32. Heng / Duration

                                                                    32.  Heng  /   Duration

                                                                           The Judgement

                                   "Duration is a state whose movement is not worn down by hindrances .   It is not a state of rest, for mere standstill is regression .  Duration is rather the self-contained and therefore self-renewing movement of an organized, firmly integrated whole, taking place with the immutable laws and beginning anew at every ending .   The end is reached by an inward movement, by inhalation, systole, contraction, and this movement turns into a new beginning, in which the movement is directed outward, in exhalation, diastole, expansion .

                                     "Heavenly  bodies exemplify Duration .   They move in their fixed orbits, and because of this their light-giving power endures .   The seasons of the year follow a fixed law of change and transformation, hence can produce effects that endure .  

                                      "So likewise the dedicated man embodies an enduring meaning in his way of life, and thereby the world is formed .  In that which gives things their Duration, we can come to understand the nature of all beings in heaven and on earth ."