Wiki I Ching

Joy 58.3.4.5.6 26 Controlled Power

From
58
Joy
To
26
Controlled Power

One finds it normal to congratulate those who have become accustomed to say what they think.
taoscopy.com


Joy 58
Embrace joy and communicate openly.
Positive interactions and shared enthusiasm strengthen bonds and cultivate happiness.


Line 3
Seeking joy externally can lead to misfortune if it is not genuine.


Line 4
Joy that is calculated or forced is not true joy.
Letting go of such calculations brings real happiness.


Line 5
Being sincere towards negative influences can be harmful.
One must be cautious.


Line 6
Joy that is based on seduction or manipulation is not true joy and can lead to problems.


Controlled Power 26
Cultivate inner strength and patience to overcome obstacles.
Harness your energy wisely and focus on gradual progress.



Original Readings

58
Joy


Other titles: The Joyous, Joyousness, Pleased Satisfaction, Encouraging, Delight, Open, Usurpation, Self-indulgence, Pleasure, Cheerfulness, Frivolity, Callow Optimism

 

Judgment

Legge:Joy intimates that under its conditions there will be progress and attainment, but it will be advantageous to be firm and correct.

Wilhelm/Baynes:The Joyous. Success. Perseverance is favorable.

Blofeld: Joy -- success! Persistence in a righteous course brings reward.

Liu: Joyousness. Success. Continuance is favorable.

Ritsema/Karcher:Open, Growing. Harvesting Trial. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of interaction and exchange. It emphasizes that stimulating things through cheering and persuasive speech, the action of Open, is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told to: stimulate!]

Shaughnessy:Usurpation: Receipt; a little beneficial to determine.

Cleary (1): Joy is developmental, beneficial if correct. [This hexagram represents joy in practicing the Tao. Having one’s will in the Tao is finding joy in the Tao; when one delights in the Tao, then one can practice the Tao. This is why Joy is developmental.]

Cleary (2):Delight comes through, beneficial if correct.

Wu:Joy indicates pervasiveness. It is advantageous to be persevering.

 

The Image

Legge: Two images of the waters of a marsh, one over the other, form Joy. The superior man, in accordance with this, encourages the conversation of friends and the stimulus of their common practice.

Wilhelm/Baynes: Lakes resting one on the other: the image of The Joyous. Thus the superior man joins with his friends for discussion and practice.

Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes two bodies of water conjoined. The Superior Man joins his friends in discussions and in practicing the various arts and virtues.

Liu: The beautiful lakes symbolize Joyousness. The superior man joins his fellows for teaching and study.

Ritsema/Karcher: Congregating marshes. Open. A chun tzu uses partnering friends to explicate repeating.

Cleary (1): Joined lakes are joyful. Thus do superior people explain and practice with companions. [As water provides moisture for myriad beings, joy develops myriad beings; joyful within and without, reaching the outer from within, communicating with the inner from without, inside and outside are conjoined, without separation between them – therefore it is called joy.]

Cleary (2): ... Thus do developed people study and practice with companions.

Wu: One marsh is adjacent to another; this is Joy. Thus the jun zi discusses and exchanges ideas with friends.

 

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge:Joy has the meaning of Pleased Satisfaction. We have the dynamic lines in the center and the magnetic lines on the outer edge of the two trigrams, indicating that in pleasure what is most advantageous is the maintenance of firm correctness. Through this there will be found an accordance with the will of heaven, and a correspondence with the feelings of men. When such pleasure goes before the people, and leads them on, they forget their toils; when it animates them in encountering difficulties, they forget the risk of death. How great is the power of this Pleased Satisfaction, stimulating in such a way the people!

Legge: The feeling of pleasure is the subject of this hexagram, which is made up of the doubled trigram of Cheerfulness, or Pleased Satisfaction. The progress and attainment of the figure are due to the one magnetic line surmounting each trigram and supported by the two dynamic lines. The idea is that of mildness which is energized by a double portion of strength.

The pleasure which leads the people to endure toil and risk death is the effect of the instructive example of their ruler. Fu Fan-hsien paraphrases this portion of the text as: "When the sage with this precedes them, he can make them endure toil without any wish to decline it, and go with him into difficulty and danger without their having any fear."

Anthony: This hexagram speaks, on the one hand, of that on which true joy depends, and on the other, of joy as desire, which leads to conflict. The essence of true joy is inner stability. Being firmly devoted to our path, we do not waver. When we think of the soft and comfortable path, on the other hand, self-conflict begins. Therefore, getting this hexagram indicates that we may be wavering or irresolute.

 

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Judgment: A cheerful attitude serves the will.

The Superior Man shares his thoughts and feelings. [Or, psychologically interpreted: observes, weighs and integrates his thoughts with his feelings.]

The title of this hexagram denotes joyousness and pleasure, and most people regard it as a good omen when they receive it. Yet, an analysis of the lines indicates that only the first two are particularly favorable, and the hexagram itself seldom seems to refer to anything remotely resembling Joy in a typical oracle consultation. The lessons to be learned from the figure are the differences between self-indulgence and maintaining emotional stability in one's conduct of the Work, which always demands a firm control over one’s affects. To receive this hexagram without changing lines requires the querent's careful discrimination -- it can mean simply: "Oh happy day!" Or, it can suggest that you examine an inclination toward lack of control in the situation at hand. The oracle is capable of brutal sarcasm when your query warrants it, so don't be too quick to accept the shallow meaning ofJoy – as often as not, Self-indulgence is the more appropriate title.

In light frivolity, the center is lost; in hasty action, self-mastery is lost.
Lao Tse

The Image depicts an open interchange among “friends.” Intrapsychically, this suggests the normal give and take between thoughts and feelings for the purpose of reaching integration. The symbol of “two bodies of water conjoined” (Blofeld) might refer to the adjacent dimensions of thought and emotion within the psyche. When feelings are not in harmony with intellectual differentiation (a common phenomenon), give and take (“discussion and practice”), is essential to effect integration: i.e., harmony, or “joy.”"Practice" suggests cycles of time, and the notion that perfection is still to be achieved.

Shaughnessy’s seemingly anomalous title of Usurpation for this hexagram offers some subtle insights into the symbolism here. Emotions, feelings, affects, are often portrayed as daemonic forces which “usurp” ego consciousness and indulge themselves in the “joy” of expressing whatever they happen to represent in the psyche. This is often what is implied when receiving this hexagram.

Each of us is equipped with a psychic disposition that limits our freedom in high degree and makes it practically illusory. Not only is "freedom of the will" an incalculable problem philosophically, it is also a misnomer in the practical sense, for we seldom find anybody who is not influenced and indeed dominated by desires, habits, impulses, prejudices, resentments, and by every conceivable kind of complex. All these natural facts function exactly like an Olympus full of deities who want to be propitiated, served, feared and worshipped, not only by the individual owner of this assorted pantheon, but by everybody in his vicinity.
Jung -- Psychology and Religion

Cleary’s Taoist commentary: “As water provides moisture for myriad beings, etc.,” supports this interpretation. Water symbolizes the emotional realm, and the “myriad beings” dwelling therein are emotional entities: creatures like untamed animals, which are never happier than when running free. To them it’s Joy; to the executive function in the psyche, it’s Self-indulgence. Usurpation has taken place.


Line 3

Legge: The third line, magnetic, shows its subject bringing round herself whatever can give pleasure. There will be evil.

Wilhelm/Baynes: Coming joyousness. Misfortune.

Blofeld: Coming joy -- misfortune! [The relation between the misfortune indicated by this line and coming joy is not very clear. Interpreting it rather loosely, the passage can be taken to mean that we shall suffer misfortune at a time when we are expecting something which would afford us happiness; in other words, the expected joy may not materialize.]

Liu: Coming joyousness. Misfortune. [Do not follow another blindly, or mistakes and danger will result.]

Ritsema/Karcher: Coming Opening, pitfall.

Shaughnessy: Coming usurpation; inauspicious.

Cleary (1): Imported joy is not good.

Cleary (2): Coming for delight is inauspicious.

Wu: He comes to seek joy. Foreboding.

 

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge: The evil is shown by the inappropriateness of the line's place. Wilhelm/Baynes: Its place is not the proper one. Blofeld: Misfortune is indicated by the unsuitable position of this line. Ritsema/Karcher: Situation not appropriate indeed. Cleary (2): Being out of place. Wu: His position is improper.

Legge: The K'ang-hsi editors say that the threatened evil to the subject of line three is due to her excessive devotion to pleasure. She should be strong, but the desire for pleasure leads her to the evil results described.

Anthony: Desire for things to be better, more relaxed or pleasurable, is the beginning of self-pity, doubt and despair. Giving way to such feeling opens successively larger attacks by these same feelings. Fear, restlessness, desire, pride, jealousy or anger are similar strong elements which quickly take over and cause movement which is no longer self-governed. Thus we lose our direction. If we look for any way to solve our problems other than to follow our path modestly and “without purpose,” we are certain to be put through distressing situations. For this reason, it is best not to dwell on how things “should be,” a thought which springs from these strong elements.

 

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Siu: Evil threatens the man because of his excessive devotion to idle pleasures.

Wing: Total abandonment to outside pleasures and diversions is only momentarily fulfilling. These indulgences in idle distractions will surely bring misfortune. True happiness will be found in the person full of his own nature.

Editor: Most commentaries mention self-indulgence or lack of control which allow outside forces to enter and overwhelm one's will to serve the Work. I have found Anthony’s insights, which bear little conformity with general interpretations of what constitutes “joy,” to be particularly appropriate.

The Nefesh (animal soul) cannot see beyond its sensual or sensory range. While it is true to say the arguments of the body are shrewd, they are never deeply considered, as many a foolish moment of passion has shown in its result.
Z.B.S. Halevi -- A Kabbalistic Universe

A. Your lack of control leaves you vulnerable to disintegrating influences.

B. Your outlook is simplistic and immature: You are self-indulgent.

Line 4

Legge: The fourth line, dynamic, shows its subject deliberating about what to seek his pleasure in, and not at rest. He borders on what would be injurious but there will be cause for joy.

Wilhelm/Baynes: Joyousness that is weighed is not at peace. After ridding himself of mistakes a man has joy.

Blofeld: Calculating future joys, he is restless and suffers from various small ills, yet he is happy.

Liu: Considering joyousness does not bring serenity. Once one corrects his conduct, one has joyousness.

Ritsema/Karcher: Bargaining Opening, not-yet soothing. Chain-mail afflicting: possessing rejoicing.

Shaughnessy: Patterned usurpation; not yet at peace; a transitional illness has happiness.

Cleary (1): Joy after deliberation: If one is firm and wary without complacency, there will be happiness.

Cleary (2): Deliberating about delight, one is uneasy. If one is firm and swift, there will be happiness.

Wu: He is not at ease in pondering about joyousness, but he is glad to be able to distinguish what is correct from what he despises.

 

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge: The joy in connection with the subject of the fourth line is due to the happiness which he will produce. Wilhelm/Baynes: The joy brings blessing. Blofeld: There will be happiness in spite of this foolish anxiety because blessings [i.e., unexpected or seemingly unmerited happiness] will be received. Ritsema/ Karcher: Possessing reward indeed. Cleary (2): Celebration. Wu: There is something to celebrate.

Legge: The bordering on what is injurious has reference to the contiguity of line four to the magnetic third line. That might have an injurious effect, but he reflects and deliberates before he will yield to the seduction of pleasure, and there is cause for joy.

Anthony: In addition to the more literal meanings of this line, pleasure also means departing from our limits to indulge our self-importance, power, correctness, wit, intelligence, skill, sharpness or independence. Such luxuries of attitude are against our inner nature and create self-conflict.

 

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Siu: Indecision regarding the choice among pleasures temporarily robs the man of inner peace. After due reflection, he attains joy by turning away from the lower pleasures and seeking the higher ones.

Wing: You are suffering from indecision based upon a choice between inferior and superior pleasures. If you recognize this and then choose the higher and more constructive form of pleasure, you will find true happiness. Above all, make your decision soon.

Editor: Two kinds of "joy" are contrasted here: desire indulged vs. desire mastered, and the line depicts ambivalence about which one you'll choose. If this is the only changing line, the hexagram becomes number sixty -- Restrictive Regulations, with a corresponding line that counsels the acceptance of limitation as productive of peace of mind and contentment: "Shows its subject quietly and naturally attentive to all regulations. There will be progress and success."

By reflecting upon the uselessness of aimlessly frittering away thy life, mayest thou be incited to diligence in the treading of the Path.
W.Y. Evans-Wentz -- Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines

A. Rid yourself of ambivalence by accepting the limitations demanded by the Work: "Yield not unto temptation."

Line 5

Legge: The fifth line, dynamic, shows its subject trusting in one who would injure him. The situation is perilous.

Wilhelm/Baynes: Sincerity toward disintegrating influences is dangerous.

Blofeld: Faith in what is disintegrating leads to trouble. [Presumably, we put our trust in the continuance of something which, perhaps unknown to us, is already beginning to crumble away.]

Liu: Confidence in what is decaying is dangerous. [If you get this line, you should expect trouble caused by an unworthy person.]

Ritsema/Karcher: Conforming tending-towards stripping. Possessing adversity.

Shaughnessy: Sincerity in flaying; there is danger.

Cleary (1): There is danger in trusting plunderers.

Cleary (2): There is inspiration in sincerity toward the fallen.

Wu: He shows confidence in the one that may strip him: a sign of danger.

 

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge: His place is that which is correct and appropriate. Wilhelm/ Baynes: The place is correct and appropriate. Blofeld: However, this line is suited to its position (hence the trouble will hardly amount to much). Ritsema/Karcher: Situation correcting appropriate indeed. Cleary (2): Being sincere toward the fallen, the position is indeed appropriate. Wu: “He shows confidence in the one that may strip him,” because of his position.

Legge: The danger to line five is from the magnetic line six above, in whom he is represented as trusting. Possibly his own strength and sincerity of mind may be perverted into instruments of evil; but possibly they may operate beneficially. The correctness of his position seems to contradict his trusting of the line above, who can only injure him. On the contrary, it should keep him from doing so. The commentators have seen this, and say that the paragraph is intended by way of caution.

Anthony: This means we are sincere in listening to negative ideas, such as the temptation to pursue self-advantage, or listening to doubt, impatience, fear, or pride, as in “having rights.”

 

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Siu: The man associates with destructive people and exposes himself to perils. There is the possibility that his own strength and sincerity may be perverted into instruments of evil.

Wing: You are contemplating a relationship with an inferior element. Such a commitment is dangerous, for you will be drawn into peril. You must now be more selective in order to protect yourself.

Editor: The message is unambiguous:A correct position is threatened by a negative influence. Cleary’s Buddhist translation: “There is inspiration in sincerity toward the fallen” is anomalous in my experience.

That happens when you get into a state in which you are not yourself, or into an emotional upset where you lose control of yourself, but afterwards wake up completely sober and look at the stupid things you did during your possessed state and wonder what got into you: something got hold of you, you weren't yourself, though while you were behaving like that you thought you were -- it was just as if an evil spirit or the devil had got into you. ... We would say, more neutrally, an autonomous complex temporarily replaces the ego complex; it feels like the ego at the time, but it isn't, for afterwards, when dissociated from it, one cannot understand how one came to do or think such things.
M.L. Von Franz -- On Divination and Synchronicity

A. Overcome your fascination with forces that would spoil the Work.

B. You place your trust in illusions: "Stop indulging yourself."

Line 6

Legge: The sixth line, magnetic, shows the pleasure of its subject in leading and attracting others.

Wilhelm/Baynes: Seductive joyousness.

Blofeld: Joy in the form of allurement. [This suggests the superficial joy offered by attractions that would make no appeal to the Superior Man.]

Liu: Enticing joyousness.

Ritsema/Karcher: Protracting Opening.

Shaughnessy: Shadowyusurpation.

Cleary (1): Induced joy.

Cleary (2): Induced delight.

Wu: He attracts others to enjoy life.

 

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge: Her virtue is not yet brilliant. Wilhelm/Baynes: Line six is not bright. Blofeld: This sort of joy is experienced by the unenlightened. Ritsema/ Karcher: Not-yet shining indeed. Cleary (2): Induced delight is not enlightened.

Wu: He attracts others to enjoy life,” but his action is reproachable.

Legge: The symbolism of line six is akin to that of three. Line three attracts others around herself for the sake of pleasure; the subject of this line leads them to follow herself in quest of it. The action of the hexagram should culminate and end in line five, but the subject has not yet understood the willpower by which the love of pleasure should be controlled.

Anthony: If we are irresolute, the pressures that vanity exerts in the form of self-pity, impatience, restlessness or desire, may cause us to stray from our path. Such impulses, if not firmly resisted, will take over, at least temporarily. Of all evils, vanity is the most seductive, therefore the most dangerous.

 

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Siu: Vanity in his leadership causes the man to become dependent upon external conditions and chances for satisfaction.

Wing: You are totally given over to external conditions. Your sense of well-being springs not from within, but from what satisfaction you can find in the outside world. Because of this you are subject to the mercy of chance and the fates of others.

Editor: Blofeld renders the line as: "Joy in the form of allurement.” Wilhelm uses the concept of "seduction" to illustrate the idea, and Liu says: "enticement." Shaughnessy’s“shadowy usurpation” suggests a kind of demonic possession, and sometimes this interpretation feels more accurate than any of the others. It is instructive to note that Wilhelm's commentary on this line states that the seduction refers to the situation confronting the querent rather than the querent's attitude per se: "It rests with him whether he will let himself be seduced." Intrapsychically, you are being self-indulgent toward an inferior impulse or emotion.

For every one is in the joy of his heart when he is in his ruling love; and so, on the other hand, he is in anguish of heart when he is withheld from it. This is the common torment of hell, out of which innumerable others arise.
Swedenborg – Apocalypse Explained

A. You are being tempted by base desires or illusions.

B. Some sort of self-indulgence or “shadowy usurpation” is indicated.

26
Controlled Power


Other titles: The Taming Power of the Great, The Great Nourisher, Taming the Great Powers, Great Accumulating, Great Accumulation, Great Storage, Nurturance of the Great, Great Buildup, Restraint of the Great, Restraint by the Strong, Potential Energy, The Great Taming Force, Energy Under Control, Power Restrained, Sublimation, Latent Power

 

Judgment

Legge: Controlled Power means being firm and correct. If its subject doesn't enjoy his family revenues at the expense of public service, there will be good fortune. It will be advantageous to cross the great stream.

Wilhelm/Baynes: The Taming Power of the Great. Perseverance furthers. Not eating at home brings good fortune. It furthers one to cross the great water.

Blofeld: The Great Nourisher favors righteous persistence. Good fortune results from not eating at home. It is a favorable time for crossing the great river (sea). [I.e. going on a long journey, perhaps abroad.]

Liu: Taming the Great Powers. Persistence benefits. Not to eat at home is good fortune. It is of benefit to cross the great water.

Ritsema/Karcher: Great Accumulating. Harvesting Trial. Not dwelling, taking-in. Significant. Harvesting: wading the Great River. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of an overriding concern that defines what is valuable. It emphasizes that bringing the variety of things under the control of this central idea is the adequate way to handle it...]

Shaughnessy: Great Storage: Beneficial to determine; not eating at home is auspicious; beneficial to ford the great river.

Cleary (1): In Nurturance of the Great it is beneficial to be chaste. It is good not to eat at home; it is beneficial to cross great rivers. [This hexagram represents incubation nurturing the spiritual embryo. On this path, it is beneficial to still strength, not to use strength. Therefore it says: “it is beneficial to be chaste.” Chastity here means quietude. Stilling strength is nurturing strength. It is good to be still, not active – if one is still, this preserves strength; if one is active, this damages strength. This is the work referred to as “nine years facing a wall.”]

Cleary (2): Great Buildup is beneficial if correct, etc.

Wu: Restraint of the Great indicates prosperity and perseverance. It will be auspicious not to have meals at home. It will be advantageous to cross the big river. [The character chu in the present context has two meanings: one is to accumulate and the other to restrain.]

 

The Image

Legge: Heaven in the midst of the mountain -- the image of Controlled Power. Thus, the superior man studies the words and deeds of ancient men in order to build his virtue.

Wilhelm/Baynes: Heaven within the mountain: the image of the Taming Power of the Great. Thus the superior man acquaints himself with many sayings of antiquity and many deeds of the past, in order to strengthen his character thereby.

Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes the sky visible amidst the mountain peaks. The Superior Man, acting from his profound knowledge of the words and conduct of the wise men of old, nourishes his virtue. [The arrangement of the component trigrams suggests glimpses of the sky among the peaks of the mountains. This points to something very far off and thereby indicates the advisability of setting out for some distant place. This is a time for going from home and giving concrete expression to our appreciation of what others have done for us or for the public good.]

Liu: Heaven within the mountain symbolizes Taming the Great Powers. The wise man studies ancient knowledge to improve his character.

Ritsema/Karcher: Heaven located-in mountain center. Great

Accumulating. A chun tzu uses the numerous recorded preceding words going to move. [A chun tzu] uses accumulating one's actualizing-tao. [Actualize-tao: ...ability to follow the course traced by the ongoing process of the cosmos... Linked with acquire, TE: acquiring that which makes a being become what it is meant to be.]

Cleary (1): Heaven is in the mountains, great accumulation. Thus do superior people become acquainted with many precedents of speech and action, in order to accumulate virtue.

Cleary (2): Leaders build up their virtues by abundant knowledge of past words and deeds.

Wu: Heaven is within the mountain; this is Restraint of the Great. Thus the jun zi accumulates his virtue by remembering past words and deeds.

 

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge: The trigrams that compose Controlled Power show the intelligence of Strength and Mass renewing their virtue every day. A dynamic line is in the highest place, displaying the worth of talent and virtue -- his is the power that keeps Strength in restraint and displays the will necessary to the hexagram. Talents and virtue are nourished because he refuses to confine his power within his immediate family. Heaven in the second line responds to the ruler in the fifth, thus it is favorable to cross the great stream.

Legge: Controlled Power symbolizes both restraint and the accumulation of virtue. What is restrained accumulates its strength and increases its volume to become a great reservoir of force. The Judgment teaches that if one is firm and correct in this endeavor he may then engage in public service and enjoy the king's grace.

The dynamic line in the highest place is line six who is above the ruler and has all of heaven in which to move. This, plus the power to suppress the strongest opposition, shows how he is supported by all that is correct.

Concerning the Image, Chu Hsi says: "Heaven is the greatest of all things, and its being in the midst of a mountain gives us the idea of a very large accumulation. This is analogous to the labor of the superior man in learning, acquiring and remembering, to accumulate his virtue."

 

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Judgment:Controlled Power is willpower. The ego renounces selfish indulgences to work for the good of the whole. With such a spirit, great transformations are possible.

The Superior Man studies the precepts of the Work to increase his comprehension and fortitude.

The essential image to remember in this hexagram is that of Mount Everest holding down Heaven itself: raw power is controlled by the sheer mass of Keeping Still. Thus we see that Controlled Power is Willpower -- arguably the most potentially creative force in the universe, because used correctly it can accomplish anything.

The will is, curiously, not recognized as the central and fundamental function of the ego. It has often been depreciated as being ineffective against the various drives and the power of the imagination, or it has been considered with suspicion as leading to self-assertion (will-to-power). But the latter is only a perverted use of the will, while the apparent futility of the will is due only to a faulty and unintelligent use. The will is ineffective only when it attempts to act in opposition to the imagination and to the other psychological functions, while its skilful and consequently successful use consists in regulating and directing all other functions toward a deliberately chosen and affirmed aim.
Roberto Assagioli –Psychosynthesis

An extreme example of this is illustrated by Cleary’s commentary on the Judgment where he says: “This is the work referred to as “nine years facing a wall.” The reference is to Bodhidharma (the patriarch who brought Zen Buddhism to China), who meditated facing a wall for nine continuous years until he attained enlightenment.

"If its subject doesn't enjoy his family revenues at the expense of public service, there will be good fortune” is an image of the ego renouncing its illusions of free choice. Psychologically, inner complexes will drain energy from the situation unless the ego has the will to control their manifestation. Every line except the sixth depicts some kind of restraint of power -- only in the top line is the energy available for use. It is significant that the superior man is advised to study the ancient wisdom, for it is in the Mysteries, the Perennial Philosophy, that one discovers the secrets and applications of the will. In other contexts (for example, a question about business matters), this can refer to making connection with sound and established practices.

In the larger philosophical sense, we see that the evolving illusions of every age insure that the masses will remain attached to the wheel of birth and death -- continuously repeating endless variations of the same basic lessons. When each individual is finally ready to escape from these cycles, it is only within the ancient and eternal template of the Work that transcendence can be found.

The analogies between religious ideas in Jewish mysticism that are hundreds of years old and the scientific findings of modern psychology can be explained only by the archetypal structure of the psyche. Man's images and ideas concerning the mysteries of being fall into the timeless patterns arranged by the archetypes of the unconscious; his meditations are determined by them. Within the setting of his culture and his time, he creates new forms for the expression of age-old truths.
A. Jaffe -- The Myth of Meaning

Through contact with the Self, negative cycles can be broken and positive cycles begun, but it always requires a mountain's worth of Controlled Powerto make it happen.