Open paths bring growth, and with courage through challenges, your true strength flows like water.
From
42
Increase
To
29
Danger
Undoing an ancient law
One revokes an agreement that no longer has any reason to be. taoscopy.com
Increase42
Growth and progress: Favorable conditions and efforts lead to increase and success. Be generous, share your gains, and stay humble.
↓ Line 1
The beginning of Increase is a time of great potential. Taking initiative leads to success.
↓ Line 2
Support from others and perseverance lead to great success and recognition.
↓ Line 6
Lack of generosity and inconsistency lead to misfortune and conflict.
↓ Danger29
Face repeated challenges with courage and determination. Embrace setbacks as opportunities to build resilience. Stay true to your principles to navigate through difficulties.
Other titles: The Symbol of Addition, Gain, Augmenting, Help from Above, Benefit, Advantage, Profit, Expansion
Judgment
Legge: Increase denotes advantage in every movement which shall be undertaken -- it will be advantageous even to cross the great stream.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Increase. It furthers one to undertake something. It furthers one to cross the great water.
Blofeld: Gain. It is favorable to have in view some goal (or destination) and to cross the great water (or sea).
Liu:Increase. It is of benefit to set forth. It is of benefit to cross the great water.
Ritsema/Karcher: Augmenting , Harvesting: possessing directed going. Harvesting: wading the Great River. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of increase and advance. It emphasizes that expanding the quantity and quality of your involvement is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told to augment!]
Shaughnessy:Increase:Beneficial herewith to have someplace to go; beneficial to find the great river.
Cleary (1): For Increase, it is beneficial to go somewhere; it is beneficial to cross great rivers.
Wu: Gain indicates an advantage in having undertakings and in crossing a big river.
The Image
Legge: Wind over thunder -- the image of Increase. When the superior man perceives good, he moves toward it; when he perceives his faults, he eliminates them.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Wind and thunder: the image of Increase. Thus the superior man: if he sees good, he imitates it; if he has faults, he rids himself of them.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes wind and thunder. The Superior Man, seeing what is good, imitates it; seeing what is bad, he corrects it.
Liu: Wind and thunder symbolize Increase. When the superior man discovers good, he follows it. When he has errors, he corrects them.
Ritsema/Karcher: Wind, thunder. Augmenting. A chun tzu uses visualizing improvement, by-consequence shifting. A chun tzu uses possessing excess, by-consequence amending.
Cleary (1): Wind and thunder increase. Thus do superior people take to good when they see it, and correct whatever faults they have.
Wu: Wind and thunder make Gain. Thus, when the jun zi sees a good deed, he improves his own at once; when he realizes he is making a mistake, he corrects it at once.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Increase shows the upper trigram brilliantly decreased to augment the lower. What descends from above reaches to all below, and the satisfaction of the people is without limit. Advantage in movement is shown in the blessings dispensed by the second and fifth lines from their correct positions. The action of Wood shows that it is advantageous to cross the great stream. Through the trigrams of Movement and Humility there is unlimited daily advancement -- heaven dispenses and earth produces, and all proceeds according to the requirements of the time.
Legge: Increase has the opposite meaning to hexagram number forty-one, Compensating Sacrifice [Decrease]. What king Wen had in mind was a ruler or a government operating to dispense benefits to the people and increase their resources. The two important lines in the figure are the correlates two and five. The general auspice of the hexagram is one of being successful in one's enterprises and of overcoming the greatest difficulties.
The formation of the trigrams here is the reverse of that in the preceding hexagram. The people are full of pleasure in the labors of the ruler for their good. "The action of Wood" in the Confucian commentary refers to the upper trigram, which is the symbol of Wind and Wood. From wood boats are made on which the great stream may be crossed. In three hexagrams, this, fifty-nine and sixty-one, in which this is the upper trigram, we find mention made of crossing the great stream. In the Image thunder and wind are seen to increase one another, and their combination gives the idea of Increase.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Take advantage of your opportunities.
The Superior Man recognizes his duty and rectifies his mistakes. Or: "Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative."
If the ego's sacrifices for the good of the Work are described in the previous hexagram, here we see the inverse image of that figure in which it is the Self who bestows its blessings upon the psyche. The one implies the other -- in the words of an old Blues lyric: "If you don't put somethin' in, you can't get nothin' out..." The forty-first and forty-second hexagrams are intimately related, and in their interaction portray the active progress of the Work. To paraphrase the last sentence of the Confucian commentary: "The Self dispenses and the ego produces, and all proceeds according to the requirements of the time."
If a man continually weighs his actions and aims at the mean, he is in the highest of human ranks. In that way, he will come close to God and will attain what belongs to Him. This is the most perfect of the ways of worship. Maimonides -- Eight Chapters
Line 1
Legge: The first line, dynamic, shows that it will be advantageous for its subject in his position to make a great movement. If it be greatly fortunate, no blame will be imputed to him.
Wilhelm/Baynes: It furthers one to accomplish great deeds. Supreme good fortune. No blame.
Blofeld: The time is favorable for undertaking great works -- sublime good fortune and no error!
Liu: It is beneficial to undertake a great enterprise. Sublime good fortune. No blame.
Ritsema/Karcher: Harvesting: availing-of activating the great, arousing. Spring significant, without fault.
Shaughnessy: Beneficial herewith to do the great creation; prime auspiciousness; there is no trouble.
Cleary (1): It is beneficial to act so as to do great work: this is very auspicious and blameless.
Cleary (2): It is beneficial to undertake to do great work. If it turns out very well, there is no blame.
Wu: It is beneficial to do farming. There is great fortune, no error.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Though it is not for one in so low a position to have to do with great affairs. Wilhelm/Baynes: Those below do not use it for their own convenience. Blofeld: What is said about sublime good fortune and freedom from error means that those below do not complain of having too much to do. [This suggests that others will now work for us gladly.]Ritsema/Karcher: The below, not munificent affairs indeed. Cleary (2): It is not for those in low positions to be deeply concerned with affairs. Wu: A person in this position is not suitable to do a delicate task.
Legge: Line one is dynamic, but his low position might seem to prevent him from any great enterprise. Favored as he is, however, by the general idea of the hexagram, and responding to his proper correlate in the fourth line, it is natural that he should make a movement. Great success will make his rashness irrelevant. The Confucian commentary says that "one in a low position should not move in great affairs" -- not a son, it is said, while his father is alive, nor a minister while his ruler governs, nor a member of an official department while its head directs its affairs. If such a one does initiate such an affair, only great success will excuse his rashness.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: At the outset, the man receives help from on high. He should use it to accomplish something correspondingly worthwhile. Success will cause his rashness to be forgotten.
Wing: You are blessed with the energy to approach a large task, which at any other time you may have avoided or not even considered. Success is yours if your goal is worthwhile and can Benefit others. Consider this carefully. In this way your reputation will remain above reproach.
Editor: Despite the confusing Confucian commentary, this is one of the very few lines in the entire Book of Changes that counsels unconstrained movement. Psychologically interpreted, action taken in the matter at hand will be in accordance with the will of the Self.
One must seek out what one's True Will is, and do it -- irrespective of whether it is convenient or not. Once one’s true will is found, to implement it will require change, and change is always painful -- or always appears so. Gareth Knight -- Qabalistic Symbolism
A. Decisive action may be taken now.
B. Archetypal forces ("those below") cooperate with the ego to effect positive action.
C. "Go for it!"
Line 2
Legge: The second line, magnetic, shows parties adding to the stores of its subject ten pairs of tortoise shells whose oracles cannot be opposed. Let her persevere in being firm and correct, and there will be good fortune. Let the ruler, having the virtues thus distinguished, employ them in presenting her offerings to God, and there will be good fortune.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Someone does indeed increase him; Ten pairs of tortoises cannot oppose it. Constant perseverance brings good fortune. The king presents him before God. Good fortune.
Blofeld: There was one who enriched him to the extent of ten PENG or tortoise shells (2,100 of them) and who would accept no refusal -- unwavering persistence in a righteous course brings good fortune! The King sacrificed to the Supreme Lord of Heaven [From the point of view of divination, this can be taken to mean that we are about to benefit either from our earlier devotions or from some sacrifice either to moral principles or to the public good.] -- good fortune!
Liu: Someone enriches him with twenty tortoises. He cannot refuse. Perpetual continuance brings good fortune. The king makes a presentation to God. Good fortune.
Ritsema/Karcher: Maybe Augmenting's ten: partnering's tortoise. Nowhere a controlling contradiction. Perpetual Trial significant. Kinghood availing-of presenting tending- towards the supreme, significant.
Shaughnessy: Someone increases it by ten double-strands of turtles; you cannot deflect it; permanent determination is auspicious. The king uses aromatic grass to Di; auspicious.
Cleary (1): One gains ten sets of tortoise shells, and none can oppose. Perpetual correctness is auspicious. It is good for the king to serve the lord.
Cleary (2): … It bodes well to be always correct. It bodes well for the king to make offerings to God.
Wu: He may be presented with ten pairs of tortoise shells and may not decline the gift. Being constantly persevering is auspicious. The king makes offerings to the Supreme Being in heaven. Auspicious.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: ("Parties add to her stores") -- they come from beyond her immediate circle to do so. Wilhelm/Baynes: This comes from without. Blofeld: The one who enriched him came from elsewhere. Ritsema/ Karcher: Originating-from outside, coming indeed. Cleary (2): What one is given comes from outside. Wu: Because it comes from without.
Legge: Compare this line with line five of hexagram number forty-one, Compensating Sacrifice. Line two is magnetic, but in the center, and is the correlate of line five. Friends give her the valuable gifts mentioned. "That is," says Kuo Yung (Sung Dynasty) "men benefit her. The oracles of the divination (i.e., the favorable spirits) benefit her also. And finally, when the ruler sacrifices to God, God accepts. Heaven confers benefit from above." Line five, as the proper correlate here, is among the contributing parties, but others beyond will be won to take part with him.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The ensuing gains issue naturally from the inner goodness of the man, who is in harmony with the highest laws of the universe.
Wing: Because you are receptive to worthwhile aims and energies, you are successful in your endeavors. You may think of it as exceptionally good luck. You can maintain the momentum of this fortunate time if you preserve the normal structure of your life. Do not become rash or overly confident.
Editor: If we reverse this hexagram it becomes number forty- one, Compensating Sacrifice,and this line (now "upside down") becomes line five of that figure, with a meaning nearly identical to this one. (See the commentary on 41:5 for the significance of the tortoise shells.) It is also interesting to note that in each case the changing line (either 42:2 or 41:5) changes its respective hexagram to number sixty-one, Inner Truth. Kuo Yung's mention of "favorable spirits" bringing increases to the recipient of this line is reminiscent of the legions of angels said to appear at the birth or inception of a new and positive force into spacetime:
And suddenly with the angel there was a great throng of the heavenly host, praising God and singing: "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace to men who enjoy his favor." Luke 2: 13-14
A. Extraordinary benefits accrue from outside your immediate awareness. The Work bears fruit if you maintain your will and devotion.
Line 6
Legge: The sixth line, dynamic, shows us one to whose increase none will contribute, while many will seek to assail him. He observes no regular rule in the ordering of his heart. There will be evil.
Wilhelm/Baynes: He brings increase to no one. Indeed, someone even strikes him. He does not keep his heart constantly steady. Misfortune.
Blofeld: He did not attempt to benefit them and someone struck him for his inconstancy of heart -- misfortune!
Liu: He benefits no one. Someone will attack him. His mind is not consistent. Misfortune.
Ritsema/Karcher: Absolutely-no Augmenting it. Maybe smiting it. Establishing the heart, no persevering. Pitfall.
Shaughnessy: No one increases it, someone hits it; establishing the heart but not making it constant; inauspicious.
Cleary (1): Don’t increase here, or you may be attacked. If determination is inconsistent, that brings misfortune.
Cleary (2): None benefit one here; they may attack one. Do not persist in this attitude, for that would lead to misfortune.
Wu: People do not add to his coffer. They may even assail him. He sets no consistent course of action. Foreboding.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: To his increase none will contribute -- this expresses but half the result. They will come from beyond his immediate circle to assail him. Wilhelm/Baynes: This is a saying that pictures one-sidedness. This comes from without. Blofeld: He not benefiting them indicates prejudice: his being struck presages that we incur the wrath of people outside our own circle. Ritsema/Karcher: One-sided evidence indeed. Originating-from outside, coming indeed. Cleary (2):“None benefit one here” expresses partiality; “They may attack one” refers to what comes from without. Wu:“People do not add to his coffer.” This is a one-sided statement. “They may even assail him,” because he alienates them.
The Master said:"The superior man in a high place composes himself before he tries to move others; makes his mind restful and easy before he speaks; settles the principles of his intercourse with others before he seeks anything from them. The superior man cultivates these three things, and so is complete. If he tries to move others while he is himself in a state of apprehension, the people will not respond to him; if without certain principles of intercommunication, he issues his requests, the people will not grant them. When there are none to accord with him, those who work to injure him will make their appearance. As is said in the I Ching, `We see one to whose advantage none will contribute, while some will seek to assail him. He observes no regular rule in the ordering of his heart: there will be evil.'"
Legge: Line six is dynamic, but it should be magnetic. At the top of the figure he will only concentrate his powers for his own advantage, and not think of benefiting those below him. The repulsive power of selfishness is exhibited, and the consequences will be as described. Contrast this with line two where the attractive power of benevolence is shown: in both cases forces come from "beyond" to do either benefit or harm.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man in a high position fails to bring benefits to those below. They, in turn, assail his reputation and do not support him. He does not think before speaking and does not decide the principles that govern his relationships before he sets forth.
Wing: While you seem to have the means to Benefit others, you actually do not. This is not in accord with the demands of the time. You will lose your position of influence and become open to attack. This is unfortunate indeed.
Editor: Wilhelm renders Legge's "half the result" in the first sentence of the Confucian commentary as "one-sidedness" -- an image more expressive of the idea of selfishness. To "observe no regular rule in the ordering of the heart” suggests inconstancy and vacillation. Perhaps selfish motives have overwhelmed the ego's devotion to the Work. Selfishness is an imbalanced state where energy is appropriated by a part at the expense of the whole. Negative results are inevitable because the forces involved must seek equilibrium, and the stress of the imbalance is released in a violent reaction.
Emotion is not an activity of the ego but, when uncontrolled, is something that happens to it. Affects occur usually where adaptation is weakest, and at the same time they reveal the reason for its weakness, namely a certain degree of inferiority and the existence of a lower level of personality. On this lower level with its uncontrolled or scarcely controlled emotions one behaves more or less like a primitive, who is not only the passive victim of his affects but also singularly incapable of moral judgment. Jung -- Aion
A. Vacillation of will invites rebellion of unconscious forces.
B. A warped sense of priorities leaves the Work vulnerable to a setback.
C. Self-centeredness invites defensive or hostile responses.
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