I-Ching & Wealth & Abundance
The I-Ching views abundance as both material and spiritual. These hexagrams address prosperity, increase, the proper use of wealth, and sustaining good fortune.
Key Hexagrams (8)
大有Dà Yǒu — Great Possession
Supreme success. Strength and clarity unite. How does the yielding hold the strong? Through position, through timing, through the way heaven works. Possession in great measure accords with fate.
益Yì — Increase
It furthers one to undertake something. It furthers one to cross the great water. Sacrifice from those above for the increase of those below fills the people with joy and gratitude. When people are devoted to their leaders, even difficult and dangerous enterprises succeed. This time resembles the marriage of heaven and earth. The time of Increase does not endure—it must be utilized while it lasts.
豐Fēng — Abundance
Success. The king attains abundance. Be not sad. Be like the sun at midday. Clarity within, movement without—this produces greatness and abundance. Development has reached a peak, but this extraordinary condition cannot be maintained permanently. Not every mortal is able to bring about such a time. A sage might well feel sad in view of the decline that must follow. But such sadness does not befit them. Only one who is inwardly free of sorrow and care can lead in a time of abundance—like the sun at midday, illuminating and gladdening everything under heaven.
泰Tài — Peace
The small departs, the great arrives. Good fortune and success. Heaven and earth unite—their powers combine in deep harmony. This is the season of flourishing. The ruler completes heaven and earth's work and aids the people.
晉Jìn — Progress
The powerful lord is honored with horses in great numbers. In a single day he is granted audience three times. The sun rises over the earth—rapid, easy progress with widening expansion and clarity. A twofold condition: the leader has clarity not to abuse influence but uses it for the benefit of the ruler. The ruler is free of jealousy and showers rewards. Enlightened ruler, obedient servant—this is how great progress happens.
井Jǐng — The Well
The town may be changed, but the well cannot be changed. It neither decreases nor increases. They come and go and draw from the well. If the rope does not go all the way down, or the jug breaks, misfortune. Political structures change, nations rise and fall, but life with its needs remains eternally the same. Life is inexhaustible—it exists for one and for all. Two prerequisites: go down to the very foundations. Superficial ordering that leaves deepest needs unsatisfied is as ineffectual as no attempt at all. And carelessness by which the jug is broken is equally disastrous.
鼎Dǐng — The Caldron
Supreme good fortune. Success. The well relates to the social foundation of life; the caldron refers to the cultural superstructure. Wood serves as nourishment for the flame, the spirit. All that is visible must grow beyond itself, extend into the realm of the invisible. The highest earthly values must be sacrificed to the divine. But the truly divine manifests in prophets and holy people. To venerate them is true veneration. Accept their revealed will in humility—this brings inner enlightenment and true understanding.
恆Héng — Duration
Success without blame. Persistence furthers. It is favorable to have somewhere to go. Duration isn't stagnation—standing still is regression. True duration is self-renewing movement, following immutable laws, beginning fresh at every ending. Like celestial orbits, like seasons, the pattern continues because it keeps moving.