When the life force is still and we are impatient to make it move, we shift our experience towards some activity and so miss the experience of actually waiting.

The “outer edges” are the boundaries of our personal self beyond which we project our pattern into the world. When we are awaiting outer events we should not project new activities but be constant in our waiting or we miss the experience of the tao. We live for our experience, not for our achievements.

Here we close ourselves to the life force because it is inactive when we want activity; this will only make us insensitive to it when it changes into activity again. That which will come from the life force in the next phase will be unexpected and when we have fixed attitudes we miss the unexpected.

The unexpected guests (three of them which shows change) are symbolizing a new flow of the life force. If we are aware and “honour” them, being attentive, good fortune comes. If on the other hand we allow our impatience to overcome our waiting for change, we are entering the pit.

Here we react to shock immediately by stirring our inner peace into activity. We are alert and not taken much off our guard, or the shock is such that it is quickly recognized; either way it is quickly followed by relief.

This is the numbness reaction to shock. Feeling cannot co-ordinate and so does not function, creating a strange separateness but this will pass.

The danger of overload is a danger to our ability to distinguish what is happening to us, a danger to identity itself. When we cannot distinguish because of shock we lose all of value because confusion has no values.
Over nine hills is nine times up and down again, a vacillation about the number nine, which is 3 × 3 or symbolically change which is changing—all is confusion as we try to follow the change but cannot. But it all comes back again at the end of the process, the seven days. This symbolism just describes the shock syndrome.

With shock, action becomes confused; but it is action that leads out of shock so instinctive action is an effective outlet; it also involves acting without caution.

It is necessary to move to get out of shock and our lightning-like reflexes operate, knowing in their own way what is needed; but here we control this and do not move.

Here we are taking possession of the action of shock, using it for our purposes, conscious or unconscious. This is a misunderstanding; shock is by its nature spontaneous and although we may serve our purposes by this means we narrow our reality.

In mud we get stuck and here we get stuck in shock, using it, entangling with it. Allow shock and it flows out, try to define or use it and it stays.

This fifth line is our recognition of intuitive feeling. Here the shock to feeling causes withdrawal from it—yet we cannot withdraw successfully from something so evident.

The danger is that we are distracted from outer action needed in response to the shock, “things need doing”. We are wildly seeking but nothing is lost so we need not seek.

This line of our inner being does not accept the shock, it is a matter for our outer coordination to deal with it.

The outer boundary of self, the identified self which has many facets, are the “neighbours” who are disoriented, not the inner self, they look around with frightened eyes for some help but get none and feel let down.

Here the source is changing towards active manifestation; if we wait peacefully it will reach the outside in time. It is the source that carries our activities.

Regret disappears because activity (the horse which carries identity) returns of its own accord. The evil company is the narrow frame of mind which demands that it gets what it wants, and now, but we do not tangle with that, we let the tao unfold.

When we feel the life force in this tao we feel opposition, the narrowness of a single-minded point of view. To become aware of such a situation within ourselves is not a mistake, but it is uncomfortable.

We come to realize something quite suddenly and cannot escape from it, there is nowhere to go (our lord is the one we must follow). We meet him coming the other way but it is good to see truth when, or particularly when, it is going the opposite way to the one we are facing.

Our present outer activity comes to the end of its energy and our attempts to proceed appear to be opposed.

The good end comes because we give up futile effort and allow the tao. The trouble comes because we were insufficiently aware.

Here we accept the outer world as our way of being. Participation is symbiotic relationship instead of opposition and this is no error; it does carry the danger of forgetting the tao and entering a narrow reality.

Here is a very inner act but it is occurring in our conscious identity. Our interest in the silence of intuitive feeling has been to enliven it, not to accept it, because no other activity was available. Now we cease this and so trust the life force even though it is not doing what identity wanted—it is a change in mind, a change of mind.

The one with whom he relates innerly is the “companion” (see section 1, page 2) but in outer life this may work through others. When the outer identity and the inner companion are not separated there is certainty and no question of error.

In this tao the emerging life force is unchanging (line 1 is yang) and we have felt opposed to this. We now see things differently.

The pig is nourishment but obscured by mud (confusion); the waggon-load of phantoms are frightening appearances. By ceasing to oppose we become unopposed, for the opposition in this tao is a misunderstanding of our situation which causes us to fear it.