Our identity accepts an inactive outer world (lines 4 and 3) while it does not accept our active intuitive feeling (lines 5 and 2); this does not favour our taking new directions, but acceptance by our inner being (line 6) creates change there, so although the tao restrains outer activity we are furthered by experiencing it.
Trigram image
The life force seeks to be still (Kên) and there is little flow in our outer world (K’an), so we are unable to act effectively; we hesitate (Li). The K’an, Li, K’an sequence on top of the stillness of Kên contradicts itself, giving the hexagram its common name of “obstruction” as no direction can be usefully taken.
The Chinese Oracle
Comments
The sun traverses the south and west from midday to night; the north and east is traversed through darkness to morning; so the south and west is activity becoming tranquil and the north and east is tranquility becoming active, so it is better to complete works rather than start new ones. It is an advantage to experience widely (the great man) when obstructed and work through the situation so that our inner experience is enriched.
Manifestations
Changing Lines
Line 1 goes yang
life force shows less change
When the life force is inactive less activity is possible, especially when we are in the tao of obstruction.
Remaining involves being still, being alert, being aware; more being, less doing.
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Line 2 goes yang
intuitive feeling less active
The natural reaction of feeling to troubled times is to become less sensitive; it is an instinctive move to balance sensitivity with aggravating circumstance.
The minister supplies the king with advice and information, as feeling does for identifying. Feeling is suffering under the stress of our circumstances but this is not a fault in the way we feel.
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Line 3 goes yin
outer world changes more
Here we act out to overcome our frustration although there is no path there; our objectives cannot be reached so we will then give up the attempt.
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Line 4 goes yang
accepting the outer state less
The unflowing state of outer action appears to us to be an obstruction. By becoming less involved in this we can be more aware of what is actually going on around us.
Connecting things together is a state of awareness, not of outer activity; here we try to understand our situation instead of battling against it.
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Line 5 goes yin
more awareness of intuition
The obstruction is so great that we turn to our intuitive feeling, which we have been ignoring.
Feeling our circumstances helps as a friend would, be relating innerly. Our ignorance of this feeling was part of the obstruction so this improves matters.
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Line 6 goes yang
our inner being accepts less
The obstruction in this tao is about our not being able to be still nor to act. Here our inner being becomes still, which is helpful.
Remaining is also keeping still and to see the great man is to see widely, not narrowing our view by choice; this is the good fortune.
Effort through resistance.
Line image
We feel and accept the quietness of the life force (lines 2 and 6) and of our outer world (line 4). Feeling will be dominant as there is no other activity for us to identify, lines 1 and 3 being yang. So this is about feeling a lack or failure of identification and as this distinguishing we do is the “light” of our intelligence the common name of the hexagram is “darkening of the light”.
Trigram image
With a hesitant emerging energy (Li) which falls to a low in the outside world (K’an) there is not much to please our identifying function (identity), but this dearth of material causes changes in us, perhaps even traumatic ones (Chên) which create a free flow of activity in our inner being (K’un).
The inner and outer views of this tao are very different, it is developing a great movement in our inner being which will be nourishing, but the outer identified experience is a frustration of activity. If we identify ourselves with what we can do, therefore, this will be a hard tao, but if we can go with this inner movement it is very beautiful and approaches a major transition.
The Chinese Oracle
Comments
The light of identity comes from something to identify, which at present is not available. As in hexagram 29 we must not give ourselves up for lost just because we have lost our freedom; there we lost it in identification with polarity, here we lose it because we are no longer supported by that polarity which was our guiding light for distinguishing the real. Our motivation fails here, our sense of the real, and by continuing, not seeking a new motivation but in “the way” which is being within our present circumstances, we find a beauty we had not expected; it was obscured by the brightness of our personal light. The opportunity here is to find that we can see in the darkness—reality is real even if we do not shine our light upon it (defining it in our own terms).
Manifestations
Changing Lines
Line 1 goes yin
life force shows more change
The inner activity shown here draws our motivation inwards and the outer energy is depleted.
Motivated parts of our identity, the people, do not like the situation, but the wide view is that one must go with the cycle and experience all its aspects.
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Line 2 goes yang
intuitive feeling less active
Here we feel the life force less and have some confusion, so we ride life, we ride on the acceptance in this tao which enables us to act without owning the action.
The left side of the body is controlled by the right side of the brain where immediate, whole action dominates; the thigh gives power to the knee joint as we run and leap. These together with injury show that our ability to move instinctively in our circumstances is impaired. We are helped by allowing ourselves to be carried.
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Line 3 goes yin
outer world changes more
In this tao the light, the identification, becomes inner so the Chinese image speaks of the increasing outer activity of this line as a rebel.
The hunt is for identification and the south stands for the high noon of activity, so we have this rebel identification in the outer place; what leads this is the desire to be in control of circumstances and the tao does not support this. If, however, we take outer activity itself as the evil this is excessive.
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Line 4 goes yang
accepting the outer state less
Our outer world is inactive. We withhold our identification even from this inactivity and experience something that is most inner.
Entering the centre of the instinctive there is no sense at all (no light of reason). Reason in the mind is the contained reality that we leave here; it is not that we become unreasonable but we enter a reality undefined, unfenced, outside the gate and courtyard.
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Line 5 goes yang
less awareness of intuition
Here we become less involved because the feeling is too painful. This tao has a transitory nature because outer expression cannot be held for a long time without stress developing from the essential need to manifest, and if this is blocked we must feel less or break through the blockage. This moving line indicates that we cannot easily experience the silence any longer but we have this way of withstanding it by withdrawing attention.
Prince Chi lived at a time of outer despotism and he hid his convictions in order to preserve them. Here we do likewise. When wounded we are unable to give battle.
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Line 6 goes yang
our inner being accepts less
This tao of inner experience is supported largely by this line 6 accepting the quietness of the emerging life force in line 1. Here this acceptance goes and inner reality is inaccessible to us, the beauty is not seen and the tao takes on its aspect of a blockage to progress.
When our inner being fails to accept the implications of wholeness, which include the sacrifice of identifying, we go back to the identified state to start a new cycle of growth, like a seed falling from a flower into the earth. We still need that experience.
Incomplete change.
Line image
Here the personal self has withdrawn from both inner and outer activity (lines 4 and 6) and we are in the peace of inactive feeling (lines 2 and 5). This uninvolvement and quiet feeling comes at the end of a cycle of involvement and the common name of the hexagram is “before completion”.
Trigram image
In this flow the energy is hesitant in our outer expression and inner being (both Li) so we will be unsure how to express in a situation that is somewhat empty and confusing. The emerging energy is low (K’an) and so is the energy in our identity (also K’an) which pictures our situation at the end of something we have been involved in, the energy has run out but it is not all completed yet and we are hesitant to invest more energy in it.
The Chinese Oracle
Comments
No chosen direction means not starting something new—for to do that we choose. The tail is in the water because the crossing is not yet complete and it is by keeping our choosing mind frozen that we can complete what we have been engaged in (when this becomes liquid the tail gets wet). So the success is in completing (the crossing) and the little fox is he who is learning to take advantage of his circumstances.
Manifestations
Changing Lines
Line 1 goes yang
life force shows less change
Here we are not moving sufficiently with the tao we are in; the drive in the tao diminishes before we have completed our transition out of a habit-reality.
We are in transition so it is essential to keep moving, if we stop to consider our position we get submerged in where we are and the transition ceases.
❦
Line 2 goes yin
intuitive feeling more active
With our intuitive feelings active we are more aware, and to be more aware when in transition means witnessing, not being involved in action; we just feel our situation.
We stop our outer movement; it is this that carries us in the world and so is our carriage. Transition continues here while the old way of moving is stopped, so continuing with this is the way through.
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Line 3 goes yang
outer world changes less
If we stop movement during transition we may start off in a new direction to save ourselves the effort of inner change.
Change in our mode of being is not complete so to start any new movement now will be moving from our old motivations and endanger the change that is nearly complete.
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Line 4 goes yin
accepting the outer state more
When a change is happening in our identifying pattern our old motivations turn up all sorts of new activities to keep themselves in being; these are the stumbling blocks to change.
We have to continue through the change (three years symbolically is a cycle of change) continually preventing old and habitual ways from keeping their footholds. Before completion means that we are on our way in a process of change and to complete the transition we must persist.
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Line 5 goes yang
less awareness of intuition
Our intuitive feeling is quiet in this tao; we have needed to accept this quietness also so that new action did not arise. Now we are further along the path of change and do not need this vigilance.
The transition has passed its doubting phase where we were subject to going back to the old ways. We now have confidence in the wider experience which is the reward of transition.
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Line 6 goes yin
our inner being accepts more
The life energy of this tao moves to create change, and here we go with the movement, identifying in it. We need to be careful of this identifying.
Confidence and over-confidence; in the first we trust providence and in the second we trust our heads.