Category: Today: I Ching

#18, line 5, #48

The Superior Person sweeps away corruption and stagnation by stirring up the people and strengthening their spirit.
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.
An individual is confronted with corruption originating from neglect in former times. He lacks the power to ward it off alone, but with able helpers he can at least bring about a thorough reform, if he cannot create a new beginning, and this also is praiseworthy.
Encampments, settlements, walled cities, whole empires may rise and fall, yet the Well at the center endures, never drying to dust, never overflowing.
It served those before and will serve those after.
Inside each of us are dreamlike symbols and archetypes, emotions and instincts that we share with every other human being.
When we feel a lonely separateness from others, it is not because this Well within has dried up, but because we have lost the means to reach its waters.
You need to reclaim the tools necessary to penetrate to the depths of your fellows.
Then the bonds you build will be as timeless and inexhaustible as the Well that nourishes them.

#14, line 4, #41

The Superior Person possesses great inner treasures — compassion, economy, and modesty.  These treasures allow the benevolent will of Heaven to flow through him outward to curb evil and to further good.
You have become an instrument of Heaven’s will, offering a balance in the world around you.  It is not swashbuckling prowess or uncanny talent that qualifies you for this office, but your simplest gifts — your modesty, your compassion, your economy.  Because you can see clearly who most needs a miracle, Heaven’s bounty is being put at your disposal.
He can make the distinction between his true treasures within and the material possessions others covet.
To be frugal and content is to possess immeasurable wealth within.  Nothing of value could be refused such a person.  Make a portion of each meal a share of your offering.
Simplicity and economy are strong defenses against the slings and arrows of Outrageous Fortune.  Whether this is a time of want or a time of plenty, it is an auspicious time to shed a dependency.

#55, line 5, #41

The leader reaches his peak and doesn’t lament the descent before him.  Be like the noonday sun at its zenith.  This is success.
He attracts the brilliant and able to his quest.  Good fortune.
To be frugal and content is to possess immeasurable wealth within.  Nothing of value could be refused such a person.  Make a portion of each meal a share of your offering.  
Simplicity and economy are strong defenses against the slings and arrows of Outrageous Fortune.  Whether this is a time of want or a time of plenty, it is an auspicious time to shed a dependency.

#59, line 3, #48

Wind carries the Mists aloft: Sage rulers dedicated their lives to serving a Higher Power and built temples that still endure.  The King approaches his temple.  Success if you stay on course.  You may cross to the far shore.
Walls meant to protect have instead separated and isolated.
Your defenses have kept you apart from those whom you most need to touch.
Whatever the reason for discord between you, it is time to lay down your arms.  Dispel the inflexible demands and fears of the Mind so that you may reunite in the Heart.  
If you have begrudged, forgive.  If you have torn down, repair.  If you have injured, heal.  If you have judged, pardon.  If you have grasped, let go.
His ego dissolves and the void is filled with his Self.
No more fear and frustration.
Inside each of us are dreamlike symbols and archetypes, emotions and instincts that we share with every other human being.
When we feel a lonely separateness from others, it is not because this Well within has dried up, but because we have lost the means to reach its waters.
You need to reclaim the tools necessary to penetrate to the depths of your fellows.
Then the bonds you build will be as timeless and inexhaustible as the Well that nourishes them.

#60, line 5, #19

The Superior Person examines the nature of virtue and makes himself a standard that can be followed.  Self-discipline brings success; but restraints too binding bring self-defeat.
Cultivating the proper disciplines and the proper degree of discipline are the concerns of this hexagram.  By limiting options, you may give more attention to priorities.  One who is all over the map is no less lost than one without a map.  Avoid asceticism, however.  Deprivation is not wise discipline.  The key here is regulation, not restriction.
He travels easily with economy and simplicity.  This brings merit.
The Superior Person is inexhaustible in his willingness to teach, and without limit in his tolerance and support of others.  Supreme Success if you keep to your course.
Joy and forbearance bring high and low nearer together. Success is certain. But we must work with determination and perseverance to make full use of the propitiousness of the time.

#10, line 5, #8

You tread upon the tail of the tiger.  Not perceiving you as a threat, the startled tiger does not bite.  Success.
ou have reached a perilous point in your journey.
This is a real gamble — not a maneuver, not a calculated risk.
The outcome is uncertain.  If it goes as you hope, you will gain — but if it turns against you it will cause serious injury, at least to your plans.  The best tack is extreme caution and a healthy respect for the danger involved.
Though fully aware of the danger that lies on the narrow path ahead, the man is fully commited to move forward.  The future is uncertain.
The Superior Person recognizes the situation calls for joining together.  Thus he cultivates friendly relations with all.  This is a time of connection with another or others — not just an alliance, but a melding of parts into a new whole.

#35, line 1. #63

When meeting an impasse, the Superior Person turns his gaze within, and views the obstacle from a new perspective.
Offer your opponent nothing to resist.  Let a sage guide you in this.  Good fortune lies along this course.
When one encounters an obstruction, the important thing is to reflect on how best to deal with it. When threatened with danger, one should not strive blindly to go ahead, for this only leads to complications. The correct thing is, on the contrary, to retreat for the time being, not in order to give up the struggle but to await the right moment for action.
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.

#39, line 3. #8

When meeting an impasse, the Superior Person turns his gaze within, and views the obstacle from a new perspective.
Offer your opponent nothing to resist.  Let a sage guide you in this.  Good fortune lies along this course.
This line shows the man who must act as father of a family or as head of his kin. If he were to plunge recklessly into danger, it would be a useless act, because those entrusted to his care cannot get along by themselves. But if he withdraws and turns back to his own, they welcome him with great joy.
The Superior Person recognizes the situation calls for joining together.
Thus he cultivates friendly relations with all.
This is a time of connection with another or others — not just an alliance, but a melding of parts into a new whole.

#49, line 3. #53

Walls meant to protect have instead separated and isolated.
Your defenses have kept you apart from those whom you most need to touch.
Whatever the reason for discord between you, it is time to lay down your arms.  Dispel the inflexible demands and fears of the Mind so that you may reunite in the Heart.
If you have begrudged, forgive.  If you have torn down, repair.  If you have injured, heal.  If you have judged, pardon.  If you have grasped, let go.
His ego dissolves and the void is filled with his Self.
No more fear and frustration.
Adaptability mixed with integrity will bring a calm, steady progress.
Move from your center, always faithful to your principles, yet with the flexibility to weather any tempest.
Yours is not a meteoric rise to the top, but the solid, confident footing of one who has a clear vision of what can be, and who is willing to climb the distance to reach it.  The oracle foresees companionship along the way — a Divine comfort on any journey.

#42

Whirlwinds and Thunder:
When the Superior Person encounters saintly behavior, he adopts it; when he encounters a fault within, he transforms it.
Progress in every endeavor.  You may cross to the far shore.
Get ready to ride a tide of accelerated growth toward self-actualization.
A joyful awareness of the best within you, coupled with an acceptance of your Shadow, will provide a greater repertoire, a much bolder vision, and new depth and clarity that will compel you to expand your horizons.

#12, Line 5, #2

Heaven and Earth move away from each other.  In the ensuing void, the small invade where the great have departed.  There is no common meeting ground, so the Superior Person must fall back on his inner worth and decline the rewards offered by the inferior invaders.
The time undergoes a change. The right man, able to restore order, has arrived. Hence “Good fortune.” But such periods of transition are the very times in which we must fear and tremble. Success is assured only through greatest caution, which asks always, “What if it should fail?”.
When a mulberry bush is cut down, a number of unusually strong shoots sprout from the roots. Hence the image of tying something to a cluster of mulberry shoots is used to symbolise the way of making success certain.
Difficult trials as you hold to your course.
Kongfu (Confucius) says about this line:
Danger arises when a man feels secure in his position. Destruction threatens when a man seeks to preserve his worldly estate. Confusion develops when a man has put everything in order. Therefore the superior man does not forget danger in his security, nor ruin when he is well established, nor confusion when his affairs are in order. In this way he gains personal safety and is able to protect the empire.
This is a time for dealing with reality as it is, not as you would have it be.
If you realize that in this situation you are the receptor, not the transmitter of the stimulus, you will find yourself reaching goals that seemed unattainable under your own steam.
If you persist in futile efforts to be the Shaper rather than the Shaped, you will completely miss this unique opportunity.

#48, Line 2, #39

Encampments, settlements, walled cities, whole empires may rise and fall, yet the Well at the center endures, never drying to dust, never overflowing.
It served those before and will serve those after.
Again and again you may draw from the Well, but if the bucket breaks or the rope is too short there will be misfortune.
Inside each of us are dreamlike symbols and archetypes, emotions and instincts that we share with every other human being.
When we feel a lonely separateness from others, it is not because this Well within has dried up, but because we have lost the means to reach its waters.
You need to reclaim the tools necessary to penetrate to the depths of your fellows.
Then the bonds you build will be as timeless and inexhaustible as the Well that nourishes them.
The water itself is clear, but it is not being used. Thus the well is a place where only fish will stay, and whoever comes to it, comes only to catch fish. But the jug is broken, so that the fish cannot be kept in it.
This describes the situation of a person who possesses good qualities but neglects them. No one bothers about him. As a result he deteriorates in mind. He associates with inferior men and can no longer accomplish anything worth while.
When meeting an impasse, the Superior Person turns his gaze within, and views the obstacle from a new perspective.  Offer your opponent nothing to resist.  Let a sage guide you in this.  Good fortune lies along this course.
The Obstacle lies in obstinance.  An insistence on only one way of proceeding has brought things to an impasse.  You may either continue banging your head with irresistible force against this immovable object, or you might step back and survey this situation from a fresh perspective.

#9, Line 6, #63

No matter what you do, the fruit of your labors never seems to ripen.
Your reward remains just out of reach.  Men have gone mad from such anticipation.  Don’t lose your balance lunging for the brass ring.
While the Fates continue to restrain you, go them one better and display a self-generated restraint and grace.  Look for the humor in the situation.
The needed rain finally pours down, bringing a well-earned time of rest.
It is Nature’s time to enrich the crops, so leave it to her.  To work the fields in the rain and mud would only undo all good effort.  Do not seek more; the gibbous moon seeks to be full, but once full can do nothing but wane.
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.

#49, Line 6, #13

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.
You dodge the snares and snatch victory with the lightning speed and agility of a panther.  The jackals lose their nerve and swear allegiance to you.  You have won your revolt.  Don’t seek to climb higher.  Instead stabilize the new order for the good of all.
This is a matter of Positioning — not only yourself, but others as well.  There are niches to be filled, potentials to be realized, right livelihoods to be found.  You are not building a new organization, but shoring up an existing infrastructure.  It’s worth the effort, because it will provide union, community, and an ironclad alliance.

#39, Line 6, #53

When meeting an impasse, the Superior Person turns his gaze within, and views the obstacle from a new perspective.  Offer your opponent nothing to resist.  Let a sage guide you in this.  Good fortune lies along this course.
The Obstacle lies in obstinance.  An insistence on only one way of proceeding has brought things to an impasse.  You may either continue banging your head with irresistible force against this immovable object, or you might step back and survey this situation from a fresh perspective.
Advance will meet with disastrous difficulties.  What you seek is right at hand.  Ask guidance from someone you respect.
This refers to a man who has already left the world and its tumult behind him. When the time of obstructions arrives, it might seem that the simplest thing for him to do would be to turn his back upon the world and take refuge in the beyond. But this road is barred to him. He must not seek his own salvation and abandon the world to its adversity. Duty calls him back once more into the turmoil of life. Precisely because of his experience and inner freedom, he is able to create something both great and complete that brings good fortune. And it is favorable to see the great man in alliance with whom one can achieve the work of rescue.   
The gnarled Pine grows tenaciously off the Cliff face:  The Superior Person clings faithfully to dignity and integrity, thus elevating the Collective Spirit of Man in his own small way.  Development.  The maiden is given in marriage.  Good fortune if you stay on course.

#60, Line 2, #2

The Superior Person examines the nature of virtue and makes himself a standard that can be followed.  Self-discipline brings success; but restraints too binding bring self-defeat.
Cultivating the proper disciplines and the proper degree of discipline are the concerns of this hexagram.  By limiting options, you may give more attention to priorities.  One who is all over the map is no less lost than one without a map.  Avoid asceticism, however.  Deprivation is not wise discipline.  The key here is regulation, not restriction.
When the time for action has come, the moment must be quickly seized. Just as water first collects in a lake without flowing out, yet is certain to find an outlet when the lake is full, so it is in the life of man. It is a good thing to hesitate so long as the time for action has not come, but no longer. Once the obstacles to action have been removed, anxious hesitation is a mistake that is bound to bring disaster, because one misses one’s opportunity.
Responsive devotion.  Receptive influence.  Sublime Success if you keep to your course.
This is a time for dealing with reality as it is, not as you would have it be.
If you realize that in this situation you are the receptor, not the transmitter of the stimulus, you will find yourself reaching goals that seemed unattainable under your own steam.  If you persist in futile efforts to be the Shaper rather than the Shaped, you will completely miss this unique opportunity.