When facing challenges, trust your inner strength, and let inspiration lead you to joy and creativity.
From
29
Danger
To
16
Enthusiasm
Going back into the ring
One puts one's title on the line to compete against one's opponents. taoscopy.com
Danger29
Face repeated challenges with courage and determination. Embrace setbacks as opportunities to build resilience. Stay true to your principles to navigate through difficulties.
↓ Line 2
This line advises focusing on small, manageable goals to navigate through difficult situations safely.
↓ Line 4
This line indicates that simplicity and modesty in difficult times can lead to contentment and avoid blame.
↓ Line 5
This line suggests maintaining balance and not overreaching in times of danger, which leads to stability and avoids blame.
↓ Enthusiasm16
Inspiration fuels energy; align enthusiasm with purpose to move forward effectively.
Other titles: The Abysmal, The Symbol of Sinking, Water, The Abyss, Gorge, Repeating Gorge, Repeated Entrapment, Double Pitfall, Multiple Danger, Double Water, The Deep, Dark Forces, The Perilous Pit, "May not be as bad as it sounds, but whatever happens, remain true to yourself." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge: The trigram of Danger, here repeated, shows the possession of sincerity, through which the mind is penetrating. Action in accordance with this will be of high value.
Wilhelm/Baynes:The Abysmal repeated. If you are sincere, you have success in your heart, and whatever you do succeeds.
Blofeld: Abyss upon abyss -- grave danger! All will be well if confidence is maintained and a sharp hold kept upon the mind; activities so conducted will win esteem.
Liu: Water doubled. Danger. Sincerity leads to success (peacefulness) in your heart and mind. You will succeed in your actions. [This hexagram means danger, misfortune, or entanglement in a difficult situation... You should be both careful and patient; do not struggle with all of the difficulties around you.]
Ritsema/Karcher: Repeating Gorge. Possessing conformity. Holding-fast the heart Growing. Movement possesses honor. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of a dangerous situation you cannot avoid. It emphasizes that taking the risk without reserve, the action of Gorge, is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told to: venture and fall!]
Shaughnessy: Repeated Entrapment: There is a return; the appended heart; receipt; in motion there will be elevation.
Cleary (1): In mastering pitfalls there is truthfulness; thus the mind develops. There is excellence in practice.
Cleary (2): In multiple danger, if there is sincerity, the mind gets through and action has value.
Wu:Entrapment indicates there is confidence. The heart of the matter is that it is pervasive. Actions taken in its accord will be commendable.
The Image
Legge: The image of water flowing on continuously forms the repeated trigram of Danger. The superior man, in accordance with this, maintains constantly the virtue of his heart and the sincerity of his conduct, and practices the business of instruction.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Water flows on uninterruptedly and reaches its goal. The image of the Abysmal repeated. Thus the superior man walks in lasting virtue and carries on the business of teaching.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes water flowing on and on and abyss upon abyss. [The trigram K'an is usually inauspicious; here it occurs in duplicate as the upper and the lower trigram; thus the implication is that we are beset by grave dangers from which, if we can escape them at all, the utmost skill and confidence will be required to extricate ourselves.] The Superior Man acts in accordance with the immutable virtues and spends much of his time instructing others in the conduct of affairs.
Liu: Water flows unceasingly into the depths symbolizing Water doubled. The superior man constantly preserves his virtue and practices his task of education.
Ritsema/Karcher: Streams reiterating culminating. Repeating Gorge. A chun tzu uses rules actualizing-tao to move. [A chun tzu uses] repeating to teach affairs. [Actualize-tao, TE: realize tao in action; power, virtue; 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): Water travels, double water. Thus do superior people consistently practice virtue and learn how to teach.
Cleary (2): Water comes repeatedly – multiple danger. Developed people practice teaching by constant virtuous action. [This is in perfect accord with the Tiantai Buddhist teaching of knowing how to get through an impasse, the method of making an impasse itself into a way through; this is also the method of skillfully using natural ills.]
Wu: Water comes time and again; this is Entrapment. Thus the jun zi practices virtuous conduct and reviews didactics.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Danger repeated shows us one defile succeeding another. This is the nature of water -- it flows on, without accumulating its volume so as to overflow; it pursues its way through a dangerous defile, without losing its true nature. That the mind is penetrating is indicated by the dynamic line in the center. Advance in accordance with this will be followed by achievement. The dangerous height of heaven cannot be ascended; the difficult places of the earth are mountains, rivers, hills and mounds. Kings and princes arrange, by means of such strengths, to maintain their territories. Great indeed is the use of what is here taught about seasons of peril.
Legge: The trigram of Danger which is doubled to form this hexagram is the symbol of water, and means a pit, a perilous cavity or defile with water flowing through it. The trigrams consist of a dynamic central line between two magnetic lines. Together they symbolize danger -- how it should be encountered, its effects on the mind, and how to escape from it.
Liang Yin says: "Water stops at the proper time, and moves at the proper time. Is not this an emblem of the course of the superior man in dealing with danger?”
The K'ang-hsi editors say that to exercise one's self in meeting difficulty and peril is the way to establish and strengthen the character, and the use of such experience is seen in all measures for self-defense.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Commitment to the Work engenders a keen discernment of threatening situations and the factors which create them. With the ability to recognize the dangerous elements in a situation, success is assured.
The Superior Man maintains his connection with the Self and learns from the trials thus provided.
This is one of the first hexagrams that one learns to recognize by name and number, and it is usually received with trepidation. Like the Death card in Tarot, it is often interpreted as an evil omen, although a deeper understanding reveals opportunity rather than defeat in such images.
There is danger and suffering in the Work, but probably far less of it (in the long run) than in an ordinary unexamined life. Anguish in the service of purpose is ultimately tolerable -- it is the incredible suffering of ignorance that is truly tragic: all that pain and sorrow expended on worldly illusions!
The Confucian commentary provides some valuable insights concerning the defensive use of danger by kings and princes to protect their realms. To master a dangerous challenge before one can progress to a higher level of awareness is a classical theme of initiation: without it, the candidate would be destroyed by forces he wasn't ready to confront. (This is the purpose and meaning behind of the "Guardian of the Threshold" archetype.) Danger is evil or unfortunate only if one is intimidated by it -- correct behavior in accordance with the principles of the Work will always take you to your destination. The Self will seldom, if ever, give you a test that you cannot pass if you fully apply yourself. When it seems otherwise, bear in mind that failure often renders better lessons than success, or the illusion thereof.
A neurosis is by no means merely a negative thing, it is also something positive. Only a soulless rationalism reinforced by a narrow materialistic outlook could possibly have overlooked this fact. In reality the neurosis contains the patient's psyche, or at least an essential part of it; and if, as the rationalist pretends, the neurosis could be plucked from him like a bad tooth, he would have gained nothing but would have lost something very essential to him. That is to say, he would have lost as much as the thinker deprived of his doubt, or the moralist deprived of his temptation, or the brave man deprived of his fear. To lose a neurosis is to find oneself without an object; life loses its point and hence its meaning. This would not be a cure, it would be a regular amputation. Jung -- Civilization in Transition
Line 2
Legge: The second line, dynamic, shows its subject in all the peril of the defile. He will, however, get a little of the deliverance that he seeks.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The abyss is dangerous. One should strive to attain small things only.
Blofeld: Danger lurks within the abyss; only in small matters can he obtain what he desires.
Liu: There is danger in the abyss. One should work for small gains only.
Ritsema/Karcher: Gorge possessing venturing. Seeking, the small acquiring.
Shaughnessy: The trap has depth; in seeking there is a little gain.
Cleary (1): There is danger in a pitfall. One finds a small gain. [Dwelling in the middle of two yins, daily in the company of petty people and not knowing to approach people imbued with Tao, one will ultimately fall and become a fool, just as there is danger in a pitfall.]
Cleary (2): … One seeks a small gain.
Wu: There is danger in Entrapment. It is all right to seek small gains.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: He will not yet escape from his environed position. Wilhelm/Baynes: "One should strive to attain small things only." For the middle has not yet been passed. Blofeld: Though he obtain these trifles, he remains within the abyss. [Whatever small successes we may win will not have any effect in lessening the danger that threatens.] Ritsema/ Karcher: Not-yet issuing-forth-from the center indeed. Cleary (2): Not yet gotten out of the middle. Wu: He has not stepped out of the center of danger.
Legge: Line two is dynamic and in the center. Although unable to escape the danger completely, at least he doesn't involve himself more deeply in it like the first line does, and therefore he obtains a measure of relief.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: A person in danger should not try to escape at one stroke. He should first calmly hold his own, then be satisfied with small gains, which will come by creative adaptations.
Wing: The danger is great and cannot be surmounted with one single action. Small, consistent efforts to stay afloat in a sea of difficulties are all that are possible at this time.
Editor: The image portrays a tight spot -- calm awareness of the realities of the situation enables one to prevail without panic. Go with the flow until an exit presents itself. In psychological terms, it is possible that inner forces are being stressed for integration -- the ego can only destroy the Work by giving them an outlet.
Knowledge of good is sharpened by experience of evil in those incapable of any sure knowledge of evil unless they have experienced it. Plotinus -- The Enneads
A. Don't fight dark forces -- adapt to your situation until you can escape.
B. A dangerous though stable position -- remain calm and don't rock the boat.
Line 4
Legge: The fourth line, magnetic, shows its subject at a feast, with simply a bottle of spirits, and a subsidiary basket of rice, while the cups and bowls are only of earthenware. She introduces her important lessons as her ruler's intelligence admits. There will in the end be no error.
Wilhelm/Baynes: A jug of wine, a bowl of rice with it; earthen vessels simply handed in through the window. There is certainly no blame in this.
Blofeld: A flagon of wine and a bamboo food-basket -- both. These objects were handed to him through a hole in the rock. To the very end he remains free from blame. [The terrible trouble in which we find ourselves occurs through no fault of ours; others are able to help us to some extent -- but it looks as though their help may serve only to prolong our agony.]
Liu: A jug of wine. Two bowls of food should be put into an earthen container and passed through the window. There is no blame in the end.
Ritsema/Karcher: A cup, liquor, a platter added. Availing-of a jar. Letting-in bonds originating-from the window. Completing, without fault.
Shaughnessy: Offering wine and tureens in pairs; use earthenware. Take in the angelica from the window; in the end there is no trouble.
Cleary (1): One jug of wine, two vessels. Use simplicity, sincerity, and openness, and in the end there will be no fault.
Cleary (2): A jug of wine with a ceremonial vessel of grain alongside. Use a plain cup; take in a pledge through the window. In the end there is no fault.
Wu: Using a jar of wine and a bamboo basket of food with ordinary table earthenware, he presents himself at the window. In the end, he will be blameless. [The judgment describes a person in a precarious position (the fourth) presenting himself in a simple way to his ruler (the fifth). The scene may also be viewed as a loyal minister offering his counsel to his king in time of crisis.]
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: This describes the meeting of the dynamic and magnetic lines. Wilhelm/Baynes: It is the boundary between firm and yielding. Blofeld: This passage is suggested by the nature of the line, which forms a border between yielding and firm. Ritsema/Karcher: Solid and Supple, the border indeed. Cleary (2): The border of hard and soft. Wu: The meeting of the strong and weak.
Legge: Line four is the magnetic minister who will get no help from her first line correlate. She can't avert the danger herself, but she is close to the fifth line ruler whom she cautiously enlightens with the sincerity of her simple nourishment. Consequently, there will be no error.
Anthony: The Sage, knowing that we are in danger, voluntarily comes to our aid. Consequently, we are enlightened by a breakthrough in our understanding.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man is without a sponsor because of the lack of impressive gifts. Ceremonial forms and expensive gifts are unnecessary, however, during periods of great urgency. Spurred on by unostentatious sincerity, he presents his thoughts directly to the chief. No error will result from this honest request for mutual help during times of peril.
Wing: Take the simple and direct approach to solving your problems and overcoming difficulties. Strive for clarity of mind. Do not clutter your actions with useless pretense, since it will only confuse the situation.
Editor: This image implies that the dangerous elements in the situation are caused by some kind of complexity -- vanity, bureaucracy, or Byzantine intellectualism perhaps. Whatever it is, a return to basics is indicated. While surrounded by a feast (of choices) one partakes only of simple nourishment (options).
In order to effect a constructive and lasting change in our lives we must strive toward a transformation of the potentially disrupting or disruptive complexes by reaching their archetypal cores. Such a transformation can occur only when we have gone beyond the personal dimension to the universal. This process is sustained by guidance from the objective psyche through dreams and fantasies. E.C. Whitmont -- The Symbolic Quest
A. Reduce the situation to its lowest common denominator and proceed from there.
B. Complexity demands patience. Nourish yourself on simplicity.
C. An educational process. The image suggests patience and gradual change.
Line 5
Legge: The fifth line, dynamic, shows the water of the defile not yet full, so that it might flow away; but order will soon be brought about. There will be no error.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The abyss is not filled to overflowing. It is filled only to the rim. No blame.
Blofeld: The abyss is not filled to the brim; the flowing water maintains its level -- no error!
Liu: The water does not overflow its bounds. The waves are calm. No blame. [People will achieve their goals smoothly and without endangering themselves.]
Ritsema/Karcher: Gorge not overfilled. Merely already evened. Without fault.
Shaughnessy: The trap is not filled, but the sandbar has been flattened; there is no trouble.
Cleary (1): The pit is not full, it has only reached level; there is no blame.
Cleary (2): The pit is not filled, only leveled. No blame.
Wu: Entrapment is not full. It is level and uneventful. There will be no blame.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The virtue indicated by the central situation is not yet sufficiently great. Wilhelm/Baynes: The central line is not yet great. Blofeld: This is because the line, being central to the upper trigram, indicates a level that is not too high. [The danger threatening whoever receives a moving line for the fifth place is relatively less serious than for many of the others whose enquiries are answered by this unfortunate hexagram.]Ritsema/Karcher: Centering, not-yet great indeed. Cleary (2): The center is not yet great. Wu: The center has not manifested its greatness.
Legge: Line five is dynamic in its proper place as ruler, and on the verge of deliverance from danger. The waters of the abyss will soon disappear and the ground be made level and smooth.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man is almost extricated, but remains in danger because of excessive ambition. He does not learn from the water's example of rising only to the lowest point of the rim to flow out of a ravine. He should not attempt great and apparently unattainable things but should only try to escape danger by following the path of least resistance.
Wing: Only struggle as much as necessary to extricate yourself from your problems. Overly ambitious persons who attempt more than they should may create further difficulties. It is indicated here that the danger will pass of its own accord.
Editor: This depicts the crest of the flood, or just before the crest. Psychologically, the water is contained, and the unconscious forces do not overwhelm the psyche. Legge's Confucian commentary ("The virtue indicated by the central situation is not yet sufficiently great") is not convincing in the context of what is imaged. Blofeld's rendition suggests a more credible interpretation: the rising waters are not great enough to overflow their banks. This gives an image of the strong fifth line ruler as centered and able to cope with the danger surrounding him. In other words, the cup is full, but not over-full. The situation is dangerous, but not overwhelming. The dark forces have reached their maximum power -- now they can only wane.
Who pent up the sea behind closed doors when it leaped tumultuous out of the womb... when I marked the bounds it was not to cross and made it fast with a bolted gate? Come thus far, I said, and no farther: here your proud waves shall break. Job 38: 8-11
A. Danger peaks and stabilizes. Though perilous, the situation is contained.
Other titles: The Symbol of Harmonious Joy, Repose, Happiness, Providing-for/Provision, Excess, Merriment, Self-confidence, Contentment, Harmonize, Excitement, Intemperance, Self-deception "Repose in the absolute confidence that the action now being taken is right. Also refers to music." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge: Enthusiasm indicates that feudal princes may be set up and the army advantageously mobilized.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Enthusiasm. It furthers one to install helpers and to set armies marching.
Blofeld:Repose profits those engaged in building up the country and sending forth armies. [This means that perfect certainty as to the rightness of our cause is of great value under the conditions mentioned. The usual meaning of this character is "beforehand" or "happiness." In the English translation of Wilhelm's version, it appears as "enthusiasm." "Repose" was suggested by the Chinese experts who kindly vetted this manuscript. At first I felt hesitant about adopting it, until I realized that, where it is used favorably, it must be understood as the kind of mental repose which follows absolute confidence that the action now being taken is the right one. In lines one, three and six, however, it clearly means failure to act when action is essential; in line five, failure to act owing to incapacity.]
Liu:Happiness. It is of benefit to build up the country (or business), and send the army forth. [Receivers of this hexagram should be wary of exhibiting excessive enthusiasm when beginning a new undertaking. If they are not, there will be misfortune. The hexagram also advises that everything necessary for advancement should be made ready. Then if an opportunity presents itself, it should be seized immediately, without hesitation.]
Ritsema/Karcher: Providing-for , Harvesting: installing feudatories to move legions. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of what is needed to meet the future. It emphasizes that accumulating strength through foresight and prudence so things can be fully enjoyed is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told to: provide-for!]
Shaughnessy: Excess: Beneficial to establish a lord and to move troops.
Cleary (1):Joy. It is advantageous to set up a ruler and mobilize the army.
Wu:Merriment indicates the advantage of establishing principalities and taking military actions.
The Image
Legge: Thunder exploding out of the Earth -- the image of Enthusiasm. The ancient kings, in accordance with this, composed their music and honored virtue, offering it especially to God when they worshipped him at the service of their ancestors.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Thunder comes resounding out of the earth: the image of Enthusiasm. Thus the ancient kings made music in order to honor merit, and offered it with splendor to the Supreme Deity, inviting their ancestors to be present.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes thunder over the earth. The ancient rulers venerated heaven's gifts with solemn music and they sacrificed abundantly to the Supreme Lord of Heaven in order to be worthy of their ancestors.
Liu: Thunder arising from the earth symbolizes Happiness. The ancient kings composed music to honor virtue, offering it to God and the spirits of their ancestors.
Ritsema/Karcher: Thunder issuing-forth-from earth impetuously. Providing-for. The Earlier Kings used arousing delight to extol actualizing-tao. Exalting worship's Supreme Above. Using equalizing the grandfather predecessors. [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): When thunder emerges the earth stirs: Thus did the kings of yore make music to honor virtue, offering it in abundance to God, thereby to share it with their ancestors.
Wu: Thunder breaks out above the earth with a boom; this is Merriment. Thus the ancient kings used music to praise virtuous accomplishments and made grand offerings to the Supreme Being to be accompanied by their ancestors.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Enthusiasm shows one dynamic line inspiring responsive obedience in all the others: devoted obedience takes action. Such obedient action conforms to natural law and creates order and discipline in the people. The planets and the seasons follow their natural cycles. The sages similarly obey the laws of their nature and the people acknowledge their regulations and punishments as just.
Legge:Enthusiasm shows harmony and contentment throughout the kingdom -- a time when the people rejoice in their sovereign and readily obey him. At such a time his appointments and any military undertakings would be hailed and supported. Because he is close to the fifth place of dignity, the dynamic fourth line is seen as the chief executive officer of the ruler. The ruler has confidence in him, and all of the magnetic lines yield their obedience. Obedience is the attribute of the lower trigram which here takes the initiative and uses Movement, which is the attribute of the upper trigram.
The symbolism of the Image is more obscure than usual. The use of music at sacrifices is supposed to assist in producing the union between God and his worshippers as well as the present and past generations.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Delegate authority and gather your forces.
The Superior Man synchronizes his will with the intent of the Self via the principles of the Work.
Enthusiasm is the reverse of the preceding hexagram of Temperance. In Temperance we saw the calm strength of a mountain concealed within the earth. In Enthusiasm we see thunder exploding out of the ground into the sky: the strength that was formerly tempered and restrained is now released. It is significant to note that while every line of Temperance is more or less "favorable,” every line of Enthusiasm is either negative or cautionary -- even the generally positive fourth line carries a hint of warning about “doubt.”
Negatively, Self-Deception (the passion of True Believers) seems to be what this hexagram is portraying. The figure often suggests a callow or deluded buoyancy -- the kind of outlook associated with romantic idealists. In its most negative aspect, Enthusiasm is Intemperance -- the exact opposite of the moderation and restraint shown in the preceding hexagram. The behavior of an untrained Great Dane puppy suddenly bursting into a formal dinner party could be described as "enthusiasm,” but hardly a desirable form thereof. The lower trigram of Obedient Devotion has suddenly employed the action and energy of the upper trigram of Thunderous Shock to express itself. This is inconsistent with the code of the superior man.
Conversely, in its most positive sense, Enthusiasm suggests the surety of total self-confidence. Blofeld translates this as Repose, explaining that the name was suggested to him by his Chinese advisors. We begin to understand this subtle distinction when we compare the seemingly obscure connection with music in the Image with a passage from Chuang- tse:
He who understands the music of heaven lives in accordance with nature in his life and takes part in the process of change of things in his death. In repose, his character is in harmony with the yin principle; in activity, his movement is in harmony with the yang principle. Therefore he who understands the music of heaven is not blamed by heaven or criticized by men ... It is said, "In action he is like heaven. In repose he is like the earth ... Because his mind has found repose, therefore the creation pays homage to him.”
To understand “the music of heaven” is to attain Repose, which is another way of describing the tranquility that comes with furthering the intent of the Self. The only dynamic line in the hexagram is in the minister's place just below the fifth-line ruler. He has the confidence of his sovereign and his actions therefore accord with heaven. We can turn to the Stoics to find an illustration of this idea:
My will is simply that which comes to pass. For I esteem what God wills better than what I will. To Him will I cleave as His minister and attendant; having the same movements, the same desires, in a word the same will as He. -- Epictetus
Thus we see that the hexagram can describe either one of two opposite conditions -- the intemperate Enthusiasm of ego-confidence (a synonym for Self-Deception), or the calm Repose of true SELF-confidence. The fifteenth and sixteenth hexagrams, each the inverse of the other, represent magnetic and dynamic aspects of the same general idea: Enthusiasm, when it emanates from the Self, is just Temperance in action.