message from the I Ching :: Fellowship with Men

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13. T'ung Jên / Fellowship with Men

'True fellowship among men must be based
upon a concern that is universal.
It is not the private interests of the individual
that create lasting fellowship among men,
but rather the goals of humanity.

That is why it is said that
fellowship with men in the open succeeds.

If unity of this kind prevails,
even difficult and dangerous tasks,
... can be accomplished.

But in order to bring about this sort of fellowship,
a persevering and enlightened leader is needed--a man with clear,
convincing, and inspiring aims and the strength to carry them out.

...Just as the luminaries in the sky
serve for the systematic division and
arrangement of time,
so human society and all things
that really belong together
must be organically arranged.

Fellowship should not be a mere
mingling of individuals or of things
--that would be chaos, not fellowship.

If fellowship is to lead to order,
there must be organization within diversity.

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charged Nine in the fifth place:
Men bound in fellowship first weep and lament,
But afterward they laugh.
After great struggles they succeed in meeting.

Life leads the thoughtful man on a path of many windings.
Now the course is checked, now it runs straight again.
Here winged thoughts may pour freely forth in words,
There the heavy burden of knowledge must be shut away in silence.
But when two people are at one in the inmost hearts,
They shatter even the strength of iron or of bronze.
And when two people understand each other in their inmost hearts,
Their words are sweet and strong, like the fragrance of orchids.'...

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(adopted from the wilhelm version of the i ching)