Overcome the weight of the world by setting boundaries that uplift and harmonize your life.
From
28
Critical Mass
To
60
Limitation
Being uncompromising
One stops lecturing to take action. taoscopy.com
Critical Mass28
Embrace resilience during times of overwhelming pressure. Acknowledge the burden, make necessary adjustments, and seek support to prevent collapse. Balance is crucial for enduring success.
↓ Line 1
Taking precautions to prevent damage. A solid foundation is necessary.
↓ Line 3
Overburdening leads to collapse. Caution is needed to avoid disaster.
↓ Line 4
Stabilizing the situation brings good fortune, but hidden agendas can lead to disgrace.
↓ Limitation60
Set boundaries and apply discipline to create balance and order in life. Prioritize moderation and clear limits for greater focus and harmony.
Other titles: Preponderance of the Great, The Symbol of Great Passing, Excess, Great Excess, The Passing of Greatness, Great Surpassing, Great Gains, Experience, Greater than Great, Greatness in Excess, Dominance by the Mighty, The Passing of Greatness, Excess of the Great, Law of Karma
Judgment
Legge:Critical Mass depicts a weak beam. Under such conditions it is advantageous to move in any direction whatever. Success is indicated.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Preponderance of the Great. The ridgepole sags to the breaking point. It furthers one to have somewhere to go. Success.
Blofeld:Excess! The ridgepole sags. It is favorable to have some goal (or destination) in view. Success! [A glance at the hexagram will show that it is too heavy in the middle and too weak at the ends. A number of firm lines is generally auspicious, but there can be too much of a good thing!]
Liu: Great Excess. The ridgepole is crooked. It benefits to go anywhere. Success.
Ritsema/Karcher:Great Exceeding, the ridgepole sagging. Harvesting; possessing directed going. Growing. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of your connection to a ruling principle. It emphasizes that pushing the guiding idea beyond ordinary limits and accepting the results is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy: Great Surpassing: The ridgepole bows upward; beneficial to have someplace to go; receipt.
Cleary (1): When the great is excessive, the ridgepole bends. It is good to go somewhere; that is developmental. [When the ridgepole snaps, the whole house falls down. In the same way, practitioners of the Tao who promote yang too much, who do not know when enough is enough, who can be great but cannot be small, suffer damage to their spiritual house.]
Cleary (2): When greatness passes, the ridgepole bends. It is beneficial to have somewhere to go, for you will succeed.
Wu:Excess of the Great indicates a beam that warps. It will be advantageous to have undertakings. It will be pervasive.
The Image
Legge: The image of trees beneath a marsh forms Critical Mass. The superior man, in accordance with this, fearlessly stands alone, and stays retired from the world without regret.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The lake rises above the trees: the image of Preponderance of the Great. Thus the superior man, when he stands alone, is unconcerned, and if he has to renounce the world, he is undaunted.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes a forest submerged in a great body of water. The Superior Man, though standing alone, is free from fear; he feels no discontent in withdrawing from the world. [This is suggested by the component trigrams. Water is necessary for the nourishment of the trees, but too much of it can cause serious damage.]
Liu: The lake rising over the trees symbolizes Great Excess. The superior man, when isolated, is undisturbed. If he has to retreat from society, he feels no regret.
Ritsema/Karcher: Marsh submerging wood. Great Exceeding. A chun tzu uses solitary establishing not to fear. (A chun tzu uses) retiring-from the age without melancholy.
Cleary (1): Moisture destroys wood in excess. Thus superior people stand alone without fear, and leave society without distress.
Cleary (2): Moisture destroys wood. Developed people, etc. [Only when sustained by the power to stand alone without fear and avoid society without distress can learning be firmly rooted and development have a proper basis; then it is possible to refine and support the mediocre.]
Wu: Marsh covers over wood; This is Excess of the Great. Thus the jun zi stands alone without fear and withdraws from the world without melancholy.
CONFUCIAN COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Excess is weakly supported at either end, with weakness in both the lowest and topmost lines. The dynamic lines are in excess, but two of them are in the central positions. The trigrams of Flexibility and Satisfaction indicate that there will be advantage in moving in any direction whatever -- there will be success. Great indeed is the work to be done during this extraordinary time.
Legge: Extraordinary times require extraordinary skill in their management. The figure shows two magnetic lines at top and bottom, with four dynamic lines between them -- giving the image of a great beam unable to sustain its own weight. Lines two and five are both dynamic and central however, and from this and the attributes of the component trigrams a good auspice is obtained.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: A stressful situation is best managed with a comprehensive strategy. (Or: in the chess game of life, one succeeds by planning several moves in advance.)
The Superior Man serves The Work by going his own way, regardless of public opinion.
Wilhelm titles this hexagram Preponderance of the Great. I prefer R.L. Wing's paraphrase of Critical Massas more evocative of the figure's meaning in modern terminology.
In Critical Mass four dynamic lines lurk inside of the hexagram, weakly contained at top and bottom by two magnetic lines. This energetic concentration could explode in an unpredictable release of force, and hence the Judgment tells us to move now (remember: non-action is also action) to avoid unwanted consequences. (Often the outcome is predictable – be prepared to just walk away if and when that is your best move.)
Legge’s translation of the Judgment is:
"...It is advantageous to move in any direction whatever. "
This is a different message than Wilhelm's:
"...It furthers one to have somewhere to go."
Legge’s version implies an almost hysterical flight from danger while Wilhelm's rendition suggests prior intention and planning. The latter interpretation is definitely what is meant here, as confirmed by Cleary’s Buddhist commentary:
When the transformative path is flourishing, contaminations easily arise; it is best to set up guidelines and regulations. When meditation work is advanced, ignorance is about to dissolve; it is best to exercise the mind skillfully.
Coupled with Cleary’s translation of the Image as: “Developed people stand alone without fear, avoid society without distress,” the idea is that one should follow one's best intuition and ignore popular illusions, political correctness or inner fears. (Psychologically: conventional thinking, socially conditioned reflexes, knee-jerk responses, etc.). During a time of Critical Mass, pay close attention to direction from the Self to preserve the Work. This is not the time to follow the crowd. Sometimes this can mean that you are obliged to go it alone – one of the Work’s frequent tests (Cf. line 6):
The Gulf is something that has to be leaped, and leaped alone, stripped of all hindering burdens, in faith ... It is thus one of the crisis points of spiritual progress because of the great temptation to turn back from the unknown to the apparent safety of known things, and to succumb to this temptation is to lose all the fruits of past endeavor. G. Knight -- A Practical Guide to Kabbalistic Symbolism
SUGGESTIONS FOR MEDITATION
Compare the Judgment and Image of this hexagram with those of hexagram number 32, Consistency.
Anthony: We must regain modesty through the effort to rid ourself of strong elements that cause us to press forward. The strong elements may exist in someone else, causing them to assault us with their fear, mistrust or doubt. Strong refers to impetuous movement to resolve what is ambiguous … We can meet the challenge by remaining detached and letting things go through their changes … To be truly rich is to remain modest; to be truly powerful is to remain reticent.
Line 1
Legge: The first line, magnetic, shows one placing mats of the white mao grass under things set on the ground. There will be no error.
Wilhelm/Baynes: To spread white rushes underneath. No blame.
Blofeld: For mats, use white rushes -- no error! [White rushes are less common than ordinary ones and probably make more beautiful mats. The implication may be that, if we decide to do things rather nicely, we might as well go a little further and do them as charmingly as possible.]
Liu: To spread white rushes below leads to no blame.
Ritsema/Karcher: A sacrifice availing-of white thatch grass. Without fault.
Shaughnessy: For the mat use white cogon-grass; there is no trouble.
Cleary (1): Spreading white reeds; no fault.
Cleary (2): Spreading a mat of white reeds, there is no blame.
Wu: Use of white mats in making offerings is blameless.
CONFUCIAN COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: She feels the weakness of being in the lowest place, and uses extraordinary care. Wilhelm/Baynes: The yielding is underneath.
Blofeld: The reference is derived from the position of this yielding line below so many firm ones. [A further commentary explains that they symbolize treating things with gentleness.]Ritsema/Karcher: Supple located below indeed. Cleary (2): Flexibility in a low position. Wu: Because the meek is in the low position.
The Master said: To place the things on the ground might be considered sufficient; but when one places mats of the white grass beneath them, what occasion for blame can there be? Such a course shows the height of carefulness. The white grass is a trivial thing, but through the use made of it, it may become important. One who goes forward using such careful art will not fall into any error.
Legge: The first line is magnetic, at the bottom of both the hexagram and the lower trigram of Humility or Flexibility. Therefore she is distinguished by carefulness, as in the matter mentioned, and there is a good auspice.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: At the outset, the man displays considerable care in embarking upon an important enterprise.
Wing: When embarking on an important endeavor, it is necessary to pay particular attention to details at the beginning. The times are indeed extraordinary, and you must be particularly careful to proceed in the right way. Being overcautious is not a mistake.
Editor: The idea is to lay a careful foundation for any enterprise to prevent later instability. Make careful choices now to prevent evil consequences later on.
Don't you know that the beginning is the most important part of every work and that this is especially so with anything young and tender? For at that stage it's most plastic, and each thing assimilates itself to the model whose stamp anyone wishes to give it. Plato --The Republic
A. Begin carefully.
B. Extreme caution is indicated.
Line 3
Legge: The third line, dynamic, shows a beam that is weak. There will be evil.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The ridgepole sags to the breaking point. Misfortune.
Blofeld: The ridgepole sags -- misfortune!
Liu: The ridgepole bends under pressure; misfortune.
Ritsema/Karcher: The ridgepole buckling. Pitfall.
Shaughnessy: The ridgepole sags; inauspicious.
Cleary (1): The ridgepole bends; misfortune.
Cleary (2): The ridgepole bending is foreboding.
Wu: The beam warps. Foreboding.
CONFUCIAN COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: No help can be given to the condition thus represented. Wilhelm/Baynes: The misfortune of the sagging and breaking of the ridgepole is due to its finding no support. Blofeld: The misfortune of being without adequate support. Ritsema/Karcher: Not permitted to use possessing bracing indeed. Cleary (2): There is no way to help. Wu: Because no support will help.
Legge: The third line is dynamic in a dynamic place and confident in his own strength. But his correlate line six is magnetic. Alone, he is unequal to the extraordinary strain. Any attempt to sustain the broken beam will have no effect in supporting the roof.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man becomes overconfident in his limited strength. He rushes ahead in opposition to advice from those in a position to help. This leads to the loss of voluntary support. His burdens increase, and he proves unequal to the task.
Wing: You are inclined to force your way forward when, in fact, there are obstacles that cannot be overcome in this way. Even worse, you cannot accept advice from others because it is not what you wish to hear. Misfortune will inevitably follow.
Editor: This is the weak beam referred to in the Judgment. In the metaphor of Wing’s title of Critical Mass, the situation is about to detonate
Owing to neglect the rooftree gives way;
for want of care the house lets in the rain.
Ecclesiastes 10: 18
A. The situation is unstable.
B. You have no support in the matter at hand.
C. Your assumptions have no foundation.
Line 4
Legge: The fourth line, dynamic, shows a beam curving upwards. There will be good fortune. If the subject of the line looks for other help but that of line one, there will be cause for regret.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The ridgepole is braced. Good fortune. If there are ulterior motives, it is humiliating.
Blofeld: The ridgepole is upheld -- good fortune! Were it otherwise, there would be cause for blame.
Liu: The ridgepole is strengthened; good fortune. But something else may cause humiliation.
Ritsema/Karcher: The ridgepole crowning. Significant. Possessing more: abashment.
Shaughnessy: The ridgepole bows upward; auspicious; there is harm; distress.
Cleary (1): The ridgepole is raised; good fortune. There is another shame.
Cleary (2): … This is auspicious, but there is another shame.
Wu: The beam is held upright, and there will be good fortune. There may be humiliation in unexpected situations.
CONFUCIAN COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The good fortune arises because it does not bend toward what is below. Wilhelm/Baynes: It does not sag downward and break. Blofeld: Good fortune in the sense that it does not fall. [This would seem to be good fortune of a negative kind; not so much good fortune as the failure of expected bad fortune to materialize.] Ritsema/Karcher: Not sagging, reaching-to the below indeed. Cleary (2): It does not bend down. Wu: The beam (is) held upright, not warping downward.
Legge: Line four is just below the fifth line ruler. His duty is to meet the extraordinary exigency of the time. Although dynamic, he is in a magnetic place and his strength is tempered -- he will be equal to his task. Should he seek help from line one, that would affect him with another element of weakness, and his action would give cause for regret.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man becomes the master of the difficult situation by refusing the assistance of weak men. He relies on his own strength of character.
Wing: You can now find within yourself the strength and vision to achieve a successful outcome in your endeavors. Do not rely upon people or things outside of your Self for guidance. Dependence now on external things leads to humiliation.
Editor: This is one of those maddening lines of which every translator renders a subtly different version. Some aren't even internally consistent: Legge's translation says that there will be cause for regret if the subject "looks for other help but that of line one,” which I take to mean: "Only line one is the proper source of assistance.” Inexplicably, his exposition then cautions against such assistance, as does his Confucian commentary. Blofeld's version is a tautology effectively removing serious warning from the line. The Wilhelm and Liu translations are least confusing and imply that we are protected as long as we suppress our lower impulses and maintain allegiance to a higher principle. In my experience, this interpretation has been most accurate.
The patient must be alone if he is to find out what it is that supports him when he can no longer support himself. Only this experience can give him an indestructible foundation. Jung -- Psychology and Alchemy
Other titles: Restrictive Regulations, Restraint, Regulations, Articulating, Receipt, Restraining, Containment
Judgment
Legge:Restrictive Regulations bring progress and success, but if they are severe and difficult they cannot be permanent.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Limitation. Success. Galling limitation must not be persevered in.
Blofeld:Restraint -- success! It is wrong to persist in harsh restraint.
Liu: Limitation. Success. Bitter limitation should not be continued.
Ritsema/Karcher:Articulating, Growing. Bitter Articulating not permitting Trial. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of confused relations. It emphasizes that making limits and connections clear, particularly through speech, is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy: Receipt. Withered moderation; one may not determine.
Cleary (1):Discipline is developmental, but painful discipline is not to be held to. [Discipline means having limits that are not to be exceeded. This hexagram represents practicing obedience in unfavorable circumstances, adaptably keeping to the Tao. The situation may be up to others, but creation of destiny is up to oneself. When discipline gets to the point of inflicting suffering, it brings on danger itself even where there was no danger; you will only suffer toil and servility which is harmful and has no benefit.]
Cleary (2): Regulation is successful, but painful regulation is not to be held to.
Wu: Regulation indicates pervasiveness. Excessive regulation should not be obstinately pursued. [Sometimes the meaning of conservation or moderation is implied. Although the idea of regulation is convincing, it should not be applied blindly without regard to conditions.]
The Image
Legge: Water over a lake -- the image of Restrictive Regulations. The superior man constructs methods of numbering and measurement, and examines the nature of virtuous conduct.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Water over lake: the image of Limitation. Thus the superior man creates number and measure, and examines the nature of virtue and correct conduct.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes water held in a dyke above a marshy lake. The Superior Man employs a system of regulations in his plans for the widespread practice of virtue.
Liu: Water above the lake symbolizes Limitation. The superior man devises number and measure, and measures conduct and virtue.
Ritsema/Karcher: Above marsh possessing stream. Articulating. A chun tzu uses paring to reckon the measures. A chun tzu uses deliberating actualizing-taoto move.
[Actualize-tao: ...ability to follow the course traced by the ongoing process of the cosmos... Linked with acquire, TE: acquiring that which makes a being become what it is meant to be.]
Cleary (1): There is water over a lake, regulated. Thus superior people determine measures and discuss various actions.
Cleary (2): … Leaders establish numbers and measures, and consider virtuous conduct.
Wu: There is water above the marsh; this is Regulation. Thus, the jun zi enacts statutes and deliberates virtues. [A study of the limits and merits will avert difficulties.]
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Progress and attainment are seen in the equally divided dynamic and magnetic lines, with the dynamic lines in the central places. If the regulations are severe and difficult, the course of action will come to an end. We see a cheerful attitude directing the course amidst peril. The rules are correctly initiated by the ruler in the fifth place. Heaven and earth observe their regular cycles and complete the four seasons. When rulers frame their laws according to just limitations, the resources of the state suffer no injury, and the people receive no hurt.
Legge: The written Chinese character which denotes Restrictive Regulations means the regular division of a whole, such as the division of the seasons of the year into ninety-day periods clearly marked by the solstices and equinoxes. Whatever makes regular division may be denominated by a "restrictive regulation," and there enter into it the ideas of ordering and restraining. The hexagram deals with the regulations of government enacted for the guidance and control of the people. An important point is made that these regulations must be adapted to the circumstances and not made too strict and severe.
Ch'eng-tzu says on the Image: "The water which a lake or marsh will contain is limited to a certain quantity. If the water flowing in exceeds that amount, it overflows. This gives us the idea of Restrictive Regulations."
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Restrictive Regulations are necessary for growth, but severe restriction must itself be limited.
The Superior Man differentiates his options in relation to the goals of the Work.
The Work itself is nothing if not a rigid structure imposed upon one's life -- a "restrictive regulation" of the ego's illusion of freedom of choice. Ordinary people insist that their lives are ordered by the intelligent exercise of free will, but this "freedom" is more commonly just a rationalization for the activity of autonomous complexes. No one can look objectively at the current state of the world and seriously claim that it reflects either rational order or balanced perception. Collective human experience on this planet is determined by the whims of archetypal forces expressing themselves through the unconscious psyches of six-billion people.
The Work then, is a restrictive regulation of these autonomous forces -- it is a limitation, a containment of the expression of instinct and desire. We are reminded of the alchemical vessel which is hermetically sealed to prevent its contents from escaping before they have been transmuted into gold. If the alchemist miscalculates his "methods of numbering and measurement" the vessel becomes a kind of bomb: the seal breaks, the contents explode, and the Work is ruined. This is what is meant by "if the regulations are severe and difficult, the course of action will come to an end." If we restrict the contents of the vessel beyond their capacity for confinement the psyche boils over in some degree of rebellion. This is no minor thing -- depending on the circumstances, severe psychotic reactions can be created in this manner.
On the other hand, the ego thinks that all but the most minor restrictions are severe and difficult, and it is constantly on the verge of rebellion. As always, it is the Self which must determine how far the restrictive regulations can be taken. From its perspective outside of spacetime it is best able to determine how much pressure the psyche can take -- frequently it is far more (or sometimes far less) than the ego thinks possible.
The Confucian commentary observes: "We see a cheerful attitude directing the course amidst peril." This refers to the lower trigram of Cheerfulness encountering the upper trigram of Peril or Danger. The restrictions of the Work are more often than not unpleasant and risky, constantly verging on some kind of an explosion. An attitude of cheerful acceptance enables one to survive these difficult trials. This is an extremely important concept, because without it one can all too easily fall into a suicidal despair. The Work can become an impossible burden unless one learns how to approach stress and hardship with an almost irreverent sense of humor. (This in itself is an essential lesson about how to purge the ego of its myopic notions of what it will and will not "accept" in life.)
There is an old Zen proverb that says: "Hell, also, is a place to live in." The message is clear: be of good cheer, because without it you are sure to fail.
The seeming inevitability of conflict among the archetypal "powers" can cause us to experience life as a hopeless, senseless impasse. But the conflict can also be discovered to be the expression of a symbolic pattern still to be intuited. It can be lived as if it were a drama, the play of life or of the gods, for the purpose of experiencing an ultimate meaning ... When one can feel with Goethe that "everything transient is but a symbol," then meaning can be found not only in creativity, joy and love but also in impasse, suffering and conflict. Then life can be lived as a work of art. E.C. Whitmont -- The Symbolic Quest