Lack of a path.

Line image

All is stillness in the lower, manifesting half of the hexagram, and we accept this (lines 4 and 6) but not the feeling of stillness (line 5 does not accept line 2). We cannot make ourselves feel still and look for activity, a feeling which is not supported by the life force. In this situation we either have to await the return of active energy or to await our own stillness (the only stillness we can create by doing something is repression). The common name of this hexagram is “waiting”.

Trigram image

With Ch’ien in the position showing the emerging life force, there is no new manifestation of reality into relating parts—it is at rest and whole. Then with Tui in the place of outer activity there is a tendency to act, a feeling that activity is just about to come, but Li follows in the way personality acts and Li always clings to stillness. This makes for little change in the inner self which is shown by K’an in the top place.

When the manifesting aspect of the life force is still, yet we cannot feel ourselves to be still, we have impatience or imposed patience; for this tao to work peacefully we need to give ourselves to stillness while witnessing our impatience.

The Chinese Oracle

Intentional inaction.
Waiting with confidence produces results.
Perseverance is beneficial.
To cross the great water is progress.

Comments

Knowing that there is learning to be had in this process of waiting gives us confidence that we are not missing something; if we are to persevere in waiting we cannot be continually regretting our inactivity—we have to change sides, cross the great water, change our attitude so that we can experience waiting as the natural order as much as activity.

Manifestations

The pattern

From tranquil to fluid without course.
Intimations desire action.
No channel to guide the flow.

For humans

Mood for action slowly stirred
finds no path.
Danger of floundering,
do not run, swim gently.

In nature

There is no track,
just forest.

In forms we make

The wise do not listen
to the cries of their opponents.
Quench them with silence.

Changing Lines

Line 1 goes yin

life force shows more change

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 Chinese Image

Waiting at the outer edges.
To maintain constancy
guards against error.

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.

❦

Line 2 goes yin

intuitive feeling more active

We are trying to feel the tao here, either looking for a flow or to feel the stillness. This is certainly not intentional inaction but it does absorb the energy of our impatience and keeps us alive to our intuitive feelings.

The Chinese Image

Waiting on the river sands.
There is gossip but eventual good fortune.

A river in this line represents a flow of feeling which, here, we stand beside and watch. Within us are urges to activity (the gossip against all this waiting) but as we are following the tao the end result is good fortune, which is the experience of what actually exists in the life flow.

❦

Line 3 goes yin

outer world changes more

Here we cannot wait and have to act, yet acting does not result in the outer flow we seek because it is not supported by the life force. This results in an unclear and worrying state in which our action becomes a stress between us and our environment.

The Chinese Image

Waiting in mud invites evil.

Evil is always a narrowing of our reality, the outcome of unawareness. Mud is unclear and we get stuck in it as we also get stuck in these unclear and worried states of mind.

❦

Line 4 goes yang

accepting the outer state less

The outer world is inactive in this tao (shown by yang line 3); here we are having difficulty with so much stillness.

The Chinese Image

Waiting amongst blood.
Emerging from the pit.

We wait amongst the unflowing life-fluid but we want to flow, we feel it ought to flow, and this waiting in inactivity feels both unhealthy and confined like the pit; In this line we turn our attention from it and so we emerge from this abysmal feeling.

❦

Line 5 goes yin

more awareness of intuition

Intuitive feeling is inactive in this tao and here we become more involved with this inactivity, we feel the reality of there being no way forward and so become more aware of our present, which nourishes us.

The Chinese Image

Waiting while eating and drinking.
Continuance in the way brings good fortune.

It is good fortune to be nourished by our circumstances rather than straining towards the future. Being alert and aware in the present also enables us to recognize the re-emergence of activity in the life force when this arrives.

❦

Line 6 goes yang

our inner being accepts less

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 Chinese Image

Entering the pit.
Three guests arrive unexpectedly,
honour them and good fortune comes.

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.

Secondary HexagramHexagram 52

A wider view.

Line image

In this structure neither the inner (lines 1 and 6) nor the outer (lines 3 and 4) have activity with acceptance; feeling (lines 2 and 5) becomes the dominant mode, it is the function linking the inner and outer and the primary distinguisher of the life force. We find ourselves feeling without acting inside or outside. The common name of the hexagram is “keeping still” or “contemplation”.

Trigram image

As the life force emerges it tends to become still (Kên) so there is little outer activity (K’an). This stillness causes activity of the identified self (Chên) which itself seeks stillness (Kên). So the flow of the tao is one that causes great change in our personal self, an activity directed at achieving stillness. This is a reversal of the role identity has in its growth phase which has been about action outside in which we identified ourselves and so built our point of view in reality. Here we internalize the identity we have grown, we seek that inner space which is neither identified outside nor inside, where we can be ourselves without noticing it.

The Chinese Oracle

Stillness.
Keeping the back so still
there is no feeling of body.
Walking in the courtyard
he does not see the people.
No error.

Comments

Stillness relates to the idea of an unmoving central core like the centre of a rotating wheel which does not move but is the essential reference point of movement. It is an element in activity which we cannot distinguish and tend to see as unreal. Our backbone is such a reference point for our body, if no message goes out from it no movement arises. The courtyard surrounds the house; instructions from the house cause activity in the courtyard; here we walk in the courtyard, our being is in the place of activity, but we see no people which is to say that we have no concern about what goes on there. It is no error to be with activity while being innerly still; it is the act of dynamic relaxation and perfect poise.

Manifestations

The pattern

Seeking to return
to a peak once known.
The completion
that contains the beginning.
The start that is the end.

For humans

Resisting movement
he avoids beginnings.
Knowing that in the beginning
there was no end
he seeks no end.
Thereby he arrives
at a wider beginning.

In nature

The low reaches upward.
The confines seek to spread.
The fruit of the seed
seeks to become seed.

In forms we make

Cycles begin and end.
Their beginning and ending
has no ending
and no beginning.
This has the form
of encompassing a wider view.

Changing Lines

Line 1 goes yang

life force shows less change

The emerging life force is the source of outer activity, so here we are stilling the beginning of movement. If we continue this throughout the flow, inner and outer, we will remain with our centre.

The Chinese Image

Keeping the toes still.
No error.
Continuance in the way
brings good fortune.

The toes lead the body when we walk, so this stilling of the toes is the beginning of keeping still, we stop the first part to move. This is the way to create stillness, right at the beginning before movement actually starts, so continuing in the way brings good fortune and there is no error.

❦

Line 2 goes yang

intuitive feeling less active

When experience comes to us we taste it with our feeling and then we follow this with decisions about how to behave in our circumstances. Here the stilling effect of the tao is in our feeling so that our usual flow or zest for life lessens; this is only a problem if we resist being still.

The Chinese Image

Keeping the calves still.
He is sad;
cannot assist the one he follows.

The calf muscles lift the body so that we fall into the next step; keeping them still we take no step. If we, identified self, follow something we cannot be still, we cannot assist the stillness by doing something.

❦

Line 3 goes yin

outer world changes more

Here we act out in the tao of keeping still, we are using outside means, outside ideas, to create stillness. When we do this it is like damming a stream; the flow is from inner to outer so outside action cannot create stillness except by restricting some flow.

The Chinese Image

Keeping the loins still.
Stiffening the sacrum.
The heart suffocates.

In our animal world the prime life priority is of the species, a great identity of which all its members are a part. Here we keep the loins still and sacrum stiff and this is the cradle of our reproduction; we stop the flow the “heart” creates. So our way of trying to create stillness from the outside prevents manifestation, the flow of life, and misunderstands stillness; stillness has no wish to move.

❦

Line 4 goes yang

accepting the outer state less

Here we are no longer concerned about outer stillness, we just allow it to be still.

The Chinese Image

Keeping the body still.
No error.

It is the whole body, not a part, that we keep still. If we concentrate on keeping this or that part still the other parts will move unnoticed by us. It is the whole that is still when stillness is achieved.

❦

Line 5 goes yang

less awareness of intuition

Our intuitive feeling is active in this tao. Here we, as identity, are less involved in these feelings so we do not project them on to our circumstances. We project when we express what we feel about things.

The Chinese Image

Keeping the jaws still.
Words are in order.
Regret disappears.

The words are not said, yet they are in order. Our words are the outflow of our meaning and if our meaning is in perfect order it cannot be said—we only speak out of incompleteness, then there is something to be said. Here there is no care or regret because there is nothing left over, nothing to be said.

❦

Line 6 goes yin

our inner being accepts more

When we accept stillness into our inner being the next expression of that being is perfectly still although in activity.

The Chinese Image

The most genuine stillness.
Good fortune.

Nuclear HexagramHexagram 38

Opposition in time. (Taking turns.)

Line image

There is outer activity (line 3) but we are not accepting this (line 4); there is no activity of intuitive feeling (line 2) but we are looking for it (line 5). The other lines are all yang so such activity as there is here is in opposition to our circumstances, and “opposition” is the common name of the hexagram.

Trigram image

The very light emerging energy (Tui) is hesitant in the world (Li), stopped by doubt (K’an) in identity and our inner being is also hesitant to accept it (Li). Hesitation and doubt alternate and oppose the life force flow as we are divided as to whether we should be still or moving, observing or involved.

The Chinese Oracle

Opposition.
Success in small matters.

Comments

When there is opposition we cannot go far in any direction without being opposed, we can move about a little but this tao is restrictive and set against itself, we are set against our self.

Manifestations

The pattern

Forces of opposition
cannot coexist
without losing character,
so they take turns.

For humans

To move with the easy and rest simply
in harmony with others
allows his actions to be his own.
When the young realize taking turns
they can express fully without frustration.

In nature

The cosmos moves in cycles
of the active and tranquil.

In forms we make

To realize form
is to allow its innate character.
Wise government is not impaired.

Changing Lines

Line 1 goes yin

life force shows more change

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.

The Chinese Image

Regret disappears.
Do not chase after the lost horse,
it will return.
Although there is evil company
he does not mix with it.

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.

❦

Line 2 goes yin

intuitive feeling more active

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.

The Chinese Image

He meets his lord in a narrow street.
No mistake.

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.

❦

Line 3 goes yang

outer world changes less

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

The Chinese Image

They drag at the axle
and strike the oxen.
His head is shaved
and his nose cut off.
No good beginning
but a good end.

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

❦

Line 4 goes yin

accepting the outer state more

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.

The Chinese Image

He stands alone amongst opposition.
He finds a companion with whom he co-operates.
Danger but no error.

❦

Line 5 goes yang

less awareness of intuition

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 Chinese Image

Regret disappears.
He and the one with whom he relates
bite through the barrier layer.
What error can there be then?

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.

❦

Line 6 goes yin

our inner being accepts more

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 Chinese Image

Lonely and opposed.
He saw a pig covered with mud,
a waggon-load of phantoms.
He drew his bow but then put it aside
seeing that this was not an assailant but a close relative.
As he goes gentle rain falls and good fortune comes.

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.