Stay true to yourself, and even in moments of challenge, trust the flow; resilience will bring clarity and strength.
From
25
Innocence
To
47
Oppression
Proving one's military prowess
One competes with death to show one's courage to those who doubted it. taoscopy.com
Innocence 25
Embrace spontaneity and authenticity, avoiding needless complexity or pretense. Honor simplicity and genuine intentions, allowing truth to guide your actions without ulterior motives.
↓ Line 1
Acting with a pure heart and without ulterior motives leads to success.
↓ Line 2
Focus on the process rather than the outcome, and success will follow naturally.
↓ Line 6
Even with good intentions, actions taken without understanding the situation can lead to negative outcomes.
↓ Oppression 47
Feeling trapped or constrained, yet resilience leads to inner growth. Embrace challenges to discover inner strength.
Other titles: The Unexpected, The Unintentional, The Symbol of Freedom from Error, Integrity, Without Embroiling, Pestilence, Fidelity, No Error, Freedom from Vainness, Instinctive Goodness, The Simple, Correctness, Subconscious, "Whatever happens, keep calm and do what is right." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge:Innocenceindicates progress and success through firm correctness. If the action of its subject is incorrect, he will fall into error. In such a case it will not be advantageous to move in any direction.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Innocence. Supreme success. Perseverance furthers. If someone is not as he should be, he has misfortune, and it does not further him to undertake anything.
Blofeld: Integrity. (The Unexpected). [this hexagram has two widely different meanings, both of which occur in what follows.] Sublime success! Righteous persistence brings reward. Those opposed to righteousness meet with injury. It is not favorable to have in view any goal (or destination). [Usually this sentence may be taken to have a wide application; but, in this case, (the Confucian commentary) suggests that it applies only to the enemies of righteousness, though it does have a general application for those who receive a moving line for the sixth place.]
Liu: The Unexpected: sublime success. Benefit. Perseverance. Someone acts incorrectly: misfortune. No benefit for undertakings.
Ritsema/Karcher: Without embroiling. Spring Growing Harvesting Trial. One in-no-way correcting: possessing blunder. Not Harvesting: possessing directed going. [This hexagram describes your situation as being without confusion or fault. It emphasizes that acting while remaining free from entangling, vanity or recklessness is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told: act without becoming embroiled!]
Shaughnessy: Pestilence: Prime receipt; beneficial to determine. If it is not upright there will be an inspection; not beneficial to have somewhere to go.
Cleary (1):Fidelity is creative and developmental. It is beneficial to be correct; if it is not correct, there will be disaster, and it will not be beneficial to go anywhere.
Cleary (2):Freedom from error is very successful, beneficial for the upright. Denial of what is correct is mistaken, etc.
Wu:Freedom from Vainness is primordial, pervasive, prosperous and persevering. If it does not stay in the correct course, there will be calamities and there will be no advantage to have any undertaking.
The Image
Legge: Thunder rolls under heaven, and everything manifests its original nature, free from all insincerity. The ancient kings, in accordance with this, made their regulations in complete accordance with the seasons, thereby nourishing all things.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Under heaven thunder rolls: all things attain the natural state of innocence. Thus the kings of old, rich in virtue, and in harmony with the time, fostered and nourished all beings.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes thunder rolling across the whole earth; from it, all things receive their integrity. [The lower trigram is pictured as thunder, but it acts through its power to quicken growth.] The ancient rulers gave abundant and timely nourishment to all.
Liu: Thunder rolls under heaven; everything is innocent. The ancient kings cultivated virtue and used the appropriate time to nourish all beings.
Without embroiling. The Earlier Kings used luxuriance suiting the season to nurture the myriad beings.
Cleary (2): Thunder travels under the sky; things accompany with no error. Ancient kings promoted flourishing appropriate to the time and nurtured myriad beings.
Wu: Thunder moves under heaven. All things participate in the spirit of Freedom from Vainness. The ancient kings acted in time to cause all people and things to flourish.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Innocence shows the dynamic first line descending from the upper trigram to become the lord of the hexagram in the lower trigram. We see the attributes of Motive Power and Strength. The dynamic fifth line is central and responded to by the magnetic second line. It is the will of heaven that true progress can only proceed from correctness. If the action of the subject is incorrect he will fall into error, and it will be unfortunate for him to move in any direction. Where can one with the illusion of innocence proceed? Can anything be accomplished by someone without the assistance of heaven's will?
Legge: Of the two Chinese characters which symbolize Innocence, one is the symbol of being reckless, and often of being insincere; these two characters in combination describe a state of entire freedom from such a condition. The subject of the hexagram therefore, is one who is simple and sincere. This quality is characteristic of heaven, and of the highest style of humanity. The figure is an essay on this noble attribute. But an absolute rectitude is essential to it. The nearer one comes to the ideal of the quality, the more powerful will be his influence and the greater his success. But let him see to it that he never swerve from being correct.
Anthony: Innocence means to let go of the present, thereby letting the future become what it will and being at peace with it… When we have learned to do a thing for its own sake, we know the meaning of innocence… In keeping our minds open and free, we are able to meet unexpected events with the help of the Creative, which always points out the correct and most appropriate response.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Success is possible only if you are impeccably correct. If such is not the case, take no action at all. ("Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.")
The Superior Man acts in harmony with the times.
The ancient kings in the Image are mentioned by name in seven hexagrams. (See the commentary on hexagram number 20, Contemplation, for a fuller discussion of their symbolism.) Here, the Image shows them synchronizing their laws with the "laws of nature" -- an archetypal concept which is found in many mystical traditions. Here is the alchemical version:
The individual terrestrial life should correspond to the laws governing the universe; man's spiritual aspirations should be directed to harmonize with the wisdom of God. If we accomplish this, the inner consciousness will awaken to an understanding of the influences of the stars, and the mysteries of Nature will be revealed to his spiritual perception. Paracelsus
In terms of the hexagram of Innocence, the idea is that if you are truly synchronized with your inner cosmos, if you are truly "innocent" (i.e., perfect), you may succeed under the prevailing conditions, but if you are not in complete inner accord you would be well advised to sit tight and take no action. To paraphrase the last sentence of the Confucian commentary: "Can the ego do anything advantageously without the concurrence of the Self?"
“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your father which is in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5: 48
To use the Christian injunction in illustration: the upper trigram of Heaven is perfect, and the lower trigram of Movement is asked to reflect on how far he conforms to this ideal. In psychological terms, how do the goals of the ego compare with those of the Self, the entity to whom the Work is dedicated?
Wilhelm has some interesting commentary on this hexagram, stating that it can indicate unexpected misfortune. In his book,Lectures on the I Ching, he comments:
Wu Wang is very peculiar, and its name is not easy to translate. I have used "Innocence," or the “Unintentional." Having meanwhile thought about the matter more, I would today render Wu Wang with the term “Subconscious," even though this expression seems somewhat too modern ... That which as [Divorcement] severs life enters here into unconscious realms ... Because the shock is within and is unconscious, it cannot take its course, and therefore causes the unexpected to happen. An unexpected disaster is afoot; something may be robbed or stolen.
See line three and its commentaries for further insights into Wilhelm's ideas here.
To receive this hexagram without changing lines is tantamount to being asked if you are perfect enough to take action without harm. Sometimes, depending on circumstances, it can also suggest that your position is correct and blameless. As always, the context of your query will leave no doubt when this latter interpretation is intended. If there is doubt, rephrase the question and ask until you understand. The oracle uses ambiguity to develop your intuition -- especially so on those occasions when all you want is a quick answer.
SUGGESTIONS FOR MEDITATION
Compare what is said here about the Ancient Kings with what is said about them in hexagrams 8, 16, 20, 21, 24, and 59. What common theme unites them, and how does it relate to the concept of the Work?
Line 1
Legge: The first line, dynamic, shows its subject free from all insincerity. His advance will be accompanied with good fortune.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Innocent behavior brings good fortune.
Blofeld: Moving onward with integrity brings good fortune.
Liu: Innocent actions bring good fortune.
Ritsema/Karcher: Without Embroiling. Going significant.
Shaughnessy: The pestilence goes; auspicious.
Cleary (1): Fidelity, without error; it is auspicious to go.
Cleary (2): Going without error leads to good results.
Wu: Without vainness, he will proceed with auspiciousness.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: When he who is free from insincerity makes any movement, he will get what he desires. Wilhelm/Baynes: Innocent behavior attains its will. Blofeld: What is willed comes to pass. Ritsema/Karcher: Acquiring purpose indeed. Cleary (2): One attains one’s aspiration. Wu: He will have his aspirations fulfilled.
Legge: The first line is dynamic at the bottom of the trigram of Movement. His action will characterize all the action set forth, and will itself be fortunate. This is another way of saying that true goodness may expect good fortune, "by the appointment of Heaven."
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: At the outset, the man follows the original pure impulses of his heart. His aims will be achieved.
Wing: Acting with integrity and spontaneity will bring you success. You may trust your instincts, because there is goodness in your heart. Good fortune is willed.
Editor: This is a very favorable line, showing one who is worthy and able to advance under the conditions described in the Judgment.
Innocence has nothing to dread. Racine
A. Maintain an open mind and follow the intuition of the heart.
Line 2
Legge: The second line, magnetic, shows one who reaps without having
ploughed, and gathers the produce of her third year's fields without having cultivated them for that end. To such a one there will be advantage in whatever direction she may move.
Wilhelm/Baynes: If one does not count on the harvest while plowing, nor on the use of the ground while clearing it, it furthers one to undertake something.
Blofeld: Do not calculate the size of the harvest while the ploughing is still in progress, nor gloat over the third year's crop while still planting the virgin ground. It is favorable to seek some object (or destination).
Liu: Do not count the harvest while planting, nor plow the field that lies in fallow. There is advantage in undertaking something.
Ritsema/Karcher: Not tilling the crop. Not clearing the plow-land. By-consequence, Harvesting: possessing directed going.
Shaughnessy: Not sowing or reaping, not breaking new fields nor working old fields; beneficial to have someplace to go.
Cleary (1): Not plowing or harvesting, not making new fields, then it is beneficial to go somewhere.
Cleary (2): Not plowing for the harvest, it is beneficial to go somewhere.
Wu: If he does not expect to reap as he plows the field, or if he does not expect to harvest in a “ripe” field when he cultivates a raw land, he will have the advantage of moving ahead.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: She reaps without having ploughed -- the thought of riches to be gotten had not risen in her mind. Wilhelm/Baynes: One does not seek wealth. Blofeld: It is not meet to calculate profits as such an early stage, nor can we expect to become rich soon. Ritsema/Karcher: Not-yet affluence indeed. Cleary (2): One is not enriched. [This means aspiring only to attain enlightenment, not thinking of riches or rank. Then it is beneficial to go somewhere.] Wu: For he is not after material rewards.
Legge: Line two is magnetic, central, and in her correct place. She is entirely free from selfish or mercenary motives. She is good for the sake of goodness, and things are such that her action will be successful. She does what she does because it is right, not because of any gain it might bring to her.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man succeeds in everything he undertakes. He does not proceed with mercenary or selfish interests in mind but does good things for their own sake. Unsought wealth will come his way.
Wing: Do not dream about the results of your work or the attainment of your goal. Instead, take action for its own sake and devote your full attention to what you are now doing. Only in this way can you achieve your aim.
Anthony: Innocence means to answer the duty required by the moment, regardless of consequences, looking neither forward nor backward. If we have hopes and expectations, we are disappointed when things do not work out on our imagined schedule.
Editor: The idea here is that the times are favorable to undertake something only if you are free of ulterior motives. Because Wilhelm's translation of this line is conditional, there is a suggestion that there may be some temptation toward selfishness within the situation. Keep an open mind and remain receptive to your experience.
Think of the flowers; they never have to spin or weave; yet, I assure you, not even Solomon in all his regalia was robed like one of these... You must not set your hearts on things to eat and things to drink; nor must you worry... Your Father well knows you need them. No; set your hearts on his kingdom, and these other things will be given to you as well. Luke 12: 27-32
A. You aren't out to make a point, but to do something for its own sake.
B. "Don't count your chickens before they're hatched."
Line 6
Legge: The sixth line, dynamic, shows its subject free from insincerity, yet sure to fall into error if he takes action. His action will not be advantageous in any way.
Blofeld: If it is unexpected, a journey now would be injurious. This is a time favorable for those with no destination in view.
Liu: Innocent action brings disaster. No advantage.
Ritsema/Karcher: Without Embroiling. Moving possessing blunder. 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.]
Shaughnessy: The pestilence's motion; there is an inspection; there is no place to benefit.
Cleary (1): If fidelity in action has faults, there is no benefit. [This is fidelity not knowing when enough is enough.]
Cleary (2): Even if there is no error, action involves misfortune, so no benefit is gained. [This refers to clinging to a constant and not knowing how to change adaptively.]
Wu: Even without vainness, he will face calamities if he chooses to act. There is nothing to gain. [The sixth is not a position for doing anything aggressively. There is nothing sensible for the sixth to undertake. Doing what is not supposed to be done is an overextension.]
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Action is inappropriate now because the time for it has passed. Wilhelm/Baynes: Action without reflection brings about the evil of bewilderment. Blofeld: An unexpected journey now would plunge us into a state of dangerous exhaustion. Ritsema/Karcher: Exhaustion's calamity indeed. Cleary (2): Action without error involves misfortune when it comes to an impasse. Wu: the action taken without vainness will result in calamities from overextension.
Legge: Line six is at the top of the hexagram, and comes into the field when the action has run its course. He should be still, and not initiate any fresh movement. When a thing is over and done, submission and acquiescence are what are required -- not renewed attempts at action.
Anthony: When innocent action begins to meet with resistance, it is best to disconnect and fall back on acceptance. We should work with a situation only when it works with us, going only so far as openness in the other person allows. Waiting quietly without ulterior designs means to truly disconnect, inwardly, and go on our way.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The time is not ripe for further progress. The man keeps still. Activities in opposition to fate will not help him in any way.
Wing: Progress is impossible. Even innocent actions will create chaos. Do not attempt anything new, nor try to improve upon your surroundings. Do not do anything at all.
Editor: Wilhelm compares the import of this line to line six of The Dynamic:"Arrogant dragon will have cause to repent.” Ritsema/Karcher’s “In order to take advantage of the situation, do not impose a direction on events” puts a slightly different spin on the meaning, suggesting that circumstances will improve if you can keep from meddling.
Today's achievement is only tomorrow's confusion. -- W. D. Howells
A. Ignorant choices create confused consequences.
B. Sit tight -- allow the situation to unfold without taking action.
Other titles: Exhaustion, The Symbol of Repression and Confinement, Adversity, Weariness, Confining, Entangled, Hardship, Depression, Tiresome Restriction, Dried Up, "Actions speak louder than words." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge: Oppression means that successful progress is still possible. The perseverance of the truly great man brings good fortune without error; but if he relies on words, no one will believe them.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Oppression . Success. Perseverance. The great man brings about good fortune. No blame. When one has something to say, it is not believed.
Blofeld:Adversity leading to success thanks to persistence in a righteous course; good fortune for the truly great and freedom from error! Though words be spoken, they will not inspire confidence. [`Great' refers to high moral qualities. This hexagram is of evil omen for most people, but success can be won through tremendous persistence in doing what is right.]
Liu: Oppression. Success. Persistence. Good fortune for the great man. No blame. If one indicates with words only, no one will believe.
Ritsema/Karcher:Confining, Growing. Trial: Great People significant. Without fault. Possessing words not trustworthy. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of restriction and distress. It emphasizes that turning inward through accepting enclosure is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy: Entangled: Receipt; determination for the great man is auspicious; there is no trouble. There are words that are not trustworthy.
Cleary (1): Exhaustion develops the righteous. Great people are fortunate and blameless. If one complains, one will not be trusted.
Cleary (2): Exhausted but coming through successfully, upright great people are fortunate and impeccable. Mere words are not believed.
Wu: Hardship indicates pervasion and perseverance. There will be good fortune for the great men. No error. But their words do not make impressions on people.
The Image
Legge: An abyss beneath the marsh that drains its water -- the image ofOppression. Thus the superior man will sacrifice his life to attain his purpose.
Wilhelm/Baynes: There is no water in the lake: the image of Exhaustion. Thus the superior man stakes his life on following his will.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes a marsh in which no water (appears). The Superior Man risks his life to carry out his will.
Liu: The lake with no water symbolizesOppression.The superior man would give up his life to achieve his purpose.
Ritsema/Karcher: Marsh without stream. Confining. A chun tzu uses involving fate to release purpose.
Cleary (1): A lake with no water is exhausted. Therefore superior people use life to the full and achieve their aim. [When people lack purpose their path is at an end. Therefore they use life to the full to achieve their aim… Using life to the full means to get to the end of conditioned life; achieving one’s aim means to achieve the primordial life… Using the temporal to restore the primordial, ending false life and establishing real life, producing being in the midst of nothingness, seeking life within death, getting through an exhausting impasse, is like a lake without water again being filled with water.]
Cleary (2): …Developed people accomplish their will by living out their destiny. [Developed people only live out their destiny; they do not willingly try to avoid following and accepting it. Being strong and balanced, they are able to be joyful even in danger; this is the will that is up to oneself. Developed people intend to accomplish their will and do not vacillate just because they run into problems.]
Wu: The marsh has no water; this is Hardship. Thus the jun zi is prepared to dedicate his life to fulfill his commitments. [A marsh devoid of water is like a man deprived of his intellectual pursuits. This is unacceptable to a jun zi. He would rather fight to the end than surrender to idiocy.]
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: In Oppressionwe see the dynamic lines covered and obscured by the magnetic. We see the attribute of Perilousness in the lower trigram going on to Cheerfulness in the upper. Who but the superior man is still able to advance although straitened by circumstances? The central position of the dynamic lines explains the good fortune of the great man who is firm and correct. As regards speech making, to be fond of argument or persuasion is the way to be reduced to extremity.
Legge: The written Chinese character of Oppression presents us with the picture of a tree within an enclosure. "A plant," according to Williams, "fading for want of room." "A tree," according to T'ai Tung, "not allowed to spread its branches." The image conveys the idea of being straitened and distressed, and the hexagram indicates how skilful management may relieve it.
The two central places in the figure are occupied by dynamic lines, but line two is confined between one and three, which are magnetic; and line five (the ruler), as well as four (his minister), are covered by the magnetic sixth line. These conditions indicate the repression of good men by adversity. The K'ang-hsi editors imply that "actions and not words" are what are required in the case.
Perilousness is the attribute of the lower trigram, and Cheerfulness that of the upper. The superior man, no matter how straitened, remains master of himself, and pursues his principled intent. The idea of speech making is found in the upper trigram, one of the attributes of which is the mouth, or speech, as well as Pleased Satisfaction. The pleading of the oppressed party still tries to make others pleased with him.
Literally translated, the first sentence of the Image reads: "A marsh with no water is Oppression." Chu Hsi says: "The water descending and leaking away, the marsh above will become dry."
Anthony: Our belief in the ruling power as beneficial is shaken by doubt. This lack of steadfastness is a problem because it obstructs acceptance and its corrective power. We often receive this hexagram when we feel tired. The oppressiveness of doubt exhausts our inner resources.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: With enough will, success can be won. "Actions speak louder than words.” (i.e., The answer lies beyond the realm of reason and logic -- intuition furthers.)
The Superior Man stakes everything he's got on his will to succeed.
In Oppressionwe have the image of a dry lake bed. Anyone who has ever seen alkali flats in the desert can easily understand this metaphor for Oppression -- almost nothing can live in such an environment. The following hexagram, The Well, is an upside-down image of Oppression depicting the opposite case of an unending source of nourishment flowing from deep beneath the surface of the earth. (A comparison of these two figures will reveal a great deal about the meaning of each.)
To be under Oppression then, is to be cut off from all sustenance -- although there is water down below, it is presently inaccessible, and there is no nourishing flow of inner forces to the surface. This is a common, inevitable and potentially defeating experience for anyone doing serious inner work:
People who try to practice the Tao can all keep steadfast when they are in easy circumstances, but many of them waver in determination when they are in difficult or perilous situations. They may change their minds because of the pressures of making a living, or they may slack in determination due to illness; their spirits may flag because of old age, or they may stop work because of obstruction by some obsession. All these are cases in which people do not exert the mind of Tao and are hindered by exhaustion, so they ultimately do not attain the Tao. T. Cleary – The Taoist I Ching
Obviously, this is a dangerous situation, and we are told how to cope with it in the Confucian commentary, where it is observed that the lower trigram of Peril goes on to the upper trigram of Cheerfulness. These two trigrams are found in reversed sequence in hexagram number sixty, Restrictive Regulations, where a cheerful attitude is described as absolutely essential for the furtherance of the Work. The observations made there also apply here, and we see the superior man thereby enabled to advance under conditions that would utterly defeat lesser individuals.
This Cheerfulness cannot be underestimated. When it comes naturally and isn't forced, it is a gift of grace. Suddenly one is enabled to face the most incredible hardships with a light heart. It isn't that you no longer care -- you still do the best you can to further the Work, but you do it with bemused detachment.
The one thing the Jewish mystics never lost sight of was the suffering experienced in the arena of the profane. They did not retreat from this suffering, but sought instead to find meaning in it by living it. This is the core of mysticism. The temple in which the sacred marriage takes place is the world. C. Ponce -- Kabbalah
Lines 2 and 5 specifically mention sacrifice: an important concept in theI Ching. Sacrifice is mentioned in lines 17:6, 45:2, 46:2, 46:4, 47:2, 47:5, 63:5, and in the Judgment of hexagram 20. Note that in each case sincerity is specifically cited as essential to success.
Sincere 1: marked by genuineness: as a: free of dissimulation: not hypocritical: REAL, TRUE, HONEST...
Very often, the “sincerity” of our sacrifices involves following the dictates of the Work whether we fully understand them or not. Much that takes place in the Work is incomprehensible to ego consciousness; for example, changes often occur within the psyche which we only experience as strange dreams. Yet somehow, perhaps months later, we suddenly realize that we no longer act in a certain way or have lost interest in something that used to be of compelling importance. Our sacrifices are necessary for these changes to take place, even if they don't immediately make sense to us.
"With sacrifice shall you nourish the gods; and may the gods nourish you. Thus nourishing one another, you will obtain the Highest Good. "The gods, nourished by sacrifice, will bestow on you the enjoyments you desire." He is verily a thief who enjoys the things that they give without offering to them anything in return. The Bhagavad-Gita
Each of Cleary’s Taoist (1) and Buddhist (2) commentaries provides valuable insights into how much courage is required to follow the dictates of the Work at its more advanced levels. Take comfort that others before you have persevered and survived: “Developed people accomplish their will by living out their destiny.”