Other titles: Obstruction, The Symbol of Difficulty, Arresting Movement, Trouble, Obstacles, Barrier, Halt, Halting, Limping, Afoot, “Sit Tight—Don’t move” "One is surrounded by an underwater reef and should wait for assistance." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge: During an Impasse advantage is found in the southwest, disadvantage in the northeast. See the great man. Firm correctness brings good fortune.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Obstruction. The southwest furthers. The northeast does not further. It furthers one to see the great man. Perseverance brings good fortune.
Blofeld: Trouble. The west and the south are favorable, but not the east and north. [That is to say, if we try to forward our plans by proceeding in either of those directions, we shall get bogged down or lost. It could also mean that we should be driven to unvirtuous conduct.] It is advisable to see a great man. [We should seek advice from someone of lofty moral stature and profound wisdom.] Persistence in a righteous course brings good fortune.
Liu: Obstruction. The southwest is of benefit. The northeast -- no benefit. It benefits one to visit a great man. To continue brings good fortune.
Ritsema/Karcher: Limping, Harvesting: Western South. Not Harvesting: Eastern North. Harvesting: visualizing Great People. Trial: significant. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of being weak, afflicted or hampered. It emphasizes that going ahead even though haltingly is the adequate way to handle it. (Sic) To be in accord with the time, you are told to: limp!]
Shaughnessy: Afoot: Beneficial to the southwest, not beneficial to the northeast; beneficial to see the great man; determination is auspicious.
Cleary (1): When halted, the southwest is beneficial, not the northeast. It is profitable to see a great person; innocence is auspicious.
Cleary (2): When in trouble, it is beneficial to go southwest; it is not beneficial to go northeast. It is beneficial to see a great person. Correctness leads to good results.
Wu:Difficulty indicates that it will be advantageous in the southwest, but not so in the northeast. There will be advantage to meet with the great man. Auspiciousness will come with perseverance.
Hua-Ching Ni: The good direction is where there is no abyss or high mountains, like the Southwest, but not the Northeast. One should go to the great leader who can work with people in breaking through obstructions.
The Image
Legge: Water on the mountain -- the image of Impasse. The superior man turns around to examine himself and cultivate his virtue.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Water on the mountain: the image of Obstruction. Thus the superior man turns his attention to himself and molds his character.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes water upon a mountain. The Superior Man cultivates virtue by bringing about a revolution within himself.
Liu: Water on the mountain symbolizes Obstruction. The superior man reexamines himself and improves his character.
Ritsema/Karcher: Above mountain possessing stream. Limping. A chun tzu uses reversing individuality to renovate actualizing-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): There is water atop a mountain, halting. Thus do superior people examine themselves and cultivate virtue.
Cleary (2): Water on a mountain – trouble. Developed people examine themselves to cultivate virtue.
Wu: There is water on the mountain; this is Difficulty. Thus, the jun zi examines his own person to polish his virtue.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge:Impasse means difficulty, with the trigram of Peril up ahead. It is a wise man who can stop his advance at the first sign of danger. Advantage in the southwest means that the dynamic line has advanced to the central position. In the northeast, however, progress is halted. Seeing the great man insures progress and success. All of the lines except the first are in their appropriate places, suggesting the firm correctness in which the regions of the kingdom are brought to their natural order. Great indeed is the work to be done during an Impasse.
Legge: Impasse is the symbol of incompetency in the feet and legs involving difficulty in walking. Hence it represents a state of the kingdom which makes government an arduous task. The figure teaches how to perform this task under the prevailing circumstances.
The Judgment requires three things: the attention to place, the presence of the great man, and the observance of firm correctness. According to King Wen's arrangement of the trigrams, the southwest is occupied by the trigram of the Earth, and the northeast by the trigram of the Mountain. The former is the fertile lowland, the latter the mountain peaks; the former is easily traversed and held, while the latter presents obstacles. Thus the attention to place becomes a calculation of circumstances -- differentiating those that are promising from those that are likely to fail.
The great man is the correctly dynamic ruler in the fifth place, with the proper magnetic correlate in line two. However, favorable position and circumstances, and the presence of the great man do not relieve us from the observance of firm correctness -- this principle is consistent throughout the I Ching.
Ch'eng-tzu says: "We see here a steep and difficult mountain, on the top of which is water. Each trigram represents perilousness -- there is peril above and below. Hence it shows the difficulties of the state." The application of the symbolism is illustrated by the words of Mencius: "When our actions do not realize our desires, we must turn inwards and examine ourselves in every point."
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Dissolve the polarities of an Impasseby seeking its most fertile integration. Use your will in harmony with the principles of the Work.
The Superior Man seeks his center and refines his commitment.
Lines two and five of this difficult hexagram show those who struggle with hardship; all of the other lines show images of an improper advance followed by a proper return to a former position. Ritsema/Karcher's characterization of the hexagram's overall meaning as an injunction to "(go) ahead even though haltingly is the adequate way to handle (the situation)" is anomalous and at variance with the general import of this figure. Legge's Confucian commentary is more in keeping with its meaning: "It is a wise man who can stop his advance at the first sign of danger."
Legge also chooses an excellent paraphrase of the role of the superior man in the Image with his quotation from Mencius: "When our actions do not realize our desires, we must turn inwards and examine ourselves in every point." In other words, the chances are good that the Impassemay be self-created, and when the ego introspects with care the reasons usually become apparent.
It is not unknown at a certain stage of development for the ego, overwhelmed with the enormity of the Work, to evade its responsibilities and vainly try to return to the bliss of its former ignorance. At such times it soon becomes clear that no matter what you attempt, success will be blocked: where others succeed with ease, it will take you five times as much effort just to break even. ThisImpasse is permanent until you reassume responsibility for the Work. The following quotation is an allegory of this condition:
Yahweh Saboath says this: Reflect carefully how things have gone for you. You have sown much and harvested little; you eat but never have enough, drink but never have your fill, put on clothes but do not feel warm. The wage earner gets his wages only to put them in a purse riddled with holes ... The abundance you expected proved to be little. When you brought the harvest in, my breath spoiled it. And why? It is Yahweh Saboath who speaks. Because while my house lies in ruins you are busy with your own, each one of you. Haggai 1: 6-10
In one way or another, the Self will attain its intent. To ignore this hard truth is to experience Impasse.
Line 2
Legge: The second line, magnetic, shows the king's servant struggling with difficulty on difficulty, and not with a view to her own advantage.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The king's servant is beset by obstruction upon obstruction, but it is not his own fault.
Blofeld: The King's minister meets with difficulty upon difficulty, but through no fault of his.
Liu: The king's officer meets many obstructions. It is not his fault.
Ritsema/Karcher: A king, a servant: Limping, Limping. In-no-way body's anteriority.
Shaughnessy: The king's servant is so afoot; it is not the body's reason.
Cleary (1): King and vassal both faithful in spite of difficulty, not for their own comfort.
Cleary (2): King and minister recognize trouble as trouble, not for personal reasons.
Wu: A king’s minister is in the depths of difficulties and he disregards his personal gains or losses.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: In the end no blame will attach to her. Wilhelm/Baynes: But in the end there is no blame in this. Blofeld: This indicates that we shall be free from blame to the very end (or in the end). Ritsema/Karcher: Completing without surpassing indeed. Cleary (2): In the end there is no bitterness. Wu: He will make no error in the end.
Legge: Line two is the correctly magnetic correlate of the ruler in line five. Here we see that the moral value of conduct is independent of success or failure.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: When duty bound, the man should seek out the danger and deliberately face the opposition. This is especially important for officials in the government.
Wing: Because you serve a larger cause, whether you realize it or not, you are obligated to meet Obstacles head on and overcome them. Even though this is not advisable in ordinary affairs, this is the proper approach for extraordinary causes. You will not be blamed.
Editor: The image depicts an ego doggedly coping with an imperfect universe to further the Work. Since its subject is judged blameless for the difficulties encountered, this line often refers to dealing with the illusions of others; it could be a test.
Thus when Heaven is about to entrust a man with great work, it first causes distress to his mind, belabors his muscles and frame, starves his body, subjects him to want, and frustrates what he sets out to do. This is to stimulate his ambition, strengthen his character, and increase his capacity for doing what he could not do before. Mencius
A. Cope as best you can with arduous circumstances. The Work is more important than you are.
B. A selfless struggle ("Self-sacrifice").
Line 5
Legge: The fifth line, dynamic, shows its subject struggling with the greatest difficulties, while friends are coming to help him.
Wilhelm/Baynes: In the midst of the greatest obstructions, friends come.
Blofeld: In the midst of severe trouble, friends (or a friend) arrive.
Liu: One meets great obstruction. Friends come. [You can expect help in your undertakings and good fortune in everything.]
Ritsema/Karcher: The great Limping, partnering coming.
Shaughnessy: Greatly afoot, the friend comes.
Cleary (1): Great trouble; a companion comes.
Cleary (2): In great trouble, companions come.
Wu: There is great difficulty. Friends will come.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: He is in the central position and possesses the requisite virtue. Wilhelm/Baynes: For they are ruled by the central position. Blofeld: This is indicated by the line's central position in the upper trigram. Ritsema/ Karcher: Using centering articulating indeed. Cleary (2): Because of balance and moderation. Wu: The difficulty will be assuaged around the center.
Legge: Line five is the king, the man great and strong. He can cope with the difficulties, and his "friends" are his correlate line two and the other two lines of the lower trigram who also give their help.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man meets the obstruction head-on in an emergency. His spirit attracts able helpers.
Wing: Even in the most desperate struggles, your spirit alone will attract others. This co-operation will bring you success in your endeavors. Obstacles will give way.
Editor: The image suggests an impasse about to be resolved by forces currently outside your sphere of awareness.
I was living in a constant state of tension; often I felt as if gigantic blocks of stone were tumbling down upon me. One thunderstorm followed another. My enduring these storms was a question of brute strength. Others have been shattered by them -- Nietzsche, and Holderlin, and many others. But there was a demonic strength in me, and from the beginning there was no doubt in my mind that I must find the meaning of what I was experiencing in these fantasies. When I endured these assaults of the unconscious I had an unswerving conviction that I was obeying a higher will, and that feeling continued to uphold me until I had mastered the task. Jung -- Memories, Dreams, Reflections
A. Forces for integration are on the threshold of awareness.
Line 6
Legge: The sixth line, magnetic, shows its subject going forward, only to increase the difficulties, while her remaining stationary will be productive of great merit. There will be good fortune, and it will be advantageous to meet with the great man.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Going leads to obstructions, coming leads to great good fortune. It furthers one to see the great man.
Blofeld: To proceed would lead to trouble; coming will produce excellent results. It is advisable to see a great man. [We should seek advice from someone of lofty moral stature and profound wisdom.]
Liu: Going leads to obstruction. Coming brings great events. Good fortune. It is beneficial to see a great man.
Shaughnessy: Going afoot, coming with swelled head; auspicious; beneficial to see a great man.
Cleary (1): Going is trouble, coming is great. For good results, it is beneficial to see a great person.
Wu: Going forth is difficult; coming back is great. Good fortune. It will be advantageous to see the great man.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Her aim is to assist the subject of the line inside of her. By
her course she follows that noble Lord of the figure. Wilhelm/Baynes: For the will is directed to inner things. For thus does one follow a man of rank. Blofeld: The first sentence points to directing the will inwards. The other sentence is an injunction to submit ourselves to someone truly noble. Ritsema/Karcher: Purpose located inside indeed. Using adhering-to valuing indeed. Cleary (2): The aim is within. By following what is valuable. Wu: His goals are directed inward. He can get his advices from the highly placed.
Legge: The action of the hexagram is over -- where can the magnetic sixth line go? Let her abide where she is, and serve the great man immediately below her. So shall she also be great -- in meritorious action at least. "The line inside of her" refers to the ruler in line five.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man cannot go forward. He needs to remain where he is and serve the great man in order to achieve meritorious deeds.
Wing: Although it seems that you may ignore the turmoil around you and proceed with your own affairs, you will not be able to do so. You will inexorably be drawn into the struggle. Look to the paths of the wise for guidance in this matter. This brings good fortune to all concerned.
Editor: The third and sixth lines are proper correlates and very similar in content. Wilhelm comments that the magnetic line six and its dynamic correlate in line three unite to support the dynamic fifth line ruler ("that noble Lord of the figure"). Legge's commentary misses this subtle distinction. The psychological message is to conjoin your thoughts and feelings and re-attune yourself to the principles of the Work. To assist the ruler "inside of us," or direct the will to "inner things," is to serve the intent of the Self -- a repetition of the counsel in the Judgment to "see the great man."
The wisdom of the "unconscious" stratum is not only different from but in certain respects even superior to our ego consciousness. While the conscious ego is normally unfamiliar and unaware of this hidden stratum, the unconscious objective psyche is evidently aware of the ego, its intentions and activities. We have learned through our work with dreams that the "unconscious" is also aware of facts and connections beyond the ego’s scope and capacity to tap, and which are relevant to the past, present and future. E. C. Whitmont -- The Alchemy of Healing
A. Forces abdicate their autonomy to break an impasse by serving a greater good.
B. The work is taking place on inner planes -- cease your activity and allow the changes to fulfill themselves.
C. “Don’t go there.” Seek inner guidance -- by focusing on the Self and the principles of the Work, one attains success.
D. Nothing external can be accomplished. Instead, venture inward and work on your attitudes, beliefs or expectations.
Other titles: Work On What Has Been Spoiled, The Symbol of Destruction, Decay, Arresting of Decay, Work after Spoiling, Fixing, Rectifying, Corrupting, Branch, Degeneration, Misdeeds "Can refer to heredity and psychological traits.” -- D. F. Hook
Judgment
Legge: Successful progress is indicated for those who properly repair what has been spoiled. It is advantageous to cross the great stream. One should consider carefully the events three days before the turning point and the tasks remaining for three days afterward.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Work On What Has Been Spoiled has supreme success. It furthers one to cross the great water. Before the starting point, three days. After the starting point, three days.
Blofeld:Decay augurs sublime success and the advantage of crossing the great river (or sea). [I.e. of going on a journey or of going forward with one's plans.] What has happened once will surely happen again (literally, "three days before the commencement; three days after the commencement"). [It would have been hard to make sense of these words, were it not that the Confucian Commentary on the Text clearly explains them; hence the liberty I have taken with the Text.]
Liu: Work after spoiling. Great success. It is of benefit to cross the great water. Before starting, three days. After starting, three days. [This hexagram implies that, although conditions are bad now, improvement can be expected.]
Ritsema/Karcher: Corrupting, Spring Growing. Harvesting: wading the Great River. Before seedburst three days, after seedburst three days. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of disorder, perversion and putrefaction. It emphasizes that letting things rot away so they become obsolete is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy: Branch: Prime auspiciousness; receipt. Beneficial to ford the great river; preceding jia by three days, following jia by three days.
Cleary (1): Correcting degeneration is greatly developmental. It is beneficial to cross great rivers. Three days before the start, three days after the start. [The way to correct degeneracy is not in empty tranquility without action; it is necessary to work in the midst of great danger and difficulty, to act in the dragon’s pool and the tiger’s lair. Only then can one restore one’s original being, cultivating it into something indestructible.]
Cleary (2): From degeneration comes great development, etc.
Wu: Misdeeds is great and pervasive. It will be advantageous to cross the big river. It would be advisable to begin an undertaking three days before Jia and examine the ongoing progress three days thereafter.
The Image
Legge: The image of wind below the mountain forms Repair. The superior man, in accordance with this, stimulates the virtue of the people.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The wind blows low on the mountain: the image of Decay. Thus the superior man stirs up the people and strengthens their spirit.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes wind blowing at the foot of a mountain. The Superior Man, by stimulating people's hearts, nourishes their virtue.
Liu: Wind blowing around the foot of the mountain symbolizes Work after Spoiling. The superior man encourages people to cultivate virtue.
Ritsema/Karcher: Below mountain possessing wind. Corrupting. A chun tzu uses rousing the commoners to nurture actualizing-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): There is wind in the mountains; degeneration. Thus superior people rouse the people and nurture virtue.
Cleary (2): … Leaders thus arouse the people to nurture virtue.
Wu: There is wind at the foot of the mountain; this is Misdeeds. Thus the jun zi arouses the people and nurtures his own virtue.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The dynamic trigram is above, and the magnetic trigram is below. Pliancy is below, and Stopping above: these suggest troubled conditions verging on ruin. But Repair brings order to all under heaven, and he who advances will encounter the business to be done. The end of confusion is the beginning of order; such is the procedure of heaven.
Legge: Repair means the performance of painful but necessary duties. It shows a situation in which things are going to ruin, as if through poison or venomous worms. In order to justify the auspice of progress and success, the duty of the figure is to rectify this and restore conditions to health. This will require a major effort, such as crossing the great stream, and the careful differentiation of the causes of the problem, as well as the measures taken to fix it. The attribute of the lower trigram is Pliancy, and the upper represents Stoppage or Arrest. Hence, the feeble pliancy of decadence is stopped cold by the immovable mountain. The three days before and after the turning point symbolize the careful attention and differentiation necessary for any rectification to succeed.
On the Image, Ch'eng-tzu says: "When the wind encounters the mountain, it is driven back, and the things about are all scattered in disorder; such is the emblem of the state denoted by Repair." The nourishing of virtue appears especially in line six -- all the other lines belong to the helping of the people.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment:Repair means to set your house in order. Analyze your choices before the renovation and evaluate their consequences afterward.
The Superior Man orders his thoughts and feelings, reforms old attitudes, and strengthens his will. (Psychologically, to "stimulate the virtue of the people" (Legge) is to rectify the components of a complex.)
To imagine any truly objective state of perception we must include all that exists: the entire cosmos. Each differentiation of this, from atom to galaxy, is one slice out of an infinite whole. As a portion of the entirety, we are always linked with our ancestors in an infinite web of relationships which includes our family history, our racial-cultural-historical heritage and Homo sapiens as a species. Though seldom aware of them, it is useful to remember these links. Emanating from an unfathomable complexity, their karmically-charged morphogenetic fields are constantly shaping our lives. It follows that, although we perceive ourselves as separate from our ancestors, the separation is a subjective experience which is true only in a temporally limited sense.
Every line of Repair, except two and six, shows a son dealing with the troubles caused by his father. This reminds us of the biblical curse:
For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. Exodus 20: 5
The father archetype has a wide range of meanings: this extends from the Primal Spirit ("God the Father"), to a prior cause or intent in the psyche which has engendered a present condition. Psychologically interpreted, it is this latter reading which usually applies. If a "father" symbolizes the cause, then a "son" is the effect. If the effect is imperfect, then to rectify it is also to rectify the original intent.
To a large extent our lives consist of well-intentioned but misguided choices which create less than perfect consequences. To modify our attitude or behavior so that it corrects errors in our original intent is to "deal with the troubles caused by the father."
For example: In a misconceived expression of affection, a parent allows his child unrestricted access to candy. As a consequence of this choice, the kid's teeth become rotten, and the only logical way to correct the original error is to now curtail his intake of sugar. The fact that this new choice will create stress in the relationship between parent and child is just a consequence of the original choice and has no bearing at all on what is correct in the situation.
In some situations this hexagram may be interpreted as a response to a karmic chain of cause and effect:
To harmonize with the Wisdom Teachings, the scripture should read that the karma of the "father" is visited upon the "child" unto the fourth incarnation, not generation. The mistakes you made in the last four incarnations may be visited upon you in the form of karma flowing out of the heart seed atom in the present incarnation. Thus what you "fathered," or created, in your last incarnation may be the source ("parent") of your karma today. You are a child of that parent today. You have inherited from that parent -- the you of the past, not your physical parents -- all of your characteristics, weaknesses and strengths. Earlyne Chaney -- The Mystery of Death and Dying
The interpretation of any oracle response can only be as profound as our minds are prepared to accept. As moderns we find it difficult to empathize with "ancestor worship," yet properly understood, it can provide useful insights into the Work. In the unconscious realm all time is immediate, not sequential, and the Objective Psyche consists of a non- temporal web of forces shading from personal to universal. This means that if we have a complex engendered in us by our father, for example, we can reasonably assume that he was passing on what he received from his own parents. In this way, the unresolved complexes of the ancestors shape our own personalities: they live in and through us right now, even if they had their birth in forefathers long forgotten. This is a kind of near-immortality: individuals may die, but beliefs, attitudes, complexes live as long as they have receptive vessels to inhabit. (This is probably the engine of karma.) To the extent that an ancestral chain of causality still motivates our choices, we are totally responsible for "setting right what has been spoiled by the father."
SUGGESTIONS FOR MEDITATION
Most people have some level of unfinished business with their parents: psychologists would have little to do if this weren't true. It can be a healing ritual to set up an altar to a deceased parent and meditate there on the stresses that still remain between you. To approach the situation without judgment, to realize (non-logically) that forces pre-existing you provoked the condition as much as your parent did, will elicit much insight. Be especially aware of the presence of the past and the illusion of linear time. (Is it possible somehow to be your own great-grandfather?) Ancestor “worship” of this sort can be profoundly therapeutic.