tun-I
Line 2
Legge: The second line, dynamic, shows a large wagon with its load. In whatever direction advance is made, there will be no error.
Wilhelm/Baynes: A big wagon for loading. One may undertake something. No blame.
Blofeld: There are large supply wagons. [Apparently we need not fear failure through lack of resources.] If there is some desired goal (or destination), setting out (to attain it) will involve no error.
Liu: Loading the big wagon. Undertaking without blame. [One can expect to achieve his undertaking and acquire property.]
Ritsema/Karcher: The great chariot used to carry. Possessing directed going. Without fault.
Shaughnessy: The great cart is used to carry; there is someplace to go; there is no trouble.
Cleary (1): Using a great car for transport, when there is a place to go there is no fault.
Cleary (2): Using a large car for transport, there is a place to go, etc.
Wu: To haul in a cart to a certain destination is without fault.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: This refers to the virtue accumulated by the subject of the line, so that he will suffer no loss in the conduct of affairs. Wilhelm/ Baynes: Accumulating in the middle; thus no harm results. Blofeld: Some place where supplies have been accumulated will escape from danger. Ritsema/Karcher: Amassing centering, not destroying indeed. Cleary (2): If the load is balanced you will not fail. Wu: Means to accumulate at the center with no failure.
Legge: The dynamic second line has his proper correlate in the fifth line ruler of the figure, and will subordinate his strength to his humility.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: Accumulated virtues and competent helpers enable the man to assume great responsibilities. Like a huge wagon ready for loading, he subordinates strength to humility.
Wing: You not only have tremendous resources to work with, but you also possess the wherewithal to coordinate these assets and make them work for you. Such ingenuity will allow you to fearlessly attempt ambitious endeavors.
Editor: A wagon is a "vessel" which contains something as well as a vehicle which can go somewhere. Thus the image suggests the power to accomplish a task or reach a goal.
If a man worships the Self only as his true state, his work does not perish, for whatever he desires that he gets from that Self. Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
A. The image favors progress in furthering the Work.
B. A receptive vehicle.
C. An accumulation of virtue permits progress.
Line 4
Legge: The fourth line, dynamic, shows its subject keeping his great resources under restraint. There will be no error.
Wilhelm/Baynes: He makes a difference between himself and his neighbor. No blame.
Blofeld: Pride is not involved -- no error!
Liu: He distinguishes between himself and his friends. This brings no blame.
Ritsema/Karcher: In-no-way one's preponderance . Without fault.
Shaughnessy: It is not his fullness ; there is no trouble.
Cleary (1): Repudiate self-aggrandizement and there is no fault.
Cleary (2): Negating self-inflation, there is no blame.
Wu: He who keeps his strength under restraint will not be humiliated.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: His wisdom discriminates clearly what he ought to do. Wilhelm/Baynes: He is clear, discriminating, and intelligent. Blofeld: Implies the possession of very great discriminatory powers. [Such as the power to recognize how very little of our success is really due to our own merits.]Ritsema/Karcher: Brightness differentiating clearly indeed. Cleary (2): Because the understanding is clear. Wu: Because he exercises clear discriminations.
Legge: The strength of line four is tempered by his position in a magnetic place. Hence he will do no injury to the mild ruler just above him.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man discriminates clearly what should be done. He keeps his strength under control, yields not to competition and envy, and does not injure the mild ruler.
Wing: Quell your pride and envy and do not attempt to compete with others or emulate those in power. Give your full attention to the business at hand and you will avoid mistakes.
Anthony: When we argue, we engage and compete with other people’s inferiors. We should remain disengaged. Even when we mentally argue with or inwardly look at the problem, we remain engaged, thinking of ways to deal with their inferiors. Such looking to the side causes us to deviate from our own direction.
Editor: Wilhelm and Liu both render this line in terms of making a distinction between oneself and others. The distinction to be made is to see the difference between the minister in line four and the ruler in line five -- i.e., don't overstep your authority or aspire above your proper place. The line can also refer to co-dependence to other people's illusions. You have your own unique path to follow: you cannot acquiesce to the unenlightened expectations of others without doing damage to yourself, to them, and to the Work. Choices like this are often extremely painful. This, however, does not absolve the aspirant from doing what the Work demands.
Better is one's own dharma, though imperfectly performed, than the dharma of another well performed. Better is death in the doing of one's own dharma: the dharma of another is fraught with peril. Bhagavad-Gita 3:35
A. Follow your own path and let others follow theirs.
B. The situation calls for discrimination and restraint.
C. Differentiate the difference between a superior and an inferior element in the situation.
22 Grace
Other titles: Grace, The Symbol of Decoration, Elegance, Gracefulness, Luxuriance, Adorning, Public Image, Adornment, Beauty, Conceit, Vanity, Veneer, Façade, Manners, Embellishment, Superficiality, Superficial Appearances, Form vs. Function, "Art," Ego-trips, "Often refers to conceit, vanity or beauty. It stresses that the content is more important than the outward appearance." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge: Persona should be given its due, but there is no advantage in allowing it to advance and take the lead.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Grace has success. In small matters it is favorable to undertake something.
Blofeld: Elegance. Success! Some small advantage can be derived from having a particular goal (or destination). [The implication is that the advantage is not sufficient to make it worth while to seek that goal or destination unless no special difficulty or inconvenience is involved. The arrangement of the lines in this hexagram is very similar to that in the previous one, but it is adjudged much more suitable. The general idea is that, like nature, we should conform to a regular and well ordered pattern of behavior which, since we are human beings and not mere animals, involves a high degree of refinement. From the point of view of divination, it would seem that this is a time to watch carefully so as to learn how those involved in the situation think and behave, the better to influence them for the good when the opportunity arises.]
Liu:Gracefulness, success. Small undertakings benefit.
Ritsema/Karcher: Adorning , Growing. The small, Harvesting: possessing directed going. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of its outward presentation. It emphasizes that building intrinsic value by embellishing appearance and displaying valor is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy: Luxuriance : Receipt; a little beneficial to have someplace to go.
Cleary (1):Adornment is developmental. It is beneficial to go somewhere in a minimal way.
Cleary (2):Adornment is successful. It is beneficial to go somewhere in a small way.
Wu:Adornment is pervasive and shows small advantage of an undertaking. [Adornment does not change the nature of what it adorns, but merely makes what it adorns appear more attractive. In other words, the change is mostly superficial but not substantive…]
The Image
Legge: Fire at the foot of the mountain -- the image of Persona. Thus the superior man adorns his rule with grace, but makes important decisions in conformance with higher laws.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Fire at the foot of the mountain: the image of Grace. Thus does the superior man proceed when clearing up current affairs. But he dare not decide controversial issues in this way.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes fire at the foot of a mountain. The Superior Man, desiring to ensure the enlightened functioning of the various departments of state, dare not make light decisions regarding legal matters. [The component trigrams, fire below mountain, suggest a brilliance which cannot be perceived from afar. The Chinese commentators go on to suggest that this symbolizes a firm and somewhat severe exterior which hides brilliance and the beauty within. For purposes of divination, this should be taken as a pattern for our comportment in the matter at issue.]
Liu: Fire illuminates the base of the mountain symbolizing Gracefulness. Thus the superior man clarifies ordinary affairs, but does not judge lawsuits.
Ritsema/Karcher: Below mountain possessing fire. Adorning. A chun tzu uses brightening the multitudinous standards without daring to sever litigating.
Cleary (1): There is fire below the mountain, adorning it. Thus do superior people clarify governmental affairs, without presumptuous adjudication. [What superior people see in this is that just as the light of a fire below a mountain is not great, when people are lacking in capacity their vision is not far reaching; therefore the superior people administer and clarify the simple matters of governmental affairs, and do not act presumptuously in difficult matters of adjudication… Not judging presumptuously thus has the meaning of respect for life.]
Wu: There is fire at the foot of the mountain; this is Adornment. The jun zi brings openness to administering civil affairs, but refrains from judging cases in criminal litigation.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: In Persona we see the magnetic central line ornamenting the dynamic lines of the lower trigram, and hence it is said that ornament should have free course. On the other hand, the dynamic top line ornaments the magnetic lines of the upper trigram, and hence it is said that there will be little advantage if ornament is allowed to advance and take the lead. The elegance and intelligence of the lower trigram is regulated by the restraint of the upper trigram. This suggests the observances which adorn human society. We observe the ornamental figures of the sky, and thereby ascertain the changes of the seasons. We observe the ceremonial customs of society, and understand how transformation is accomplished in the world.
Legge: Persona is the symbol of what is ornamental and of the act of adorning. As there is adornment in nature, so should there be in society, but its place is secondary to that which is substantial.
The K'ang-hsi editors say that the magnetic line coming and ornamenting the two dynamic lines in the lower trigram shows how substantiality should have the benefit of ornamentation. The dynamic line ornamenting the two magnetic lines in the upper trigram shows how ornamentation should be restrained by substantiality. Ornament has its use, but it should be kept in check.
The figures of the sky are all the heavenly bodies in their relative positions and various movements, producing day and night, heat and cold, etc. The observances of society are the ceremonies and performances which regulate and beautify the intercourse of men.
"A mountain," says Ch'eng-tzu, "is a place where we find grass, trees, and a hundred other things. A fire burning below it throws up its light, and brings them all out in beauty. This gives the idea of ornament, or being ornamented. The various processes of government are small matters, and elegance and ornament help their course, but great matters of judgment demand the simple, unadorned truth.”
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: There's nothing wrong with showing a little style, but don't become so identified with a role that it makes your decisions for you.
The Superior Man displays wit and charm when that is appropriate, but relies upon shrewd discernment when making serious choices.
Confucius points out the correct attitude for this hexagram in his third sentence -- the elegant intelligence, or "brilliant wit" of the lower trigram is being "sat on" by the mountain of the upper trigram. Brilliant wit is often just an "ornament" to make one look clever in the company of others. Like seasoning on food, a little bit ofPersona or ornamentation is life-enhancing, but too much curry powder overwhelms the meal.
Jung's conception of the Persona points out the fact that it is a major vehicle for the complexes to express themselves under the guise of social interaction:
(The Persona) is only a mask for the collective psyche, a mask that feigns individuality, and tries to make others and oneself believe that one is individual, whereas one is simply playing a part in which the collective psyche speaks. Jung -- The Relations between the Ego and the Unconscious
For an urban shipping clerk to wear cowboy clothes may be a legitimate expression of his personality, or it may be the only outlet available for repressed portions of his psyche. When he begins driving a pickup truck and frequenting Country-Western bars we might suspect that his role is playing him and the real Self is being masked by excessive ornamentation orPersona.
The person cannot be more than an instrument for the manifestation of the self. But people get so attached to their mask that they cannot free themselves from it any more ... They make a king out of the servant and separate themselves from their true being. They force their higher self into exile, into the unconscious. Elisabeth Haich --Initiation
To receive this hexagram without changing lines suggests that perhaps you are more focused on form than meaning, or that superficial appearances are concealing something more substantive in the situation. Look deeper – what’s really going on?