Balanced Growth

Pairing (anew) & Balancing (again) ☳ 震 51 & ☶ 艮 52°

πάντα χωρεῖ καὶ οὐδὲν μένει

• Everything changes and nothing stands still.
• As quoted by Plato in Cratylus, 402a

ὁδὸς ἄνω κάτω μία καὶ ὡυτή

• The road up and the road down is one and the same.
• Fragment 60

συνάψιες ὅλα καὶ οὐχ ὅλα, συμφερόμενον διαφερόμενον, συνᾷδον διᾷδον, καὶ ἐκ πάντων ἓν καὶ ἐξ ἑνὸς πάντα.

• Couples are wholes and not wholes, what agrees disagrees, the concordant is discordant. From all things one and from one all things.
• Fragment 10
• Variant translation: From out of all the many particulars comes oneness, and out of oneness come all the many particulars.

κόσμον τόνδε, τὸν αὐτὸν ἁπάντων, οὔτε τις θεῶν οὐτε ἀνθρώπων ἐποίησεν, ἀλλ' ἦν ἀεὶ καὶ ἔστιν καὶ ἔσται πῦρ ἀείζωον, ἁπτόμενον μέτρα καὶ ἀποσβεννύμενον μέτρα

• This universe, which is the same for all, has not been made by any god or man, but it always has been, is, and will be an ever-living fire, kindling itself by regular measures and going out by regular measures.
• Fragment 30
• Variant translations:
  The world, an entity out of everything, was created by neither gods nor men, but was, is and will be eternally living fire, regularly becoming ignited and regularly becoming extinguished.
  This world . . . ever was, and is, and shall be, ever-living Fire, in measures being kindled and in measure going out.
• That which always was,
  and is, and will be everlasting fire,
  the same for all, the cosmos,
  made neither by god nor man,
  replenishes in measure
  as it burns away.
• Translated by Brooks Haxton

αἰὼν παῖς ἐστι παίζων, πεττεύων· παιδὸς ἡ βασιληίη.

• Eternity is a child playing, playing checkers; the kingdom belongs to a child.
• Quoted by Hippolytus, Refutation of all heresies, IX, 9, 4 (Fragment 52), as translated in Reality (1994), by Carl Avren Levenson and Jonathan Westphal, p. 10
• Time is a game played beautifully by children.
  • As quoted in Fragments (2001) translated by Brooks Haxton
• Lifetime is a child at play, moving pieces in a game. Kingship belongs to the child.
  • As quoted in The Art and Thought of Heraclitus (1979) translated by Charles H. Kahn

ἐὰν μὴ ἔλπηται ἀνέλπιστον, οὐκ ἐξευρήσει

• He who does not expect will not find out the unexpected, for it is trackless and unexplored.
• Fragment 18, as quoted in The Art and Thought of Heraclitus: An Edition of the Fragments (1981) edited by Charles H. Kahn, p. 105

Ἡράκλειτος, Herakleitos; c. 535 BC – 475 BC

➥ around the same epoch 伯陽* (李耳, 李聃, Lǐ Dān, 老聃, Lǎo Dān, i.e. 老子) allegedly lived as he is said to be a contemporary of  孔夫子 Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng" (551–479 BC) 

“For as one views the activities about one in every nature, as in the very laws of nature itself, one sees that it is a changing world.

NOTHING stands still:

• it either advances through the laws that are applicable in its own stage or state of development,
• or is pushed aside by the general law of deterioration;
• that what is not in activity 一 or expanding in energies 一 becomes changed for the entrance into those influences as ye call separation or death, or the rebirth or the growth; dependent upon the manner of its application or use." 

Edgar Cayce reading 1499-1

Nemo Regere Potest, Nisi qui et Regi

No one can rule unless he can be ruled

Résultats de traduction

Why, then, making use of a barren mountain 艮 for the throne?

° Winter (19-XVIII-XIX) 51/52 & Spring/Summer 52 (re)collection

* The earliest certain reference to the present figure of 老子 is found in the 1st‑century BC 太史公書 Records of the Grand Historian collected by the historian 司馬遷 Sima Qian from earlier accounts. In one account, 老子 was said to be a contemporary of 孔夫子 Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng" (551–479 BC) Confucius during the 6th or 5th century BC. His surname was Li and his personal name was Er or Dan. He was an official in the imperial archives and wrote a book in two parts before departing to the west. In another, 老子 was a different contemporary of Confucius titled Lao Laizi (老莱子) and wrote a book in 15 parts. In a third, he was the court astrologer 老聃, Lǎo Dān who lived during the 4th century BC reign of 秦獻公 Duke Xian of the秦朝 Qin Dynasty. The oldest text of the 道德經 Dàodé Jīng, so far recovered, was part of the 郭店楚簡 Guōdiàn Chǔjiǎn Guodian Chu Slips. It was written on 簡牘 bamboo slips and dates to the late 4th century BC.

According to traditional accounts, 老子 was a scholar who worked as the Keeper of the Archives for the royal court of 周ㄓㄡZhou. This reportedly allowed him broad access to the works of 黃帝 the Yellow Emperor and other classics of the time. The stories assert that 老子 never opened a formal school but nonetheless attracted a large number of students and loyal disciples. There are many variations of a story retelling his encounter with Confucius, most famously in the 莊子 Zhuangzi.

The third story in 司馬遷 Sima Qian states that 老子 grew weary of the moral decay of life in 鄭州 Chengzhou and noted the kingdom's decline. He ventured west to live as a hermit in the unsettled frontier at the age of 80. At the western gate of the city (or kingdom), he was recognized by the guard 尹喜 Yǐn xǐ. The sentry asked the old master to record his wisdom for the good of the country before he would be permitted to pass. The text 老子 wrote was said to be the 道德經 Dàodé Jīng, although the present version of the text includes additions from later periods. In some versions of the tale, the sentry was so touched by the work that he became a disciple and left with 老子, never to be seen again. In others, the "Old Master" journeyed all the way to India and was the teacher of Siddartha Gautama, the Buddha. Others say he was the Buddha himself.