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.

It is fortunate for our outer state when the life force is manifesting activity, it creates a balance of inner and outer activity so that the outer seems to move of its own accord, at other times we seem to have to push very hard to make the smallest movement. In this line our activity will feel right.

Intuitive feeling is our first activity of distinguishing, we then define an attitude according to the feeling and so distinguish the feeling in terms of mind. It is advantageous in this tao that we should be free of mind attitudes and simply be in the flow, this gives freedom to the magic of the moment.

Tortoise shells are artefacts of magic, and what the tao offers in this line is the magic of the life force providing our feeling with just what it needs. For this to be accepted we need to drop our way of identifying what is happening and then choosing (this is the mode that normally rules us, is our king); if this is not sacrificed the gift is not seen or felt at all. Learning to drop our personal activity takes this long perseverance and is the inner good fortune of the tao.

It is more in tune with this tao to reduce our controlling of activity rather than to reduce the activity itself; our outer experience is food to the inner self. Here we make a move intending to do something about an overactive “I am” but “I am” doing it.

Our seal is that which identifies us and the prince is our identity (the outcome of our ruler which is the identifying process), so here we need to see how we are identifying ourselves, how we are choosing; the middle way is not to choose but to allow.

Here we choose less amongst the strong flow of outer activity which is this tao; it is in keeping with this flow to go with the outer activity but not to manipulate it.

The capital is the seat of government, the chooser, which is sacrificed in this tao to allow the magic of the life force. For symbols of the seal, the prince, and walking in the middle, see line 3.

By accepting direct feeling of the life force we are becoming one with our intuitive feeling of this tao about increase.

Questioning comes from the mind, flow from the feeling. The essence of the flow is to be genuinely in it, we cannot question a flow without stopping it.

This is no time to get involved in inner stillness (line 1 is yang) when we are in a tao of nourishing outer activity.

Here we fail to sacrifice the importance of identifying—we identify in the inner stillness—and we miss the middle path, the non-identified state. By trying first the outer and then the inner as our focus we are not being consistent and nothing is furthered; only a shock will change this cycle of choosing, for it fuels itself, so it is as if someone strikes him.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.