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 3
Legge: The third line, dynamic, shows its subject advancing, but only to greater difficulties. He remains stationary, and returns to his former associates.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Going leads to obstructions, hence he comes back.
Blofeld: To proceed would lead to trouble; therefore turn back!
Liu: Going leads to obstruction. Therefore he returns. He will be happy. [Caution will prevent loss or injury.]
Ritsema/Karcher: Going Limping, coming reversing.
Shaughnessy: Going afoot, coming in return.
Cleary (1): Going leads to trouble. Come back.
Wu: Going forth is difficult; coming back is the opposite.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: His associates, represented by the lower trigram, rejoice
in him. Wilhelm/Baynes: Those within rejoice over it. Blofeld: This passage presages happiness for the women of the family (literally, happiness for those within). [This could also be translated "internal happiness," but I think the above rendering is what the author meant.] Ritsema/Karcher: Inside rejoicing-in-it indeed. Cleary (2): Those inside will rejoice at this. Wu: Because he will be greeted from inside.
Legge: Line three is dynamic, and in a place of strength, but his correlate sixth line is magnetic, so that his advance would not be supported. He waits therefore for a better time, and nurtures the two lines below, who naturally cling to him. On line three, K'ung Ying-ta says: "Of the three lines of the lower trigram only the third is yang, above the two others who are of the yin nature. They cling to him, and are represented as rejoicing."
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: Under certain circumstances, however, it is the duty of the man to refrain from dealing with obstructions. Should the father, for example, fail to return from his reckless venture, the dependents entrusted to his care may not survive.
Wing: If you abandon your present concerns in order to struggle with an external obstacle, you are in danger of jeopardizing the security of those close to you and, perhaps, undermining the structure of your life. It would be a good idea to return to your center and reconsider your plan.
Editor: This line changes the hexagram to number eight, Holding Together, the corresponding line of which states: "We see its subject seeking for union with such as ought not to be associated with." This reinforces the idea in the present case of returning from a dangerous position. There seems to be very little difference between lines one and three -- as in the former, the psychological correlations of "going" and "coming" with "analysis" (differentiation), and "synthesis" (union), are sometimes useful.
Much that I sought, I could not find;
Much that I found, I could not bind;
Much that I bound, I could not free;
Much that I freed returned to me.
-- L.W. Dodd
A. Avoid adversity by returning to a former alliance, attitude or discipline.
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: Dispersion, Dissolution, Disintegration, Dispersal, Overcoming Dissension, Scattering,Dispersing, Unintegrated, Reuniting, Evaporation, Reorganization, New Deal, Re-Shuffle, Course Correction, Catharsis
Judgment
Legge: Expansion intimates that there will be progress and success. The king goes to his ancestral temple. It will be advantageous to cross the great stream. It will be advantageous to be firm and correct.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Dispersion. Success. The king approaches his temple. It furthers one to cross the great water. Perseverance furthers.
Blofeld:Scattering -- success! The King has approached his temple. [An omen of safety.] It is advantageous to cross the great river (or sea). [I.e., to go on a long journey.] Persistence in a righteous course brings reward.
Liu: Dispersion. Success. The king approaches the temple. It is of benefit to cross the great water. It benefits to continue.
Ritsema/Karcher: Dispersing , Growing. The king imagines possessing a temple. Harvesting: wading the Great River. Harvesting Trial. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of confronting obstacles, illusions and misunderstandings. It emphasizes that clearing away what is blocking the light is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told to: disperse what obstructs awareness!]
Shaughnessy: Dispersal: Receipt; the king approaches into the temple; beneficial to ford the great river; beneficial to determine.
Cleary (1): In Dispersal there is development. The king comes to have a shrine. It is beneficial to cross great rivers . It is beneficial to be correct.
Cleary (2):Dispersal is successful. The king goes to his ancestral temple. The benefit crosses great rivers. It is beneficial if correct.
Wu: Dispersion indicates pervasiveness. The king does homage to his ancestral temple. It will be advantageous to cross the big river, but only with perseverance.
The Image
Legge: The image of wind moving over water forms Expansion. The ancient kings, in accordance with this, presented offerings to God and established the ancestral temple.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The wind drives over the water: the image of Dispersion. Thus the kings of old sacrificed to the Lord and built temples.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes wind blowing across the face of the waters. The kings of old built temples in which to sacrifice to the Supreme Lord of Heaven. [A temple is a place of safety from the ills of the world. The symbolism here is that the upper trigram forms a temple in which people are safe from the pit (the lower trigram); its middle line (five) signifies the King. The implication is that we should employ spiritual or moral means to preserve ourselves from the danger threatened by the lower trigram.]
Liu: Wind blowing over water symbolizes Dispersion. The ancient kings offered sacrifices to the Deity, then built temples.
Ritsema/Karcher: Wind moves above stream. Dispersing. The Earlier Kings used presenting tending-towards the supreme to establish the temples.
Cleary (1): Wind blows above water, Unintegrated. Thus ancient kings honored god and set up shrines.
Cleary (2): Wind travels over the water, dispersing. Ancient kings honored God and set up shrines.
Wu: The wind moves above water; this is Dispersion. Thus, the ancient kings made offerings to the Supreme Being and consecrated their ancestral temple.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The dynamic line is central in the lower trigram, and the magnetic fourth line is correct in the upper trigram, uniting with the dynamic ruler above her. The king's mind is without any deflection as he goes to his ancestral temple. He rides over water in a vessel of wood, and will cross the great stream with success.
Legge: The hexagram of Expansion denotes a state of dissipation or dispersion. It shows men's minds alienated from correctness and sure to go on to disorder. Here an attempt is made to show how the situation should be remedied.
The lower trigram represents Water, and the upper, Wind. Wind moving over water evaporates it, and suggests the idea of dispersion. Success is intimated because there are dynamic lines occupying the central places in the trigrams. The king's piety moves the spirits by its sincerity -- when the religious spirit rules men's minds, there will be no alienation from what is right and good. Under such conditions even hazardous enterprises may be undertaken.
The second sentence of the Confucian commentary literally begins: "The king is indeed in the middle..." This means that his heart and mind are set on the central truth of what is right and good. The ancestral temple signifies the recognition that sincere religious practices counteracted the tendency to mutual alienation and selfishness among men. The wooden vessel refers to one of the attributes of the upper trigram, which is Wood. It suggests a boat riding on water (the lower trigram), hence: crossing the great water.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Focus on the ideals of the Work and maintain your will. A major synthesis is possible.
The Superior Man subdues his ego to attain his latent potential.
Because of the intimate relationship between this figure and hexagram number 45, Contraction, I have chosen the title of Expansionto best emphasize their polarity.
The "ancient kings and sages" are more mythical than historical, so we can assume that they symbolize archetypal forces ("gods") within the psyche -- of whom the ego is only the current spacetime representative (i.e., servant- facilitator). The Self is the focal point, the center of this multidimensional awareness complex.
In both timeless and spaceless experiences, the mundane world is virtually excluded. Of course, the converse is true of the mundane state of daily routine, in which the oceanic unity with the universe, in ecstasy and Samadhi, is virtually absent. Thus, the mutual exclusiveness of the "normal" and the exalted states, both ecstasy and Samadhi, allows us to postulate that man, the self- referential system, exists on two levels: as "Self" in the mental dimension of exalted states; and as "I" in the objective world, where he is able and willing to change the physical dimension "out there.” R. Fischer -- "A Cartography of the Ecstatic and Meditative States," Science:174, 1971
The symbol of a temple, where one worships one's ancestors may be taken as the perfect gestalt of the Work as it exists outside of spacetime, as well as the karmic repository of all previous incarnations. It represents both the completed Work and the Work in progress. That the family temple was regarded in China as symbolic of an ideal standard of perfection such as this, is implied in the following passage:
Diplomatic negotiations were carried on in the ancestral temple, in the veritable presence, it was believed, of the ancestors; diplomatic banquets were given there, also. Even a proposal of marriage was received by the father of the prospective bride in his ancestral temple, in the presence of the spirits ... (The world of Confucius), we must remember, was one in which there was a nearly complete breakdown of moral standards ... Only in the performance of religious ceremonies could there still be found, consistently, a type of conduct regulated by a socially accepted norm of behavior, in which men's actions were motivated by a pattern of cooperative action, rather than swayed by the greed and passions of the moment. H.G. Creel -- Confucius and the Chinese Way
Psychologically, Expansion depicts a state of inner pressure capable of fruitful resolution if it can be properly guided. The king in the Image (in this case, the ego) sacrifices for a high ideal: the good of the Work. Legge's commentary tells us that the "second sentence of the Confucian commentary literally begins: `The king is indeed in the middle...'" This suggests a combination of his second and third sentences into the paraphrase: "The king steers a middle course when crossing the water to the ancestral temple." This gives the image of a vessel and the proper way to guide it toward a destination. Anyone who has ever steered a boat with a rudder knows that to over-correct on either side is a mark of poor seamanship: the goal is to maintain a dynamic balance in our guidance of the Work. Lines two and five represent proper course-correction because they are both in the middle of their respective trigrams.
Expansionis the inverse of the following hexagram of Restrictive Regulations. What is there confined and hoarded is here dispensed -- but this dispensation must conform with the ultimate good of the Work. Not just any release of tension will do -- it must recombine itself into a new and better organization, as imaged in the fourth line. If this new order is a proper one, the released tension precipitates a catharsis, as imaged in line five.
The form, then, in which our complexes confront us is the form in which the fundamental materials of our human structure come into our here-and-now existence. Like crystals they are always imperfect to some extent and often unrecognizable or grossly disfigured in comparison with the “ideal” shape, the shape that would represent the “pure” incorporation of the crystal scheme. But we have to meet them in this more or less imperfect or distorted form and out of this form we have to transform them into something that may be more akin to the aboriginal “intent” inherent in their archetypal cores. This undertaking, this process, is what Jung calls individuation. E.C. Whitmont -- The Symbolic Quest
SUGGESTIONS FOR MEDITATION
The Judgment of hexagram number forty-five, Contraction, also mentions the king going to his ancestral temple. A close comparison of this figure with Expansion will reveal much about the dynamics of the Work.