Liberation through achieving Critical Mass

Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution

Critical Mass:
The size or number that something needs to reach before a particular change or development can happen.

At the point of critical mass, there is a tipping point after which it can be said and felt that the movement we have created has a life of its own.

28 ― Critical Mass ― Crossing the Chasm ― 29

Hexagram 40

Hexagram 40 is named 解 (xiè), "Taking-Apart" or "deliverance" & "untangled".

• Its inner trigram is ☵ (坎 kǎn, 29) gorge = (水) water.
• Its outer trigram is ☳ (震 zhèn, 51) shake = (雷) thunder.

䷧ Unicode name: Hexagram for DELIVERANCE

LIBERATION

Other titles: Deliverance, The Symbol of Loosening, Release, Eliminating Obstacles, Taking-apart, Untangled, Solution, Dissolution, Relief, Unloose, Release of Tension

Judgment

Legge: Liberation finds an advantage in the southwest. When the operation is completed, a return to stability brings good fortune. If operations are incomplete, it is best to finish them quickly.

Wilhelm/Baynes: Deliverance. The southwest furthers.

• If there is no longer anything (Sic) where one has to go, Return brings good fortune.
• If there is still something (Sic) where one has to go, hastening brings good fortune.

Blofeld: Release. The west & south are favourable.

• Those with nothing to gain from going forward will find good fortune by turning back;
• Those who do have much to gain from going forward must hasten to be sure of doing well.

[This is not a time to stay where we are. If we have no good reason to advance, it is best to retreat.]

Liu: Liberation. The southwest benefits.

• If there is nothing for one where one has to go, then returning brings good fortune.
• If there is something in a place where one can go, then going quickly leads to good fortune.

Ritsema/Karcher: Taking-apart. Harvesting: Western South. Without a place to go: one's coming return significant. Possessing directed going: Daybreak significant. [This hexagram describes my situation in terms of reflection and release from tension. It emphasizes that analyzing and understanding things in order to be delivered from compulsion is the adequate way to handle it...]

Shaughnessy: Untangled: Beneficial to the southwest; there is nowhere to go; his coming in return is auspicious; there is someplace to go to spend the night; auspicious.

Cleary (1): For liberation, the southwest is beneficial.

• When going nowhere, the return brings good fortune;
• When going somewhere, promptness brings good fortune.

Cleary (2): For solution, the southwest is beneficial. Going nowhere, coming back is fortunate, etc.

Wu: Relief indicates an advantage in the southwest.

• If he undertakes to do something without a cause, it will be auspicious for him to return to his former station.
• If he undertakes to do something with a cause, it will be auspicious for him to do it early.

The Image

Legge: Liberation shows a thunderstorm clearing the atmosphere. The superior man, in accordance with this, forgives errors and deals gently with crimes.

Wilhelm/Baynes: Thunder & rain set in the image of Deliverance. Thus the superior man pardons mistakes and forgives misdeeds.

Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes thunder and rain bringing release. The Superior Man tends to forgive wrongs & deals leniently with crimes. [The component trigrams suggest that a certain amount of forceful action is required.]

Liu: Thunder and rain come, symbolizing Liberation. The superior man forgives errors & pardons criminals.

Ritsema/Karcher: Thunder, rain, arousing. Taking-apart. 

君子Jūnzǐ uses forgiving excess to pardon offences.

Cleary (1): Thunder & rain act, dissolving. Thus do superior people forgive faults and pardon crimes.

Cleary (2): Thunder & rain – solution. Etc.

Wu: There come thunder and rain; this is Relief.

Thus the 君子Jūnzǐ pardons inadvertent transgressors & extenuates (Sic) criminal offenders.

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge: Liberation shows the trigram of Movement above the trigram of Danger — through movement, there is an escape from peril. An early movement to the southwest wins the allegiance of the masses and returns the state to normalcy and equilibrium. When heaven and earth are freed from the grasp of winter, we have thunder and rain. When these come, the buds of the fruit-producing vegetation begin to open. Great indeed are the phenomena in the time of liberation.

Legge: The written Chinese character for Liberation is the symbol of unloosing — untying a knot or unravelling a complication. This hexagram denotes a condition in which the obstruction and difficulty of the preceding figure have been removed. The lesson is how this new and better state of the kingdom should be dealt with. If no tasks remain to be completed, the sooner things resume their normal course the better. If further operations are necessary, let them be accomplished without delay. The 康熙 Kāngxī editors say that moving to the south and west is the same as returning to normality.

Thunder & rain clear the atmosphere, and a feeling of oppression is relieved. The images of springtime in the Confucian commentary refer to the gentle policy of a conquering ruler who forgives the opposition of those who cease to offer resistance.

NOTES & PARAPHRASES

Judgment: Do what obviously needs to be done and return to stability as soon as possible.

The Superior Man forgives, forgets, and bears no grudges.

(i.e., Stability is more important than fixing blame or haggling over who is right.)

If the thirty-ninth hexagram of Impasse is turned upside down it becomes the fortieth hexagram of Liberation or Deliverance. The two figures represent opposite situations: if Impasse creates tension, then Liberation releases it. The upper trigram of Movement ascends to escape from the lower trigram of Danger, giving us an unambiguous image of freedom and relief.

"Apart from all personification, the whole space in which life finds itself has a malevolently spiritual character, and the "demons" themselves are as many spatial realms as persons. To overcome them is the same thing as to pass through them, and in breaking through their boundaries this passage at the same time breaks their power and achieves the liberation from the magic of their sphere."

H. Jonas —The Gnostic Religion

Legge's commentary — in the preceding hexagram — explains that the "southwest" is the direction of "earth," the fertile lowland where life is natural and uncontrived. Confucius tells us here that an early move in this direction will win the "allegiance of the masses." Psychologically interpreted, this refers to the inner kingdom of the psyche, where “the masses” are the drives, emotions and archetypal complexes which make up our being. The symbolism suggests a conscious freeing up of inner tension.

"These forces, therefore, must not be left to run wild, but should be disposed of in harmless ways or, better still, used for constructive purposes: creative activities of various kinds; the rebuilding of our personality, contributing to our Psychosynthesis."

Roberto Assagioli — Psychosynthesis

Hexagram 28

Hexagram 28 is named 大過 (dà guò), "Great Exceeding" or "preponderance of the great", "great surpassing" and "critical mass".

• Its inner trigram is ☴ (巽 xùn, 57) ground = (風) wind.
• Its outer trigram is ☱ (兌 duì, 58) open = (澤) swamp.

䷛ Unicode name: Hexagram for GREAT PREPONDERANCE

CRITICAL MASS

Other titles: Preponderance of the Great, The Symbol of Great Passing, Excess, Great Excess, The Passing of Greatness, Great Surpassing, Great Gains, Experience, Greater than Great, Greatness in Excess, Dominance by the Mighty, The Passing of Greatness, Excess of the Great, Law of Karma

Judgment

Legge: Critical Mass depicts a weak beam. Under such conditions, it is advantageous to move in any direction. Success is indicated.

Wilhelm/Baynes: Preponderance of the Great. The ridgepole sags to the breaking point. It furthers one to have somewhere to go. Success.

Blofeld: Excess! The ridgepole sags. It is favourable to have some goal (or destination) in view. Success! [A glance at the hexagram will show that it is too heavy in the middle and too weak at the ends. A number of firm lines is generally auspicious, but there can be too much of a good thing!]

Liu: Great Excess. The ridgepole is crooked. It benefits to go anywhere. Success.

Ritsema/Karcher: Great Exceeding, the ridgepole sagging. Harvesting; possessing directed going. Growing. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of our connection to a ruling principle. It emphasizes that pushing the guiding idea beyond ordinary limits and accepting the results is the adequate way to handle it...]

Shaughnessy: Great Surpassing: The ridgepole bows upward; beneficial to have someplace to go; receipt.

Cleary (1): When the great is excessive, the ridgepole bends. It is good to go somewhere; that is developmental. [When the ridgepole snaps, the whole house falls down. In the same way, practitioners of 道 the Dào who promote 陽 too much, who do not know when enough is enough, who can be great but cannot be small, suffer damage to their spiritual house.]

Cleary (2): When greatness passes, the ridgepole bends. It is beneficial to have somewhere to go, for we will succeed.

Wu: Excess of the Great indicates a beam that warps. It will be advantageous to have undertakings. It will be pervasive.

The Image

Legge: The image of trees beneath a marsh forms Critical Mass. The superior man, in accordance with this, fearlessly stands alone and stays retired from the world without regret.

Wilhelm/Baynes: The lake rises above the trees: the image of Preponderance of the Great. Thus the superior man, when he stands alone, is unconcerned, and if he has to renounce the world, he is undaunted.

Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes a forest submerged in a great body of water. The Superior Man, though standing alone, is free from fear; he feels no discontent in withdrawing from the world.

[This is suggested by the component trigrams. Water is necessary for the nourishment of the trees, but too much of it can cause serious damage.]

Liu: The lake rising over the trees symbolizes Great Excess. The superior man, when isolated, is undisturbed. If he has to retreat from society, he feels no regret.

Ritsema/Karcher: Marsh submerging wood. Great Exceeding.

君子Jūnzǐ uses solitary establishing not to fear.

(君子Jūnzǐ uses) retiring-from the age without melancholy.

Cleary (1): Moisture destroys wood in excess. Thus superior people stand alone without fear and leave society without distress.

Cleary (2): Moisture destroys wood. Developed people, etc.

[Only when sustained by the power to stand alone without fear and avoid society without distress can learning to be firmly rooted and development have a proper basis; then it is possible to refine and support the mediocre.]

Wu: Marsh covers over wood.

This is Excess of the Great.

Thus the 君子Jūnzǐ stands alone without fear and withdraws from the world without melancholy.

CONFUCIAN COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge: Excess is weakly supported at either end, with weakness in both the lowest and topmost lines. The dynamic lines are in excess, but two of them are in the central positions. The trigrams of Flexibility and Satisfaction indicate that there will be an advantage in moving in any direction whatever — there will be a success. Great indeed is the work to be done during this extraordinary time.

Legge: Extraordinary times require extraordinary skill in their management. The figure shows two magnetic lines at the top and bottom, with four dynamic lines between them — giving the image of a great beam unable to sustain its own weight. Lines two and five are both dynamic and central, however, and from this and the attributes of the component trigrams, a good auspice is obtained.

NOTES & PARAPHRASES

Judgment: A stressful situation is best managed with a comprehensive strategy.

(Or: in the chess game of life, one succeeds by planning several moves in advance.)

The Superior Man serves The Work by going his own way, regardless of public opinion.

Wilhelm titles this hexagram Preponderance of the Great. I prefer R.L. Wing's paraphrase of Critical Mass as more evocative of the figure's meaning in modern terminology.

In Critical Mass, four dynamic lines lurk inside of the hexagram, weakly contained at the top and bottom by two magnetic lines. This energetic concentration could explode in an unpredictable release of force, and hence the Judgment tells us to move now (remember: non-action is also action) to avoid unwanted consequences. (Often the outcome is predictable — let us be prepared to just walk away if and when that is our best move)

Legge’s translation of the Judgment is:

"...It is advantageous to move in any direction whatever. "

This is a different message than Wilhelm's:

"...It furthers one to have somewhere to go."

Legge’s version implies an almost hysterical flight from danger while Wilhelm's rendition suggests prior intention and planning. The latter interpretation is definitely what is meant here, as confirmed by Cleary’s Buddhist commentary:

"When the transformative path is flourishing, contaminations easily arise; it is best to set up guidelines and regulations. When meditation work is advanced, ignorance is about to dissolve; it is best to exercise the mind skillfully."

Coupled with Cleary’s translation of the Image as: “Developed people stand alone without fear, avoid society without distress,” the idea is that one should follow one's best intuition and ignore popular illusions, political correctness or inner fears. (Psychologically: conventional thinking, socially conditioned reflexes, knee-jerk responses, etc.). During a time of Critical Mass, pay close attention to direction from the Self to preserve the Work. This is not the time to follow the crowd. Sometimes this can mean that we are obliged to go it alone — one of the Work’s frequent tests (Cf. line 6):

"The 29 Gulf is something that has to leap, and leapt alone, stripped of all hindering burdens, in faith ... It is thus one of the crisis points of spiritual progress because of the great temptation to turn back from the unknown to the apparent safety of known things, and to succumb to this temptation is to lose all the fruits of past endeavour."

G. Knight — A Practical Guide to Kabbalistic Symbolism

SUGGESTIONS for MEDITATION

Comparing the Judgment & Image of this hexagram with those of hexagram number 32, Consistency.

Anthony: We must regain modesty through the effort to rid ourselves of strong elements that cause us to press forward. The strong elements may exist in someone else, causing them to assault us with their fear, mistrust or doubt. Strong refers to the impetuous movement to resolve what is ambiguous... We can meet the challenge by remaining detached and letting things go through their changes... To be truly rich is to remain modest; to be truly powerful is to remain reticent.

Hexagram 40 Changing Line 3

Legge: The third line, magnetic, shows a porter with his burden, yet riding in a carriage. He will only tempt robbers to attack him. However firm and correct he may try to be, there will be cause for regret.

Wilhelm/Baynes: If a man carries a burden on his back and nonetheless rides in a carriage, he thereby encourages robbers to draw near. Perseverance leads to humiliation.

Blofeld: Travelling with both luggage-bearers and a carriage, he attracted the attention of robbers. To persist would bring misfortune. [This could mean that someone bearing luggage on his back rides in a carriage. In any case, the Chinese additional commentaries explain that the passage refers to those who usurp privileges to which they are not entitled by rank or merit.]

Liu: A man carries goods on his back and rides in a carriage — thus invites robbers to come.

To continue brings humiliation.

Ritsema/Karcher: Bearing, moreover riding. Involving outlawry culminating. Trial: abashment.

Shaughnessy: Carrying on the back and riding in a cart brings robbers to arrive; determination is distressful.

Cleary (1): Riding bearing a burden causes enemies to arrive. Even being righteous one is humiliated.

Cleary (2): Carrying and riding bring on enemies. It is right to be humiliated.

Wu: A man bearing a load rides in a carriage. What he swaggers is conducive to robbery. Even though he does nothing wrong, he will be humiliated.

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge: For a porter with his burden to be riding in a carriage is a thing to be ashamed of. It is he himself that tempts the robbers to come. On whom besides can we lay the blame? Wilhelm/Baynes: He should really be ashamed of himself. When I myself thus attract robbers, on whom shall I lay the blame? Blofeld: Moreover, his using both of them was shameful. If I were to act thus and bring robbers down on me, who but myself would be to blame? Ritsema/Karcher: Truly permitting the demoniac indeed. Originating from my involving arms. Furthermore whose fault indeed. Cleary (2): Carrying and riding are both disgraceful. One brings attack by oneself – who else is to blame? Wu: It is a shame for a bearer to ride in a carriage. He exposes himself to robbery. Who else is to be blamed?

The Master said: The makers of the 易經 may be said to have known the philosophy of robbery. 易經 says, "He is a burden-bearer, and yet rides in a carriage, thereby exciting robbers to attack him." Burden-bearing is the business of an inferior man. A carriage is the vehicle of a gentleman. When an inferior man rides in the vehicle of a gentleman, robbers will think of taking it from him. When one is insolent to those above him and oppressive to those below, robbers will wish to attack him. Careless laying up of things excites robbery, as a woman's adorning of herself excites to lust. What the 易經 says about the burden-bearer's riding in a carriage, and exciting robbers to attack him shows how robbery is called out.

Legge: The third line is magnetic where it should be dynamic. In the top place of the lower trigram, it suggests a porter riding in a carriage. People will say: "How did he get there? The things cannot be his own." Therefore robbers will attack and plunder him since he can't protect himself or accomplish anything good.

NOTES & PARAPHRASES

修: The man has obtained material goods and comfort and seeks a life of ease that does not suit his nature. Like a woman's self-adornment which excites lust, this way of life merely invites robbers and leads to humiliation.

翼: I have been able to assume a somewhat powerful position, which I do not know how to control. I pretend to be something that I am not. This invites envy. If I continue in this way I shall suffer humiliation at the hands of others who would usurp my position.

Editor: Receiving this line can be a reprimand for an unworthy attitude. It shows one who aspires beyond his station or incorrectly seeks an easy solution to his problems. If this is the only changing line, the hexagram becomes number thirty-two, Consistency, the corresponding line of which begins: "Shows one who does not constantly maintain his virtue..." The idea is that a desire to move ahead quickly tempts one into an improper response to the situation at hand. Sometimes the context of the question can suggest that the "vehicle" (carriage) is the oracle itself — I want it to answer a question I can figure out by myself. The porter's burden is an obvious responsibility or duty. The robbers are anything that would harm the Work.

"The acceptance of the need to relate to power or powers beyond our personal control and rational comprehension does not necessitate — indeed does not even permit — abandonment of our personal responsibility but rather requires of us that in the domain of the personal life assigned to us our own responsibility must be exerted to the limits."

E.C. Whitmont — The Symbolic Quest

A. "There's no such thing as a free lunch."

Get your head out of the clouds and assume your responsibilities.

B. Did you expect a spiritual helicopter to take you to the top of the mountain?

Hexagram 40 Changing Line "5 — V"

Legge: The fifth line, magnetic, shows the superior man (the ruler) executing his function of removing whatever is injurious to the idea of liberation, in which case there will be good fortune, and confidence in him will be shown even by the inferior men.

Wilhelm/Baynes: If only the superior man can deliver himself, it brings good fortune.

Blofeld: Only the Superior Man brings release. Good fortune!

It is up to lesser men to put their trust in him.

[This could also mean "He has confidence in lesser men."]

Liu: Only the superior man can liberate himself from entanglement. Good fortune.

Thus the inferior man trusts him.

Ritsema/Karcher: 君子Jūnzǐ holding-fast possesses. Taking apart. Significant. Possessing conformity, tending-towards Small People.

Shaughnessy: The gentleman only is untangled; auspicious; there is a return among the little men.

Cleary (1): In this, the superior person has liberation, which is fortunate; there is earnestness in regard to the inferior person.

Cleary (2): The developed person has a solution, which is fortunate. There is sincerity toward a petty person.

Wu: The君子Jūnzǐ is relieved of what has implicated him. This is auspicious. It would be a lesson to the little men.

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge: When he removes the barriers to liberation the inferior men will of themselves retire. Wilhelm/Baynes: The superior man delivers himself because inferior men then retreat. Blofeld: But when the Superior Man offers them to be released, they take to their heels. [Perhaps this means the true release involves release from selfishness — a lesson which men of little merit have no desire to learn!] Ritsema/Karcher: Small People withdrawing indeed. Cleary (2): The developed person has a solution. The petty person withdraws. Wu: The君子Jūnzǐ is relieved and the little men will resign.

Legge: Line five is magnetic in a dynamic place, but the place is that of the ruler, whose duty is to promote liberation by removing all barriers to harmony within the kingdom — especially all the inferior men symbolized by the divided lines. He can do this with the help of his dynamic correlate in the second line. Then even the inferior men will change their ways, and conform to his will. "The inferior men retire" means that believing in the sincerity of the ruler's determination to remove all evil men, they either retire of themselves or strive to conform to his wishes.

NOTES & PARAPHRASES

修: The man drives away inferior people through an inner resolve and makes a complete mental and spiritual break. They recognize his earnestness, withdraw of their own accord, and even extend begrudging approval.

翼: In order to eliminate an inferior habit or situation I must first make an inner resolve to overcome it. Only I can save myself. Once I am liberated, inferior elements will retreat into the background and I will win the respect I deserve. Good fortune.

Editor: The context of the line does not lend itself to the usual gender symbolism used in this book. Wilhelm renders this in a conditional sense: "If only the superior man can deliver himself..." Blofeld and Liu say that "only the superior man" can liberate himself. There is the implication that our "superiority" may be in question. I am challenged to take appropriate action to liberate myself from my fetters. This will be in accordance with the ruler's central place and an active balancing of forces as imaged in the relationship with the second line correlate.

"For when the body gets out of equilibrium, we look to which side it inclines in becoming unbalanced and then oppose it with its contrary until it returns to equilibrium. When it is in equilibrium, we remove that counterbalance and revert to that which keeps the body in equilibrium. We act in a similar manner with regard to moral habits."

Maimonides

A. Identify and eliminate the problem or limiting belief. Clear the psyche of inhibitions.

B. If I stop indulging my weaknesses they will eventually leave me alone.