Stand strong under pressure, adapt with grace, and trust that small, consistent efforts will lead to great transformations.
From
28
Critical Mass
To
9
Small Restraint
Being a pioneer
One is ahead of those who want more assistance. 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 4
Stabilizing the situation brings good fortune, but hidden agendas can lead to disgrace.
↓ Line 6
Facing overwhelming challenges can lead to misfortune, but maintaining integrity prevents blame.
↓ Small Restraint9
Focus on the small details and subtle actions. Gentle persistence and restraint will gradually lead you to success.
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 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
A. The Work is protected if you keep the faith.
Line 6
Legge: The sixth line, magnetic, shows its subject with extraordinary boldness wading through a stream, till the water hides the crown of her head. There will be evil, but no ground for blame.
Wilhelm/Baynes: One must go through the water. It goes over one's head. Misfortune. No blame.
Blofeld: While he was fording the river, the water rose above his head -- misfortune, but he was not at fault.
Liu: One walks through the water and it goes over his head. Misfortune, no blame.
Ritsema/Karcher: Exceeding wading submerges the peak. Pitfall. Without fault.
Shaughnessy: Surpassing and fording causes the top of the head to vanish; inauspicious; there is no trouble.
Cleary (1): Excess reaching the peak of destruction is unfortunate; there is no blame on other people. [At the end of Excess of the Great, being ignorant and acting arbitrarily, not knowing the medical substances or the firing process, doing whatever comes to mind, going astray and not returning, the damage is worse the higher one goes; excess reaches the peak of destruction. One calls misfortune upon oneself – it is no fault of others. This is Excess of the Great in the sense of being weak and entertaining illusions.]
Cleary (2): Going too far, passing away at the peak, there is misfortune, but no blame. [Here are only the virtues of flexibility and uprightness, without the ability to solve difficulties, so misfortune cannot be avoided; but one is really not to blame. In Buddhist terms, this is when correct concentration has no insight, winding up as a fall at the peak.]
Wu: He is drowned while crossing the river. This is foreboding, but blameless.
CONFUCIAN COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Evil follows wading with extraordinary boldness through the stream, but the act affords no ground for blame. Wilhelm/Baynes: One should not join blame to the misfortune of going through the water. Blofeld: This presages a misfortune for which we cannot possibly be blamed. Ritsema/ Karcher: Not permitting fault indeed. Cleary (2): The misfortune of going too far cannot be blamed. Wu: The ill fortune of getting drowned should not be a cause for blame.
Legge: The sixth line pursues her daring course with an intent to rectify the extraordinary exigency of the time and benefit all under the sky. She is unequal to the task and sinks beneath it, but her motive justifies the judgment on her conduct.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man pursues his objectives for the public good, regardless of the consequences and danger. Misfortune results. But no blame is attached to his conduct, because there are certain things more important than life itself.
Wing: The goal is worth accomplishing, although the sacrifice to attain it may be confounding in its enormity. No blame is attached to such action, although you should realize the extraordinary reality of what is happening.
Anthony: It is careless to wish to accomplish our task, no matter what happens. Plunging ahead on our own is always dangerous and willful. It is best to retain carefulness, allowing ourself to be guided. Meanwhile, having followed our principles is without blame, even though the result may be dangerous.
Editor: Like anyline in theI Ching, this one is open to more than one interpretation. It can suggest suffering while undertaking a necessary but difficult task, or it can portray one ignorantly “pushing the river” in pursuit of goals one doesn’t really understand. Legge's commentary about being “unequal to the task” is not explicit in the original line -- i.e.: failure is not necessarily a foregone conclusion. Life's lessons are often painful -- that's just the way it is, and you are not to blame for it. Cleary (1)’s mention of “medical substances, etc.,” refers to Taoist alchemical procedures.
If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will save it. Luke 9: 23-25
A. Plunge in and accept the consequences of your choices: Bite the bullet and do your duty.
B. A painful lesson in the school of hard knocks.
C. “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”
Other titles: The Taming Power of the Small, The Symbol of Small restraint, The Lesser Nourisher, Taming the Small Powers, Small Accumulating, Small Harvest, Small Obstruction, Nurturance by the Small, Restraint by the Weak, Restrained, Minor Restraint, The Weak Force, The Force of the Small, Weak Forces Restrain Strong Forces "The restraint is small, success follows. Overcoming something small which is poisoning or nagging. Partially relieving a situation. Influencing that which one cannot change.” -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge:Passive Restraint brings about progress and success. We see dense clouds, but no rain coming from our western borders.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The Taming Power of the Small has success. Dense clouds, no rain from our western region.
Blofeld: The Lesser Nourisher. Success! Dense clouds giving forth no rain approach from the western outskirts. [On the whole, this hexagram presages good for us. The wind blowing across the heavens does not have the nourishing virtues of rain, but it refreshes us and makes us feel better. Thus, if things are going reasonably well with us, we may expect an improvement, especially in the future when, presumably, the nourishing rain will fall. However, as lines three and six indicate, if we are in serious trouble, we must not expect much help from the rather mild good fortune that is blowing our way. The conception of something weak or yielding bringing great benefit has been greatly developed by the Taoists who, as though they were familiar with judo, recognize the strength to be found in softness and the dangerous weakness sometimes occasioned by too much strength. The name of this hexagram understood somewhat differently may also be taken to mean that the time is propitious for undertaking additional activity or the care of the young.]
Liu: Taming the Small Powers: success. Thick clouds come from the west. No rain. [This situation symbolizes the preparation which precedes a new development.]
Ritsema/Karcher:Small Accumulating, Growing. Shrouding clouds, not raining. Originating-from my Western suburbs. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of a variety of seemingly unconnected events and impulses. It emphasizes that retaining and hoarding these experiences through adapting to them is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy:Small Harvest:Receipt; dense clouds do not rain from our western pasture.
Cleary (1):Nurturance by the small is developmental. Dense clouds do not rain, proceeding from one’s own western province.
Cleary (2): At small obstruction, nurturing the small succeeds… (etc.)
Wu:Restraint of the Small indicates pervasiveness. There are dense clouds, but no rain coming from our western countryside.
The Image
Legge: The image of the sky with the wind moving above it forms Passive Restraint. The superior man, in accordance with this, adorns the outward manifestation of his virtue.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The wind drives across heaven: the image of The Taming Power of the Small. Thus the superior man refines the outward aspect of his nature.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes wind blowing across the sky. The Superior Man displays his scholarly accomplishments.
Liu: The wind blows across the sky, symbolizing Taming the Small Powers. The superior man improves his ability and virtue.
Ritsema/Karcher: Wind moving above heaven. Small Accumulating. A chun tzu uses highlighting the pattern to actualize-tao.[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): Wind blowing up in the sky is small nurturance; thus do superior people beautify cultured qualities.
Cleary (2): Wind moving up in the sky, nurturing the small. Thus do leaders beautify cultured qualities.
Wu: The wind blows in the sky above; this is Restraint of the Small. Thus the jun zi refines his splendorous virtue.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: In the ninth hexagram the magnetic line takes her proper place, and all the lines above and below obey her -- hence the name Passive Restraint. The figure is composed of the trigrams of Strength plus Flexibility. Dynamic lines occupy the central places, and their will is accomplished -- this means progress and success. Dense clouds but no rain depict the advancing dynamic lines, but their source in the west shows that their beneficial influence has yet to be felt.
Legge: The symbolism of the hexagram Passive Restraint is taken from the magnetic line in the fourth place which holds all of the dynamic lines in restraint. This is because the fourth place is properly passive (magnetic), and the response of the other lines is therefore one of submission to her authority.
The second sentence of the Judgment indicates the time and place of King Wen whose homeland was the western portion of China in the twelfth century B.C. Rain coming and moistening the ground causes the luxuriant growth of the natural world, and symbolizes the blessings which flow from good government. Therefore from the west, the hereditary territory of the legendary author of the I Ching, come the blessings which might enrich the whole kingdom. Here, however, they are somehow restrained -- the dense clouds do not yet empty their stores. Ch'eng-tzu, Wang Feng, and other scholars say, in effect: Dense clouds should give rain. That they exist without doing so shows the restraining influence of the hexagram at work. But the dynamic influence of the other lines still continues, and the rain will eventually fall. The wind moves in the sky and then ceases -- it can restrain for a time, but not indefinitely.
Cleary (1): Being strong, yet acting submissively, the submissiveness subdues the strength, and strength cannot act on its own. The heart grows daily humbler, while the virtue grows daily higher. One can thereby gradually get to the realm of sages. This is why nurturance by the small is developmental.
Cleary (2): When you encounter situations that obstruct you and bog you down, if you do not get resentful or bitter, but just nurture yourself to digest them, you will be successful … Indeed, events and situations that formerly obstructed you can become means of self-development; this is how you succeed …This line (Sic) indicates the value of not grabbing for easy success and the value of long-term results.
Wu:Restraint of the Small means literally small accumulation or small restraint. “Small” is another name for yin. “Small accumulation” or “small restraint” can also mean accumulation or restraint of the yin … When there are clouds, but no rain, it means that something has intervened and prevented the cycle from completion ... The judgment simply means: Many factors can derail a potential success and we should weigh them carefully before making a decision.
Anthony: Our influence is limited by the circumstances… We should avoid ambition to make progress as this exerts a negative pressure on people. It also indicates that we do not yet trust our path of non-action or the power of truth to change the situation…
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Power is accumulated by gently withholding its expression.
The Superior Man transforms his insights into components of his conscious will. Or: He works on his outer, conscious (as opposed to inner, unconscious), awareness. Or: He lives his beliefs.
Wilhelm's translation of the title of this hexagram is The Taming Power of the Small. I have substitutedPassive Restraintas a phrase more compatible with contemporary English. The titles rendered by the other translators, in my opinion, do not convey the meaning of the hexagram: Liu's Taming the Small Powers even seems diametrically opposed to it, though it is obvious that the title has multiple meanings. In describing the action of the trigrams in this hexagram, Wilhelm conveys its essential meaning. (From Lectures on the I Ching):
The function of wind is to tame creative forces, to accumulate these and to make them visible. It is exceedingly difficult to understand this relationship of forces, because the power used here is not expressed with might, but it is the softest, gentlest, force imaginable. Wind is the least visible of all phenomena, and this invisible wind is now needed to concentrate that which strives upward, the strongest of all phenomena ... The unconscious acts and creates as it must, and we should submit to the surgings of its waves. Only in the peripheral region, in the small free zone of consciousness, can work be taken up each day, and whatever needs refining can be refined. This is not superfluous work. Although this small zone of consciousness and freedom is only a thin rind, its contact with the forces of the unconscious is vigorous ... Hence, that which is seemingly small and insignificant is, after all, the power that succeeds in taming chaos by means of steady work and perseverance.
Lines one through four of the ninth hexagram show different forms of restraint during a time of building tension. The dark clouds are accumulating, and we know that eventually the rain will fall and the tension will be released. Rain always symbolizes a union between Heaven and Earth in the I Ching,which in turn means a synthesis of some sort. In the present instance, the synthesis is still building, and although the tension seems to demand action we are counseled to remain still. The magnetic force must hold the overwhelming pressure of the dynamic forces in check.
The fifth line depicts the focal point at which the forces are gathered, and the sixth line shows the restraint necessary to allow the new transformation to stabilize. If we turn the hexagram over we get Cautious Advance, which depicts a different situation in which very careful action is called for. In the present instance however, no action is correct action.
Through the activity of divine providence, an abundance of blessing descends on the creatures, but this awakening of the power of providence is dependent on the deeds of created beings, on "awakening from below." Gershom Scholem – Kabbalah