See beyond the surface, elevate your perspective, and draw from deep wisdom to nourish your spirit and others.
From
20
Contemplation
To
48
The Well
Giving someone a piece of one's mind
One retorts to those who have not often had the opportunity to make amends. taoscopy.com
Contemplation 20
Pause and observe the world around you. Gain clarity by distancing yourself from immediate involvement, allowing for a broader perspective. Insight comes from seeing both the big picture and the subtle details.
↓ Line 2
A limited perspective, like peering through a narrow opening. This approach is suitable for those who must remain cautious and reserved, such as a woman in a traditional role.
↓ Line 3
Self-reflection is crucial at this stage. By examining one's own life, one can make informed decisions about whether to move forward or withdraw.
↓ Line 6
At the highest level, one contemplates the entirety of their life. This comprehensive reflection ensures that the superior person remains free from fault.
↓ The Well48
Seek renewal and sustenance from shared resources and deep wells of knowledge. Nurture the source to ensure lasting abundance.
Other titles: View, The Symbol of Steady Observation, Looking Down, Observation, Viewing, Looking Up, Observing, Admiration, To Examine, Rulers and Their Subjects, Introspection, Perception, Contemplation of the Work
Judgment
Legge: Contemplation shows us a worshipper who has purified himself, but must still present his sacrifice with that dignified sincerity which inspires reverence.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Contemplation . The ablution has been made, but not yet the offering. Full of trust they look up to him.
Blofeld: Lookingdown.[This word often means “contemplation" and I have so translated it when the context so requires.] The ablution has been performed, but not the sacrifice. Sincerity inspires respect. [This is generally understood to mean that the first step has been taken or that one has bound oneself to follow a certain course...but that the main duties are yet to be performed.]
Liu:Observation. The hand-washing ritual is completed, but the sacrifice is still to come. All done and looked upon with sincerity.
Ritsema/Karcher:Viewing: hand-washing and-also not worshipping. Possessing conformity, like a presence. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of something seen from a distance, out of immediate reach. It emphasizes that carefully observing and divining the meaning is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy: Looking Up. Washing the hands but not making offering; there is a return with head held high.
Cleary (1): Observing, one has washed the hands but not made the offering; there is sincerity, which is reverent.
Wu:Admiration indicates a worshipper washing his hands in preparation for the offerings, but not participating in it. He shows sincerity and awe.
The Image
Legge: The image of earth and wind moving above it form Contemplation. The ancient kings, in accordance with this, examined the different regions of the kingdom to see the ways of the people, and set forth their instructions.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The wind blows over the earth: the image of Contemplation. Thus the kings of old visited the regions of the world, contemplated the people, and gave them instruction.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes wind blowing across the earth. The ancient rulers visited the different regions to keep watch over their people and carefully instruct them.
Liu: The wind blowing over the earth symbolizes Observation. The ancient kings visited their territories, observed the people, and gave instruction.
Ritsema/Karcher: Wind moving above earth. Viewing. The Earlier Kings used inspecting on-all-sides, viewing the commoners to set-up teaching.
Cleary (1): Wind is over the earth, observing. Thus did the kings of yore set up education after examination of the region and observation of the people.
Cleary (2): Wind travels over the earth – observing.Kings of yore examined the regions and observed the people to set up education. [In Buddhist terms, the ancient Buddhas examined the “regions” of possible experience and observed the people in various states of being, then set up various teachings to accommodate them, just as the wind travels over the earth reaching everywhere.]
Wu: The wind pervades above the earth; this is Admiration. Thus the ancient kings inspected various regions of the country, observed the sentiments of the people, and laid down their instructions.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge:Observation from above -- from the trigram of Flexibility surmounting the trigram of Docility. The ruler is in his correct central position, and thus exhibits his lessons to all below. He has purified himself, but not yet sacrificed. All beneath look to him and are transformed. When we contemplate the spirit-like way of heaven, we see how the four seasons proceed without error. The sages, in accordance with this spirit-like way, laid down their instructions, and all under heaven yield submission to them.
Legge: The Chinese character from which this hexagram is named is used in the sense of both seeing and being seen. The theme is the sovereign and his people -- how he shows himself to them, and how they in turn perceive him. The two dynamic lines at the top belong to the ruler, and the four magnetic lines below represent his subjects. In the Judgment the ruler is portrayed as a worshipper at the commencement of a sacrifice. He is the great Manifester in line five.
The lower trigram symbolizes earth, with the attribute of Docility; the upper trigram symbolizes wind, with the attributes of Flexibility and Penetration. Wind moving above the earth has the widest sweep, and nothing escapes its influence. The personal influence of the ruler effects much, but the ancient kings wished to add to that the power of published instructions which were specially adapted to the character and circumstances of the people.
The spirit-like way of heaven is the invisible order underlying the laws of nature. [Ed. Note: Ritsema/Karcher use the phrase: "Viewing Heaven's spirit tao... The all-wise person uses spirit tao to set-up teaching." Spirit(s), SHEN: independent spiritual powers that confer intensity on heart and mind by acting on the soul, KUEI; gods, daimons. Tao: way or path; ongoing process of being and the course it traces for each specific person or thing; keyword. The ideogram: go and head, leading and the path it creates.]
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Contemplate your motivations and discern the purity of your intent. "Put your money where your mouth is.” or "Walk your talk.”
The Superior Man evaluates and rectifies his attitudes.
The "ancient kings” in the Image symbolize the creators of an original state of perfection -- an archetypal model toward which the superior man aspires. This idea is common to all mystical traditions, many of which depict this state in the image of an ideal or prototypical man. Here is a summary of the Gnostic conception:
Not only the body but also the "soul" is a product of the cosmic powers, which shaped the body in the image of the divine Primal (or Archetypal) Man and animated it with their own psychical forces: these are the appetites and passions of natural man, each of which stems from and corresponds to one of the cosmic spheres [i.e., planets] and all of which together make up the astral soul of man, his "psyche." H. Jonas -- The Gnostic Religion
In the Kabbalah, the template of this archetypal man (named Adam Kadmon) exists in each of the four realms of consciousness corresponding to intuition, intellect, emotion and sensation, and "he" is perceived as androgynous in all of these worlds except the last -- the "sensation” world of our physical spacetime reality.
The Adam of these first three worlds was androgynous. The Adam of the fourth world is the Adam of the expulsion, the Adam of flesh traversing the desert of his exile, and the Adam capable of reproducing himself now that he is no longer androgynous. C. Ponce -- Kabbalah
Considering that androgyny is one of the symbols used in the Western Mystery Tradition to depict the correct union of male and female forces within the psyche, we quickly recognize that the properly matched male and female correlate lines in theI Ching are a Chinese depiction of the identical concept. Note that the messages of the following three quotations are in complete accord with the goal of the Work as outlined in theI Ching:
Somewhere there is an Adam within each of us in need of restoration, in exile from the Garden. The aim of Kabbalism is the restoration of the divine man in the medium of mortal man. We are the laboratory and we are the workers who work in that space. C. Ponce --Kabbalah
Within our six-foot body we must strive for the form which existed before the laying down of heaven and earth. The Secret of the Golden Flower
The destiny of man is to build the Heavenly Jerusalem on Earth. In other words, to civilize a planet. It is the aim of the occultist, in consort with all men of good will, to bring about this heavenly fact into earthly reality. And the only way it will come about is by every man doing the right thing at the right time for twenty-four hours a day. Gareth Knight -- The Work of a Modern Occult Fraternity
The ancient kings in hexagram number-20 base their laws upon their recognition of diversity among the various forces which make up the kingdom of the psyche. Their divine regulations therefore represent the proper ecology existing between heaven and earth, yin and yang, male and female, Logos and Eros. In this regard, theI Ching's version of the Archetypal Man might be seen as hexagram number-63, Completion, in which the polarity of each of the lines is in perfect correlation. (See the editor's commentary on Hexagram number 11 for further insights into this idea.)
The theme of the hexagram is Contemplationof your situation to see if your attitude meets the archetypal standards of the Work. The worshipper in the Judgment has purified himself for sacrifice but has not yet carried it out. Wilhelm uses the word "ablution” in his translation of the Judgment. An ablution is a ritual cleansing associated with a religious rite:
Ablution: In alchemy ... the adept worker achieves [success] only by purifying his soul of all that commonly agitates it. Washing, then, symbolizes the purification not so much of objective and external evil as of subjective and inner evils ... The principle involved in this alchemic process is that implied in the maxim "Deny thyself." J. E. Cirlot --Dictionary of Symbols
It is important to note that the sacrifice has yet to be performed: preparation is meaningless until it is acted upon. Psychologically, this refers to intellectual "gnosis" which still needs to be grounded in behavior.
Wisdom is achieved very slowly. This is because intellectual knowledge, easily acquired, must be transformed into `emotional,' or subconscious, knowledge. Once transformed, the imprint is permanent. Behavioral practice is the necessary catalyst of this reaction. Without action, the concept will wither and fade. Theoretical knowledge without practical application is not enough ... Intellectually the answers have always been there, but this need to actualize by experience, to make the subconscious imprint permanent by `emotionalizing' and practicing the concept, is the key. Brian L. Weiss, MD -- Many Lives, Many Masters
Without changing lines, Contemplation is an oracular invitation for you to consider your situation and especially your motivations in regard to it. One way of doing this is to reduce everything to a brief written statement, including your best conscious conclusions. Then ask for a comment from the oracle -- often it will become apparent that you have been undergoing a kind of examination.
SUGGESTIONS FOR MEDITATION
The ancient kings are mentioned in the Images of both this figure and number twenty-one, Discernment, immediately following. What are the differences between Contemplation and Discernment, as depicted in these images? How does the concept of sacrifice relate to this, as mentioned in the Judgment? Compare the Judgment of this hexagram with hexagrams and lines 17:6, 45:2, 46:2, 46:4, 47:2, 47:5 and 63:5 for further insights on this extremely important tenet of the Work.
Line 2
Legge: The second line, magnetic, shows one peeping out from a door. It would be advantageous if it were merely the firm correctness of a female.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Contemplation through the crack of the door. Furthering for the perseverance of a woman.
Blofeld: Watching through door-cracks is of advantage to women.
Liu: Observation through the cracks of doors. Women benefit by perseverance. [Now is a better time for action than for quiet.]
Shaughnessy: Peeking a look up; beneficial for the maiden to determine.
Cleary (1): Peeking observation is beneficial for a woman’s chastity.
Wu: Onepeeps through a door. It will be advantageous for a persevering woman.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The firm correctness of a woman in peeping out from a door is also a thing to be ashamed of in a superior man. Wilhelm/Baynes: "Contemplation through the crack of the door" is humiliating even where there is the perseverance of a woman. Blofeld: Nevertheless it is also shameful. [If the enquirer or the one for whom the enquiry is being made is a woman, she will gain by keeping a secret watch, but it cannot be done honorably in this case.]Ritsema/Karcher: Truly permitting the demoniac indeed. Cleary (2): (It) can also be shameful. Wu: It is nevertheless awkward.
Legge: Line two is magnetic in her proper place, showing a woman who lives retired and only able to peep through the crack of her door at her fifth-line correlate. But ignorance and retirement are proper in a woman.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The housewife is understandably ignorant of worldly affairs. But such a narrow, subjective view of reality is shameful for persons in public life.
Wing: If you have goals more ambitious than maintaining your own private world, if your dreams extend into the affairs of society, then you must develop a broader viewpoint. If you relate everything that comes your way in terms of your own life and attitudes, you cannot develop.
Editor: As hopefully enlightened moderns we wince at what seems to be outrageous male chauvinism in some of the lines of theI Ching, but if we understand the symbolism psychologically a non-sexist message comes through. (Dream symbolism also often offends our conscious convictions.) Female figures usually represent our instinctive responses and the emotional-feeling aspects of our personality. Correct behavior demands that emotional responses be kept in their proper place at "home" within the psyche. This line implies that the situation demands a more dynamic approach. Note however, that there is no overt value judgment other than by implication; the puritanical Confucian commentary is not necessarily always applicable. The line sometimes just portrays a partial, incomplete view of the situation, saying in effect that "there is more to the subject than meets the eye.”
If the doors to perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has so closed himself up till he sees all through narrow chinks of his cavern. William Blake
A. You have a restricted (possibly narrow-minded) point of view -- dispassionately widen your horizons.
Line 3
Legge: The third line, magnetic, shows one looking at the course of her own life, to advance or recede accordingly.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Contemplation of my life decides the choice between advance and retreat.
Blofeld: By contemplating our own lives, we learn to advance or retreat as required by circumstances.
Liu: Observation of the circumstances of our lives determines whether to advance or retreat.
Ritsema/Karcher: Viewing my birth, advancing, withdrawing.
Shaughnessy: Looking up at my life advancing and retreating.
Cleary (1): Observing personal growth, promoting and repelling.
Cleary (2): … advancing and withdrawing.
Wu: He examines his own life to determine whether to advance or retreat.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: She will not err in the path to be pursued. Wilhelm/ Baynes: The right way is not lost. Blofeld: This is the way to keep to the right path. Ritsema/Karcher: Not-yet letting-go tao indeed. Cleary (2): One has not lost the way. Wu: He has not forsaken the principle.
Legge: The magnetic third line at the top of the lower trigram of Receptivity belongs to one of utmost docility. She wishes to act only according to the exigency of the time and circumstances, and will advance or recede accordingly.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man contemplates the effects of his actions in relation to the exigencies of the times rather than indulging in idle speculations. Only in this way is he able to formulate useful guidelines for behavior.
Wing: In order to make the correct decisions in your life, you must gain objective self-knowledge. This is not accomplished by exploring your own dreams, attitudes, and opinions. These are useless in self-examination. Instead, contemplate your effect upon the world around you. There you will find yourself.
Editor: Illusions of "free-will” to the contrary, it is probably accurate to say that most life experience is not within our control. If this is true, then our only meaningful choice is to determine how the Tao is flowing and then to put ourselves in harmony with it. Ritsema/Karcher's Confucian commentary reminds us of this: “Not-yet letting-go tao indeed.” The oracle is asking you to make a decision based on your own insight. You may regard it as a test.
Self-reflection or--what comes to the same thing--the urge to individuation gathers together what is scattered and multifarious, and exalts it to the original form of the One, the Primordial Man. In this way our existence as separate beings, our former ego nature, is abolished, the circle of consciousness is widened, and because the paradoxes have been made conscious the sources of conflict are dried up. Jung -- Transformation Symbolism in the Mass
A. Examine your options in the matter at hand. What will be the consequences of the choice you contemplate in terms of the goals of the Work?
Line 6
Legge: The sixth line, dynamic, shows its subject contemplating his character to see if it be indeed that of a superior man. He will not fall into error.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Contemplation of his life. The superior man is without blame.
Blofeld: Nor will it be an error for the Superior Man to contemplate his own life.
Liu: Observation of the lives of others. No blame for the superior man. [This is a time of discontent.]
Ritsema/Karcher: Viewing one's birth. A chun tzu: without fault.
Shaughnessy: Looking up at his life; for the gentleman there is no trouble.
Cleary (1): Observing the growth, the superior person is blameless.
Cleary (2): … Developed people are impeccable.
Wu: He looks pensively at the life of the people. The jun zi is without blame.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: He cannot even yet let his mind be at rest. Wilhelm/ Baynes: The will is not yet pacified. Blofeld: He contemplates his own life when troubled as to what course to take. Ritsema/Karcher: Purpose not-yet evened indeed. Cleary (2): The mind is not yet at peace. Wu: His aspirations have not been all fulfilled.
Legge: There is a slight difference in the sixth line from the fifth which can hardly be expressed in a translation. By making a change in the punctuation, however, the different significance may be brought out. Line six is dynamic, and should be considered out of the work of the hexagram, but he is still possessed by its spirit, and is led to self- examination.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The sage, who is living outside the routine of the world, contemplates his own character, not as an isolated ego manifestation, but in relation to the laws of life. He judges freedom from blame to be the highest good.
Wing: You are somewhat beyond the situation and able to contemplate your life without egotistical involvement. You will discover, here, that freedom from error and blame are the highest good. Egoless contemplation is the key.
Editor: Psychologically interpreted, the fifth line represents an ego contemplating his multi-faceted psyche; here, the sixth line has risen above that standpoint to contemplate the nature of the whole reality with which it wishes to unite. Line five asks us to look within to see if the motivations of the psyche are in accordance with the goals of the Work; line six asks us to examine our comprehension of the individuation process itself to see if it is correct.
Note that Liu translates this as contemplating “the lives of others” and Wu “the life of the people” – in these versions the object of contemplation is placed outside of the observer’s psyche. When differentiating line 5 from line 6, this interpretation of their slight divergence makes the most sense. Sometimes there is an implication that you may misunderstand something pertaining to the Work.
The Self, being individual and unique, is made manifest in the individuation process of the individual. But the Self is also universal and eternal, and under this aspect it is made manifest in a process we can only call the individuation of mankind. It is a collective process that takes the form of a gradual extension and differentiation of consciousness over the millennia. The drama began in the gray mists of antiquity and continues through the centuries into a remote future. A. Jaffe -- The Myth of Meaning
A. Are your motives clear? Get the big picture.
B. Differentiate your true relationship to the matter at issue.
Other titles: Welling, Potentialities Fulfilled, The Source, The Deep Psyche, "A resurrection or transformation. Generations coming and going and the continuance of life and development." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge: Although a town site may be altered, The Well remains the same. Its water level neither disappears nor receives any great increase, and the people can draw from it freely. Misfortune ensues if the rope breaks or the bucket is broken before it reaches the water.
Wilhelm/Baynes:The Well. The town may be changed, but the well cannot be changed. It neither decreases nor increases. They come and go and draw from the well. If one gets down almost to the water and the rope does not go all the way, or the jug breaks, it brings misfortune.
Blofeld: A Well. A city may be moved, but not a well. [The building of a city depends upon ourselves; but wells cannot be moved to places where nature supplies no water. The implication is that our activities are limited by natural conditions.] A well suffers from no decrease and no increase; but often, when the people come to draw water there, the rope is too short or the pitcher gets broken before reaching the water -- misfortune! [What we desire is there for the taking, but we may not succeed in getting it.]
Liu: The Well. The city might be moved; but not the well. It neither overflows nor runs dry. People come and go, drawing from the well. The rope nearly reaches the water, but not quite; the jug breaks -- misfortune.
Ritsema/Karcher: The Well: amending the capital, not amending the Well. Without losing, without acquiring. Going, coming: Welling, Welling. Muddy culmination: truly not-yet the well- rope Well. Ruining one's pitcher: Pitfall. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of the life water coming from the depths that everyone may draw on. It emphasizes that maintaining access to this central source is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told to go to the well!]
Shaughnessy: The Well: Changing the city but not changing the well; there is no loss, there is no gain. Going and coming so orderly; when the drying up arrives one also has not yet drawn from the well; burdening its formed earthenware jug; inauspicious.
Cleary (1):The Well: Changing the village, not changing the well; no loss, no gain. Those who come and go use the well as a well. If the rope does not reach all the way into the well, of if the bucket breaks, that is unfortunate.
Cleary (2): … People come and go, but the well remains a well. Lowering the bucket to the water, if you overturn the bucket before drawing it up from the well, this is unlucky.
Wu:The Well indicates that the planning of a district may be changed, but the location of the well may not. The water level of a well will neither increase nor decrease from use. There are wells here and there. When one is drawing water from a well, if he tangles the rope and damages the bucket just before it clears the well, it will be foreboding.
The Image
Legge: The image of water over wood forms The Well. The superior man comforts the people and stimulates their mutual cooperation.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Water over wood: the image of The Well. Thus the superior man encourages the people at their work and exhorts them to help one another.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes water over wood. The Superior Man encourages the people with advice and assistance.
Liu: Water on wood symbolizes The Well. The superior man inspires people to work diligently, and advises them to help each other.
Ritsema/Karcher: Above wood possessing stream. The Well. A chun tzu uses toiling commoners to encourage mutualizing.
Cleary (1): There is water above wood – A Well. Thus do superior people comfort the people and encourage reciprocity.
Wu: There is water above wood; this is The Well. Thus, the jun zi encourages people to work for the good of the public and to help one another for a better life.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Wood penetrates the water and raises it, giving the image ofThe Wellwhich gives nourishment yet is not exhausted. The dynamic central lines in the second and fifth places indicate that the town site may change, but the well does not. If the rope does not reach the water the well does not serve its purpose. A broken bucket brings about evil.
Legge: The upper trigram represents Water, and the lower symbolizes Wood, giving the image of a wooden bucket in the water of a well. What is said on this hexagram might be styled: "Lessons to be learned from a well for the proper government of a country." A well is to its users what a government is to its subjects, and if rulers would only apply the ancient precepts of government to the present circumstances, they and their people would benefit greatly.
In the Judgment we see the well remaining substantially the same through many changes of society -- a dependable source of refreshment to its users. As the fashion of the well remains changeless, so do the principles of human nature and good government. The value of the well depends upon the water being drawn up and used -- and so must the principles of good government be implemented.
Anthony: This hexagram usually indicates that we have a hidden doubt or fear. We may secretly disbelieve our path.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Amid the changes of life the only constant is the psyche itself -- to be alive is to draw upon its energy. The ego’s challenge lies in the correct comprehension of its images.
The Superior Man promotes the harmonious interplay of his thoughts and feelings. (Works on the integration of his complexes.)
A well is a universal symbol of a source of inner truth, and is often associated with a place that is sacred to the gods:
There he built an altar and invoked the name of Yahweh. There he pitched his tent, and there Isaac's servants sank a well. Genesis 26: 25
From the first well, which is of animal nature and deep, the father drinks, together with his children and cattle; from the second, which is yet deeper and on the very margin of nature, there drink only the children of men, namely those whose reason has awakened and whom we call philosophers; from the third, the deepest of all drink the sons of the All-Highest, whom we call gods and true theologians. Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa
Psychologically interpreted, a well symbolizes the continuously flowing unconscious psyche, the fountain of all awareness. In this hexagram each line represents a level within the well -- by extension suggesting a hierarchy of value in the unconscious. It is important to remember that not all of our inner images, intuitions or impulses come from the Self. Note that lines one through four all show the water of the well not being utilized for one reason or another -- only in lines three, five and six is it actually available for use.
In some sensitive individuals there is an awakening of para-psychological perceptions. They have visions, which they believe to be of exalted beings; they may hear voices, or begin to write automatically, accepting the messages at their face value and obeying them unreservedly. The quality of such messages is very varied. Sometimes they contain fine teachings, but they should always be examined with much discrimination and sound judgment, and without being influenced by their uncommon origin or by any claim by their alleged transmitter. No validity should be attributed to messages containing definite orders and commanding blind obedience, and to those tending to exalt the personality of the recipient. Roberto Assagioli --Psychosynthesis
The ego's point of view in relation to The Well is from the outside looking in – the insights emerge from beneath the surface of awareness and can be held in the light of consciousness only if one’s comprehension is able to contain them. If "the bucket breaks," our understanding is unequal to our observation and the insights are lost. (One might plausibly find the image for a cancer cure within one's psyche, but without a conscious frame of reference to acknowledge it, it would be unrecognized and lost.) Those who closely monitor their dreams know that there is an endless outpouring of strange images within the psyche which might be of inestimable value if only we knew what they referred to.
Wilhelm emphasizes the idea of "nourishing the people," which psychologically means that the role of the ego is to facilitate the cooperation of intra-psychic forces.
The solution lies, rather, along the lines of a harmonious integration of all drives into the total personality, first through the proper subordination and coordination, and then through the transformation and sublimation of the excessive or unused quota of energy. Roberto Assagioli --Psychosynthesis