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One is in a hurry to do as before, so one forgets the insults one may have exchanged. taoscopy.com
Clarity30
Clarity and adaptability. Embrace the light to illuminate your path. Recognize patterns in life, align with them, and nurture personal growth.
↓ Line 1
At the beginning, there is confusion and uncertainty. However, if one remains focused and determined, there will be no blame.
↓ Line 2
This line represents clarity and brightness in one's path. It signifies supreme good fortune and success.
↓ Line 3
This line warns of the dangers of complacency and the fear of decline. It suggests that one should not dwell on past glories or future fears.
↓ Before Completion64
Completing a task doesn’t guarantee rest. Remain vigilant, attentive to evolving situations, ready to adapt and act as needed.
Original Readings
30 Clarity
Other titles: The Clinging, The Symbol of Brightness and of Separateness, Flaming Beauty, Radiance, Fire, The Net, Allegiance, The Cosmic Mean, Synergy, Sunlight, Perception, Pertaining to Comprehension, The Light, Consciousness, Lucidity
Judgment
Legge: The free course and success of Clarity comes from firm correctness. The nourishment of bovine docility creates good fortune.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The Clinging. Perseverance furthers. It brings success. Care of the cow brings good fortune.
Blofeld:Flaming beauty. Righteous persistence brings reward. Success! Rearing cows -- good fortune! [Cows are gentle creatures which require looking after; hence this sentence means that good fortune can be gained by looking after those in need of help.]
Liu: Fire. It is of benefit to continue. Success. To take care of the cow leads to good fortune.
Ritsema/Karcher: Radiance, Harvesting Trial. Growing. Accumulating female cattle. Significant. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of expanding light, warmth and awareness. It emphasizes that joining with and depending on what spreads this light, the action of Radiance, is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy:The Net: Beneficial to determine; receipt; raising a cow is auspicious.
Cleary(1):Fire is beneficial for correctness and development. Raising a cow brings good fortune.
Cleary (2): Fire is beneficial if correct; then there is success, etc. [In Buddhism, when demons cause disturbance, it is necessary to cleave to true teaching to get rid of aberrations.]
Wu: Allegiance indicates that it will be advantageous to be persevering and pervasion will follow. It will be auspicious to raise the cow.
The Image
Legge: The image of brightness repeated forms Clarity. The great man, in accordance with this, cultivates more and more his brilliant virtue, and diffuses its brightness over the four quarters of the land.
Wilhelm/Baynes: That which is bright rises twice: the image of Fire. Thus the great man, by perpetuating this brightness, illuminates the four quarters of the world.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes fire rising in two tongues of brilliant flame. The Superior Man, by perpetuating the brilliance of the ancients, illuminates every quarter of the earth. [In other words, we should make ourselves as completely dependent on the principle of righteousness as natural objects are dependent upon nature; in this way, we are sure to be successful.]
Liu: Doubled brightness symbolizes Fire. A great man perpetuates the light and illuminates the four corners of the universe.
Ritsema/Karcher: Brightness doubled arousing Radiance. Great People use consecutive brightening to illuminate tending- towards the four sides.
Cleary (1):Light has dual function. Thus do great people illumine the four quarters with continuing light. [The sun goes in at night and comes out in the daytime; this pattern represents inner illumination and outer illumination, one light having dual function…Outer illumination has to be based on inner illumination… Illumination must reach inside and outside, so that both are illumined and both are correct.]
Cleary (2): Illumination doubled makes fire. Great people illumine the four quarters with continuing illumination.
Wu: Brightness doubled makes Allegiance. Thus the great man carries on the brightness to shine the four corners of the earth.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge:Clarity means clinging attachment. The sun and moon have their roots in heaven, and all the growing things have their roots in the earth. The double brightness of the two trigrams is rooted in correctness, and all under heaven are thereby transformed. The magnetic second line is central and correct, indicating a free and successful course. Nourishing a passive docility will lead to good fortune.
Legge:Clarity is the trigram of fire and light, and the sun is the source of both of these. Its attribute is brightness, and by a natural metaphor: intelligence. But this trigram also means inhering or in adhering to -- being attached to. In the hexagram we have a double brightness -- a phrase which denotes the ruler. If we take the two central lines as emblematic of the situation, we have the magnetic dwelling with the dynamic above and below -- a condition requiring a docile humility and strict adherence to what is correct. Ch'eng-tzu says: "The nature of the ox is docile, and that of the cow is much more so. The subject of the hexagram adhering closely to what is correct must be able to act in obedience to it, as docile as a cow, and then there will be good fortune."
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Willed persistence gets results. Be receptive to your inner light, and reflect it in your life.
The Superior Man cultivates his capacity to manifest his comprehension of the Work in his everyday choices.
Light is a symbol of both normal consciousness and super- consciousness. Probably every religion in the world uses it in the latter sense -- from the "Let there be light" in the first chapter of Genesis, to The Lord of Light (Ahura Mazda), the supreme being of Zoroastrianism. The TibetanBook of the Dead speaks of the "clear white light" which is the first thing encountered after bodily death -- a phenomenon reported as the experiential perception of those who have had near-death experiences. Light means Truth, it means Reality, and the "double brightness" of this hexagram tells us that Clarity is manifested both above and below.
Meditation on light is one of the most important exercises in the various schools of Tibetan Yoga. The more these psychic and spiritual powers can be achieved during life, the stronger is the ability to penetrate and overcome the bardo. D. I. Lauf, Secret Doctrines Of The Tibetan Book Of The Dead
The Confucian commentary gives the examples of the sun and moon in the heavens, and of growing things on the earth as emblems of Clarity. Sun and moon are certainly luminous, but growing things are not, and when we meditate on the reason for this strange juxtaposition we are led to the idea of the Self and the ego. The Self is the sun, the source of illumination which causes the ego to grow. Sun is to growing things as Self is to ego. This idea is repeated in the relationship between the sun and the moon -- the moon is not self-luminous, it can only reflect the light of the sun. Therefore, sun is to moon as Self is to ego.
The idea is that despite our illusions to the contrary, all of our power originates somewhere else. When we allow the power to work through us without interference, we become "docile" like the cow in the judgment. Clarity, therefore, is attained through docility -- the ability to subdue and restrain the autonomous components of the psyche, which left to their own devices would prefer to go around pontificating their brilliant illusions rather than quietly reflecting the truth. It is not easy to reflect the truth, and the superior man is counseled to constantly perfect his capacity to do so. It is only when Self and ego come together in a fusion reaction that the energy released attains the true "double brightness" imaged in the hexagram. The identical idea is found in the Kabbalah:
Said Rabbi Simeon: "When the Holy One arrays himself, it is in the ornaments from both the celestial and terrestrial worlds; from the former with that heavenly light on high that no human being can approach unto; from the latter with the souls of the righteous who the more they approximate themselves to this divine light the more receptive and filled with it do they become, so that through them it expands in all directions and the world like a cistern or ocean is filled with it." The Zohar
Wilhelm mentions that the hexagram "divided within and closed without, is an image of the meshes of a net in which animals remain snared." This gives us the image of Clarity as Comprehension -- a net which captures and encloses insights. To receive the figure without changing lines is often a confirmation of an idea or action -- it is saying: "You have comprehended," or "Your proposed action is lucid, intelligent, etc."
Line 1
Legge: The first line, dynamic, shows one ready to move with confused steps. But he treads at the same time reverently, and there will be no mistake.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The footprints run crisscross. If one is seriously intent, no blame. [It is precisely at the beginning that serious concentration is important, because the beginning holds the seed of all that is to follow.]
Blofeld: Approaching with reverent steps, he pays them his respects -- no error! [This suggests a rather delicate situation in which we should avoid any appearance of lacking respect for others.]
Liu: The footsteps are confused. If one is cautious, no blame. [Everyone should watch his steps so that he doesn’t injure his feet.]
Ritsema/Karcher: Treading, polishing therefore. Respecting it. Without fault.
Shaughnessy: Treading counter-wise; respect it; there is no trouble.
Cleary (1): The steps are awry. If you are heedful of this, there will be no fault.
Wu: The subject is treading cautiously. With due respect, he will be blameless.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The reverent attention directed to his confused steps is the way by which error is avoided. Wilhelm/Baynes: Seriousness when footprints run crisscross serves in avoiding blame. Blofeld: He walks reverently expressly to avoid blame. Ritsema/Karcher: Using casting-out fault indeed. Cleary (2): Be heedful when the steps are awry, to avoid fault. Wu: Having due respect in cautious treading is to avoid being blamed.
Legge: Line one is dynamic at the bottom of the trigram of fire, the nature of which is to ascend. He therefore will move upwards, but is in danger of doing so coarsely and vehemently. However, since the lowest line has hardly entered into the action of the hexagram, this makes him reverently careful of his movements and there is no error.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: At the outset, the man is initially confused amid the bustle of life. He will avoid error by careful attention to the central issue at stake.
Wing: When you first begin on your new path, you are bombarded by impressions. Keep your goal in mind constantly and you can avoid confusion. Furthermore, do not forget your position as a beginner, somewhat outside the situation.
Editor: Wilhelm's commentary says that line one is analogous to the dawn, line two to noon, and line three to sunset. Here at the beginning of the day, full clarity has yet to manifest, but serious intent will compensate for your relative ignorance of the facts at hand.
When one follows the path of individuation, when one lives one's own life, one must take mistakes into the bargain; life would not be complete without them. There is no guarantee -- not for a single moment -- that we will not fall into error or stumble into deadly peril. Jung -- Memories, Dreams, Reflections
A. When in the dark, keep the faith: trust the Work and pick your way very carefully.
Line 2
Legge: The second line, magnetic, shows its subject in her place in yellow. There will be great good fortune.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Yellow light. Supreme good fortune.
Blofeld: Yellow sunlight -- sublime good fortune.
Liu: The yellow light of the sun indicates great good fortune.
Ritsema/Karcher: Yellow radiance. Spring significant.
Shaughnessy: Yellow net; prime auspiciousness.
Cleary(1): Yellow fire is very auspicious.
Wu: The yellow fire will bring great fortune.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Good fortune because she holds the course of the due mean. Wilhelm/Baynes: One has found the middle way. Blofeld: The good fortune of being able to keep to a middle path. [This is suggested by the position of the line, which is central to the lower trigram. The middle path, the golden mean, is praised by Taoists, Confucians and Buddhists alike. It has always been regarded by traditionally minded Chinese as the principle upon which conduct should be based. Extremes of any kind have no place in Chinese philosophy, which is thus more humanistic than many of the philosophies of India and the Middle East.]Ritsema/Karcher: Acquiring centering tao indeed. Cleary (2): Attaining the middle way. Wu: Because it is centrally situated.
Legge: Line two is magnetic and occupies the center. Yellow is one of the five correct colors, and here symbolizes the correct course to which she adheres.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man occupies the central position of reasonableness, which results in enduring good fortune.
Wing: A reasonable and moderate attitude will bring you the best possible luck. Remember, indulge in no excess, no extremes of thought or action.
Editor: Yellow is a nearly universal symbol of light and clarity. Both the sun and gold are yellow, and because it is in the middle of the trigram this line images the concept of the golden mean. Wilhelm's commentary places this line at midday when the sun is directly overhead, hence: full illumination. If this is the only changing line, the new hexagram becomes number fourteen, Wealth (Possession in Great Measure), suggesting the richness of clear insight.
I, wisdom, am mistress of discretion, the inventor of lucidity of thought. Good advice and sound judgment belong to me, Perception to me, strength to me. Proverbs 8: 12
A. The image suggests a position of balance and lucidity. Full comprehension is implied.
Line 3
Legge: The third line, dynamic, shows its subject in a position like that of the declining sun. Instead of playing on his instrument of earthenware, and singing to it, he utters the groans of an old man of eighty. There will be evil.
Wilhelm/Baynes: In the light of the setting sun, men either beat the pot and sing or loudly bewail the approach of old age. Misfortune.
Blofeld: In the light of the setting sun, young men do not beat upon their cooking pots or sing; the old sigh piteously -- misfortune!
Liu: Under the light of the setting sun, one sings without beating the pot, bemoaning one's old age. Misfortune.
Ritsema/Karcher: Sun going-down's radiance. Not drumbeating a jar and-also singing. By-consequence great old-age's lamenting. Pitfall.
Shaughnessy: The net of the sun's decline; not drumming the earthenware jar and yet singing, then the sighing of the great mourning kerchief; inauspicious.
Cleary (1): The afternoon light; unless you drum on a jug and sing, there will be the lament of old age, which is unfortunate.
Cleary (2): In the fire of the afternoon sun, you either drum on a jug and sing, or lament as in old age. This bodes ill. [When you use insight too much without concentration to balance it, sometimes you will be extremely joyful, drumming and singing, and sometimes you will be extremely anxious, lamenting as in old age. Sadness and joy disturb the song of your heart; intellectual insight cannot sustain itself – backsliding and loss are inevitable.]
Wu: The sun is passing the meridian. Ifhe does not playhis earthen instrument and sing, but sighs like an old man of eighty years, there will be foreboding. [The passing of the meridian is like the passing of the prime time in life. If one does not make the best of his life now, it will be gone forever.]
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: A position like that of the setting sun -- how can it continue long? Wilhelm/Baynes: How can one wish to hold for long the light of the setting sun? Blofeld: Sunset beauty -- how can it endure for long? [This passage suggests that our present happiness or success is not destined to endure; we must prepare for a setback.] Ritsema/Karcher: Wherefore permitting lasting indeed? Cleary (2): Afternoon sun cannot last long. Wu: How long will the day last?
Legge: Line three is at the top of the lower trigram, whose light is now exhausted, suggesting a sunset. He should accept his position and resign himself to the ordinary amusements mentioned, but he groans and mourns instead. His restless activity interferes with the lowly contentment he should cherish. The K'ang-hsi editors say that the declining sun is an emblem of "obscuration coming over the virtue of the mind."
Anthony: Fear and worry over the length of time required to attain recognizable progress puts us in the wrong balance. If we can nobleheartedly accept that things will be fulfilled when they will, we secure our fate by making possible that it can be fulfilled. As long as the ego stands by expectantly, measuring and weighing our progress, the dark force of doubt operates and the power of good cannot manifest itself. Obtaining this line reminds us that adversity lasts only for a time; through it we mould our character.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man reaches his declining years and recalls the transitoriness of life. Instead of enjoying the ordinary pleasures while they last, he groans in melancholy.
Wing: The best attitude to cultivate at this time in your life is a general acceptance of fate. To totally lose yourself in the happiness of the moment is as bad as to bemoan the passing of time. Such folly of the mind and the emotions leads to a loss of inner freedom. Misfortune.
Editor: There is apparently more than one way to translate this line, best seen in the contrast between Cleary’s Taoist and Buddhist versions. One implies that frivolity is an antidote to depression, the other that both positions are extreme. Emphasized in all translations is the contrast between joy and sorrow, singing and groaning, youth and old age. The setting sun symbolizes the decline of awareness, the "darkening of the light," the advance of illusion. That is: to either mindlessly sing or to bewail one's fate is to be deluded -- one has forgotten one's Source. Frivolity and despair are polarized attitudes, and the line tells us that clarity wanes whenever one takes an extreme position. In another context, the setting sun suggests the inevitability of death. Those who believe that death is final usually respond in either of the two ways shown, and thus miss the mark. There is also a suggestion of the futility of trying to hold onto something that is by nature transitory. Note the similarity between this line and line three of Hexagram #61,Inner Truth: “He finds a comrade. Now he beats the drum, now he stops. Now he sobs, now he sings.” Wing’s paraphrase is probably the best.
No soul, not even our own, enters into the body completely. Soul always remains united by its higher part to the intelligible realm. But if the part that is in the realm of sense dominates, or rather becomes dominated and disturbed, it keeps us unaware of what the higher part of the soul contemplates. Plotinus -- The Enneads
A. An image of gross illusion. Clarity is lost when perception is polarized.
B. Nothing lasts here below, but that's only half the story -- the least interesting half.
C. “Gather your rosebuds while ye may.”
64 Before Completion
Other titles: Before Completion, The Symbol of What is not yet Past, Not-yet Fording, Not Yet Completed, Tasks yet to be Completed, Not yet, Yet to be, Before the End, Mission yet Unaccomplished, A State of Transition
Judgment
Legge: Unfinished Business suggests successful progress, butif the young fox that has nearly crossed the stream gets his tail wet, there will be no advantage.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Before Completion. Success. But if the little fox, after nearly completing the crossing, gets his tail in the water, there is nothing that would further.
Blofeld: Before Completion -- success! Before the little fox has quite completed its crossing of the ice, its tail gets wet. [This implies that we are to expect a setback in our plans.] No goal (or destination) is favorable now. [Hence this is a time for waiting and for drawing in our horns. That the LAST of the sixty-four hexagrams should be Before Completion rather than After Completion (#63) may seem surprising until it is recalled that there is nothing final about it; the cycle of change continues, passing from hexagram #64 onto the first hexagram, and so on eternally.]
Liu: Before Completion. Success. A young fox almost across wets his tail in the water. Nothing benefits.
Ritsema/Karcher: Not-yet Fording, Growing. The small fox, a muddy Ford. Soaking one's tail: without direction: Harvesting. (Without direction: Harvesting, WU YU Li: no plan or direction is advantageous; in order to take advantage of the situation, do not impose a direction on events.) [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of being on the edge of an important change of situation. It emphasizes that waiting and accumulating energy to begin the upcoming move is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy:Not Yet Completed: Receipt; the little fox at the point of fording, wets his tail; there is no place beneficial.
Cleary (1): Being as yet unsettled is developmental. A small fox, having nearly crossed the river, gets its tail wet, does not succeed.
Cleary (2): Being unsettled leads to success. A little fox, almost crossing, gets its tail wet. Nothing is gained.
Wu:Mission yet Unaccomplished indicates pervasiveness. A little fox almost makes it crossing the river, but gets its tail wet. Nothing is gained.
The Image
Legge: Fire over water -- the image ofUnfinished Business. The superior man carefully discriminates among the qualities of things, and the different positions they naturally occupy.
Wilhelm: Fire over water: the image of the condition before transition. Thus the superior man is careful in the differentiation of things, so that each finds its place.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes fire above water. The Superior Man takes care to distinguish between things before arranging them in order.
Liu: Fire above water symbolizes Before Completion. The superior man carefully distinguishes things, and puts them in their appropriate place.
Ritsema/Karcher: Fire located above stream. Not-yet Fording. A chun tzu uses considering to mark-off the beings residing on-all-sides.
Cleary (1): Fire is above water, not yet settled. Thus superior people carefully discern things and keep them in their places.
Cleary (2): Fire over water – unsettled.
Wu: There is fire above water; this is Mission yet Unaccomplished. Thus the jun zi makes careful distinction of things and their proper places of being.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Progress and success are suggested by the magnetic fifth line in the ruler's place. Although he has nearly crossed the stream, the young fox has not yet escaped from the midst of danger and calamity. Getting his tail wet means that the end does not reflect the intent of the beginning. Although the places of the different lines are not those appropriate to them, yet a dynamic and a magnetic line always respond to each other.
Legge:Unfinished Businessis the reverse of Completion: it means that the successful accomplishment of the matter at hand has not yet been realized; the crossing of the great stream is as yet incomplete.
Some have wished that theI Chingmight have concluded with Completion, and the last hexagram have left us with the picture of human affairs all brought to good order. But this would not have been in harmony with the idea of change. Again and again it has been pointed out that we find in the book no idea of a perfect and abiding state. Just as the seasons of the year change and pursue an ever-recurring round, so it is with the phases of society. The reign of order has peaked and declined, and this hexagram calls us to renew the struggle to make things right again. It deals with the conduct necessary to secure this result.
Not one of the lines in the hexagram is in its correct place -- all the dynamic lines are in magnetic places, and the magnetic lines are in dynamic places. At the same time, each of them has a proper correlate, so there is the possibility of some progress.
The symbol of the fox suggests a want of caution on the part of those who try to remedy prevailing disorders. They are unsuccessful and thereby get themselves into trouble. Line two represents this state of mind -- he is dynamic in a magnetic place in the center of the trigram of Peril. He is restless, and attracted by his magnetic correlate in the fifth place, he will be incautious in taking action. The outcome of the issue will be different than what was intended at the beginning.
The trigram of Water is below, and Fire above, showing how the two principles cannot act on each other profitably. This symbolizes the unregulated condition of general affairs now prevailing.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Although many achievements fuel our growth, the ego is only the facilitator, not the doer. To ignore this truth creates negative consequences: don't destroy the Work!
The Superior Man critically examines the situation and re-checks his priorities.
This hexagram represents the time before the climax of a cycle, just as the preceding figure symbolizes the time after the climax (and hence the transition to a new beginning). The Work is by no means "almost over" -- the lines all match as correlates, but every one of them unites "upside-down," so to speak. (Turn the hexagram over, and then they are in perfect correlation.) That the superior man "discriminates among the qualities of things, and the different positions they naturally occupy" means that he knows that the correct positions of the lines (the ones they "naturally occupy") are as in hexagram number sixty-three, not this one.
This "backward correlation of lines" is arguably a fair image of the relationship of thoughts and feelings in the average human psyche. The stresses of life are what eventually break up these mismatched correlates through endless cycles of stimulus and response until they finally all unite correctly in a hypothetical "Completion of the Great Work." That this is an ideal rather than a humanly attainable goal is suggested in this quote from Shao Yung:
The principle of the Way finds its full development in Heaven; the principle of Heaven, in Earth; the principle of Earth, in the myriad things; and that of the myriad things, in man. One who knows how the principles of Heaven, Earth, and all things find their full development in man can give full development to his people.
For all practical purposes, it is wisest to aspire to attainable completions and realize that the Work's "full development" is the Self's, not the ego's responsibility.
To strive for perfection is a high ideal. But I say: "Fulfill something you are able to fulfill rather than run after what you will never achieve." Nobody is perfect. Remember the saying: "None is good but God alone" [Luke 18:19], and nobody can be. It is an illusion. We can modestly strive to fulfill ourselves and to be as complete human beings as possible, and that will give us trouble enough. Jung -- The Tavistock Lectures
The Judgment suggests that before any climax or resolution there may still exist an indeterminate amount of free choice to influence the outcome -- only the specific circumstances can suggest how much or how little. As always, the choices are defined within the structure of the situation. The magnetic ruler in the fifth place implies that a favorable outcome is possible, but only through clear perception and willpower can it come about.
The conditional interpretation (boldface italics added) in both Legge's and Wilhelm's translation of the Judgment is necessary for its text to make sense. Note that Ritsema/Karcher define "Without direction: Harvesting" as: "No plan or direction is advantageous; in order to take advantage of the situation, do not impose a direction on events." This is a common oracle response, and sharpens the meaning here. Line one depicts the negative consequences of ignoring the Judgment’s explicit message.