16 – Sixteen Yü / Enthusiasm
Thunder comes resounding out of the Earth:
Similar thunder roars up from the masses when the Superior Person strikes a chord in their hearts.
Whip up enthusiasm, rally your forces, and move boldly forward.
SITUATION ANALYSIS:
There is a rhythmic force, a world music, that lives deep in the Unconscious of each of us.
It’s a primitive drumbeat, a shaking rattle, a tribal chant that invokes the primal self to rise up and join the dance.
This is the enthusiasm that is generated now.
Not rhetorical persuasion, not a play on the emotions, but a charismatic, irresistible Call of the Wild.
Confucius said that the person who could comprehend this could ‘rule the world as though it were spinning in his hand.’
This is a time for instinct, not intellect — the Thunder from the Beneath.
Six in the third place means:
You wait for a compelling signal, yet ignore the knock at the gate.
Missed opportunity breeds regret.
Enthusiasm that looks upward creates remorse.
Hesitation brings remorse.
This line is the opposite of the preceding one: the latter bespeaks self-reliance, while here there is enthusiastic looking up to a leader. If a man hesitates too long, this also will bring remorse. The right moment for approach must be seized: only then will he do the right thing.
62 – Sixty-Two. Hsiao Kuo / Lying Low
Thunder high on the Mountain, active passivity:
The Superior Person is unsurpassed in his ability to remain small.
In a time for humility, he is supremely modest.
In a time of mourning, he uplifts with somber reverence.
In a time of want, he is resourcefully frugal.
When a bird flies too high, its song is lost.
Rather than push upward now, it is best to remain below.
This will bring surprising good fortune, if you keep to your course.
SITUATION ANALYSIS:
There is no profit to striving here.
To be content with oneself is the greatest success imaginable.
The enlightened person has nothing to prove to himself or others, and thus may always operate from a position of sincerity, with no pretense or posturing.
His humility is guileless simplicity.
His mourning is selfless compassion.
His frugality is an unshakeable faith that he is but a conduit, letting what is needed flow through him to others, with no loss to himself.
