The I Ching > IV. Hexagram 24 [return], Jung’s regression and Confucius’ Passage B

IV. Hexagram 24 [return], Jung’s regression and Confucius’ Passage B

I would like to use a hexagram to demonstrate the idea of individuation according to Jung and Confucius. Rather than casting with coins or yarrow stalks extemporaneously, I’d like to use the hexagram that my mentor, Dr. Yi Wu of the California Institute of Integral Studies, happened to have been analyzing the day I went to San Francisco to seek advice for this speech. In following his explanation to his advanced I Ching class, I recognized that this hexagram provided precisely the information I needed to demonstrate the optimal path of the psyche in individuation.

First I would like to give a brief explanation of the hexagram itself. Then I will compare it with Jung’s individuation and Confucius’ junzidao.

H24 [return, repeat] is composed of a yang line at the bottom as line 1, with five yin lines stacked on top. The major characteristic of this hexagram is heng, translated by my mentor as “perfect communication.” By perfect communication, he means that all channels are clear, intrapsychically and externally. The lower trigram is thunder or action, the upper trigram earth or yielding. The image shows the solitary yang line stirring in the depths, with the option to push upwards, unobstructed, all through the ranks of the other lines. Once beyond the sixth line, it returns to the bottom for the next cycle. This hexagram indicates the winter solstice, when the sun is farthest away from the equator and returns to begin its cycle for another year.

For Hexagram 24, the commentaries give the following as “good” or going with Tao:

1. reversing the flow

2. repeating the cycle

3. taking a rest from routine (all businesses close down, the emperor stays home and does not survey his subjects)

4. retreating to the ground to develop again

5. Continual reverse and repetition as the way of heaven

Applied to the psyche, this hexagram parallels exactly what Jung and Confucius recommend for individuation. First, Jung.

In tracing the path of the libido, or psychic energy, Jung finds that we expend a great deal of it in adaptation to the cultural context we find ourselves in. This is necessary for our survival and well-being. He calls this progression. Progression is inexpendible and, in fact, helps to develop us in individuation by means of the complementary and compensatory function of the collective. The problem comes in emphasizing progression to the neglect of the inner psyche, like the achiever who wins everyone’s admiration but can’t control his temper or find meaning in his endeavors. Then comes the necessity for regression to the inner psyche and work from there to find balance. In the inner psyche are our raw substance and basic instincts and drives, derived from the archetype of Self. To attain humanness, that is, to manifest Self in the world we live in, we need to find it and work with it. This work Jung calls the transcendent function, which he activates in various ways, such as through dreams and active imagination.

The overall view of the psychic path is retrogression—the need to touch ground, again and again, before going forth. This path is precisely the one presented by Hexagram 24 [return, repeat]

Confucius, return and individuation
Confucius’ description of the psychic path of individuation indicates even more obviously a return to the ground than Jung’s. It is given in the second passage of the opening exposition of The Great Learning. This passage apparently has received very little attention in the past, but is easily explained in light of contemporary psychological knowledge, especially Jungian psychology. Any Confucian scholar, in fact, any ordinary person with a bit of formal knowledge of Confucius, would know the sangang and batiaomu listed in Passages A, D& E of this exposition. The sangang [ming mingde, xinmin, zhishan] are to manifest one’s own numinous essence, to manifest through and with the collective and to rest in the ultimate. The batiaomu or eight items [gewu, zhizhi, chengyi, zengxin, xioushen, qijia, zhiguo, pingtianxia] are the investigation of phenomena, extension of knowledge/consciousness, making intentions sincere, rectification of heart/mind, Self-cultivation, regulation of family, governance of country and bringing numinosity for everyone in the world. These appear to describe mostly the outer reach of libidinal energy for progression. The second passage, however, describes the workings within the psyche. This is the passage:

In knowing to rest in the ultimate, we can have assurance,

In having assurance, we can have quietude.

In having quietude, we can find anchorage.

In finding anchorage, we can then deliberate.

With deliberation, we can attain.

These are certainly words that are subject to arbitrary translation. And therefore really invite analysis. By noting the order in which the key words are given, we find a curious description of the regression of the psychic energy to the ground. Only when this regression is done can we come back to the world and live meaningfully.

Confucius and psychic stations
Based on the noticeable movements or shifts in the psyche, I’m taking the liberty to call these psychic stations. These are identifiable differences from one to the other. Confucius names them in terms of the psychic state or work at each station.

Passage B gives six different psychic states, which we can all recognize as possibilities in our experience. The first, zhi knowledge, indicates the sum total of knowledge and consciousness, ultimately of what we are doing in the universe, in the broadest and most final view. Confucius specifies that knowledge means knowledge of the farthest extent. This item follows the three items given in Passage A, the third of which is to “to rest in the ultimate.”

Passage B, then, begins by asking us to know what this ultimate extent is. Only when we know this can this knowledge or consciousness change our orientation, align our ego and establish our will. This step, ding assuredness is the second psychic station. The third is the effect of ding assuredness on the state of the psyche. Confucius uses, quite appropriately, the word jing quietude, to indicate the psychic peace we find when we are on the appropriate path. After finding some peace for the psyche, at the fourth psychic station, we allow the psyche to work in its own way, which means to find its own ground. We touch here, by the way, the self-healing powers of the psyche. This stage isn’t anything we can consciously will, though we can consciously enable its happening. The use of the verb enable throughout Passage B points to the self-healing power of the psyche; that is, the psyche does its own work when we enable it.

At the fourth station, we touch upon deep psychic sources, and a feeling of “fitting” enables us to come out into the world again to live and manifest ourselves. The difference is that we know on a very deep level, as we have touched the larger Self or psyche that is common to all of us. At this station, we touch the basis of junzidao and can bring it out consciously at the next station.

I have borrowed the Indian philosopher Aurobindo’s yantra, or the Star of David, to map the descent, regression or retrogression. The upward triangle represents the areas that are our playing fields. I’ve marked them with the playing fields from Passage A: ming mingde, xinmin and zhishan (to manifest our numinous Self, to manifest with and through the collective, to rest in the ultimate). The lower triangle describes the descent of the psyche to its ground. I’ve marked this one with the psychic stations from Passage B: zhizi, ding, jing, an, lu, de (knowledge/consciousness, assuredness, quietude, anchorage, deliberation and attainment).

The eight concentric circles of Self can be placed at the different stations.

Station Q—knowledge/consciousness: gewu, zhizhi

Station R—assuredness— )

Station S—quietude-- ) chengyi

Station T—anchorage-- ) zengxin

Station U—deliberation—xiousheng, qijia, zhiguo, ping tianxia

Station V—attainment—mingde yu tianxia