I-Ching
Current
Changing
Transformed
Current
52 - Kên / Keeping Still, Mountain
Above: KÊN KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN
Below: KÊN KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN
The image of this hexagram is the mountain, the youngest son of heaven and earth. The male principle is at the top, because it strives upward by nature, and the female principle is below, since the direction of its movement is downward. Thus, there is rest because the movement has come to its normal end. In its application to man, the hexagram turns upon the problem of achieving a quiet heart. It is very difficult to bring quiet to the heart. While Buddhism strives for rest through an ebbing away of all movement in nirvana, the Book of Changes holds that rest is merely a state of polarity that always posits movement as its complement. Possibly the words of the text embody directions for the practice of yoga.
True quiet means keeping still when the time has come to keep still, and going forward when the time has come to go forward. In this way rest and movement are in agreement with the demands of the time, and thus there is light in life. The hexagram signifies the end and the beginning of all movement. The back is named because in the back are located all the nerve fibers that mediate movement. If the movement of these spinal nerves is brought to a standstill, the ego, with its restlessness, disappears as it were. When a man has thus become calm, he may turn to the outside world. He no longer sees in it the struggle and tumult of individual beings, and therefore he has that true peace of mind which is needed for understanding the great laws of the universe and for acting in harmony with them. Whoever acts from these deep levels makes no mistakes.
The heart thinks constantly. This cannot be changed, but the metaphorical movements of the heart, (thoughts), should restrict themselves to the immediate situation. All thinking that goes beyond this only makes the heart sore.
Above: KÊN KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN
Below: KÊN KEEPING STILL, MOUNTAIN
The image of this hexagram is the mountain, the youngest son of heaven and earth. The male principle is at the top, because it strives upward by nature, and the female principle is below, since the direction of its movement is downward. Thus, there is rest because the movement has come to its normal end. In its application to man, the hexagram turns upon the problem of achieving a quiet heart. It is very difficult to bring quiet to the heart. While Buddhism strives for rest through an ebbing away of all movement in nirvana, the Book of Changes holds that rest is merely a state of polarity that always posits movement as its complement. Possibly the words of the text embody directions for the practice of yoga.
The Judgement
KEEPING STILL. Keeping his back still So that he no longer feels his body. He goes into his courtyard And does not see his people. No blame.True quiet means keeping still when the time has come to keep still, and going forward when the time has come to go forward. In this way rest and movement are in agreement with the demands of the time, and thus there is light in life. The hexagram signifies the end and the beginning of all movement. The back is named because in the back are located all the nerve fibers that mediate movement. If the movement of these spinal nerves is brought to a standstill, the ego, with its restlessness, disappears as it were. When a man has thus become calm, he may turn to the outside world. He no longer sees in it the struggle and tumult of individual beings, and therefore he has that true peace of mind which is needed for understanding the great laws of the universe and for acting in harmony with them. Whoever acts from these deep levels makes no mistakes.
The Image
Mountains standing close together: The image of KEEPING STILL. Thus, the superior man does not permit his thoughts to go beyond his situation.The heart thinks constantly. This cannot be changed, but the metaphorical movements of the heart, (thoughts), should restrict themselves to the immediate situation. All thinking that goes beyond this only makes the heart sore.
Changing
Six at the beginning means:
One does not drink the mud of the well. No animals come to an old well.
If a man wanders around in swampy lowlands, his life is submerged in mud. Such a man loses all significance for mankind. He who throws himself away is no longer sought out by others. In the end no one troubles about him anymore.
One does not drink the mud of the well. No animals come to an old well.
If a man wanders around in swampy lowlands, his life is submerged in mud. Such a man loses all significance for mankind. He who throws himself away is no longer sought out by others. In the end no one troubles about him anymore.
Nine in the second place means:
At the well-hole one shoots fishes. The jug is broken and leaks.
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. 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 worthwhile.
At the well-hole one shoots fishes. The jug is broken and leaks.
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. 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 worthwhile.
Nine in the fifth place means:
In the well there is a clear, cold spring from which one can drink.
A well that is fed by a spring of living water is a good well. A man who has virtues like a well of this sort is born to be a leader and savior of men, for he has the water of life. Nevertheless, the character for "good fortune" is left out here. The all-important thing about a well is that its water is drawn. The best water is only a potentiality for refreshment as long as it is not brought up. So too with leaders of mankind, it is all-important that one should drink from the spring of their words and translate them into life.
In the well there is a clear, cold spring from which one can drink.
A well that is fed by a spring of living water is a good well. A man who has virtues like a well of this sort is born to be a leader and savior of men, for he has the water of life. Nevertheless, the character for "good fortune" is left out here. The all-important thing about a well is that its water is drawn. The best water is only a potentiality for refreshment as long as it is not brought up. So too with leaders of mankind, it is all-important that one should drink from the spring of their words and translate them into life.
Transformed
48 - Ching / The Well
Above: K`AN THE ABYSMAL, WATER
Below: SUN THE GENTLE, WIND, WOOD
Wood is below, water above. The wood goes down into the earth to bring up water. The image derives from the pole-and-bucket well of ancient China. The wood represents not the buckets, which in ancient times were made of clay, but rather the wooden poles by which the water is hauled up from the well. The image also refers to the world of plants, which lift water out of the earth by means of their fibers. The well from which water is drawn conveys the further idea of an inexhaustible dispensing of nourishment.
In ancient China the capital cities were sometimes moved, partly for the sake of more favorable location, partly because of a change in dynasties. The style of architecture changed in the course of centuries, but the shape of the well has remained the same from ancient times to this day. Thus, the well is the symbol of that social structure which, evolved by mankind in meeting its most primitive needs, is independent of all political forms. Political structures change, as do nations, but the life of man with its needs remains eternally the same, which cannot be changed. Life is also inexhaustible. It grows neither less nor more, but exists for one and all. The generations come and go, and all enjoy life in its inexhaustible abundance. However, there are two prerequisites for a satisfactory political or social organization of mankind. We must go down to the very foundations of life, for any merely superficial ordering of life that leaves its deepest needs unsatisfied is as ineffectual as if no attempt at order had ever been made. Carelessness, by which the jug is broken, is also disastrous. If for instance the military defense of a state is carried to such excess that it provokes wars by which the power of the state is annihilated, this is a breaking of the jug. This hexagram applies also to the individual. Although men may differ in disposition and in education, the foundations of human nature are the same in everyone. Every human being can draw in the course of his education from the inexhaustible wellspring of the divine in man`s nature. But here likewise two dangers threaten: a man may fail in his education to penetrate to the real roots of humanity and remain fixed in convention. A partial education of this sort is as bad as none, or he may suddenly collapse and neglect his self-development completely.
The trigram Sun, wood, is below, and the trigram K`an, water, is above it. Wood sucks water upward. Just as wood as an organism imitates the action of the well, which benefits all parts of the plant, the superior man organizes human society, so that, as in a plant organism, its parts co-operate for the benefit of the whole.
Above: K`AN THE ABYSMAL, WATER
Below: SUN THE GENTLE, WIND, WOOD
Wood is below, water above. The wood goes down into the earth to bring up water. The image derives from the pole-and-bucket well of ancient China. The wood represents not the buckets, which in ancient times were made of clay, but rather the wooden poles by which the water is hauled up from the well. The image also refers to the world of plants, which lift water out of the earth by means of their fibers. The well from which water is drawn conveys the further idea of an inexhaustible dispensing of nourishment.
The Judgement
THE WELL. The town may be changed, but the well cannot be changed. It neither decreases nor increases. They come and go and draw from the well. If one gets down almost to the water, and the rope does not go all the way, or the jug breaks, it brings misfortune.In ancient China the capital cities were sometimes moved, partly for the sake of more favorable location, partly because of a change in dynasties. The style of architecture changed in the course of centuries, but the shape of the well has remained the same from ancient times to this day. Thus, the well is the symbol of that social structure which, evolved by mankind in meeting its most primitive needs, is independent of all political forms. Political structures change, as do nations, but the life of man with its needs remains eternally the same, which cannot be changed. Life is also inexhaustible. It grows neither less nor more, but exists for one and all. The generations come and go, and all enjoy life in its inexhaustible abundance. However, there are two prerequisites for a satisfactory political or social organization of mankind. We must go down to the very foundations of life, for any merely superficial ordering of life that leaves its deepest needs unsatisfied is as ineffectual as if no attempt at order had ever been made. Carelessness, by which the jug is broken, is also disastrous. If for instance the military defense of a state is carried to such excess that it provokes wars by which the power of the state is annihilated, this is a breaking of the jug. This hexagram applies also to the individual. Although men may differ in disposition and in education, the foundations of human nature are the same in everyone. Every human being can draw in the course of his education from the inexhaustible wellspring of the divine in man`s nature. But here likewise two dangers threaten: a man may fail in his education to penetrate to the real roots of humanity and remain fixed in convention. A partial education of this sort is as bad as none, or he may suddenly collapse and neglect his self-development completely.
The Image
Water over wood: the image of THE WELL. Thus, the superior man encourages the people at their work, and exhorts them to help one another.The trigram Sun, wood, is below, and the trigram K`an, water, is above it. Wood sucks water upward. Just as wood as an organism imitates the action of the well, which benefits all parts of the plant, the superior man organizes human society, so that, as in a plant organism, its parts co-operate for the benefit of the whole.