Hexagram 61 and 62

The core of one’s being and its size

Hexagram 61

hexagram 61

Guicang YiJing: guicang-61 instead of fu-sincerity

Fu, sincerity or truth, seems to be most of all what one inspires in others. See Harmen's excellent article. The power of one's being, the truth of one's words, the credibilty of one's ideas.
Fu is not "the truth" because that is an empty concept which does not exist anywhere. Only in small parts, one sentence, one idea, and even there only if there is agreement about it. But a person can have 'his' truth, and pass that on to others, inspiring them with it.

This way of being true has good fortune, one can bring about great things, bring people together in one spirit, or make a strong whole of oneself. That is why the text talks about suckling pigs and fish: symbols of good luck, wealth and fortune.

Hexagram 62

hexagram 62

There is something sad about hexagram 62. One of the meanings of guo is 'past tense', which it gives to the verb it accompanies. Things which have gone by, which are irreversible.
It is also a time of apprehension. There is danger, or hard times, or difficult circumstances. How to deal with them without falling victim. Keep a low profile. Psalm 23: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.


When I was 8 my grandmother died. She had broken her hip, and after months in bed, suffering pain, her mind gave up.
The grown-ups were together in the living room. The children went to the big garden, not knowing what to do.
I hung around before the folding doors of my grandmother's bedroom, where she lied in state and then there was this wonderful nurse. She opened the doors and asked if I wanted to kiss my grandma goodbye.
I did, she was very white, very cold, but also very peaceful. She was relieved now of the pain. The nurse taught me with her little gesture about mourning. How sadness and joy can be mixed into a rich compassion with the person you love.
I told my mother years later, and how grateful I was for this experience, but she did not understand. She was just angry with the nurse.

Very often people, who lose a person they love, cannot mourn. They don't know how. They never learned about the mixture of love and sadness and anger and joy. So all those feelings search for another way out, and usually this way out is through feelings of guilt. A mother losing her daughter and blaming herself for it. A friend who lost her husband after caring for him during his long sickness and worrying every day about things she did not do for him, not realizing how much she did do.

Give all your feelings the place where they belong. Do not substitute one for the other, do not repress anything. Then your feelings will find their right shape and size. If they cannot find that, they will grow into something out of size in the long run, harming your own feelings and those of others.