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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 1
Avoiding harmful influences leads to a blameless path.
↓ Line 5
Being open and honest while maintaining dignity brings good fortune.
↓ Temptation44
A fleeting encounter with a powerful influence. Be mindful and cautious. Keep your integrity intact.
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 1
Legge: The first line, dynamic, shows that there is no approach to what is injurious, and there is no error. Let there be a realization of the difficulty and danger of the position, and there will be no error to the end.
Wilhelm/Baynes: No relationship with what is harmful. There is no blame in this. If one remains conscious of difficulty, one remains without blame.
Blofeld: Having no contact with evil, he is blameless; therefore, even if he is involved in trouble, he remains without fault.
Liu: Avoidance of the harmful brings no blame. Awareness of difficulty -- also no blame. [This line indicates sadness and confusion but also that one can avoid them by being cautious.]
Ritsema/Karcher: Without mingling harm. In-no-way faulty. Drudgery by-consequence without fault.
Shaughnessy: There is no exchanging of harm that is not trouble; if in difficulty then there will be no trouble.
Cleary (1): If there is no association with what is harmful, one is not blameworthy. If you struggle, there will be no fault.
Cleary (2): As long as there is none of the harm that comes from association, this is not blameworthy. If one struggles, there will be no blame.
Wu: His disadvantage is having no association, but it is not an error of his doing. If he is aware of his difficult position, he will be blameless.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Shows no approach to what is injurious. Wilhelm/ Baynes: If the first line of Possession in Great Measure has no relationships, this is harmful. Blofeld: This line means that we shall avoid any intercourse with evil. Ritsema/Karcher: Without mingling harm indeed. Cleary (2): The absence of harm that comes from association. Wu: His disadvantage is having no association.
Legge: Line one, though dynamic, is at the lowest part of the figure, and has no correlate above. No external influences have as yet acted injuriously on him. Let him do as directed, and no hurtful influence will ever affect him.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: At the outset, no threats have been received and no challenges met. The man avoids harm by realizing the dangers caused by opulence and exercising appropriate restraint.
Wing: Although you possess a great deal, you have not yet been challenged in your position. Therefore, you have made no mistakes. Keep in mind that the situation is at its beginning and difficulties may lie on the road ahead. With forewarned awareness you can remain blameless.
Editor: The image suggests a situation of great potential which could be ruined through bad choices of action. Recognize the difficulty of maintaining your will under such circumstances. Wilhelm’s version of the Confucian commentary and Wu’s translations of both line and commentary don’t follow the other translators. Their interpretations seem anomalous unless the specific situation concurs.
There is merely a thin borderline between individuation as a conscious process and the disruption and dissolution of the personality -- breakdown or even psychosis -- which takes place when the unconscious gains the upper hand. (Hence also the closeness of genius and insanity and the danger of "short cut” methods of entering the unconscious, such as drugs.) The outcome of the confrontation with the numinous powers depends upon the attitude of the ego. E.C. Whitmont -- The Symbolic Quest
A. Despite difficulty, stay clear of anything which might threaten the Work.
B. Be very careful in your choices now.
Line 5
Legge: The fifth line, magnetic, shows the sincerity of its subject reciprocated by that of all the others represented in the hexagram. Let her display a proper majesty, and there will be good fortune.
Wilhelm/Baynes: He whose truth is accessible, yet dignified, has good fortune.
Blofeld: His sense of confidence enables him to be sociable and well respected. A dignified bearing is an asset (literally, good fortune).
Liu: One is confident, sociable, and dignified. Good fortune. [Proud or aggressive actions will cause trouble. One should not be hasty but wait for the proper opportunity to act.]
Ritsema/Karcher: Your conforming: mingling thus, impressing thus. Significant.
Shaughnessy: His return is crossed-like, stooped-like; in the end it is auspicious.
Cleary (1): The trust is mutual. Power is auspicious.
Cleary (2): … It is fortunate to be awesome.
Wu: His sincerity matches the confidence the people place in him. His majesty matches the authority the people accord him. This will be auspicious.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Her sincerity is reciprocated by all the others because it serves to stir and call out what is in their minds. Without a display of proper majesty they might otherwise feel too easy, and make no preparation to serve her. Wilhelm/Baynes: By his trustworthiness he kindles the will of others. The good fortune of his dignity comes from the fact that he acts easily, without prearrangements. Blofeld: His good fortune in winning the respect of others enables him to make changes without prior preparation. [This means that we shall be trusted even if we act unexpectedly.] Ritsema/Karcher: Trustworthiness uses shooting-forth purpose indeed. Impressing thus, having significance. Versatility and-also without preparing indeed. Cleary (2): Aspirations are aroused through faith ... Ease and freedom from preparation. Wu: His sincerity is to pursue what he sets out to do … Auspiciousness comes from simplicity and unpretentiousness.
Legge: Line five symbolizes the ruler. Mild sincerity is good in her, and influences her ministers and others. But a ruler must not be without an awe-inspiring majesty.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man and his people are mutually attracted to each other through unaffected sincerity. Benevolence on his part, however, must be accompanied by the proper display of majesty. Otherwise, the people will become insolent and lose their attitude of service.
Wing: Those whom you may influence are attracted to you through the bond of sincerity. Thus a truthful relationship exists. If you are overly familiar, however, attitudes may become too casual to get things accomplished. A dignified approach brings good fortune.
Editor: Psychologically, this line expresses the idea that the will of the ego to maintain the letter and spirit of the Work creates a climate of compliance among the other complexes within the psyche.
Whatever a great man does, that others follow;
Whatever he sets up as a standard, that the world follows.
Bhagavad-Gita 3: 21
A. A good example evokes virtue.
B. The ego is sincere yet firm with the psychic forces under its influence.
C. The image suggests a reciprocity of forces -- you get as good as you give.
44 Temptation
Other titles: Coming to Meet, The Symbol of Meeting, Contact, Sexual Intercourse, Encountering, Coupling, Infiltration by Inferior Men, Adultery "Contains a definite warning about a person or situation which may appear harmless but will prove dangerous." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge: Temptation shows a female who is bold and strong. It will not be good to marry such a female.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Coming to Meet. The maiden is powerful. One should not marry such a maiden.
Blofeld: Contact. Women wield the power. Do not marry. [At this time marriage would be unfortunate; the husband would almost surely be henpecked.]
Liu: Encountering. The female is forceful. One should not marry her.
Ritsema/Karcher:Coupling, womanhood invigorating. No availing-of grasping womanhood. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of the encounter of primal energies. It emphasizes that seeing-through your personal situation as the connection of objective forces is the adequate way to handle it...]
Couple , KOU: intense, driven encounter, at once transitory and enduring, that is the reflection of primal yin and yang; meet, encounter, copulate; mating animals; magnetism, gravity; to be gripped by impersonal forces. Primal forces couple in the inner world, seeding enduring new forms.
Shaughnessy: The maiden matures ; do not herewith take a maiden.
Cleary (1):Meeting, the woman is strong. Don’t get married.
Cleary (2): In meeting, the woman is strong. Do not marry the woman.
Wu:Rendezvous indicates that the woman is strong. It is not advisable to marry that woman.
The Image
Legge: The image of wind with the sky above it forms Temptation. The sovereign, in accordance with this, delivers his charges, and promulgates his announcements throughout the four quarters of the kingdom.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Under heaven, wind: the image of Coming to Meet. Thus does the prince act when disseminating his commands and proclaiming them to the four quarters of heaven.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes wind blowing across the face of the earth. When the ruler issues commands, he has them proclaimed in every corner of the world.
Liu: The wind under the sky symbolizes Encountering. The ruler issues his directives, announcing them to the four corners (throughout his country).
Ritsema/Karcher: Below heaven possessing wind. Coupling. The crown-prince uses spreading-out fate to command the four sides.
[Fate, MING: individual destiny; birth and death as limits of life; issue orders with authority; consult the gods. The ideogram: mouth and order, words with heavenly authority.]
Cleary (1): There is wind under heaven, meeting. Thus do rulers announce their directives to the four quarters.
Wu: There is wind under heaven; this is Rendezvous. Thus, the sovereign announces the royal mandate to the whole nation.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge:Temptationhas the significance of unexpectedly coming on. We see in it the magnetic line coming unexpectedly on the dynamic ones. Marriage is improper, because one so symbolized should not be long associated with. When heaven and earth meet together as here represented, all the variety of natural things becomes displayed. When a dynamic line finds itself in the central and correct position, good government will nourish all under the sky. Great indeed is the significance of what has to be done at the time indicated byTemptation.
Legge: A single, magnetic line enters at the bottom of the hexagram. This is the figure used to represent the time of year when light and heat begin to wane. In the divided line we see the symbol of the inferior man, beginning to insinuate himself into the government of the country. His influence, if unchecked, would go on to grow and fill the vacant seats with others like himself. The objective of the Judgment is to arouse resistance to this evil influence.
Temptation is defined here as a sudden and casual meeting with something inferior -- the divided line is seen as appearing all at once in the figure. The first line, magnetic in a dynamic place, becomes the symbol of a bold woman of more than questionable virtue who appears unexpectedly on the scene with the object of seducing all five of the dynamic (male) lines to herself. No one would contract a marriage with such a female, and every good servant of his country will repel the entrance into government of every officer who can be so symbolized.
On the first two sentences of the Confucian commentary, the K'ang-hsi editors say: "The magnetic line meets with (or comes unexpectedly on) the dynamic ones. The magnetic line, that is, plays the principal part. The case is like that of the minister who assumes the power of decision in place of the ruler, or of a hen crowing at sunrise -- is not the name of shameless boldness rightly applied to it?"
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Do not unite with an inferior element in your situation. ("Lead us not into temptation.")
The Superior Man formulates his code of conduct and abides by it.
Wilhelm translates the forty-fourth hexagram as Coming to Meet, and Blofeld gives it the rather startling subtitle of Sexual Intercourse. There is no doubt at all that the figure has an aura of illicit excitement associated with it which I feel is best conveyed by R. L. Wing's title of Temptation, though Adultery might also be suitable. One sometimes receives this hexagram under dramatic circumstances, and it serves to dump cold water on a potentially volatile series of choices and their equally volatile consequences.
When we consider the importance of the proper correlation of male and female lines in the I Ching, we see that the Judgment in this hexagram can psychologically depict the temptation to an adulterous union of thought and feeling. Adultery is a very useful metaphor for understanding the principles of the Work -- it means union with anything which, inI Ching terms, is not a "proper correlate.” To adulterate something is to degrade a pure substance by the addition of an inferior ingredient. The image of a temptation to adulterate the Work in this hexagram is therefore a warning in the strongest possible terms that you are vulnerable to some inferior choices.
Consequently by marriages not only the earths but also the heavens are filled with inhabitants ... The earth indeed may be filled with inhabitants by fornications and adulteries as well as by marriages; but not heaven. The reason is that hell is from adulteries, and heaven from marriages ... When the procreations of the human race are effected through marriages in which the holy love of good and truth from the Lord reigns, then it is done on earth as in the heavens, and the kingdom of the Lord on earth corresponds to the kingdom of the Lord in the heavens. Swedenborg -- Apocalypse Explained
The concept of the hieros gamos, or holy marriage, is a ubiquitous archetype found in every tradition rooted in the Perennial Philosophy. If this "marriage” symbolizes a proper union or reunion of previously separated elements, then it follows that the opposite situation: a union of mismatched entities would be symbolized by adultery. To recreate a primordial gestalt of perfection out of an exploded multiverse of mixed forces demands that all of the original pairs of opposites become properly matched correlates. Although any two opposite genders might feel a mutual attraction, there is really only one opposite which is an appropriate spouse. In the realm of human relationships this is evoked in the concept of the Soul Mate. Esoterically speaking, every polarized force in the multiverse has its proper correlate; it follows that the Work (in its largest conception) cannot be completed until each is reunited with each.
Indeed every act of sexual intercourse which has occurred between those unlike one another is adultery... Members of a race usually have associated with those of like race. So spirit mingles with spirit, and thought consorts with thought and light shares with light. If you are born a human being, it is the human being who will love you. If you become a spirit, it is the spirit which will be joined to you. If you become thought, it is thought which will mingle with you. If you become light, it is the light which will share with you. The Gnostic Gospel of Philip
The point is important enough to bear repeating: psycho-spiritually interpreted, sexual intercourse and marriage symbolize the possibility of a unification of forces. Conversely, union with an improper correlate means adulteration of the Work. This is the esoteric meaning underlying the Hindu caste system:
When (unrighteousness) overwhelms the family, O Krishna The women of the family become corrupt; and when, O Krishna, the women are corrupt, there arises a mixing of castes. Bhagavad-Gita 1: 41
The "mixing of castes” is, in the symbolism of theI Ching, the union of improper correlate forces. ("Women,” as we have seen, usually symbolize the emotional and feeling aspects of the psyche.) We readily recognize that the above quotation from the Bhagavad-Gita accurately reflects the symbolism of the forty-fourth hexagram, reiterating the great truth that when emotions make the choices, the unity of the psyche is compromised.
Added notes, 9/7/10: Sometimes this hexagram is received in answer to queries related more to a fated (karmic) situation than anything normally regarded as “temptation.” In these cases Ritsema/Karcher’s expanded notes on the ideograms are useful guides: “… gripped by impersonal forces. Primal forces couple in the inner world, seeding enduring new forms… This hexagram describes your situation in terms of the encounter of primal energies. It emphasizes that seeing-through your personal situation as the connection of objective forces is the adequate way to handle it...”