شش خطی 34
قدرت عظیم (Da Zhuang)

Great power means yang energy is strong and vigorous. As for the qualities of the hexagram, above is thunder , active, and below is heaven , strong: Strong within, effective in action, strong action does not cease—therefore it is called great power.

This hexagram represents advancement of the vigorous energy of yang; it follows on the previous hexagram constancy. Constancy is the achievement of perseverance in the path. Perseverance in the path means strong practice in the body, with the mind firm and stable and the will far-reaching, never turning back for even a moment, reaching deeply into self-realization; this is possible only for people of great power.

People of great power have extraordinary direction in life; they observe all things with detachment, and may let them go or take them up. Having powerful will, they can carry out powerful affairs, do what others cannot do, be what others cannot be. Transcending the ordinary and entering into sagehood, they do what is rare in the world. Like a movement of thunder rising from earth to the sky, they startle the ignorant and amaze the worldly, shaking up all.

However, the path of great power calls for power to be correct; if it is not correct, power is not great and its application is not beneficial. The people in the world who follow deviated paths, whether they cling to voidness or stick to forms, taking the artificial to be real, and do not fear danger and trouble, sometimes never changing all their lives, are indeed powerful, but their power is not correct—not only is their vigor unable to be great, but they even harm life by power. Then what is the value of power?

So the path of great power is only beneficial when it is correct. Correct means correctly oriented, reasonably ordered. Orderly power means one has inner autonomy and self-control, and the will is upright and correctly oriented, while outwardly one does not act arbitrarily and so one’s conduct is upright. When the will is correct one is firm and strong and irrepressible; unmoved by myriad things one is inwardly vigorous and powerful. When action is correct, it is effective and decisive; able to accomplish tasks, one is outwardly vigorous and powerful. Will makes action firm, action makes will complete. Cultivating the inner and the outer at once, even those without power can become powerful, and the powerful can become great. There is no limit to the benefits of power applied correctly.

Great power means expansion of empowerment. Above is thunder , below is heaven ; this is thunder up in the sky. Thunder is something strong and intense, its energy is very powerful; when it climbs up in the sky, startling all with its vibration, its powerful energy expands even more. This is the image of great power.

What superior people see in this is that just as when thunder ascends into the sky in season it can thus vivify beings, so can people develop character when they carry out their activities according to reason. Therefore superior people refrain from whatever is improper.

Propriety means the moderation of activity and repose, the ordering of engagement and disengagement, guiding self-cultivation and social relations. When ordinary people follow their impulses and do whatever comes to mind, perhaps greedily pursuing idle imaginations, indulging in emotions and giving free rein to desire, this is all improper.

Doing what is improper is not conducive to growth or empowerment. Even if one becomes powerful, this is power that abandons the real and enters the false, empowering that which should not be powerful. This is really not power.

If one can avoid looking at what should not be looked at, avoid listening to what should not be listened to, avoid saying what should not be said, avoid doing what should not be done, act properly and refrain from what is improper, then whatever one does is proper.

Propriety is reason, reason is celestial. If one puts celestial reason into practice, human desires do not arise; then every step one takes is in accord with the sublime Tao. One is then a companion of heaven, with the same achievement as thunder. Dwelling in the midst of the elements, one is not constrained by the elements; living among myriad things, one is not harmed by the myriad things. Is that power not great?