Being distracted
One scandalizes one' s entourage by not paying attention to their speeches. taoscopy.com
Nourishment27
Focus on sustenance and nourishment, both physical and spiritual. Evaluate the sources from which you draw energy and wisdom. Guard against meaningless indulgence and seek genuine fulfillment.
↓ Line 1
Misfortune. You are neglecting your own resources and looking to others for sustenance.
↓ Line 3
Avoiding nourishment and neglecting needs leads to long-term misfortune. Correct your course.
↓ Line 4
Seeking nourishment from a higher source brings good fortune. Be vigilant and discerning.
↓ Line 5
Staying true to your principles brings good fortune. Avoid taking unnecessary risks.
↓ Retreat33
Step back and reassess. Retreat to gain strength and clarity. Focus on inner resources, conserve energy, and observe quietly. Let go gracefully, avoid confrontation, and prepare for future action.
Original Readings
27 Nourishment
Other titles: The Corners of the Mouth, Providing Nourishment, The Symbol of the Cheek and of Nourishment, Jaws, Lower Jaw, Nurturing, Swallowing, Sagacious Counsel, Nourishing, To Feed, "Can mean money, usually as the result of effort." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge:Nourishmentindicates good fortune through firm correctness. Make sure you know what you are feeding, and determine your proper diet.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The Corners of the Mouth . Perseverance brings good fortune. Pay heed to the providing of nourishment and to what a man seeks to fill his own mouth with.
Blofeld: Nourishing. (Nourishment -- literally Jaws) [The form of this hexagram readily brings to mind the concept of wide open jaws, but the word nourishment must not be taken only in a literal sense; for we are concerned here with all those things which men seek both for their own advantage and for giving succor or assistance to others.] Righteous persistence brings good fortune. Watch people nourishing others and observe with what manner of things they seek to nourish themselves. [For this will teach us a lot about their characters.]
Liu: Nourishment. Continuing leads to good fortune. Observe the providing of nourishment and the food someone seeks for himself.
Ritsema/Karcher: Jaws, Trial: significant. Viewing Jaws. Originating-from seeking mouth substance. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of nourishing and being nourished. It emphasizes that opening in order to take things in as well as providing to others is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy:Jaws: Determination is auspicious. View the jaw; oneself seeking the mouth's fullness.
Cleary (1): In nourishment, it is good to be correct. Observe nourishment, and seek fulfillment for the mouth by yourself.
Cleary (2): Nourishment is good if correct. Observe nourishment, and seek food by yourself.
Wu: Nurturing indicates that with perseverance there will be auspiciousness. People should observe the principle of nurturing and find proper foods for nourishment.
Hua-Ching Ni: In nourishment, one should seek the right nutrition and not be tempted by what others enjoy.
The Image
Legge: The image of thunder under a mountain forms Nourishment. The superior man, in accordance with this, controls his speech and regulates his eating and drinking.
Wilhelm/Baynes: At the foot of the mountain, thunder: the image of The Corners of the Mouth. Thus the superior man is careful in his words and temperate in eating and drinking.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes thunder rumbling at the foot of a mountain. The Superior Man is thoughtful in speech and frugal in his eating and drinking. [The lower trigram, thunder, also represents the power of quickening growth; hence its place in a hexagram concerned with nourishment.]
Liu: Thunder rolling around the foot of the mountain is the symbol of Nourishment. The superior man is cautious in his speech; he restrains and regulates his eating and drinking.
Ritsema/Karcher: Below mountain possessing thunder. Jaws. A chun tzu uses considering words to inform. [A chun tzu uses] articulating to drink and take-in.
Cleary (1): There is thunder beneath the mountain. Superior people are careful about what they say, and moderate in eating and drinking.
Cleary (2): … Leaders are prudent in speech, moderate in consumption.
Wu: There is thunder below the mountain; this is Nurturing. Thus the jun zi speaks with caution and drinks and eats with moderation.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: When the nourishing is correct, there will be good fortune. We must examine those whom we wish to nourish, and we must also examine our own nourishing of ourselves. Heaven and earth nourish all things. The sages nourish men of talent and virtue in order to reach the masses. Great is the work intended in the time of nourishing.
Legge: The character ofNourishment is the symbol of the upper jaw, but the image of the hexagram suggests a whole mouth with undivided lines at top and bottom, and divided lines between them. The bottom line is in the trigram of Movement, and the top line is in the trigram of Keeping Still -- giving the image of a mobile lower jaw and a fixed upper jaw. The divided lines represent the mouth cavity. The hexagram denotes nourishing of body or mind, of one's self or others, and the proper nourishment in each case must necessarily vary according to circumstances. Thus, judgment must be exercised to determine which nourishment is in harmony with correctness and virtue.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment:Nourishment asks you to examine your motives in the allocation of your energy. Willpower creates a well- balanced apportionment.
The Superior Man controls his expression and monitors his appetites.
The lines in the lower trigram of Movement are all rendered unfavorably to one degree or another, while the lines of the upper trigram of Keeping Still are all generally correct. The implication is that non-action is almost always preferable to movement. This idea is fundamental to the philosophy of the I Ching, and in the hexagram of Nourishmentthe lesson is that non-action feeds and strengthens the psyche.
All actions are the expression of psychic energy through a physical body to create an effect in spacetime. Each effect creates consequences which usually demand further action. It is easy to see that action which is not initiated by the Self can only result in unexpected consequences, and that action which conforms to the will of the Self is motivated by and directed toward a transcendent goal. Although correct non-action generally creates no negative consequences in spacetime, it does have nourishing consequences in the psyche as autonomous forces are gathered, digested, assimilated and renewed in ascending configurations of growth.
As this Path represents the structure of the [ego], the attribution of the Mouth reminds us that the purpose of incarnation is the seeking of the food of experience in Form for the benefit of the [Self] and the Spirit. Gareth Knight -- Qabalistic Symbolism
SUGGESTIONS FOR MEDITATION
Compare the Image of Nourishment in this hexagram with those in hexagram number five, Waiting; number forty-eight, The Well; and number fifty, The Sacrificial Vessel.
Line 1
Legge: The first line, dynamic, seems to be thus addressed: "You leave your efficacious tortoise, and look at me till your lower jaw hangs down.” There will be evil.
Wilhelm/Baynes: You let your magic tortoise go, and look at me with the corners of your mouth drooping. Misfortune.
Blofeld: You released your sacred tortoise and stared at me with mouth agape -- misfortune! [The shells of tortoises were used for divination. Here, the implication seems to be that someone abandons his sacred duty in his greed (symbolized by ‘mouth agape') to obtain what he wants from the person to whom “me” refers. It may be that contemporaries of the authors of the I Ching were familiar with a story to which this sentence pertains.]
Liu: If you leave your divine tortoise and look at me with mouth drooling, there will be misfortune.
Ritsema/Karcher: Stowing-away simply the psyche tortoise. Viewing my pendant jaws. Pitfall.
Shaughnessy: Dispensing with your numinous turtle, and viewing our shortened jaw; inauspicious.
Cleary (1): Abandoning your spiritual tortoise, you watch my moving jaw – this is unfortunate.
Cleary(2): To give up your sacred tortoise and watch me greedily leads to misfortune.
Wu: “Abandon your spiritual tortoise and watch me with your mouth watering.” Foreboding.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: He thus shows himself unfit to be thought noble. Wilhelm/ Baynes: This is really not to be respected. Blofeld: Looking at me like that is hardly to be regarded as admirable behavior. Ritsema/Karcher: Truly not the stand to value indeed. Cleary(2): To watch me greedily is not worthy of respect. Wu: He who watches with his mouth watering is also unworthy of respect.
Legge: The first line is dynamic and in his proper place. He might suffice for the nourishing of himself like a tortoise, which is said to live on air. But he is drawn out of himself by desire for the magnetic line four, his proper correlate, at whom he looks till his jaw hangs down, or, as we say, his mouth waters. Hence the auspice is bad. The symbolism takes the form of a reprimand addressed by the fourth line to the first. As Mencius said, "He who attends his smaller self becomes an inferior man, and he who attends to his greater self becomes a superior man."
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: At the outset, the man is envious of the prosperity of others.
Wing: You are so actively aware of the prosperity of others that you lose control of your own destiny. This is deplorable behavior and will result in misfortune.
Editor: This line is a reprimand for an unworthy attitude. Since in China the tortoise was associated with divination, it refers to a higher realm of perception. The other translations render Legge's "efficacious" as "magic,""sacred," "divine," "psyche," and "numinous." The line tells you that you are out of touch with what is best in you and suggests a “victim,” a self-made loser, who has repudiated his source of power or nourishment and then begs for sympathy because he “has nothing.” Often the line can suggest that you have misread a previous oracle: i.e., "I already told you, but you paid no attention.”
So it will be seen that spiritual growth is best attained by getting fully to grips with life in the world. It is a common pathology with esoterically inclined students that they want to find the easiest way out of it. This accounts for many of the "muzzy mystical" societies which give such a bad name to occultism. In a genuine occult school the student should be rammed good and hard into the maelstrom of life; and until he can cope efficiently with the physical plane the higher planes of experience should be barred to him -- for his own sake as well as others. Gareth Knight -- Qabalistic Symbolism
A. You've lost touch with your spiritual Self.
B. Image of a "needy” victim. Grow up!
Line 3
Legge: The third line, magnetic, shows one acting contrary to the method of nourishing. However firm she may be, there will be evil. For ten years let her not take any action, for it will not be advantageous in any way.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Turning away from nourishment. Perseverance brings misfortune. Do not act thus for ten years. Nothing serves to further.
Blofeld: He is determined to relinquish nourishment -- misfortune! For ten years he performs no useful function and there is nowhere favorable for him to go. [Such extreme eccentricity can only end in barrenness. Those familiar with Buddhism will recollect that the Lord Buddha abandoned nourishment on the advice of his teachers and then came to regret this fruitless method of self-discipline.]
Liu: One turns away from nourishment. Continuing in this way brings misfortune: no action for ten years, no benefit or advantage. [Owing to misconduct there is a danger of encountering disaster, misfortune, or poor health.]
Ritsema/Karcher: Rejecting Jaws. Trial: pitfall. Ten years-revolved, no availing-of. Without direction: Harvesting.
Shaughnessy: Threshing the jaw; determination is inauspicious; for ten years do not use it; there is no place beneficial.
Cleary (1): Going against nourishment, even with rectitude this is inauspicious. Don’t act on this for ten years; there is no benefit.
Cleary (2): Going against nourishment is inauspicious even if there is rectitude. Do not act on this for ten years; there is nothing to be gained. [The weak cannot nourish themselves; if they are also not balanced correctly and dwell on the climax of action in this state, this is going against nourishment. Even though there is a correct correspondence with the top yang, this cannot save them, and they wind up useless . In Buddhism, it is like the senses deranging people so that they lose their standards.]
Wu: It violates the principle of nurturing. Even if correct it is foreboding. It loses its usefulness for ten years. There is nothing to be gained.
Hua-Ching Ni: The wrong kind of nourishment. This kind of nourishment may look good for ten years, but in the end has no real benefit. Misfortune.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Her course is greatly opposed to what is right. Wilhelm/
Baynes: It is all too contrary to the right way. Blofeld: Ten years because his ways are utterly perverse. Ritsema/Karcher: Ten years-revolved, no availing-of. Tao, the great rebelling indeed. Cleary(2): For the way is greatly confused. Wu: Because it has violated the principle.
Legge: Line three is magnetic in a dynamic place, and because she is the last line in the trigram of Movement, that quality culminates in her. She considers herself self-sufficient, needing no help. The issue is bad.
Anthony: Only by firmly mastering our inferiors [i.e. our attitudes, complexes, limiting beliefs] do we nourish ourself correctly.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: Instead of solid accomplishments, the man pursues pleasures and self-gratification. He will never achieve anything so long as he is surrounded by dissipating temptations.
Wing: You cannot be fully nourished because you are too busy looking for nourishment in the wrong places. In doing this, you turn away from others who might help you, and therefore you achieve nothing. This is eccentric and dangerous behavior.
Editor: The idea here is one of ignoring or repudiating what is necessary for growth. Compare this line with the sixth line of hexagram 24: Return, which Wilhelm translates as: “Missing the return. Misfortune. Misfortune from within and without. If armies are set marching in this way, one will in the end suffer a great defeat, disastrous for the ruler of the country. For ten years it will not be possible to attack again.” Carefully examine the situation at hand to determine where the source of error lies. This line can sometimes refer to “attitude” problems – depression or pessimism that you cannot throw off despite knowing that the Work transcends such illusions.
The difficulty in realizing this permanence of the essential self is, of course, due to the fact that a person becomes so attached to the physical vehicle and so connected with its activities, that the divine self is seldom contacted. G. Barborka -- The Pearl of the Orient
A. You have just made an egregious blunder.
B. Consider yourself reprimanded for getting off the path.
C. Your assumptions in the matter at hand are totally incorrect.
D. You have an attitude problem.
Line 4
Legge: The fourth line, magnetic, shows one looking downwards for the power to nourish. (Sic.) There will be good fortune. Looking with the downward unwavering glare of a tiger, and with her desire that impels her to spring after spring, she will fall into no error.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Turning to the summit for provision of nourishment brings good fortune. Spying about with sharp eyes like a tiger with insatiable craving. No blame.
Blofeld: Nourishment on the mountain peak -- good fortune! He glares like a tiger stalking its prey so ardent is his look -- no error! [This line, like the second line, suggests a recluse; but in this case he is well qualified for the spiritual life and obviously gains the fruit of his endeavor. His tigerish glance calls to mind a Master of Zen or, rather, a Taoist sage who has reached a similar stage of enlightenment.]
Liu: Seeking nourishment from the top of the mountain brings good fortune. One stares like a starving tiger stalking its prey. No blame.
Ritsema/Karcher: Toppling jaws. Significant. Tiger observing: glaring, glaring. His appetites: pursuing, pursuing. Without fault.
Shaughnessy: Upside-down jaw; auspicious. The tiger looks with eyes downcast, his appearance is so sad; there is no trouble.
Cleary (1): Reverse nourishment is auspicious. The tiger watches intently, about to give chase. No fault.
Wu: There is reversed nurture. Auspicious. Like the attentive gazing of a tiger, he chases after his desires. There will be no error.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: This shows how brilliant will be the diffusion of the power from her superior position. Wilhelm/Baynes: The one above spreads light. Blofeld: The good fortune is due to light shed from above. Ritsema/Karcher: Spreading-out shining above indeed. Cleary (2): Giving out light from above. Wu: The favors from above are illustrious.
Legge: With line four we pass into the upper trigram. She is next to the ruler's place in line five, and bent on nourishing and training all below. Her proper correlate is the dynamic first line, and although she is weak in herself, she looks with intense desire to the first line for help (Sic.), and there is no error.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man in a high position recognizes the need for able helpers to pursue his lofty aims for the good of the people. He looks for the required talent with the searching glare of a hungry tiger.
Wing: Any desire to energetically nourish others will meet with success. You are in a position to be supportive and influential, although you may need to enlist help. Look for clever people to aid you. There is no mistake in this.
Editor: Wilhelm, Blofeld and Liu all show this line turning upward to a summit or mountain peak for her source of nourishment, and the Confucian commentaries are rendered in terms of light shining down from above. Legge's translation and commentary are not in accordance with this, and hence misleading. The image is one of turning upward for the inspiration to nourish those below. It suggests an ego gaining its power from the Self in order to correctly nourish subordinate complexes within the psyche. The fourth line represents the minister: symbolically, the ego as facilitator of the Work in spacetime. The image of the tiger suggests the fervor of dedication to a higher idea.
Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Matthew 5: 6
A. A higher alliance creates the strength to manage inferior forces.
B. Turn toward your inner light, then reflect it into the world.
C. The ego follows higher principles to effect changes in subordinate entities.
Line 5
Legge: The fifth line, magnetic, shows one acting contrary to what is regular and proper; but if she abides in firmness, there will be good fortune. She should not, however, try to cross the great stream.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Turning away from the path. To remain persevering brings good fortune. One should not cross the great water.
Blofeld: Normal ways are abandoned. Righteous persistence will bring good fortune to those who stay where they are. The great river (or sea) must not be crossed. [In such abnormal times, it is best to stay at home.]
Liu: One strays from the path. Remaining in the correct way brings good fortune. Don't cross the great water. [With another's help, one will...achieve his goals.]
Ritsema/Karcher: Rejecting the canons. Residing-in Trial significant. Not permitting wading the Great River.
Shaughnessy: Threshing the warp; determination about dwelling is auspicious; one may not ford the great river.
Cleary (1): Going against the constant. It is good to abide in rectitude. It will not do to cross great rivers.
Cleary (2): Brushing aside the constant, it is good to remain upright, but it will not do to cross a great river.
Wu: It violates normal way of doing things. Should he stay firm, there will be good fortune. He may not cross the big river.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The good fortune from abiding in firmness is due to her docility in following the line above. Wilhelm/Baynes: The good fortune comes from following the one above devotedly. Blofeld: The good fortune attainable by such people consists in being able to obey their superiors most willingly. Ritsema/Karcher: Residing in Trial's significance. Yielding uses adhering-to the above indeed. Cleary (2): What is good about remaining upright is following those above docilely. Wu: The docility of following the one above.
Legge: Line five is not equal to the requirements of her position, but with a firm reliance on the dynamic sixth line there will be good fortune. However, she shouldn't engage in the most difficult undertakings.
Anthony: The Sage cannot make us strong. Although we are dependent on his guidance, we must do the work of disciplining our inferiors.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man realizes his personal deficiencies in strength and knowledge to discharge his assigned responsibilities. He seeks and follows the advice of a spiritual superior, who is unknown to the public. Persevering under such guidance will bring success. But he must recognize his dependency and not assume great undertakings alone.
Wing: Although you are aware of the need to nourish and affect others, you lack sufficient strength to do so unaided. You must take an indirect approach and depend upon a strong superior to accomplish the deed. Don't try it on your own.
Editor: This line can suggest that an unconventional ("improper”) action is justifiable under the prevailing conditions. Blofeld interprets the line in terms of correctly abandoning normal procedures; Wilhelm and Liu render images of getting off of a "proper” path, but still retaining appropriateness. Because this fifth line ruler seeks help from the sixth line above, the image suggests an ego obeying the higher laws of the Self. The implication is that some form of unconventional action may be valid under the prevailing circumstances as long as one doesn't attempt too much. In other words, the expected, conventional (or your usual) response may be inappropriate in the current situation. Meditate to obtain intuitive guidance.
The greatness of historical personalities has never lain in their abject submission to convention, but, on the contrary, in their deliverance from convention. They towered up like mountain peaks above the mass that still clung to its collective fears, its beliefs, laws, and systems, and boldly chose their own way. To the man in the street it has always seemed miraculous that anyone should turn aside from the beaten track with its known destinations, and strike out on the steep and narrow path leading into the unknown. Jung -- The Development of Personality
A. The ego looks to the Self for guidance and takes no action which is not so inspired, even if this means that one appears unconventional.
33 Retreat
Other titles: The Symbol of Retirement, Yielding, Withdrawal, Retiring, Wielding, Strategic Withdrawal, Inaccessibility, Disassociation from Inferior Forces, “When an opportunity for something better comes along, do not quarrel with an impossible situation.” -- D. F. Hook
Judgment
Legge:Retreatmeans successful progress. Advantage comes from firm correctness and attention to details.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Retreat . Success. In what is small, perseverance furthers.
Blofeld: Yielding. Success! Persistence in small things wins advantage. [Much of the teaching of the Book of Change is concerned with the wisdom of restraint or withdrawal as the best way of achieving our goal under certain circumstances; so this hexagram is not necessarily unfavorable to the wise. This is not a time when we can hope to achieve much; but attention to small matters will stand us in good stead later.]
Liu: Retreat. Success. To persist in small matters is of benefit.
Ritsema/Karcher:Retiring, Growing. The small: Harvesting Trial. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of conflict and consequent seclusion. It emphasizes that withdrawing from the affairs at hand to conceal yourself in obscurity is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told to: retire!]
Shaughnessy: Wielding: Receipt; little beneficial to determine.
Cleary (1): Withdrawal is developmental. The small is beneficial and correct.
Cleary (2): Withdrawal is successful. Small benefit is correct.
Wu: Retreat indicates pervasion. It will be advantageous for the little men to be persevering.
The Image
Legge: A mountain beneath the sky -- the image of Retreat. The superior man keeps inferior men at a distance by his dignified bearing rather than hostility.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Mountain under heaven: the image of Retreat. Thus the superior man keeps the inferior man at a distance, not angrily but with reserve. [He does not hate him, for hatred is a form of subjective involvement by which we are bound to the hated object.]
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes mountains beneath the sky. The Superior Man, by keeping his distance from men of inferior character, avoids having to display wrath and preserves his dignity. [The component trigrams, symbolizing mountain and sky, indicate withdrawal to a solitary place when circumstances are unfavorable.]
Liu: The mountain beneath the sky symbolizes Retreat. The superior man keeps his distance from the inferior, not with anger, but with dignity.
Ritsema/Karcher: Below heaven possessing mountain. Retiring. A chun tzu uses distancing Small People. A chun tzu uses not hating and-also intimidating.
Cleary (1): There are mountains under heaven, which is inaccessible. Thus do superior people keep petty people at a distance, being stern without ill will.
Cleary (2): … Being strict without ill will.[Petty people can be useful, so there is no ill-will, but their pettiness cannot wield authority, so be strict. In terms of learning to be a sage, the celestial ruler is the master, and the physical body takes orders from it, so that the desires of the various parts of the body cannot cause disturbance.]
Wu: There is a mountain under heaven; this is Retreat. Thus the jun zi distances himself from the little men, not because of despising them, but because of maintaining his own esteem. [The difference between the jun zi and the little men is one of education and not of birth. Confucius was a teacher first and a philosopher second, for he said: “Education is classless.” Every one of us has the potential of becoming a sage.]
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: There is progress in Retreat. The dynamic ruler in the fifth place receives a proper response from his correlate in line two. The action is in accordance with the requirements of the time because what is inferior is gradually increasing and advancing. The actions required during a Retreat are of great significance.
Legge: Retreat is the hexagram of the sixth month when the yin influence, represented by the two magnetic lines, has established a foothold. This suggests the growth of inferior and unprincipled men in the state, before whose advance superior men are obliged to retire. Yet the auspice of Retreat is not all bad. By firm correctness the threatened evil may be arrested to some extent. Ch'eng-tzu says: “Below the sky is the mountain. The mountain rises up below the sky, and its height is arrested, while the sky goes up higher and higher, till they come to be apart from each other. In this we have an emblem of retiring and avoiding.”
Anthony: The correct time for retreat comes when others are not receptive to us, when delicacy of feeling is lost, when we begin to be attacked by doubt, or when our actions no longer yield progress. The person who can hold his ego in check has many creative moments open to him.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: When carried out with shrewd discernment, Retreat is a strategy for success.
The Superior Man removes himself from disintegrating forces without calling attention to himself. He controls his weaknesses by maintaining his serious purpose.
With the possible exception of line two, there is very little ambiguity in the hexagram of Retreat. Without changing lines it is a clear injunction to remove yourself from an inferior situation, influence, emotion or way of thinking. The figure has certain affinities with hexagram number forty- four: Temptation which also depicts an inferior element encroaching from below.
To yield is to be preserved whole. Lao-tse
SUGGESTIONS FOR MEDITATION
Compare hexagrams number forty-four, Temptation; number thirty-three, Retreat; and number twelve, Divorcement; in that order. What are the next three logical hexagrams in the sequence, and what are the implications of the series as a whole?