02 Devoting, Trusting (Dual-mindedness) In a context of devotion we utilise trust.

Trigrams : devotion (bottom), dual-mindedness (top) : with/from devotion comes duel-mindedness. [earth over earth]

A situation of darkness - be it the horrifying, cold darkness of 'nothing' or the protective, warm darkness of a womb. Fear elicits a need for protection from the dark as does devotion to another/others drive the need to protect against the dark through the exploits of another/others (protection in numbers). This realm is of potentials and so reflects all other hexagrams, where it nurtures 'yang' etc.

Commentary:

Cooperative Format: Hexagram 02 is devoid of substance, leading to an admiration for someone/ something outside. A sense of emptiness inside develops a need for balance which is achieved through the continuous absorption and nurturing of the outside; one is attracted to a goal of inner stillness rather than outer peace, achievable through devotion - the act of internalizing someone else's belief system. To be open to this requires the development of Absolute Trust and includes a degree of 'dual'-mindedness.

The Receptive is highly sensitive to local context and so adapts to that context. There is thus an air of 'shape-shifting' about this hexagram and those associated with it - this is reflected in the dual-mindedness emphasis. In a too differentiating culture (idealism), where the focus is on always being the same category, this natural ability to shape-shift to fit into a local context is deemed an issue and so labels such as 'identity seeking' are applied.

Oppositional Format: Hexagram 02 manifests total darkness; a black hole from which not even light can escape. The benefit is the darkness and so a place to hide; the cost is the totality of the darkness -- eternal.

Structural Relationship (Being): hexagram 02 is the opposite of hexagram 01, in that 02 reflects dualmindedness as compared to singlemindedness; field as compared to dot; darkness as compared to light; moon as compared to sun; female as compared to male.

Temporal Relationship (Doing): The goal of 02 is hexagram 01 (or 'how do I 01? - 02' - How can I be single-minded? Be totally devoted.)

Five-Phase Relationship : The trigram of Earth reflects Filtration (through faith, a given set of rules). The focus is on the devotion to, the total trust in, what has been given.

02 is the goal of 24 (or 'how do I 02? - 24' - How can I be totally devoted? Return to, stick to, the one 'true' path - avoiding the many distractions)

The I Ching tells us about hexagram 02:

Some PAIRINGS of hexagram 02 with other hexagrams:

• In the traditional sequence hexagram 02 pairs with hexagram 01.

This pairing of 01/02 reflects the local differences of pure/mixed expression where at the level of pure expression, as reflected in the PAIRING of the two symbols of yin/yang purity, hexagram 02 is more 'biased' to being interpretable as being a little 'mixed', a little 'softer' in purity, than the absolute purity in expression of hexagram 01.

PURITY:
01 : purity, mindedness - through singlemindedness (total trust in self) 01 purity comes out of a context described by hexagram 28 - excess (too much yang)

02 : purity, mindedness - through dualmindedness (total trust in another/others) 02 purity comes out of a context described by hexagram 27 - hungering (too little yang)

• In the binary sequence hexagram 02 pairs with hexagram 23.

This pairing of 02 and 23 reflects the dominating aspects of pure yinness in the context of differentiating and integrating. Thus the pure integrating nature of hexagram 02, its focus on dual-mindedness, on drawing-in another/others through devotion to, absolute trust in, another/others is complemented by the differentiating element expressed through hexagram 23 where the unconditional devotion of 02 become conditional with the focus in 23 on 'pruning', on cutting-back the 'weeds' that have grown around one's faith to restore the 'core' elements of that faith, to make them the standards upon which we 'rest' (and so the analogy in 23 to stripping a bed where the bed is a symbol for our beliefs, for what we rest upon).

• In the binary sequence hexagram 02 opposes hexagram 01.

This paring of 01 and 02 reflect the total opposition of yangness, of pure differentiation, to the total yinness reflected in pure integration. The originating binary sequence of the I Ching, based on recursion of the concepts of yin and yang, reflects a scale of a relationship of yin/yang where the scale is local at the level of immediate pairs (as in 43/01) and global at the level of distant pairs (as in linking one pole of the sequence, hexagram 02, with the other, hexagram 01). The main distinctions in the 01/02 pair are on the precision of yang, where the unit of measure is a point, and so the ONE, with the approximation in precision of yin, where the unit of measure is always two points, and so a PAIR. We thus see the differences of yin and yang at the level of the human psyche as that between single-mindedness (pure yang - total faith in self) and dual-mindedness (pure yin - total faith in another/others).

At the LOCAL level we are dealing with an octet of hexagrams with the EARTH trigram as base. In this sequence hexagram 02, the dual-mindedness, exaggerated devotional bias nature of yinness, 'opposes' hexagram 12, the focus on neutralising as a force of balance. More so, the exaggerated sense of neutralising the attacks of other upon one's belief is reflected in a more balanced format through one's simple but sturdy, unconditional, devotion.

• In the traditional sequence hexagram 02 opposes hexagram 63.

This pairing of 02/63 reflects the absolute differences between pure/individual expression and mixed/group expression. As such, when compared to hexagram 02, hexagram 63 reflects the overall sense of 'groupness', and so of mixing (reflected in the yin/yang line orderings as well) that here must include a sense of closure from a mixed/group focus. In the traditional sequence the pairings reflect a focus on the individual/group, pure/mixed, closed/open, characteristics reflected in the root 01/64 pair that form the 'poles' of the sequence. Thus the relationship of 01 to 02 reflects at the local level the relationship of 01 to 64 as does the local relationship of 63 to 64 reflect the 01/64 relationship. In fact, all pairs in the traditional sequence reflect this general pattern of filtering interpretations through the notions covered in hexagram 01 and hexagram 64.

• The generic properties of hexagram 02 reflect the mixing of the generic properties of hexagram 23 with the generic properties of hexagram 27.

Hexagram 23, in its rawest form of expression, reflects a sense of 'housekeeping', as is required when one is focused on 'pruning'. Hexagram 27 deals with the concept of a need to be filled, a hungering, here interpretable as 'too little yang'. Thus being focused on housekeeping/pruning combined with a focus on hungering reflects the overall extreme nature, the totalism in integrating, in devotion to another/others, of hexagram 02. There is a prime difference in the relationship of pure yin to pure yang. Pure yin will recruit the context to assert identity and in doing so gains protection from that recruitment. Pure yang, on the otherhand, focuses more on REPLACING the existing context with its own, showing the overall focus on differentiating rather than integrating, being competitive rather than being cooperative.

• In the variations on a theme sequence, hexagram 02 complements with hexagram 24.

The pairing of hexagram 02 and 24 reflects the subtle differences in expression focused on the base line of a trigram. Here the 'receptivity' of yangness, as expressed in hexagram 02, is 'hardened' at a general level to be reflected in the focus of hexagram 24 in returning to the 'one true faith'. In pure yinness there is no such need for any particular where the natural devotion skills reflected in 02 elicit immediate, unconditional intimacy.

Copyright © 2003-2008 C. J. Lofting