877999 · 44.4.5.6Hexagram 44

Adapting to circumstances.

Line image

Here the life force is manifesting actively (line 1) and we are not feeling it, not involved in it, not recognizing what it is (lines 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 are all yang). This unawareness is likely to lead us into misreading our situation.

Trigram image

The only trigram with any activity is that for the emerging life force, Sun, and we do not respond to this circumstance which comes to us in a rather rigid and formed shape. We cannot influence it because it has no changeability and we may not recognize its strength because of its gentleness. We need to remain alert and witness our desires rather than trying to fulfill them.

The Chinese Oracle

Sudden meeting.
The woman is powerful.
Do not marry.

Comments

The meeting is sudden because we are very unaware in this tao, like someone who is very short-sighted and suddenly recognizes something at close range. Feeling (the woman) is powerful and this feeling is emotional feeling that we have stored and now seeks activity, so it is not born out of our present circumstances but is triggered by them. It is useful to allow such feeling but useless to wed ourselves to it.

Manifestations

The pattern
The powerfully mature
has its activity.
Without being influenced
has influence.
For humans
He does not try to change
what is so formed,
but meeting it
he is so drawn
he must himself change.
In nature
The flow of oceans
does not yield to our swimming.
The place of planets
does not shift for our desire.
In forms we make
All forms have archetypes
they tend towards,
yet the archetype has no form.

Changing Lines

Line 1 goes yang

life force shows less change

Here the silence of identity (lines 4, 5, and 6 are yang) ignores the activity of the life force and it ceases to have influence.

The Chinese Image
The wheel is held by a metal brake.
Continuance in the way brings good fortune.
A lean pig leaps about.

The brake is applied; there is nothing we can do about it but follow our circumstances. Any attempt to get out of our circumstances will prove unfortunate so we need simply to experience where we are. A lean pig is an underfed pig and when we are under-stimulated we “leap about” to cause activity.

Line 2 goes yin

intuitive feeling more active

Feeling is our link between the undefined inner and manifest outer; here in this line new activity of feeling is occurring although identity is taking no notice.

The Chinese Image
There are fish in the tank.
It does not benefit the guests.
No error.

Our present identifications (the guests) are not noticing the nourishment available, but this cannot be error, it is just circumstance.

Line 3 goes yin

outer world changes more

In this tao we do not have a true picture of our circumstances and in this line we act out in circumstances of which we are ignorant.

The Chinese Image
No skin on his thighs.
He walks with difficulty.
Keeping alert he makes no error.

Line 4 goes yin

accepting the outer state more

If our increased involvement is with a sense of outer peace all is well, but this is likely to be a search for outer activity and if it is we will search and find none.

The Chinese Image
No fish in the tank.
Misfortune.

The tank which has or has not fish in it is our personal inner being and the fish are our personal identifications in this. Here there are no fish, the process of identifying is inactive in this tao, so if we expect something we are disappointed.

Line 5 goes yin

more awareness of intuition

Our intuition about our circumstances as shown by line 2 is inactive; by accepting this lack of interpretive feeling, we allow life to happen to us.

The Chinese Image
A melon wrapped in leaves is hidden.
Something falls from heaven.

The melons, the gourd family of fruits, have a multitude of seeds in the fruit casing, many possibilities. These possibilities are hidden within the fruit, the fruit is hidden in the leaves, it appears that nothing is there; then suddenly from this nothing (from heaven) there is a happening. This describes how life is when we do not anticipate it.

Line 6 goes yin

our inner being accepts more

By accepting the energy of this tao which flows through emotional channels there is a forcing of their recognition.

The Chinese Image
He approaches with his horns.
Regret but no error.

The way emotion forces its way into recognition is often uncomfortable and causes regret, but it is necessary for it to be expressed so this is not an error.

Secondary HexagramHexagram 46

New growth out of maturity.

Line image

The only yang lines, 2 and 3, are our first interpretation and the outer action of the life force. All the top three lines are yin so we accept whatever the tao brings; it brings an activity (line 1) that we do not interpret by feeling and do not act out. The common name of the hexagram is “pushing upwards” or “ascending”; it is activity coming to fruition that is not yet recognized.

Trigram image

This structured emerging life force (Sun) is hardly visible outside (Tui) but causes a great change (Chên) in our identity which is accepted by our inner being (K’un).

So this is about something happening in ourselves, though it will naturally be reflected in our outer actions later; it is a growth in our reality state because when accepting the energy into our inner being we become one with it rather than separating ourselves and trying to get what we want from it.

The Chinese Oracle

Ascending.
Greatest success.
It is necessary to see the great man
to get rid of anxiety.
Movement towards the south
brings good fortune.

Comments

In this tao it is the forces within us that are ascending, not we ourselves as identity. It is these forces that create success, not we ourselves in identity. It is necessary to see this widely (the great man) if we are not to become anxious about how well we will do, for when we own the life force we feel responsible for what is done, for what happens. Movement towards the south is towards the sun’s zenith or the full activity of the day and this brings good fortune, for the activity will be carried by the forces now ascending within us.

Manifestations

The pattern
After accumulation
there is much power
for activity later on.
For humans
He has gathered
and assimilated experience.
He can now
turn this into many forms.
He is mature yet young.
In nature
When roots are strong in the earth
they push up great growth.
New shoots from old stock.
In forms we make
Wealth has been made.
How to use it wisely?
Nature makes growth
in new directions.

Changing Lines

Line 1 goes yang

life force shows less change

When we are fully accepting our situation this acceptance remains even when there is no activity; identity is naturally activity-seeking so accepting inactivity involves a faith that activity will return.

The Chinese Image
Confidence in the ascent.
Great good fortune.

Line 2 goes yin

intuitive feeling more active

We feel the movement of inner energies by direct experience of intuitive feeling, so for this feeling to become more active is a natural outcome of the energies ascending within us.

The Chinese Image
Genuine involvement in the sacrifice.
No error.

To be in our feelings is to be genuinely involved, and the sacrifice in which we are involved is of the ownership of the ascent; we recognize that it is the life force which ascends and this is no error.

Line 3 goes yin

outer world changes more

When ascending energy reaches outer action there is no longer any doubt even in a doubting mind, for there it is for all to see.

The Chinese Image
He ascends into a more spacious city.

The life force moves outwards into the world and spreads out there. When this happens we in identity have a feeling of release, of enlargement we sometimes call our success; even if we do think of it in this narrow way we move with the life force.

Line 4 goes yang

accepting the outer state less

When we concern ourselves less with an outer experience which is inactive (line 3 is yang) we are taking it as the manifestation of the life force and not our own creation. In this way we offer something to the whole by sacrificing our attachment.

The Chinese Image
The king sacrifices on mount Chi.
Great good fortune and no error.

Mount Chi was in the homeland of King Wên, who is reputed to have put the Chinese oracle images in their present form. If King Wên sacrificed up mount Chi it was on the height of his homeland; innerly the height of our homeland is our mind reality, our separated position or point of view, and giving up our separateness is our ultimate sacrifice and good fortune.

Line 5 goes yang

less awareness of intuition

Here we no longer accept the absence of interpretation of the life force (the yang line 2), but the energy cannot ascend unchanged if we interpret it so the ascent is checked.

The Chinese Image
Continuance in the way
brings good fortune.
The ascent is by steps.

It is in steps if we do not continue in the way without stopping, as in the case of this line.

Line 6 goes yang

our inner being accepts less

When we try to fix our reality, narrow it to something that we can grasp, we feel more secure in our identity but we become more unaware of our actual situation (the movement of the life force).

The Chinese Image
A dark ascent.
Great continuance in the way
is needed.

The energy of the life force ascends in us but we are not aware of it now so it is “dark”.

Nuclear HexagramHexagram 1

Responses to creative potential.

Line image

Here there is no activity to be experienced, all the energy of the life force is in a quiet state which we call potential (or potentially active as we feel activity to be more real and important). The non-active is, however, not only an absence of activity, it is a real state in its own right, an expansion of what we consider to be real; activity on the other hand contracts and sharpens what we experience to be real until we “actualize” a reality, making experience.

This selectivity which is the action of having a point of view forms our identity which in turn selects; thus out of the nothingness of Ch’ien creation comes.

Hexagrams 1 and 2 picture unselective non-doing and unselective doing and so neither has a point of view or pattern; these come from selected mixtures of doing and non-doing.

When we cast this hexagram, we are in a tao of unselective non-doing, so our situation is not cast in a shape and has great possibilities which are not at present actualized. The tao is to experience this state as a real way of being so we should not create activity so as to get out of it as soon as possible. Action will follow of its own volition; here we can experience and practise non-doing and see what it creates.

Trigram image

We cannot distinguish the flow of Ch’ien because there is no point of view here, which is needed to distinguish anything, yet it contains flows in their unmanifest form, or formlessness. It is like the raw material from which our world is formed, or the whole reality in which identity selects paths to travel upon.

Before we make a new path for ourselves, we will do well to savour this time in Ch’ien. We can see from the trigram flow analysis that each of our normally active-seeking functions need to relax their effort; from this silence, we may be able to hear things that our noise would otherwise obscure. In this way, Ch’ien creates without any effort and produces no stress.

The Chinese Oracle

The creative principle.
Sublime success.
Continuance furthers.

Comments

The sublime success of the creative element is its inevitability, so when we are one with this tao there is an inevitability about our actions also. Perseverance is needed in following the tao or we may think that we are creating (indeed we usually do think this) and then we try to lead events instead of following the life force with our actions. Following the tao is a constant theme of the oracle. Following creates the wholeness, leading creates the ten thousand things, but in either case we do not stand aside—we take part in creation.

Manifestations

The pattern
The creative power is ready.
Awaits your sympathy
like a new page.
For humans
His decision, what form evolves.
He is the king,
head of his household.
The world awaits the karma
which is his endowment.
In nature
The sun warms the earth.
What will grow?
Everything there is to flow
and overflow.
In forms we make
The form is not yet.
Riches are liquid, uncrystallized.
The state has power.
Its will is to be something.

Changing Lines

Line 1 goes yin

life force shows more change

It is the deep emerging life force that is showing activity, so it is not yet time for us to manifest this—that will come in due course. Having deep knowing that this activity is there helps us to restrain our impatience for action, and holding this like a secret love in our heart is part of the richness of this tao.

The Chinese Image
Hidden dragon. Do not act.

The dragon is an ominous symbol, it is a dynamic expression of the life energy which, here, is still hidden from conscious manifestation.

Line 2 goes yin

intuitive feeling more active

Here, activity begins to show in our feelings, which are our earliest manifestation of the life force, but we need to avoid narrowing this down to action too soon; keep it open and feel, for this is the tao of creation itself and if we do not interpose with our own pattern, we are privileged to know ourselves as part of the inevitable. In practice, we keep our options open.

The Chinese Image
Dragon in the open. It is an advantage to see the great man.

The life energy is in the open because it is manifesting in our feeling and it benefits us to experience this widely; to see the great man is to attend to our greater awareness. In terms of the oracle greatness is always wideness, including more—it is not power.

Line 3 goes yin

outer world changes more

In the tao of the creative there is great power and when this comes to manifestation, we may feel overburdened by it if we think it is we who are doing it. This only brings on unnecessary worry, but if we remember that taking part is not taking possession, there is no danger in this line.

The Chinese Image
All day the superior man is busy and at night his mind is active. Danger, no error.

The day symbolizes the activity in the world and the night a withdrawal of activity to the inner. The superior man is the one who follows the tao, and the danger to him (to our following the tao) is over-involvement, yet we have to be involved. There is no dividing line here to observe, hence the danger.

Line 4 goes yin

accepting the outer state more

Here we interest ourselves in the inactivity of line 3 and we may be tempted to be intentionally inactive, but this is _doing_ and not in keeping with this tao of the creative doing itself. It is necessary to fall effortlessly into the activity of the creative, which is neither being active nor withholding activity.

The Chinese Image
To and fro on the brink of a chasm.
No error.

The chasm is this void that happens when we discount ourselves, trying not to _do_. Here we hesitate to relax because we feel the need to control even our inactivity. Identity feels threatened by not _doing_ and this is part of its nature, not an error or failure on our part.

Line 5 goes yin

more awareness of intuition

Here we are identifying ourselves with unchanging feeling (line 2). We have difficulty in identifying with the non-active as there seems to be nothing there.

The Chinese Image
Dragons flying in the heaven.
It is an advantage to see the great man.

Dragons are the flow of earth energy—things we normally identify with—and here our identifications are out of place unless heaven itself (Ch’ien) can be felt.

Line 6 goes yin

our inner being accepts more

To accept ourselves as the life force and tao is to confuse ourselves with the whole—in the tao of the creative we then think we are the creators.

The Chinese Image
Arrogant dragon. Regret.

It is particularly contrary to this tao for us to take charge of things. We are then deprived of the experience of the creative itself; we only experience ourselves.