25 – Twenty-Five. Wu Wang / Remaining Blameless

Thunder rolls beneath Heaven, as is its nature and place:
Sage rulers aligned themselves with the changing seasons, nurturing and guiding their subjects to do the same.

Exceptional Progress if you are mindful to keep out of the way of the natural Flow.
It would be a fatal error to try to alter its course.
This is a time of Being, not Doing.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

This is thoroughly a matter of the heart.
If everything you attempt, no matter how carefully planned, ends in disarray, then examine your motives.
They are the cause of your predicament.
It isn’t that your motives aren’t pure — even the best intentions will fail under these circumstances.
What stymies you in this situation is that you have a motive at all.
Free yourself of all expectations, release any tenuous grip you may have, and roll with it.
This is totally out of your control.
There are higher powers and more elements affecting the outcome of this situation than you can imagine.
Get out of their way.

Six in the second place means:

Plow your field for a field well-plowed, not for possible harvests.
Clear the wasteland for land well-cleared, not for potential rich fields.

Such guileless enterprise can’t help but succeed.

If one does not count on the harvest while ploughing,
Nor on the use of the ground while clearing it,
It furthers one to undertake something.

‘Autumn Ploughing’ – E.R. Sturgeon (1920 – 1999)

We should do every task for its own sake as time and place demand and not with an eye to the result. Then each task turns out well, and anything we undertake succeeds.

61 – Sixty-One. Chung Fu / Inner Truth

The gentle Wind ripples the Lake’s surface:
The Superior Person finds common ground between points of contention, wearing away rigid perspectives that would lead to fatal error.

Pigs and fishes.
You may cross to the far shore.
Great fortune if you stay on course.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

The subject of this hexagram discovers a key to Tranquility by first gaining insight into his own nature, then turning that vision outward.
By resolving inner conflicts and being at peace with himself, he learns to gain insight into others.
In effect, he enters another, sees with the other’s eyes, listens with the other’s ears, feels with the other’s heart.
He then returns to his own center, with new perspective and understanding.

51 – Fifty-One  Chên / Thunder

Thunder echoes upon Thunder, commanding reverence for its father Heaven:
In awe of Heaven’s majestic power, the Superior Person looks within and sets his life in order.
Thunder mingles with startled screams of terror for a hundred miles around.
As the people nervously laugh at their own fright, the devout presents the sacrificial chalice with nary a drop of wine spilt.
Deliverance

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

A thunderbolt of Cosmic judgement crashes to earth.
For the common person, it’s just a momentary fright soon forgotten, its warning unfathomed and unheeded.
But to one who understands its significance, this thunder is a signal to awaken.
Centering the Self, seeking balance, the enlightened person will respect and align himself with this Higher Power, while his fellows remain subject to the whims of every passing storm.

Six in the second place means:

This thunder erupts from the ground beneath your feet, delivering real danger.
Abandon your belongings and climb to higher ground.
Don’t grieve over treasures left behind.
They will return to you in seven days.

Shock comes bringing danger.
A hundred thousand times
You lose your treasures
And must climb the nine hills.
Do not go in pursuit of them.
After seven days you will get them back again.

Nine hills

This pictures a situation in which a shock endangers a man and he suffers great losses. Resistance would be contrary to the movement of the time and for this reason unsuccessful. Therefore he must simply retreat to heights inaccessible to the threatening forces of danger. He must accept his loss of property without worrying too much about it. When the time of shock and upheaval that has robbed him of his possessions has passed, he will get them back again without going in pursuit of them.

54 – Fifty-Four. Kuei Mei / A Loveless Marriage

The Thunderstorm inseminates the swelling Lake, then moves on where the Lake cannot follow:
The Superior Person views passing trials in the light of Eternal Truths.
Any action will prove unfortunate.
Nothing furthers.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

This is at best a Marriage of Convenience.
You have found yourself in desperate straits, a position of weakness, and you are tempted to pay dearly for a remedy.
A drowning man isn’t picky about who throws him a rope.
The rescue offered to you now is undesirable.
It may pull you out of this sticky situation, but it will cause even greater predicaments down the road.
Don’t obligate yourself in this way.
You are selling your future for a quick fix today.

52 – Fifty-Two. Kên / The Mountain

Above this Mountain’s summit another more majestic rises:
The Superior Person is mindful to keep his thoughts in the here and now.

Stilling the sensations of the Ego, he roams his courtyard without moving a muscle, unencumbered by the fears and desires of his fellows.
This is no mistake.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

There is a higher vantage point available to you, but it is obscured by the visible peak of personal ambition.
To climb to this higher plane, you must shake off the desires and fears of the conscious, visible world around you.
To make this journey you must quiet the Ego, empty your mind of past and future, and dwell totally in the moment at hand.
Thorough mindfulness of what is before you is the only tranquility.
Be. Here. Now.

		above: Kên / Keeping Still, Mountain
		below: Kên / Keeping Still, Mountain

15 – Fifteen. Ch’ien / Modesty

The Mountain does not overshadow the Plain surrounding it:
Such modest consideration in a Superior Person creates a channel through which excess flows to the needy.

Success if you carry things through.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

The Cosmos is moving toward equilibrium.
Extremes are being tempered, excess is beginning to shift toward the empty.
You can use these moderating influences to strike a balance in the world around you.
Remember, though, that this Leveling will not come about through an arrogant confiscation of excess, but through subtler persuasions.
Modesty and moderation are the keys.

36 – Thirty-Six.  Ming I / Eclipsing the Light

Warmth and Light are swallowed by Deep Darkness:
The Superior Person shows his brilliance by keeping it veiled among the masses.

Stay true to your course, despite the visible obstacles ahead.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

This time calls for a saintly effort to turn the other cheek.
You have been deliberately injured.
Going blow-for-blow will only escalate this war.
Abstain from vengeance.
Show all watching that you are above it.
Sidestep your aggressor’s headlong charge, giving him the opportunity to fall on his face.

49 – Forty-Nine. Ko / Revolution

Fire ignites within the Lake, defying conditions that would deny it birth or survival:
The Superior Person reads the Signs of the Times and makes the Season apparent to all.

The support you need will come only after the deed is done.
Renewed forces, however, will provide fresh energy for exceptional progress.
Persevere.
All differences vanish.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

A revolutionary Change must be made forcibly.
There is no negotiating with the Established Order.
Perfect timing is essential.
Let the abuse of power become apparent and oppressive to those around you before making your move.
Lay the groundwork, sow the seeds for Revolution without tipping your hand prematurely.
You will need a strong foundation, because you will have to bring about this necessary change alone.
You cannot count on popular support, so you must wait until there is massive dissent.
Then the avenue for your assault will be cleared.

63 – Sixty-Three. Chi Chi / Aftermath

Boiling Water over open Flame, one might extinguish The other:
The Superior Person takes a 360 degree view of the situation and prepares for any contingency.

Success in small matters if you stay on course.
Early good fortune can end in disorder.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

Victory at the expense of another is a merciless taskmaster.
The precarious balance here is reflected in the lines of the hexagram: each of the yin lines rests upon a strong yang line — a seemingly perfect arrangement.
But the scales will be tipped with the change of any one line.
And there WILL be change.
Tireless vigilance and an answer to every challenge — that is the uneasy Seat of Power occupied by the conqueror.

		above: K’an / The Abysmal, Water
		below: Li / The Clinging, Fire

 

This hexagram is the evolution of T’ai, PEACE (11). The transition from confusion to order is completed, and everything is in its proper place even in particulars. The strong lines are in the strong places, the weak lines in the weak places. This is a very favorable outlook, yet it gives reason for thought. For it is just when perfect equilibrium has been reached that any movement may cause order to revert to disorder. The one strong line that has moved to the top, thus effecting complete order in details, is followed by the other lines, each moving according to its nature, and thus suddenly there arises again the hexagram P’i, STANDSTILL (12). Hence the present hexagram indicates the conditions of a time of climax, which necessitate the utmost caution. THE JUDGEMENT AFTER COMPLETION. Success in small matters. Perseverance furthers. At the beginning good fortune. At the end disorder. The transition from the old to the new time is already accomplished. In principle, everything stands systematised, and it is only in regard to details that success is still to be achieved. In respect to this, however, we must be careful to maintain the right attitude. Everything proceeds as if of its own accord, and this can all too easily tempt us to relax and let things take their course without troubling over details. Such indifference is the root of all evil. Symptoms of decay are bound to be the result. Here we have the rule indicating the usual course of history. But this rule is not an inescapable law. He who understands it is in position to avoid its effects by dint of unremitting perseverance and caution.

23 – Twenty-Three. Po / Splitting Apart

The weight of the Mountain presses down upon a weak foundation of Earth:
The Superior Person will use this time of oppression to attend to the needs of those less fortunate.

Any action would be ill-timed.
Stand fast.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

This is a situation easily mistaken for Stagnation (Hexagram 12) or Revolution (Hexagram 49).
It just depends on which side you’re on.
During a time of Stagnation, human worms invade to feed on the decay.
During a time of Revolution, oppression is being overthrown.
But in this situation, oppressors are violently seizing power.
Pay special heed when you receive this hexagram, because the oracle is often warning you of a situation of which you are totally unaware.
You are about to be blindsided.

Six in the third place means:

He moves among those who would overturn the throne.
Discretion and a true heart are the key to survival.

He splits with them. No blame.

‘Damnation of the Evil’ – Nancy Mueller

An individual finds himself in an evil environment to which he is committed by external ties. But he has an inner relationship with a superior man, and through this he attains the stability to free himself from the way of the inferior people around him. This brings him into opposition to them of course, but that is not wrong.

Six in the third place means:

He splits with them. No blame.

Winds sweep through the Mountain valley:
The Superior Person sweeps away corruption and stagnation by stirring up the people and strengthening their spirit.

Supreme success.
Before crossing to the far shore, consider the move for three days.
After crossing, devote three days of hard labor to damage control.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

You are blessed with an opportunity to resuscitate that which others have abandoned as beyond repair.
This ruin wasn’t caused by evil intention, but by indifference to decay.
Just by addressing yourself to the problem, you exhibit a new awareness, a fresh perspective.
This is a time of recovery, renewal, regeneration.