Today: “A reckoning is at hand.  Justice will have its due.  Prepare for a challenging time.” From the I Ching

A reckoning is at hand.  Justice will have its due.  Prepare for a challenging time.

Tao Te Ching – Verse 75 – When taxes are too high, people go hungry. When the government is too intrusive, people lose their spirit

 Today: “Host those who have been your enemies, respect those who have slandered you, and communicate with those who have been all your life angry with you.” – Yogi Bhajan

Previous reading: “In this time, as danger approaches, it is important not to take premature action, especially hostile ones. Wait in contemplation to see more clearly more viable and less costly alternatives.”

Previous previous reading: “Running headlong into a quagmire, despite your formidable power, stop and contemplate the situation. Do not proceed until a viable solution has emerged. This will allow you to merge with the cosmic flow, resolving all resistance.”

 Related Posts

Meditation: LA046 – 780614 – Hari Shabad Meditation – Use the Wind to Produce Trance and Dissolve Negativity

Meditation: Milarepa

Meditation: Breath to Conquer Time Space and Destiny

Meditation: LA088 790222 Egyptian Meditation

Meditation: Magic Mantra-19760426

Read the text from Richard Wilhelm's, Thomas Cleary's, Brian Arnold's and other translations of the I Ching
21 – Twenty-One.  Shih Ho / Biting Through

The merciless, searing judgement of Lightning fulfills the warning prophecies of distant Thunder.
Sage rulers preserved Justice by clearly defining the laws, and by delivering the penalties decreed.

Though unpleasant, it is best to let justice have its due.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

A terrible reckoning is due.
A wrong will be righted — and even if it has been you who has been wronged, you will tremble at the terrible power of Justice untempered by Mercy.
Pray for your oppressor, that his punishment will fit his crime.

  yang  
  yin above: Li / The Clinging, Fire
  yang
 
  yin  
  yin below: Chên / The Arousing, Thunder
  yang
This hexagram represents an open mouth (cf. hexagram 27) with an obstruction (in the fourth place) between the teeth. As a result the lips cannot meet. To bring them together one must bite energetically through the obstacle. Since the hexagram is made up of the trigrams for thunder and for lightning, it indicates how obstacles are forcibly removed in nature. Energetic biting through overcomes the obstacle that prevents joining of the lips; the storm with its thunder and lightning overcomes the disturbing tension in nature. Recourse to law and penalties overcomes the disturbances of harmonious social life caused by criminals and slanderers. The theme of this hexagram is a criminal lawsuit, in contradistinction to that of Sung, CONFLICT (6), which refers to civil suits.

Red squirrel

Squirrel – Ede Holland 2009 – photo Lex van den Bos

THE JUDGEMENT

BITING THROUGH has success.
It is favorable to let justice be administered.

When an obstacle to union arises, energetic biting through brings success. This is true in all situations. Whenever unity cannot be established, the obstruction is due to a talebearer and traitor who is interfering and blocking the way. To prevent permanent injury, vigorous measures must be taken at once. Deliberate obstruction of this sort does not vanish of its own accord. Judgement and punishment are required to deter or obviate it.
However, it is important to proceed in the right way. The hexagram combines Li, clarity, and Chên, excitement. Li is yielding, Chên is hard. Unqualified hardness and excitement would be too violent in meting out punishment; unqualified clarity and gentleness would be too weak. The two together create the just measure. It is of moment that the man who makes the decisions (represented by the fifth line) is gentle by nature, while he commands respect by his conduct in his position.

 

Lightning and fire

THE IMAGE

Thunder and lightning:
The image of BITING THROUGH.
Thus the kings of former times made firm the laws
Through clearly defined penalties.

Penalties are the individual applications of the law. The laws specify the penalties. Clarity prevails when mild and severe penalties are clearly differentiated, according to the nature of the crimes. This is symbolized by the clarity of lightning. The law is strengthened by a just application of penalties. This is symbolized by the terror of thunder. This clarity and severity have the effect of instilling respect; it is not that the penalties are ends in themselves. The obstructions in the social life of man increase when there is lack of clarity in the penal codes and slackness in executing them. The only way to strengthen the law is to make it clear and to make penalties certain and swift.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.