Begin with courage, persevere with clarity, and illuminate your path forward.
From
64
Before Completion
To
30
Clarity
One pulls the rope to gain more ground. taoscopy.com
Before Completion64
Completing a task doesn’t guarantee rest. Remain vigilant, attentive to evolving situations, ready to adapt and act as needed.
↓ Line 1
At the beginning of an undertaking, one must be cautious. Impulsiveness leads to mistakes and embarrassment.
↓ Line 2
Restraint and careful planning are necessary. By holding back, one ensures success.
↓ Line 3
Premature action leads to failure. However, with preparation, one can overcome great challenges.
↓ Clarity30
Clarity and adaptability. Embrace the light to illuminate your path. Recognize patterns in life, align with them, and nurture personal growth.
Other titles: Before Completion, The Symbol of What is not yet Past, Not-yet Fording, Not Yet Completed, Tasks yet to be Completed, Not yet, Yet to be, Before the End, Mission yet Unaccomplished, A State of Transition
Judgment
Legge: Unfinished Business suggests successful progress, butif the young fox that has nearly crossed the stream gets his tail wet, there will be no advantage.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Before Completion. Success. But if the little fox, after nearly completing the crossing, gets his tail in the water, there is nothing that would further.
Blofeld: Before Completion -- success! Before the little fox has quite completed its crossing of the ice, its tail gets wet. [This implies that we are to expect a setback in our plans.] No goal (or destination) is favorable now. [Hence this is a time for waiting and for drawing in our horns. That the LAST of the sixty-four hexagrams should be Before Completion rather than After Completion (#63) may seem surprising until it is recalled that there is nothing final about it; the cycle of change continues, passing from hexagram #64 onto the first hexagram, and so on eternally.]
Liu: Before Completion. Success. A young fox almost across wets his tail in the water. Nothing benefits.
Ritsema/Karcher: Not-yet Fording, Growing. The small fox, a muddy Ford. Soaking one's tail: without direction: Harvesting. (Without direction: Harvesting, WU YU Li: no plan or direction is advantageous; in order to take advantage of the situation, do not impose a direction on events.) [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of being on the edge of an important change of situation. It emphasizes that waiting and accumulating energy to begin the upcoming move is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy:Not Yet Completed: Receipt; the little fox at the point of fording, wets his tail; there is no place beneficial.
Cleary (1): Being as yet unsettled is developmental. A small fox, having nearly crossed the river, gets its tail wet, does not succeed.
Cleary (2): Being unsettled leads to success. A little fox, almost crossing, gets its tail wet. Nothing is gained.
Wu:Mission yet Unaccomplished indicates pervasiveness. A little fox almost makes it crossing the river, but gets its tail wet. Nothing is gained.
The Image
Legge: Fire over water -- the image ofUnfinished Business. The superior man carefully discriminates among the qualities of things, and the different positions they naturally occupy.
Wilhelm: Fire over water: the image of the condition before transition. Thus the superior man is careful in the differentiation of things, so that each finds its place.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes fire above water. The Superior Man takes care to distinguish between things before arranging them in order.
Liu: Fire above water symbolizes Before Completion. The superior man carefully distinguishes things, and puts them in their appropriate place.
Ritsema/Karcher: Fire located above stream. Not-yet Fording. A chun tzu uses considering to mark-off the beings residing on-all-sides.
Cleary (1): Fire is above water, not yet settled. Thus superior people carefully discern things and keep them in their places.
Cleary (2): Fire over water – unsettled.
Wu: There is fire above water; this is Mission yet Unaccomplished. Thus the jun zi makes careful distinction of things and their proper places of being.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Progress and success are suggested by the magnetic fifth line in the ruler's place. Although he has nearly crossed the stream, the young fox has not yet escaped from the midst of danger and calamity. Getting his tail wet means that the end does not reflect the intent of the beginning. Although the places of the different lines are not those appropriate to them, yet a dynamic and a magnetic line always respond to each other.
Legge:Unfinished Businessis the reverse of Completion: it means that the successful accomplishment of the matter at hand has not yet been realized; the crossing of the great stream is as yet incomplete.
Some have wished that theI Chingmight have concluded with Completion, and the last hexagram have left us with the picture of human affairs all brought to good order. But this would not have been in harmony with the idea of change. Again and again it has been pointed out that we find in the book no idea of a perfect and abiding state. Just as the seasons of the year change and pursue an ever-recurring round, so it is with the phases of society. The reign of order has peaked and declined, and this hexagram calls us to renew the struggle to make things right again. It deals with the conduct necessary to secure this result.
Not one of the lines in the hexagram is in its correct place -- all the dynamic lines are in magnetic places, and the magnetic lines are in dynamic places. At the same time, each of them has a proper correlate, so there is the possibility of some progress.
The symbol of the fox suggests a want of caution on the part of those who try to remedy prevailing disorders. They are unsuccessful and thereby get themselves into trouble. Line two represents this state of mind -- he is dynamic in a magnetic place in the center of the trigram of Peril. He is restless, and attracted by his magnetic correlate in the fifth place, he will be incautious in taking action. The outcome of the issue will be different than what was intended at the beginning.
The trigram of Water is below, and Fire above, showing how the two principles cannot act on each other profitably. This symbolizes the unregulated condition of general affairs now prevailing.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Although many achievements fuel our growth, the ego is only the facilitator, not the doer. To ignore this truth creates negative consequences: don't destroy the Work!
The Superior Man critically examines the situation and re-checks his priorities.
This hexagram represents the time before the climax of a cycle, just as the preceding figure symbolizes the time after the climax (and hence the transition to a new beginning). The Work is by no means "almost over" -- the lines all match as correlates, but every one of them unites "upside-down," so to speak. (Turn the hexagram over, and then they are in perfect correlation.) That the superior man "discriminates among the qualities of things, and the different positions they naturally occupy" means that he knows that the correct positions of the lines (the ones they "naturally occupy") are as in hexagram number sixty-three, not this one.
This "backward correlation of lines" is arguably a fair image of the relationship of thoughts and feelings in the average human psyche. The stresses of life are what eventually break up these mismatched correlates through endless cycles of stimulus and response until they finally all unite correctly in a hypothetical "Completion of the Great Work." That this is an ideal rather than a humanly attainable goal is suggested in this quote from Shao Yung:
The principle of the Way finds its full development in Heaven; the principle of Heaven, in Earth; the principle of Earth, in the myriad things; and that of the myriad things, in man. One who knows how the principles of Heaven, Earth, and all things find their full development in man can give full development to his people.
For all practical purposes, it is wisest to aspire to attainable completions and realize that the Work's "full development" is the Self's, not the ego's responsibility.
To strive for perfection is a high ideal. But I say: "Fulfill something you are able to fulfill rather than run after what you will never achieve." Nobody is perfect. Remember the saying: "None is good but God alone" [Luke 18:19], and nobody can be. It is an illusion. We can modestly strive to fulfill ourselves and to be as complete human beings as possible, and that will give us trouble enough. Jung -- The Tavistock Lectures
The Judgment suggests that before any climax or resolution there may still exist an indeterminate amount of free choice to influence the outcome -- only the specific circumstances can suggest how much or how little. As always, the choices are defined within the structure of the situation. The magnetic ruler in the fifth place implies that a favorable outcome is possible, but only through clear perception and willpower can it come about.
The conditional interpretation (boldface italics added) in both Legge's and Wilhelm's translation of the Judgment is necessary for its text to make sense. Note that Ritsema/Karcher define "Without direction: Harvesting" as: "No plan or direction is advantageous; in order to take advantage of the situation, do not impose a direction on events." This is a common oracle response, and sharpens the meaning here. Line one depicts the negative consequences of ignoring the Judgment’s explicit message.
Line 1
Legge: The first line, magnetic, shows its subject like a fox whose tail gets immersed. There will be occasion for regret.
Wilhelm/Baynes: He gets his tail in the water. Humiliating.
Blofeld: Its tail gets wet -- disgrace! [If we receive this moving line, the setback is likely to be discreditable to us.]
Liu: He wets his tail. Humiliation.
Ritsema/Karcher: Soaking one's tail. Abashment.
Shaughnessy: Wetting his tail; distress.
Cleary (1): Getting the tail wet, one is humiliated.
Cleary (2): Getting the tail wet is humiliating.
Wu: The tail is immersed. Humiliating.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: This is the very height of ignorance. Wilhelm/Baynes: For he
cannot take the end into view. Blofeld: This also implies that we do not know how to take advantage of opportunities. Ritsema/Karcher: Truly not knowing the end indeed. Cleary (2): One still does not know the limit. Wu: It shows the subject is clumsy.
Legge: Line one is magnetic, at the bottom of the trigram of Peril, and responds to the dynamic fourth line who is not in his correct place. She attempts action but finds cause to regret it.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: At the outset, the man attempts to advance in a frenzy during times of disorder in pursuit of tangible accomplishments. This only leads to humiliation, since the time for good results is not at hand.
Wing: There is a strong urge to end a chaotic situation, yet it is not the time for clearheaded action. You do not see clearly all of the implications and consequences of your actions. Any actions will bring you problems and, perhaps, disgrace.
Editor: This line portrays the negative interpretation of the conditional Judgment. You are vulnerable to detrimental influences -- this could be due to either arrogance or ignorance, or both. The line often refers to going too far, or forcing an issue. Compare with line 63:6: Wilhelm/Baynes: "He gets his head in the water. Danger."
The people who fancy they are sure of themselves are the ones who are truly unsure ... In the long run it is the better adapted man who triumphs, not the wrongly self-confident, who is at the mercy of dangers from without and within. Jung --Depth Psychology and Self-Knowledge
A. Your assumptions in the matter at hand are premature and ignorant of their consequences.
B. You are rashly presumptuous.
Line 2
Legge: The second line, dynamic, shows its subject dragging back the carriage wheel. With firmness and correctness there will be good fortune.
Wilhelm/Baynes: He brakes his wheels. Perseverance brings good fortune.
Blofeld: He brakes the wheel of the chariot -- righteous persistence brings good fortune! [But note that he uses his brake; i.e. our persistence must be in the form of determination to halt now and proceed later.]
Liu: He brakes the wheel. Continuing -- good fortune.
Cleary (1): Dragging the wheels, it bodes well to be upright.
Cleary (2): … Rectitude is auspicious.
Wu: He pulls back the wheels. Perseverance brings good fortune.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: He is in the central place, and his action thereby becomes correct. Wilhelm/Baynes: The second line has good fortune if it is persevering. It is central and hence acts correctly. Blofeld: Namely, the good fortune of being able to steer a middle course and go straight forward. [If events permit us to interpret the braking of the wheel as a recent success in preventing ourselves being dragged into a wrong course, then all is well and there is no need to halt now.]Ritsema/ Karcher: Centering using moving correcting indeed. Cleary (2): Its activity is balanced. Wu: It is the correct way to go from the center.
Legge: Line two is dynamic, in the center, and is able to repress himself. He keeps the vehicle from advancing and there is good fortune. The K'ang-hsi editors observe that a dynamic line in the second place and a magnetic line in the fifth place are both incorrect, and yet with firm correctness in their subjects there will be good fortune -- such is the virtue of the central position.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man represses untimely actions through patient control of his strength, while remaining steadfast in his resolve.
Wing: Even though you may know what must be done, the time is not right for action. Exercise patience and develop strength. If you maintain an inner determination to proceed when the opportunity presents itself, you will be successful. Do not allow this delay to turn you away from your goal.
Editor: Wilhelm, Blofeld and Liu use the more forceful image of "brakes" instead of "dragging a wheel." The image is one of halting forward motion: Action will harm the Work unless it is stopped immediately. It is wise to remember Ritsema/Karcher's advice in the Judgment here: "No plan or direction is advantageous; in order to take advantage of the situation, do not impose a direction on events."
For as man gradually emerges from unconsciousness and learns to subdue his instinctive nature, making it serve him and his needs, he possesses himself of the energy that formerly resided in the natural process. M.E. Harding -- Psychic Energy
A. "Cease and desist."
B. Slow down; curb your impatience to advance; control your enthusiasm; restrain your flights of fancy.
Line 3
Legge: The third line, magnetic, shows its subject with the state of things not yet remedied, advancing on; which will lead to evil. But there will be advantage (Sic) in trying to cross the great stream.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Before completion, attack brings misfortune. It furthers one (Sic) to cross the great water.
Blofeld: The crossing is incomplete, so to advance now would bring misfortune; yet it will be advantageous (Sic) to cross the great river (or sea). [The second and third clauses of this passage appear contradictory; but not if we interpret them to mean that, though we must halt for a while, we should preserve our determination to go forward to the end when conditions warrant an advance.]
Liu: Before completion achieving success, continuing -- misfortune. It is beneficial (Sic) to cross the great water. [This line indicates frustration.]
Ritsema/Karcher: Not-yet Fording, chastising: pitfall. Harvesting: wading the Great River. (Sic)
Shaughnessy: Not yet completed; to be upright is inauspicious; beneficial (Sic) to ford the great river.
Cleary (1): As yet unsettled, it bodes ill to go on an expedition, but it is beneficial (Sic) to cross great rivers.
Cleary (2): While unsettled, etc.
Wu: In time of Mission yet Unaccomplished, going forward is foreboding, but crossing the great river is advantageous (Sic).
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Advancing will lead to evil. The place of the line is not that appropriate for it. Wilhelm/Baynes: The place is not the appropriate one. Blofeld: The first part of this passage is suggested by the line's unsuitable position. Ritsema/ Karcher: Situation not appropriate indeed. Cleary (2): The position is inappropriate. Wu: The position is improper.
Legge: The K'ang-hsi editors say that it is very difficult to understand what is said under line three, and many critics suppose that a negative has dropped out, and that we should really read that "It will not be advantageous to try to cross the great stream."
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The time is ripe for transition, but the man lacks sufficient strength to act alone. Advancing under these conditions would mean disaster.
Wing: The continuing pursuit of your aim will bring you frustration because it cannot be achieved within your current situation. If you must achieve this particular goal, it would be better to begin anew, with the aid of new friends. Otherwise you may dull your energies and vision with discouragement.
Editor: There is serious ambiguity here. I asked the oracle to comment on the situation of this line, and received hexagram 18:4 -- "You cannot succeed until you rectify a past mistake." Then I asked what would be the effect of adding the negative to the line, and received hexagram 22:2 and 5 -- "Form follows function," and, "A small offering is appreciated." As far as I am concerned, the answer is clear: the line doesn't make sense unless the negative is replaced. We are dealing with a book which was first written down in 1143 BC, and copied by hand for more than two-thousand years before it was first printed. In editing this edition I have caught myself making copying errors more than once, so it is easy to appreciate the problems involved in maintaining accuracy over millennia.
Addendum , 01/16/06: I asked the oracle to comment again on my interpretation of this line and received hexagram 61, Inner Truth, without changing lines.
The wise man sees evil coming and avoids it, the fool is rash and presumptuous. Proverbs 14: 16
A. The Work is incomplete. To push ahead blindly can only lead to confusion.
Other titles: The Clinging, The Symbol of Brightness and of Separateness, Flaming Beauty, Radiance, Fire, The Net, Allegiance, The Cosmic Mean, Synergy, Sunlight, Perception, Pertaining to Comprehension, The Light, Consciousness, Lucidity
Judgment
Legge: The free course and success of Clarity comes from firm correctness. The nourishment of bovine docility creates good fortune.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The Clinging. Perseverance furthers. It brings success. Care of the cow brings good fortune.
Blofeld:Flaming beauty. Righteous persistence brings reward. Success! Rearing cows -- good fortune! [Cows are gentle creatures which require looking after; hence this sentence means that good fortune can be gained by looking after those in need of help.]
Liu: Fire. It is of benefit to continue. Success. To take care of the cow leads to good fortune.
Ritsema/Karcher: Radiance, Harvesting Trial. Growing. Accumulating female cattle. Significant. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of expanding light, warmth and awareness. It emphasizes that joining with and depending on what spreads this light, the action of Radiance, is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy:The Net: Beneficial to determine; receipt; raising a cow is auspicious.
Cleary(1):Fire is beneficial for correctness and development. Raising a cow brings good fortune.
Cleary (2): Fire is beneficial if correct; then there is success, etc. [In Buddhism, when demons cause disturbance, it is necessary to cleave to true teaching to get rid of aberrations.]
Wu: Allegiance indicates that it will be advantageous to be persevering and pervasion will follow. It will be auspicious to raise the cow.
The Image
Legge: The image of brightness repeated forms Clarity. The great man, in accordance with this, cultivates more and more his brilliant virtue, and diffuses its brightness over the four quarters of the land.
Wilhelm/Baynes: That which is bright rises twice: the image of Fire. Thus the great man, by perpetuating this brightness, illuminates the four quarters of the world.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes fire rising in two tongues of brilliant flame. The Superior Man, by perpetuating the brilliance of the ancients, illuminates every quarter of the earth. [In other words, we should make ourselves as completely dependent on the principle of righteousness as natural objects are dependent upon nature; in this way, we are sure to be successful.]
Liu: Doubled brightness symbolizes Fire. A great man perpetuates the light and illuminates the four corners of the universe.
Ritsema/Karcher: Brightness doubled arousing Radiance. Great People use consecutive brightening to illuminate tending- towards the four sides.
Cleary (1):Light has dual function. Thus do great people illumine the four quarters with continuing light. [The sun goes in at night and comes out in the daytime; this pattern represents inner illumination and outer illumination, one light having dual function…Outer illumination has to be based on inner illumination… Illumination must reach inside and outside, so that both are illumined and both are correct.]
Cleary (2): Illumination doubled makes fire. Great people illumine the four quarters with continuing illumination.
Wu: Brightness doubled makes Allegiance. Thus the great man carries on the brightness to shine the four corners of the earth.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge:Clarity means clinging attachment. The sun and moon have their roots in heaven, and all the growing things have their roots in the earth. The double brightness of the two trigrams is rooted in correctness, and all under heaven are thereby transformed. The magnetic second line is central and correct, indicating a free and successful course. Nourishing a passive docility will lead to good fortune.
Legge:Clarity is the trigram of fire and light, and the sun is the source of both of these. Its attribute is brightness, and by a natural metaphor: intelligence. But this trigram also means inhering or in adhering to -- being attached to. In the hexagram we have a double brightness -- a phrase which denotes the ruler. If we take the two central lines as emblematic of the situation, we have the magnetic dwelling with the dynamic above and below -- a condition requiring a docile humility and strict adherence to what is correct. Ch'eng-tzu says: "The nature of the ox is docile, and that of the cow is much more so. The subject of the hexagram adhering closely to what is correct must be able to act in obedience to it, as docile as a cow, and then there will be good fortune."
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Willed persistence gets results. Be receptive to your inner light, and reflect it in your life.
The Superior Man cultivates his capacity to manifest his comprehension of the Work in his everyday choices.
Light is a symbol of both normal consciousness and super- consciousness. Probably every religion in the world uses it in the latter sense -- from the "Let there be light" in the first chapter of Genesis, to The Lord of Light (Ahura Mazda), the supreme being of Zoroastrianism. The TibetanBook of the Dead speaks of the "clear white light" which is the first thing encountered after bodily death -- a phenomenon reported as the experiential perception of those who have had near-death experiences. Light means Truth, it means Reality, and the "double brightness" of this hexagram tells us that Clarity is manifested both above and below.
Meditation on light is one of the most important exercises in the various schools of Tibetan Yoga. The more these psychic and spiritual powers can be achieved during life, the stronger is the ability to penetrate and overcome the bardo. D. I. Lauf, Secret Doctrines Of The Tibetan Book Of The Dead
The Confucian commentary gives the examples of the sun and moon in the heavens, and of growing things on the earth as emblems of Clarity. Sun and moon are certainly luminous, but growing things are not, and when we meditate on the reason for this strange juxtaposition we are led to the idea of the Self and the ego. The Self is the sun, the source of illumination which causes the ego to grow. Sun is to growing things as Self is to ego. This idea is repeated in the relationship between the sun and the moon -- the moon is not self-luminous, it can only reflect the light of the sun. Therefore, sun is to moon as Self is to ego.
The idea is that despite our illusions to the contrary, all of our power originates somewhere else. When we allow the power to work through us without interference, we become "docile" like the cow in the judgment. Clarity, therefore, is attained through docility -- the ability to subdue and restrain the autonomous components of the psyche, which left to their own devices would prefer to go around pontificating their brilliant illusions rather than quietly reflecting the truth. It is not easy to reflect the truth, and the superior man is counseled to constantly perfect his capacity to do so. It is only when Self and ego come together in a fusion reaction that the energy released attains the true "double brightness" imaged in the hexagram. The identical idea is found in the Kabbalah:
Said Rabbi Simeon: "When the Holy One arrays himself, it is in the ornaments from both the celestial and terrestrial worlds; from the former with that heavenly light on high that no human being can approach unto; from the latter with the souls of the righteous who the more they approximate themselves to this divine light the more receptive and filled with it do they become, so that through them it expands in all directions and the world like a cistern or ocean is filled with it." The Zohar
Wilhelm mentions that the hexagram "divided within and closed without, is an image of the meshes of a net in which animals remain snared." This gives us the image of Clarity as Comprehension -- a net which captures and encloses insights. To receive the figure without changing lines is often a confirmation of an idea or action -- it is saying: "You have comprehended," or "Your proposed action is lucid, intelligent, etc."