I ching

I Ching Hexagram 55
Feng (Abundance)

Action: Fulfill

Hu Gua (hidden influence) 28 Critical Mass: Adjust

Zong Gua (underlying cause) 59 Dispersion: Flow

If you make your heart like a lake, life will continuously fulfill you.

Everything flows and nothing abides;everything gives way and nothing stays fixed. – Heraclitus

Reading at a Glance: In nature we see how all things flow toward increase and decrease. The zenith or height of fullness is expressed in the hexagram of Abundance. It is a snapshot of you at an apex point and is very auspicious. However, at the zenith of our fullness we must keep positive even when events move toward the opposite condition. Like the sun at noon that begins to move toward decrease, we hold to the expanded awareness of an abundant state of mind, regardless of how events unfold. Because the hidden influence is Critical Mass there is a warning that the current state of Abundance can only be sustained by not hoarding or believing that fullness can be protected. It must flow outward freely and be shared. While this hexagram has a positive message, it can also show a situation that is overwhelming you and you may not be seeing clearly. The clarity of enlightenment comes when awareness is activated through this motion of increase and decrease. This can mean finding peace even while a situation is in decline. Operating from abundance means that by expecting that everything is moving exactly as it should, we need not hold onto anything. Because our arms are open, nothing comes to threaten our sense of peace. When operating from a state of scarcity, we are afraid of losing and cling too tightly to what we believe we need. In this condition, life appears to be fighting us. The lesson of this hexagram is to realize that since abundance exists, it will return. Sometimes our arms need to be set free to embrace fearlessly so that we can receive. For now enjoy this period where your success shines brightly. Examine whether you are holding to scarcity or abundance. Make peace with the path and trust what is unfolding will lead you where you need to be. Life’s only constant is change.

All of nature

is participation

and the sharing

of each

unique offering.

“That which attains the place in which it belongs is sure to become great. Therefore follows the idea of abundance.” In the land of Te, you can operate from scarcity or abundance. Scarcity is a kingdom where all of the people are hungry because they do not know how to grow sustenance. They take what they feel is missing, and conquer others out of a sense of inadequacy. Operating from the root of scarcity ensures that you will discover opportunities to validate its existence.

Abundance is a kingdom with a horn of plenty, where the people cultivate and share in the knowledge of an inexhaustible source. Described as the Land of Te or virtue, “they know how to make things but do not hoard. They give but seek no return.” Te is your instinctual endowment where inner promptings help you actualize your destiny.

Feng is the zenith of abundance, where something is so full that it overflows. In the image of your overflowing inner reserves, you are not made empty even while you give; this is the way of a kingdom of abundance. The master said: “When the sun stands at midday, it begins to set: be not sad. The fullness and emptiness of life wax and wane in the course of time.” If you make your heart like a lake, life will always fulfill you.

“The wise stand firm and do not change direction. A gusty wind and downpour cannot last all day.” The changing climate always brings sustenance to the garden within. The longest day of the year means that tomorrow ushers in decline. Yet, when the days are darker, we spend more time with family, celebrating the ways in which we are thankful.

Although the sun appears to set and the moon appears to wane, they always remain full. Life always moves to fill you, but if you are un-fulfilled, you have allowed yourself to be filled with something else. What you protect within, gives rise to what you encounter. “Too much holding onto anything will leave you perplexed. Leave your kingdom and its ways; take nature as your guide and travel to the land of Te." You stand at the threshold of actualizing abundance.

This hexagram can show the expansion of consciousness because the simple joy that comes from trusting in unfolding events is something that can never be taken from us. To understand that everything is a reflection of our growth and perfectly what we need to discover in each moment is the basis of enlightenment.