Open yourself to growth and listen to your intuition; with each step of progression, balance guides you toward fulfillment.
From
19
Approach
To
63
After Completion
Seeking the truth
One needs to know what is really going on. taoscopy.com
Approach19
Openness and approachability bring success. Embrace others with sincerity and attentive leadership. Seize opportunities with confidence while recognizing the temporary nature of influence.
↓ Line 2
Harmonious cooperation with others brings good fortune and progress.
↓ Line 3
Complacency may lead to stagnation. Awareness and reflection can prevent blame.
↓ Line 5
A wise and noble approach is fitting for leadership and brings good fortune.
↓ After Completion63
Completion; things fall into place, but remain cautious. Stability achieved, yet vigilance needed to sustain harmony.
Other titles: The Symbol of Advance and Arrival, Nearing, Overseeing, Condescension, Getting Ahead, Promotion, Conduct, Drawing Near, Becoming Great, The Forest, Advance, Advancing, "Two people advancing together; or a good influence which hasn't been seen or felt for some time, is approaching." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge: Approach means successful progress through firm correctness. In the eighth month there will be evil.
Wilhelm/Baynes : Approach has supreme success. Perseverance furthers. When the eighth month comes, there will be misfortune.
Blofeld:Approach.Sublime success! Righteous persistence brings reward. However, when the eighth month is reached, misfortune will befall. [The eighth moon of the lunar calendar corresponds approximately to September.]
Liu: Approach. Great Success. It is of benefit to continue. When the eighth month arrives, then there will be misfortune.
Ritsema/Karcher: Nearing, Spring Growing Harvesting Trial. Culminating tending-towards the eighth moon: possessing a pitfall. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of approaching and being approached. It emphasizes that acting without immediately expecting to attain what you desire is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy: The Forest: Prime receipt; beneficial to determine; arriving at the eighth month there is inauspiciousness.
Cleary (1):Overseeing is creative and developmental, beneficial if correct. In the eighth month there is misfortune.
Cleary (2):Overseeing is very successful, beneficial if correct. If you go on until the eighth month, there will be misfortune. [If you ride on the momentum of the time and do not know to turn back, at a certain point deterioration will inevitably set in, after flourishing has reached its climax, and there will surely be misfortune.]
Wu:Condescension is great, pervasive, and persevering, etc. [Condescension as used in several judgments has two meanings: to condescend (or to look down from a higher position) and to press forward with authority.]
Hua-Ching Ni: Advance. It is beneficial to go forward with a positive attitude, but be mindful of the cyclical nature of things.
The Image
Legge: The earth over a marsh -- the image of Approach. The superior man is inexhaustible in his instruction and unflagging in his nourishing support of the people.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The earth above the lake: the image of Approach. Thus the superior man is inexhaustible in his will to teach, and without limits in his tolerance and protection of the people.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes land rising above a marsh. The Superior Man's teaching and his affection for his juniors are inexhaustible. Nothing hinders him in his care for the people. [The lower component trigram suggests the nourishment which the Superior Man gives joyfully to others. The upper trigram symbolizes the great bulk of those who benefit.]
Liu: The earth above the lake symbolizes Approach. The superior man's will for instruction has no limit. He is boundless in his support and protection of the people.
Ritsema/Karcher: Above marsh possessing earth. Nearing. A chun tzu uses teaching to ponder without exhausting. [A chun tzu uses] tolerating to protect the commoners without delimiting.
Cleary (1): Above the lake there is earth, overseeing. Superior people use
inexhaustibility of education and thought to embrace and protect the people without bound.
Wu: There is ground above the marsh; this is Condescension. Thus the jun zi realizes that there is no limit to the ideas of education and there is no boundary in the protection of people.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: In Approach we see the dynamic lines gradually increasing and advancing. The lower trigram is the symbol of Being Pleased, and the upper of Being Compliant. The strong line is in the central position, and is properly responded to. It is the way of heaven to bring progress and success through firm correctness, however the advancing power will decay after no long time.
Legge: Approach suggests the approach of authority -- to inspect, to comfort or to rule. The figure shows two dynamic lines advancing on the four magnetic lines above them. Their action will be powerful and successful, but it must be governed by rectitude and a caution that understands the nature of continuous change.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Two steps forward are followed by one step backward.
The Superior Man remains true to the Work regardless of fluctuations within the psyche.
The meaning of Approach is derived from the two dynamic lines advancing from below to encounter the magnetic lines above. These two are firm allies, and the action of the superior man in the Image suggests that their ascent is one of benevolent regard for the welfare of their subordinates -- only the third line need change for the hexagram to become number eleven, Harmony. We are reminded of the proper relationship between the ego and the Self -- when they advance together, the magnetic forces in the rest of the psyche are eventually transformed.
This hexagram recognizes the inevitably slow progress of the Work (" Rome wasn't built in a day"), and that advances are always followed by retreats. The point is that if one maintains the will to advance, one can be confident that the Work is advancing, regardless of appearances.
(Confucius) tried his best, but the issue he left to Ming. Ming is often translated as Fate, Destiny or Decree. To Confucius, it meant the Decree of Heaven or Will of Heaven ... Thus to know Ming means to acknowledge the inevitability of the world as it exists, and so to disregard one's external success or failure. If we can act in this way, we can, in a sense, never fail. For if we do our duty that duty through our very act is morally done, regardless of the external success or failure of our action. Fung Yu-Lan -- A Short History of Chinese Philosophy
Without changing lines, the hexagram suggests a progressive advance in the matter at hand. Nature being what it is however, no advance can be sustained indefinitely and an eventual regression can be expected. (This observation is such a truism that we must assume it is more than usually applicable to the current situation.)
Line 2
Legge: The second line, dynamic, shows its subject advancing in company with the subject of the first line. There will be good fortune; advancing will be in every way advantageous.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Joint approach. Good fortune. Everything furthers.
Blofeld: All approach -- good fortune! Nothing is unfavorable. [All approach can be taken to mean that all things desirable are converging upon us.]
Liu: To approach with sincerity brings good fortune. It is beneficial for everything.
Ritsema/Karcher: Conjunction Nearing: significant. Without not Harvesting.
Shaughnessy: Prohibited forest; auspicious; there is nothing not beneficial.
Cleary (2): Sensitive overseeing is good, beneficial all around. [The second yang is also in the momentum of gradually increasing strength, but at this point it is best to keep still and not ride on the momentum to try to advance; then it will be good and beneficial all around.]
Wu: Pressing forward with a companion will be auspicious. Everything will be advantageous.
Hua-Ching Ni: Impartial advance without prejudice continues…
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: This is because those to whom the advance is made are not yet obedient to the ordinances of heaven. Wilhelm/Baynes: One need not yield to fate. Blofeld: This indicates that there is nevertheless some disobedience. Ritsema/Karcher: Not-yet yielding-to fate indeed. Cleary (2): This is addressed to those who are not yet in harmony with the universal order. Wu: There are still those who do not obey the ordinances of heaven. [Since prosperity of the yang is considered a good omen and meets the approval of heaven, presence of the four yin in the yang’s path of advance is indicative of disobeying the ordinances of heaven.]
Legge: Line two is dynamic, but in a magnetic place. This is counterbalanced by the central position and the proper correlate in line five.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: People who are not obedient to the ways of heaven are induced to follow the steadfast man in a high position. The future will be advantageous in every way.
Wing: What you propose to do wins sympathy and support from higher forces. So correct are your ideals that you can overcome even inherent difficulties. The future is bright indeed.
Editor: The differences in meaning between lines one and two are extremely slight in English translation. Cleary’s Buddhist commentary on the line suggests the idea of controlling the momentum of an otherwise favorable action. (See also his commentary on the Judgment.) Wu’s note on the Confucian commentary shows line two in immediate contact with four yin lines, interpreted here as recalcitrant forces. On another tack, if we take Ritsema/Karcher's version of "Conjunction Nearing: significant...” literally, we can imagine two possible approaching syntheses (line 1 and line 2), one of which may be more auspicious than the other. Only the context of your query can provide a plausible interpretation of these very different readings.
If Jung's method is used in the analysis, the change initiated by the conflict proceeds under the guidance of the individual's own unconscious. The analyst does not assume that he knows the answer to the problem but sets out with his patient to explore the unconscious and seek the solution. He is necessary to the proceeding because he has a technique for interpreting the obscure unconscious material thrown up in the dreams and fantasies; also, he is needed as a fixed point to which the patient can cling during the transition, when all values are under question and all landmarks may disappear. M. E. Harding -- Psychic Energy
A. An approaching conjunction of forces (or obvious choices) will nullify an adverse bias in the situation.
B. An alliance for progress furthers the Work.
C. Ego and Self administer the psyche.
Line 3
Legge: The third line, magnetic, shows one well pleased indeed to advance, but whose action will be in no way advantageous. If she becomes anxious about it however, there will be no error.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Comfortable approach. Nothing that would further. If one is induced to grieve over it, one becomes free of blame.
Blofeld: A willing approach, but there is nowhere towards which it would be advantageous to set out. Feeling regret on that account involves no error.
Liu: Cheerful approach does not benefit further. If one fears regret, no blame.
Ritsema/Karcher: Sweetness Nearing. Without direction: Harvesting. Already grieving-over it: Without fault.
Shaughnessy: Sweet forest; there is no place beneficial; having been saddened by it, there is no trouble.
Cleary (1): Presumptuous overseeing is of no benefit. If one is troubled over this, there is no blame.
Cleary (2): … but if you trouble over it, there will be no blame.
Wu: Condescending for flaunting purposes has nothing to gain. If he is concerned of his behavior, he will make no error.
Hua-Ching Ni: Easy advancement. If one abuses one’s position, there will be trouble in the long run. If this tendency is corrected immediately, there will be no blame.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: She shows herself well pleased to advance, but her position is not that appropriate to her. If she become anxious about it her error will not be continued. Wilhelm/Baynes: The place is not the appropriate one. A fault that induces grief no longer exists. Blofeld: The foregoing is indicated by the unsuitable position of this line. However, if we grieve for it, we shall not be involved in error for long. [At present, there is no goal or destination towards which it would be profitable to move; however, if we sincerely regret this, it will not be long before we emerge from the rut.] Ritsema/Karcher: Situation not appropriate indeed. Fault not long-living indeed. Cleary (2): Once you trouble over it, blame will not last long. Wu: He is out of place. His error will be temporary.
Legge: Line three is magnetic, neither central nor in her correct position, and therefore her action will not be advantageous. Being at the top of the lower trigram of Pleased Satisfaction, she is well pleased to advance. Anxious reflection will save her from error.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man gains power, influence, and comfort. There is danger of relation and carelessness in dealing with others. But if he becomes apprehensive about his actions, he will not continue in his error and will avoid troubles.
Wing: An easy Promotion is possible now. This might lead to a careless attitude on your part. There is danger in such overconfidence. If you are quick to recognize the need for continuous caution, however, you can avoid mistakes that would otherwise harm you.
Editor: The image depicts a case in which one’s powers are not equal to the challenge. Ritsema/Karcher translate 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.” That is, success demands that you refrain from action or drop the subject of inquiry. Their rendition of: Grieving-over it means: “Sorrow, melancholy; mourn; anxious, careworn; hidden sorrow…heart-sick and anxious.” One can receive this line under conditions of deep grief, wherein (as in any line of the I Ching), extremely subtle insights often transcend an exact paraphrase.
Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. Psalms 127: 1
A. Whether simplistic, overconfident, or just naive, your assumptions in the matter at hand are incorrect. Do not act on them.
B. Desire for something to be true doesn't make it true. Correct your viewpoint. If sorrow is involved, accept it as your teacher.
C. Unwarranted overconfidence. Nothing can be done now.
D. There are no free rides -- wake up and serve the Work.
Line 5
Legge: The fifth line, magnetic, shows the advance of wisdom, such as
befits the great ruler. There will be good fortune.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Wise approach. This is right for a great prince. Good fortune.
Blofeld: A wise approach suited to a great prince -- good fortune.
Liu: To approach with wisdom is appropriate for a great duke. Good fortune.
Ritsema/Karcher: Knowledge Nearing. A Great Chief's propriety. Significant.
Shaughnessy: Knowing the forest; the great lord's propriety is auspicious.
Cleary (2): Knowing overseeing, appropriate for a great leader, bodes well.
Wu: Condescending with wisdom befits a great king. There will be good fortune.
Hua-Ching Ni: Wise advancement. This is how the great should proceed. G.F.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: What befits the great ruler means pursuing the course of the due mean. Wilhelm/Baynes: This means that he should walk in the middle. Blofeld: This is a way of saying that we must keep to the middle path. Ritsema/Karcher: Moving the center's designating indeed. Cleary (2): What is appropriate for a great leader is balance in action. Wu: He rules from the center.
Legge: Line five is the seat of the ruler. She is magnetic, but because she is central and has the dynamic second line as her proper correlate, she is the symbol of a wise sovereign who employs able counsel to advise her.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The great ruler displays his wisdom in attracting men of ability to direct his affairs and in providing them freedom of action.
Wing: Your position is one of sovereignty. Here you would be wise to allow others to execute you plan for you. If you can choose competent helpers and restrain yourself from interfering in their work, you will achieve the ideal of true authority.
Editor: There is an intimation here of the Self allowing the ego to look after its own welfare, as long as action is in accordance with moderation and restraint. A test situation may be in progress.
From my brother Severus (I learned) to love my kin, and to love truth, and to love justice... And from him I received the idea of a polity in which there is the same law for all, a polity administered with regard to equal rights and equal freedom of speech, and the idea of a kingly government which respects most of all the freedom of the governed. Marcus Aurelius
Other titles: After Completion, The Symbol of What is Already Past, Already Fording, Already Completed, Settled, Mission Accomplished, Tasks Completed, After the End, A state of Climax
Judgment
Legge:Completion intimates progress and success in small matters. There is advantage in firm correctness. There had been good fortune in the beginning; there may be disorder in the end.
Wilhelm/Baynes: After Completion. Success in small matters. Perseverance furthers. At the beginning good fortune, at the end disorder.
Blofeld:After Completion -- success in small matters! Persistence in a righteous course brings reward. Good fortune at the start; disorder in the end. [Perhaps persistence may help to lessen the disorder that threatens to come upon us after some initial success.]
Liu: Completion. Success in the small. It benefits to continue. Good fortune at first; disorder in the end.
Ritsema/Karcher:Already Fording. Growing: the small. Harvesting Trial. Initially significant. Completing: disarraying. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of an important move from one position to another. It emphasizes that actively proceeding with the crossing is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy:Already Completed: Receipt; slightly beneficial to determine; initially auspicious, in the end disordered.
Cleary (1):Settlement is developmental, but it is minimized. It is beneficial to be correct. The beginning is auspicious, the end confused.
Cleary (2): Settlement is successful, even in small matters … etc.
Wu: Mission Accomplished indicates a small degree of pervasiveness and the advantage of being persevering. It is characterized by goodness in the beginning, but tumult in the end.
The Image
Legge: The image of water above fire formsCompletion. The superior man, in accordance with this, thinks of the evil that may come, and guards against it in advance.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Water over fire: the image of the condition in After Completion. Thus the superior man takes thought of misfortune and arms himself against it in advance.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes water above fire. The Superior Man deals with trouble by careful thought and by taking advance precautions.
Liu: Water above fire symbolizes Completion. The superior man ponders danger and takes precautions against it.
Ritsema/Karcher: Stream located above fire. Already Fording. A chun tzu uses pondering distress and-also providing-for defending-against it.
Cleary (1): Water is above fire,Settled.Thus superior peopleconsider problems and prevent them.
Wu: There is water above fire; this is Mission Accomplished. Thus the jun zi conceives ways to prevent disaster.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Progress and success in small matters, with advantage in firm correctness. The dynamic and magnetic lines are correctly arranged, each in its proper place. There has been good fortune in the beginning because the magnetic second line is in the center. In the end there is a cessation of effort, and disorder arises. The course that led to rule and order is now exhausted.
Legge: The two written Chinese characters translated here as Completion represent two ideas -- the symbol of being past or completed, and the symbol of crossing a stream -- with a secondary meaning of helping and completing. When combined, the two characters express the idea of successful accomplishment. The hexagram denotes the kingdom finally at rest -- the vessel of state has been brought safely across the great and dangerous stream, the distresses of the realm have been relieved and its disorders rectified. Small things need to be completed: the new government must be consolidated and its ruler must, without noise or clamor, go on to perfect what has been wrought with firm correctness and without forgetting the inherent instability of all human affairs. That every line of the hexagram is in its correct place, and has its proper correlate emphasizes the intimation of progress and success.
The K'ang-hsi editors compare this hexagram and the next with number eleven, Harmony, and number twelve, Divorcement, observing that the goodness of Harmony is concentrated, as here, in the second line. Disorder after completion is inevitable. All things move on with a constant process of change. Disorder succeeds to order, and again order to disorder.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: All's well that ends well, but the new cycle demands as much willpower as the last. Make no drastic choices during a transition.
The Superior Man anticipates conflict and is prepared for it in advance.
The sixty-third hexagram is the reference hexagram which depicts the correlation of properly matched dynamic and magnetic lines. On the basis of this figure, all of the other hexagrams (except the first and second, which are their "parents"), are compared. Yet, despite the fact that every line is in its proper place, not one of them has an easy auspice, and both the Judgment and Image are subdued and cautionary. The general idea is that as long as we draw breath in this spacetime dimension, our lives and Work are incomplete. Cycles complete themselves, certainly, but Completion in that sense is the "completion" of the full moon, which as soon as it reaches maximum brilliance immediately begins to wane.
Among those engaged in psycho-spiritual work, there is a great deal of energy focused on "enlightenment," and the natural desire of each aspirant to attain that state of consciousness as soon as possible. Many there are who wander from one conception of the Work to another in the hope that this particular discipline, or that particular Guru will provide the transcendent answer that the last one didn't.
This is a very deceptive illusion, because the chances that any given individual will attain perfect enlightenment in any given lifetime are probably miniscule to the point of insignificance. (How many truly enlightened beings have you ever met in your life?)
But the first signs of this symbolism are far from indicating that unity has been attained. Just as alchemy has a great many procedures, ranging from the "work of one day" to the "the errant quest" lasting for decades, so the tensions between the psychic pair of opposites ease off only gradually; and, like the alchemical end- product, which always betrays its essential duality, the united personality will never quite lose the painful sense of innate discord. Complete redemption from the sufferings of this world is and must remain an illusion ... The goal is important only as an idea; the essential thing is the opus which leads to the goal: that is the goal of a lifetime. In its attainment "left and right" are united, and conscious and unconscious work in harmony. Jung-- Psychology of the Transference
The Work is a slow, organic process of transforming unconscious forces, which demands almost superhuman levels of discipline to accomplish. One can make a great deal of progress in one lifetime, but the Work can not be said to be complete until physical death “completes” it -- at that point, assuming the ego has acquired enough strength of will, perhaps one can facilitate a "permanent" synthesis of the forces one has spent a lifetime in training. Death is the doorway back to our Source, and if we enter that doorway consciously and correctly we can consolidate a great deal of power which will serve us well in the next cycle, in whatever dimension that cycle may take place.
It is even doubtful whether a man can arrive at the summit of all perfection as long as he lives in an imperfect physical form, because the imperfections of the form hamper the spirit, and only a spirit that has outgrown the necessity to live in a physical form may be said to have arrived at that high degree of perfection at which a perfect knowledge of self, and consequently a perfect knowledge of the universe is obtained. F. Hartmann --Paracelsus: Life and Prophecies