One publishes one's memoirs to join posterity. taoscopy.com
Before Completion64
Completing a task doesn’t guarantee rest. Remain vigilant, attentive to evolving situations, ready to adapt and act as needed.
↓ Line 4
Steadfastness and discipline lead to success and the removal of regret. Long-term efforts are rewarded.
↓ Line 5
Integrity and perseverance bring success. The influence of a virtuous person is beneficial.
↓ Dispersion59
Adapt to situations by letting go of rigidity; dissolve obstacles through openness and flexibility.
Original Readings
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.
Line 4
Legge: The fourth line, dynamic, shows its subject by firm correctness obtaining good fortune, so that all occasion for repentance disappears. Let him stir himself up, as if he were invading the Demon region, where for three years rewards will come to him and his troops from the great kingdom.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Perseverance brings good fortune. Remorse disappears. Shock, thus to discipline the Devil's Country. For three years, great realms are awarded.
Blofeld: Persistence in a righteous course brings reward and regret vanishes. The subjugation of the land of Kuei involved tremendous activity; but, at the end of three years, great territories were bestowed upon the successful generals. [This implies that we must work and, perhaps, suffer much in order to gain the fulfillment of our will promised in the commentary on this line.]
Liu: Continuing -- good fortune. Remorse vanishes. Great power is used to attack the land of the barbarians. Within three years, rewards from the Great Country.
Ritsema/Karcher: Trial: significant, repenting extinguished. Shake avails-of subjugating souls on-all-sides. Three years- revolved, possessing donating tending-towards the great city.
Shaughnessy: Determination is auspicious; regret is gone. Zhen herewith attacks the Devil-land, in three years having a reward from the great state.
Cleary (1): Remaining correct brings good results, regret vanishes; rising up to conquer the barbarians, in three years one will have the reward of a great country.
Cleary (2): Correctness brings good results; regret vanishes. Vigorously acting to conquer barbarians, etc.
Wu: To be persevering is auspicious and regrets will disappear. A general was appointed to conquer Guifan and decorated accordingly after three years.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The aim of the subject of the line is carried into effect. Wilhelm/ Baynes: What is willed is done. Blofeld: The reward to be gained by persistence and the disappearance of regret both imply that what we will come about. Ritsema/Karcher: Purpose moving indeed. Cleary (2): The aim is carried out. Wu: The aspiration has prevailed.
Legge: The dynamic fourth line is in a magnetic place, which might hinder his endeavors to bring about better conditions. But he is firm and correct, and in the place of the minister next to the magnetic ruler, who is humble and prepared to welcome the fourth line's endeavors. Let him exert himself vigorously and long, as Kao Tsung did in his famous expedition (see hexagram 63:3), and he will make progress and have success. Expeditions beyond the frontier in those days were not very remote. Contact was maintained between the army and the court, and rewards and encouragement were often sent to the troops in the field. Ch'eng-tzu says: "The subject of line four has the ability which the time requires, and possesses also a firm solidity. He can carry out his purpose. There will be good fortune and all occasion for repentance will disappear. The smiting of the demon region was the highest example of firm correctness."
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The time for fierce struggles against the forces of decadence has arrived. The man lays the foundation of power and mastery for the future with vigor. Misgivings are to be silenced. Rewards will come later.
Wing: There is an unavoidable struggle at hand, perhaps a battle of principles. Develop discipline and determination, for the battle must be fought without misgiving to the end. Rewards will come later. Good fortune.
Editor: The Demon region is also mentioned in the third line of hexagram number sixty-three, Completion.It is interesting to note that when this hexagram is turned upside down it becomes hexagram number sixty-three, and line 64:4 is thereby transformed into line 63:3, which see. Psychologically, "the Demon region" is the unintegrated psyche, inhabited by autonomous complexes. The Great Kingdom is the One, the integrated psyche, the abode of the Self.
Therefore know the Self, who is superior to the understanding, control the [ego] by the Self, and destroy, O mighty Arjuna, the enemy, who comes in the guise of desire and is hard to overcome. Bhagavad-Gita 3: 42-43
A. Be firm in a vulnerable position -- a warrior's determination integrates the psyche.
Line 5
Legge: The fifth line, magnetic, shows its subject by firm correctness obtaining good fortune, and having no occasion for repentance. We see in her the brightness of superior intelligence, and the possession of sincerity. There will be good fortune.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Perseverance brings good fortune. No remorse. The light of the superior man is true. Good fortune.
Blofeld: Persistence in a righteous course brings good fortune and absence of regret. The lustre of the Superior Man wins people's confidence -- hence the good fortune.
Liu: Continuing -- good fortune. No remorse. The glory of the superior man wins the confidence of the people. Good fortune.
Ritsema/Karcher: Trial: significant, without repenting. A chun tzu’s shining. Possessing conformity, significant.
Shaughnessy: Determination is auspicious; regret is gone. The gentleman's radiance has a return; auspicious.
Cleary (1): Remaining correct brings good results, without regret; the light of a superior person has truth and goodness.
Cleary (2): Correctness brings good results; regret vanishes. The illumination of developed people leads to good results.
Wu: To be persevering is auspicious. There will be no regrets. This shows the brilliance of the jun zi. With confidence, there will be good fortune.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The diffusion of that brightness tends to good fortune. Wilhelm/ Baynes: His light brings good fortune. Blofeld: The Superior Man has the glorious custom of distributing his good fortune among the needy. [From the point of view of divination, this implies that we should be very generous in sharing the promised good fortune.]Ritsema/Karcher: One's brilliance significant indeed. Cleary (2): The radiance of the illumination of developed people leads to good results. Wu: His radiance brings good fortune.
Legge: Line five is magnetic in a dynamic place, but she is the humble ruler who is supported by the dynamic second line, and hence the auspice is very good.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: Steadfastness to correct action and to sincerity on the part of the man has rallied men of good faith. Victory is achieved. A glorious new era has replaced the decadent old one.
Wing: Honest determination and correct principles have banished difficulties and created the stimulating environment of an advanced society. A superior personality can now rally others around him and lead them into a bright new era. Great things can be attained.
Editor: The fifth line is in the middle of the trigram of Clarity, of light and intelligence. She has the insight and comprehension which enable her to persevere -- clarity is the foundation of will. The idea is that perseverance and comprehension reinforce each other.
It is necessary that we should seek and knock, and thereby ask the Omnipotent Power within ourselves, and remind it of its promises and keep it awake, and if we do this in the proper form and with a pure and sincere heart, we shall receive that for which we ask, and find that which we seek, and the doors of the Eternal that have been closed before us will be opened, and what was hidden before our sight will come to light. Paracelsus
A. Look for the light, then follow it.
B. Clear perception enables you to differentiate the situation.
59 Dispersion
Other titles: Dispersion, Dissolution, Disintegration, Dispersal, Overcoming Dissension, Scattering,Dispersing, Unintegrated, Reuniting, Evaporation, Reorganization, New Deal, Re-Shuffle, Course Correction, Catharsis
Judgment
Legge: Expansion intimates that there will be progress and success. The king goes to his ancestral temple. It will be advantageous to cross the great stream. It will be advantageous to be firm and correct.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Dispersion. Success. The king approaches his temple. It furthers one to cross the great water. Perseverance furthers.
Blofeld:Scattering -- success! The King has approached his temple. [An omen of safety.] It is advantageous to cross the great river (or sea). [I.e., to go on a long journey.] Persistence in a righteous course brings reward.
Liu: Dispersion. Success. The king approaches the temple. It is of benefit to cross the great water. It benefits to continue.
Ritsema/Karcher: Dispersing , Growing. The king imagines possessing a temple. Harvesting: wading the Great River. Harvesting Trial. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of confronting obstacles, illusions and misunderstandings. It emphasizes that clearing away what is blocking the light is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told to: disperse what obstructs awareness!]
Shaughnessy: Dispersal: Receipt; the king approaches into the temple; beneficial to ford the great river; beneficial to determine.
Cleary (1): In Dispersal there is development. The king comes to have a shrine. It is beneficial to cross great rivers . It is beneficial to be correct.
Cleary (2):Dispersal is successful. The king goes to his ancestral temple. The benefit crosses great rivers. It is beneficial if correct.
Wu: Dispersion indicates pervasiveness. The king does homage to his ancestral temple. It will be advantageous to cross the big river, but only with perseverance.
The Image
Legge: The image of wind moving over water forms Expansion. The ancient kings, in accordance with this, presented offerings to God and established the ancestral temple.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The wind drives over the water: the image of Dispersion. Thus the kings of old sacrificed to the Lord and built temples.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes wind blowing across the face of the waters. The kings of old built temples in which to sacrifice to the Supreme Lord of Heaven. [A temple is a place of safety from the ills of the world. The symbolism here is that the upper trigram forms a temple in which people are safe from the pit (the lower trigram); its middle line (five) signifies the King. The implication is that we should employ spiritual or moral means to preserve ourselves from the danger threatened by the lower trigram.]
Liu: Wind blowing over water symbolizes Dispersion. The ancient kings offered sacrifices to the Deity, then built temples.
Ritsema/Karcher: Wind moves above stream. Dispersing. The Earlier Kings used presenting tending-towards the supreme to establish the temples.
Cleary (1): Wind blows above water, Unintegrated. Thus ancient kings honored god and set up shrines.
Cleary (2): Wind travels over the water, dispersing. Ancient kings honored God and set up shrines.
Wu: The wind moves above water; this is Dispersion. Thus, the ancient kings made offerings to the Supreme Being and consecrated their ancestral temple.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The dynamic line is central in the lower trigram, and the magnetic fourth line is correct in the upper trigram, uniting with the dynamic ruler above her. The king's mind is without any deflection as he goes to his ancestral temple. He rides over water in a vessel of wood, and will cross the great stream with success.
Legge: The hexagram of Expansion denotes a state of dissipation or dispersion. It shows men's minds alienated from correctness and sure to go on to disorder. Here an attempt is made to show how the situation should be remedied.
The lower trigram represents Water, and the upper, Wind. Wind moving over water evaporates it, and suggests the idea of dispersion. Success is intimated because there are dynamic lines occupying the central places in the trigrams. The king's piety moves the spirits by its sincerity -- when the religious spirit rules men's minds, there will be no alienation from what is right and good. Under such conditions even hazardous enterprises may be undertaken.
The second sentence of the Confucian commentary literally begins: "The king is indeed in the middle..." This means that his heart and mind are set on the central truth of what is right and good. The ancestral temple signifies the recognition that sincere religious practices counteracted the tendency to mutual alienation and selfishness among men. The wooden vessel refers to one of the attributes of the upper trigram, which is Wood. It suggests a boat riding on water (the lower trigram), hence: crossing the great water.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Focus on the ideals of the Work and maintain your will. A major synthesis is possible.
The Superior Man subdues his ego to attain his latent potential.
Because of the intimate relationship between this figure and hexagram number 45, Contraction, I have chosen the title of Expansionto best emphasize their polarity.
The "ancient kings and sages" are more mythical than historical, so we can assume that they symbolize archetypal forces ("gods") within the psyche -- of whom the ego is only the current spacetime representative (i.e., servant- facilitator). The Self is the focal point, the center of this multidimensional awareness complex.
In both timeless and spaceless experiences, the mundane world is virtually excluded. Of course, the converse is true of the mundane state of daily routine, in which the oceanic unity with the universe, in ecstasy and Samadhi, is virtually absent. Thus, the mutual exclusiveness of the "normal" and the exalted states, both ecstasy and Samadhi, allows us to postulate that man, the self- referential system, exists on two levels: as "Self" in the mental dimension of exalted states; and as "I" in the objective world, where he is able and willing to change the physical dimension "out there.” R. Fischer -- "A Cartography of the Ecstatic and Meditative States," Science:174, 1971
The symbol of a temple, where one worships one's ancestors may be taken as the perfect gestalt of the Work as it exists outside of spacetime, as well as the karmic repository of all previous incarnations. It represents both the completed Work and the Work in progress. That the family temple was regarded in China as symbolic of an ideal standard of perfection such as this, is implied in the following passage:
Diplomatic negotiations were carried on in the ancestral temple, in the veritable presence, it was believed, of the ancestors; diplomatic banquets were given there, also. Even a proposal of marriage was received by the father of the prospective bride in his ancestral temple, in the presence of the spirits ... (The world of Confucius), we must remember, was one in which there was a nearly complete breakdown of moral standards ... Only in the performance of religious ceremonies could there still be found, consistently, a type of conduct regulated by a socially accepted norm of behavior, in which men's actions were motivated by a pattern of cooperative action, rather than swayed by the greed and passions of the moment. H.G. Creel -- Confucius and the Chinese Way
Psychologically, Expansion depicts a state of inner pressure capable of fruitful resolution if it can be properly guided. The king in the Image (in this case, the ego) sacrifices for a high ideal: the good of the Work. Legge's commentary tells us that the "second sentence of the Confucian commentary literally begins: `The king is indeed in the middle...'" This suggests a combination of his second and third sentences into the paraphrase: "The king steers a middle course when crossing the water to the ancestral temple." This gives the image of a vessel and the proper way to guide it toward a destination. Anyone who has ever steered a boat with a rudder knows that to over-correct on either side is a mark of poor seamanship: the goal is to maintain a dynamic balance in our guidance of the Work. Lines two and five represent proper course-correction because they are both in the middle of their respective trigrams.
Expansionis the inverse of the following hexagram of Restrictive Regulations. What is there confined and hoarded is here dispensed -- but this dispensation must conform with the ultimate good of the Work. Not just any release of tension will do -- it must recombine itself into a new and better organization, as imaged in the fourth line. If this new order is a proper one, the released tension precipitates a catharsis, as imaged in line five.
The form, then, in which our complexes confront us is the form in which the fundamental materials of our human structure come into our here-and-now existence. Like crystals they are always imperfect to some extent and often unrecognizable or grossly disfigured in comparison with the “ideal” shape, the shape that would represent the “pure” incorporation of the crystal scheme. But we have to meet them in this more or less imperfect or distorted form and out of this form we have to transform them into something that may be more akin to the aboriginal “intent” inherent in their archetypal cores. This undertaking, this process, is what Jung calls individuation. E.C. Whitmont -- The Symbolic Quest
SUGGESTIONS FOR MEDITATION
The Judgment of hexagram number forty-five, Contraction, also mentions the king going to his ancestral temple. A close comparison of this figure with Expansion will reveal much about the dynamics of the Work.