شش خطی 2
پذیرشی وسعت‌بخش، تسلیم بودن، خاک شخم خورده (کون Kūn)

Earth is submissive; it means flexible, receptive humility. In the body of the hexagram, all six lines are even; this represents pure yin, so it is called earth. This hexagram represents convergence in yin, whereby the science of cultivating essence practices submission and receptivity and uses the path of flexibility.

Nothing is more submissive than earth. Earth is originally pure yin and cannot produce or develop things. The reason it does produce and develop myriad things is that it is receptive to the yang energy of heaven, producing and developing by progression and recession. This earth originally does not create or develop; its achievement of creativity and development lies in its capacity for faithfulness.

The receptivity of earth to heaven cannot be seen, but the receptivity of earth can be known by observing the submissiveness of a female horse. “Female” is a general term for the flexibility of yin; whatever is yin in something is classified as female. A “horse” is something that travels strongly: when a mare follows a stallion, the mare can go wherever the stallion goes; so though it is gentle, it is also strong. The benefit of the faithfulness of the receptivity of earth is like the benefit of the faithfulness of the female horse.

Human beings receive the yin energy of earth and take form thereby, so they have this quality of flexible receptivity. When people are born, this quality of flexible receptivity is their innate capacity: When this capacity mixes with temporal acquired conditioning, it is confined by temperament and stained by accumulated habits; so people do not obey what they should obey, and instead obey their desires, so innate capacity turns into artificial capacity.

When sages teach people to travel the path of submission, this starts from artificial submission and changes into true submission, returning to the pristine state of unconscious obedience to the laws of God. Therefore the text says, “The superior person has somewhere to go. Taking the lead, one goes astray; following, one finds the master.” Firmness is the master of flexibility; firmness is able to govern flexibility, whereas flexibility cannot govern firmness—it just follows the firm obediently.

Yielding obedience to strength is not only a matter of the incapable following the capable: Reforming error and returning to rectitude, changing wrong and taking to right, maintaining truth and getting rid of falsehood, is all a matter of the human mind submitting to the mind of Tao. This is all represented in terms of the flexible obeying the firm. “Taking the lead, one goes astray” means that when you act through the human mentality, the mind of Tao is buried away; following human desires, you damage the real by falsehood, losing the master by going astray. “Following, one finds the master” means that when you act through the mind of Tao, the human mind is peaceful and quiet, obedient to natural principle, extinguishing falsehood by reality, finding the master and not straying. If people can develop understanding from confusion, make yin follow yang, use the human mind to return to the mind of Tao, use the mind of Tao to govern the human mind, finding the master after they had previously lost it, even if they are stupid they will become illumined, and even if they are weak they will become strong.

In the path of submission nothing is greater than earth; for a symbol of receptivity, nothing is more obvious than the moon. The moon is basically pure yin, with no yang; it meets the sun in the spacious heights, travels to the southwest, the position of earth , and on the third day of the lunar month gives off a light like a wispy eyebrow, producing the yang spirit within the yin spirit—this is called “gaining companionship.” On the fifteenth day, the moonlight waxes full; on the sixteenth, the sunlight begins to shift away gradually, and the moonlight henceforth begins to wane, producing the yin spirit within the yang spirit. When it reaches northeast, the position of mountain , on the twenty-eighth day, the remaining light vanishes—this is called “losing companionship.” The moonlight appears in the southwest, yin follows the advance of yang; the moonlight disappears in the northeast, yin follows the receding of yang. When yang advances, the moon brightens; when yang recedes, the moon darkens. The brightening and darkening of the moon also follows the advance and withdrawal of the sun. If superior people practicing the Tao are able to be like the moon following the sun when they travel the path of flexibility by means of submission, then they know what gain and loss are, and they are effective in advancing as well as in withdrawing.

What is efficacy? It is effectiveness in submission to what is right, most effective in abiding in faithfulness to rectitude. Only thus is it an auspicious path that is sound in the beginning and sound at the end. “Stability in rectitude” means resting in what is right; one is at peace because of rectitude, and rests in what is appropriate. One aims for the submission of unruliness, the rectification of error, cultivating oneself and controlling the mind, getting rid of all seeds of vicious circles, not letting any pollution remain in the mind; being utterly empty, serene and sincere, the human mentality does not arise and the mind of Tao comes into being. After rectitude comes creativity, and while flexible one is firm, and while receptive one can be strong: Whatever one creates grows, whatever grows bears fruit, and the fruits are all good. So the submission and receptivity of abiding in rectitude is no small matter.

Earth is the ground; its quality is receptivity. In this image, earth is above and below: The earth above is the high places, the earth below is the low places; this is the image of receptivity, the configuration of earth being high and low. What superior people see in this is that since humans are born with the energy of earth, they have this earthy quality of receptivity. Because of this, once their intellect is activated, they misuse intelligence and follow what should not be followed; obeying the temperament, they lose the essence of pure innocence. Inwardly unable to empty themselves, outwardly they cannot admit others; taking the artificial to be real, taking misery for pleasure, in the end they pass away.

Therefore, the wise take as their model the receptivity of earth, and bear others with warmth. Warmth is the quality of receptivity, which is inner openness and outward genuineness. Only by receptivity can one be open, only by warmth can one be genuine.

Inner openness means emptying the mind; by emptying the mind one can accept others. Outward genuineness means genuine action; by genuine action one can respond to others. Accepting others and responding to others is being able to support others. There being no end of people, there is no end to support; one becomes warmer the more support one gives, and one is able to be more supportive as one becomes warmer. The ability of superior people to support others means that superior people have the quality of warmth.

However, if one is supportive of others in favorable circumstances but not in adverse circumstances, this is not called warmth. Strong exertion outwardly without inner openness is not called warmth. The warmth that is supportive of others requires genuine practice, true application, bearing insult and attack, bearing all difficulty, hardship, sickness, and calamity, just as the earth bears the mountains, as the ocean takes in the rivers, as the plants and trees endure injury. Such is the warmth of the earth, such too is the warmth of superior people; this is how the earth bears things, and how the superior person bears things, too. The work of cultivating one's nature is summed up in warmth; this is the science of taking earth as a model.