Lead with integrity and adapt your inner strength to illuminate even the darkest moments.
From
7
Discipline
To
36
Clouded Perception
One goes further than those who have been afraid to face the unknown. taoscopy.com
Discipline7
Strategic alignment leads to victory; discipline and structure ensure success.
↓ Line 1
Proper organization and discipline are essential. Without them, failure is likely.
↓ Line 2
Being in the right place within the group brings success and recognition.
↓ Line 3
Carrying unnecessary burdens or past issues leads to failure.
↓ Clouded Perception36
Stay resilient amidst adversity. When in challenging circumstances, maintain inner clarity and integrity while concealing your light from those who may not understand or appreciate it. Patience and perseverance are key.
Other titles: The Army, The Symbol of Multitude and of Army, Legions/ Leading, The Troops, Collective Force, Discipline, Soldiers, Group Action, A Disciplined Multitude, Ego Discipline, Willpower "Can refer to mourning but its essential meaning is Discipline." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge:Disciplineindicates that with firm correctness and a leader of age and experience, there will be good fortune and no error.
Wilhelm/Baynes:The Army. The army needs perseverance and a strong man. Good fortune without blame.
Blofeld: Persistence in a righteous course brings to those in authority good fortune and freedom from error. [If the enquiry is not concerned with military affairs, we must interpret this hexagram symbolically in the sense that life is a battle.]
Liu:The Army. The army demands perseverance and a strong person (leader). Good fortune. No blame.
Ritsema/Karcher: Legions: Trial. Respectable people significant. Without fault. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of unorganized crowds or bunches of things. It emphasizes that organizing these things into functional units is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told to lead!]
Shaughnessy: The Troops: Determination for the senior man is auspicious; there is no trouble.
Cleary (1): For the leader of the army to be right, a mature person is good; then there is no error.
Wu: The Army indicates persevering. Led by the elder man, it will be auspicious.
The Image
Legge: Water in the midst of the earth -- the image ofDiscipline. The superior man nourishes and educates the people, and collects from among them a mighty army.
Wilhelm/Baynes: In the middle of the earth is water: the image of The Army. Thus the superior man increases his masses by generosity toward the people.
Blofeld: The symbol of water surrounded by land. The Superior Man nourishes the people and treats them with leniency.
Liu: Water in the earth symbolizes the Army. The superior man increases his followers by benevolence toward the people.
Ritsema/Karcher: Earth center possessing stream. Legions. A chun tzu uses tolerating commoners to accumulate crowds.
Cleary (1): There is water in the earth, The Army. Thus does the superior person embrace the people and nurture the masses.
Cleary (2): … Leaders develop a group by admitting people.
Wu: There is water underneath the ground; this is The Army. Thus the jun zi receives people and shelters them.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Discipline describes the masses who make up the army, and the firm correctness referred to means a morally correct intent. When the leader uses the masses with such correctness, he may fulfill the ruler's will. The focus of strength in the second line is responded to by his proper correlate in the ruler's place. Although action is dangerous, it accords with the best sentiments of men, and although the leader may distress the country the people will still follow him -- there will be good fortune and no error.
Legge: Discipline is symbolized here by the conduct of a military expedition. The arrangement of the lines suggests the idea of a general surrounded by his troops. The dynamic yang line in the center of the lower trigram has the confidence of the magnetic ruler in the fifth place. Entire trust is reposed in him because he is strong and correct. He is referred to as an old and experienced man, hence all of his enterprises will succeed.
Perilousness is the attribute of the lower trigram, and Docility or Accordance with Others, that of the upper. War is like poison to a country -- painful, and potentially ruinous, and yet the people will endure it on behalf of the sovereign whom they love and respect.
In regard to the Image, Chu Hsi says: "As the water is not outside the earth, so soldiers are not outside the people. Therefore if a ruler is able to nourish the people, he can get the multitudes for his armies."
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Discipline directed by willpower and serious intent advances the Work. Or: With experienced judgment and proper will and intent there will be a good outcome.
The Superior Man trains and nourishes his powers to build an invincible unity.
The English word "infantry," meaning foot soldiers (the backbone of any army), is derived from the French word enfant, meaning infant, or child. This ancient association was made because a good military officer was expected to treat his soldiers as if they were his own children -- with a stern but loving discipline designed to improve their character. This concept is what the Image alludes to when it says: “The superior man nourishes and educates the people, and collects from among them a mighty army.” Psychologically interpreted the idea is that the ego-complex is the general officer in the second line that nourishes, educates and controls the other complexes within the psyche. This can only be accomplished through discipline, and thus I have chosen that name for the hexagram rather than the more usual title of The Army.
With the only dynamic line of the hexagram placed in the center of the lower trigram we have an image of the position of the ego-complex in relation to the rest of the psyche. The magnetic ruler in line five represents the Self, isolated from direct physical involvement and dependent upon the dynamic ego to carry out the Work in the material dimension. The seventh hexagram, therefore, shows the Work from the ego's point of view.
Hexagram number eight, Holding Together, is the inverse of this image, and shows the Work from the Self's point of view outside of spacetime. There it is the dynamic fifth line ruler who is the focal point -- an image of the Self surrounded by its satellites. In that dimension the second line ego-complex is only another magnetic complex in the company of other magnetic complexes. Ideally, the lower complexes within the psyche should be magnetic in relation to a dynamic ego, but the ego is always magnetic in relation to the dynamic Self. From the Self's point of view all of its complexes are its magnetic "children," or "infantry." Hexagrams seven and eight should be studied together as reversed images to get a full comprehension of each.
The images in the lines of Discipline all deal with the management of forces as a coordinated whole -- as long as they are under the firm command of the ego (who is only a general carrying out the orders of the Self), things proceed successfully. If the Discipline breaks down and the ego- general loses control, defeat is certain.
Narutomi Hyogo said, "What is called winning is defeating one's allies. Defeating one's allies is defeating oneself, and defeating oneself is vigorously overcoming one's own body. It is as though a man were in the midst of ten thousand allies but not one were following him. If one hasn't previously mastered his mind and body, he will not defeat the enemy." Yamamoto Tsunetomo -- The Book of the Samurai
Line 1
Legge: The first line, magnetic, shows the army going forth according to the rules for such a movement. If these be not good, there will be evil.
Wilhelm/Baynes: An army must set forth in proper order. If the order is not good, misfortune threatens.
Blofeld: An army is built up through discipline; without it, corruption leading to disaster occurs.
Liu: An army should be put in correct order. If not, there will be disaster.
Ritsema/Karcher: Legions issuing-forth using ordinance. Obstructing virtue: pitfall. [Ordinance, LU: Law, fixed regulation; regulate by law, divide into right and wrong.]
Shaughnessy: Troops go out in ranks; it is not good; inauspicious.
Cleary (1): The army is to go forth in an orderly manner: Otherwise, even good turns out bad.
Cleary (2): … Negating the good leads to misfortune.
Wu: The army going to war requires strict observance of discipline. When the discipline is not enforced, there will be disaster.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: If the rules aren't observed there will be evil. Wilhelm/
Baynes: Losing order is unfortunate. Blofeld: The disaster indicated in this passage results from a breakdown of discipline. Ritsema/Karcher: Letting-go ordinance: pitfall indeed. Cleary (2): If it loses order, there will be misfortune. Wu: Lack of discipline means disaster.
Legge: The rules are twofold: First, the war must be justified, and second, that the manner of conducting it, especially at the outset, must be correct.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: At the outset, a righteous cause, as well as a proper method for conducting the war is essential for military success.
Wing: Before you take action, be certain that what you propose is worthwhile, for otherwise you cannot sustain yourself. Be sure as well that you are organized. Without order, your affairs will end in chaos and misfortune. Discipline is the key here.
Editor: There is a certain ambiguity in this line, and an implicit warning to maintain total awareness. It doesn't tell you that you are right or wrong -- it only makes a general observation: a truism. The image portrays the necessity of a correct hierarchy of forces (ideas, concepts) to attain any goal. (If you don't know the proper sequence of numbers you cannot open a combination lock.) Crudely, make sure you thoroughly understand your situation before taking action. The implication is that you may not apprehend some crucial aspect of the matter at hand, hence need more or better data. In some contexts, "ordinances" or "law" may refer to the laws of nature. Compare with line 6.
The senses of the wise man obey his mind, his mind obeys his intellect, his intellect obeys his ego, and his ego obeys the Self. Katha Upanishad
A. Proper comprehension, organization and discipline is essential for success. Bring order to your thoughts and feelings.
B. Take no action until you are absolutely confident that your strategy is the correct one.
Line 2
Legge: The second line, dynamic, shows the leader in the midst of the army. There will be good fortune and no error. The king cherishes the myriad regions in his heart.
Wilhelm/Baynes: In the midst of the army. Good fortune. No blame. The king bestows a triple decoration.
Blofeld: The general in the midst of his army enjoys good fortune and is free from error. Thrice he is honored by the King.
Liu: A general works within his army. Good fortune, no blame. The king confers a triple honor.
Ritsema/Karcher: Locating Legions, centering significant. Without fault. The king three-times bestowing fate.
Shaughnessy: In the troops' midst; auspicious; there is no trouble; the king thrice awards the command.
Cleary (1): At the center of the army, good fortune, no error; the king gives orders thrice.
Cleary (2): Being in the middle of the army is lucky, blameless ... etc.
Wu: Being in the center of the army will be auspicious and blameless. The king has thrice bestowed praises upon him.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: He has received the favor of heaven. The king cherishes the myriad regions in his heart. Wilhelm/Baynes: He receives grace from heaven. He has the welfare of all countries at heart. Blofeld: It is because he is esteemed by the King that he enjoys good fortune and the protection of his army. Solicitous about the welfare of the empire, the King thrice awards him the command. Ritsema/Karcher: Receiving heavenly favor indeed. Cherishing the myriad fiefdoms indeed. Cleary (2): One receives celestial favor. Thinking of all the provinces. Wu: Because he has the favor of the king. The king has in his heart the welfare of all his people.
Legge: The orders of the king are the general's appointment to the command of the army. "Thrice" does not mean that this appointment came three times, but that it was given exclusively to the general with the king's entire confidence. The favor of heaven means the same thing, and indicates that the ruler relies on the general to promote the welfare of all the people in the "myriad regions" of the kingdom.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The king's appointment of command is given to the general exclusively. The latter must be in touch with his troops, sharing the good as well as the ill.
Wing: You are in an excellent position to communicate with others. Because this situation is so well disposed you will meet with good fortune and win recognition from your superiors.
Editor: This is a clear image of the ego taking its proper role in the integration of the psyche -- bringing thoughts, passions and drives under the discipline of will. A Kabbalist might interpret the three honors bestowed by "the king" (the Self) as authority conferred in the three lower realms of sensation, emotion and thought.
In large scale strategy the superior man will manage many subordinates dexterously, bear himself correctly, govern the country and foster the people, thus preserving the ruler's discipline. Miyamoto Musashi -- A Book of Five Rings
A. An image of responsible authority -- nourish and control your forces.
B. It is the ego's role to bring autonomous forces within the psyche under the discipline of will.
Line 3
Legge: The third line, magnetic, shows how the army may possibly have many inefficient leaders. There will be evil.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Perchance the army carries corpses in the wagon. Misfortune.
Blofeld: The army carries wagon-loads of corpses -- disaster!
Liu: The army carries corpses. Misfortune. [This is a time of sudden mourning.]
Shaughnessy: Of the troops some join with the corpses; inauspicious.
Cleary (1): The army has casualties; bad luck.
Cleary (2): The army may have casualties; misfortune.
Wu: The army may have to cart back corpses. This will be foreboding.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Possibly the army has idle leaders -- great will be its want of success. Wilhelm/Baynes: This is quite without merit. Blofeld: This indicates a serious defeat. Ritsema/Karcher: The great without achievement indeed. Cleary (2): When the army has casualties, that is a great lack of success. Wu: Despite its large number, it does not succeed.
Legge: Canon McClatchie translates this as: "Represents soldiers as it were lying dead in their baggage carts, and is unlucky." Line two is the only legitimate leader of the army. Line three is magnetic in a dynamic place, as if she had jumped over the leader and perched herself above him to take command. In military operations there must be one ruling will and mind. A divided authority is sure to bring failure.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: Defeat ensues when others interfere with the authority of the chosen ruler. Divided command is often fatal.
Wing: There is an absence of vision and leadership. Whether it is a matter of divergent goals or whether the acting leader is simply inept, the result is the same: misfortune.
Editor: Psychologically interpreted, this line describes one of the most fundamental, yet least recognized truths of human consciousness -- the fact that "unity" of awareness is mostly illusory. Indeed, the whole goal of the Work is to actually attain this unity which we think we already possess. Legge's metaphorical equation of "corpses" with "inefficient leaders" is not always apt -- in its most neutral interpretation, the line can depict a situation of (as Liu says) "sudden mourning" or overwhelming grief.
Man has no individual I. But there are, instead, hundreds and thousands of separate small I's, very often entirely unknown to one another, never coming into contact, or, on the contrary, hostile to each other, mutually exclusive and incompatible ... And each separate small I is able to call itself by the name of the whole, to act in the name of the whole, to agree or disagree, to give promises, to make decisions, with which another I or the whole will have to deal. – Gurdjieff
A. Are you in charge of your thoughts and feelings, or do they make your choices for you?
B. Be on guard against inferior elements within yourself or the situation.
C. Suggests dead weight, useless baggage (beliefs, etc.)
Other titles: Darkening of the Light, The Symbol of the Appearance of Clear Intelligence Wounded, Injury, Wounding of the Bright, Brightness Hiding, Calling Pheasant, The Darkened Light, Concealment of Illumination, Injury of Illumination, Light Obliterated, Intelligence Unappreciated, Censorship, Hiding One's Light, The Dark Night of the Soul, Ignorance "Not necessarily as bad as it sounds, may just mean being restricted or restricting yourself." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge: Under the conditions of Clouded Perceptionbe aware of the difficulty of your position and maintain firm correctness.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Darkening of the Light. In adversity it furthers one to be persevering.
Blofeld:Darkening of the Light. Righteous persistence in the face of difficulty brings reward.
Liu:Darkening of the Light. It benefits one to carry on through hard times.
Ritsema/Karcher: Brightness Hiding, Harvesting: drudgery, Trial. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of intelligence hidden or harmed. It emphasizes that deliberately concealing your light by entering what is beneath you is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told to: hide your brightness!]
Shaughnessy: Calling pheasant: Beneficial to determine about difficulty.
Cleary (1): In concealment of illumination, it is beneficial to be upright in difficulty.
Cleary (2): When illumination is damaged, it is beneficial to be upright in difficulty.
Wu:Light Obliterated indicates that it is advantageous to be persevering in time of danger.
The Image
Legge: The sun enters the earth -- the image ofClouded Perception.The superior man manages his subordinates and shows his intelligence by keeping it hidden.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The light has sunk into the earth: the image of Darkening of the Light. Thus does the superior man live with the great mass: He veils his light, yet still shines.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes light hidden within the earth. In governing the people, the Superior Man, though taking care to conceal his light, nevertheless shines.
Liu: The sun sinking under the earth symbolizes the Darkening of the Light. In approaching the people the superior man veils his brightness, yet still has glory.
Ritsema/Karcher: Brightness entering earth center. Brightness Hiding. A chun tzu uses supervising the crowds to avail-of darkening and-also Brightening.
Cleary (1): Light enters into the earth, illumination is concealed.Thus do Superior people deal with the masses, acting unobtrusively while in fact illuminated. [When practitioners of the Tao are among the masses, if they use their illumination too much, they will startle the ignorant and amaze the worldly, easily bringing on abuse and slander.]
Cleary (2): Illumination goes underground, in concealment of illumination. In dealing with the masses, true leaders act unobtrusively while in fact being illuminated. [What sages learn is to become daily more illumined unbeknownst to others.]
Wu: The light enters the earth; this is Light Obliterated. Thus the jun zi uses the spirit of dimness in place of brightness to administer affairs of the populace. [By “dimming” his internal strength, he would make people feel that he is one of them.]
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The image of Brightness entering into the midst of the earth suggests clarity that has been wounded or obscured. The lower trigram shows Clarity, the upper Docility. King Wen had both of these qualities, yet he was involved in great difficulties. The individual concerned should obscure his brightness. Thus was Count Chi able to correctly maintain his mind and intent amidst the difficulties of his situation.
Legge: This hexagram shows an able officer going forth in the service of his country, notwithstanding the occupancy of the throne by a weak and unsympathetic ruler. Hence the name Clouded Perception or Intelligence Wounded -- that is, injured and oppressed. The lesson of the figure is to show how such an officer will conduct himself and maintain his purpose.
King Wen was not of the line of Shang. Though opposed and persecuted by its sovereign, he could pursue his own course, till his line came in the end to supersede the other. It could not be so with the Count of Chi, who was a member of the House of Shang. He could do nothing that would help on its downfall.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Recognize a difficult situation and use your willpower to cope with its restrictions.
The Superior Man manages the situation by subduing his need to speculate, meddle, or call attention to himself. (Alternate: When in the presence of arrogance, the wise man plays the fool.)
The thirty-fifth hexagram shows the trigram of Clarity progressing over the earth -- an image of advancing awareness. The thirty-sixth hexagram is the inverse of this -- it shows the trigram of Clarity swallowed up by the earth. If the image of Advance of Consciousness symbolizes noon, when the sun is at the midheaven, then Clouded Perception symbolizes midnight, when the sun is at the Imum Coeli, or undersky. It is a time of maximum darkness, maximum ignorance; a time when the dark forces of the unconscious are at their strongest. We are reminded of the Dark Night of the Soul, an inescapable and inevitable phase of the Work:
When, at length, they have practiced themselves for some time in the journey of virtue, persevering in meditation and prayer, wherein, with the suavity and relish they have found, they have become detached from worldly things, and acquired some spiritual strength in God, so as to be able to curb the creature appetites and in some small degree suffer for God some slight load and dryness, without turning back at the crucial moment; when, to their thinking, they are proceeding in these spiritual exercises to their entire satisfaction and delight; and when the Sun of Divine favors seems to them to shine most radiantly upon them, God darkens all this light, and shuts the door and fountain of the sweet spiritual water, which they were wont to drink in God as often and as long as they chose ... and thus, he leaves them in darkness so profound that they know not whither to direct the sense of the imagination and speculations of the mind. St. John of the Cross
The Dark Night of the Soul is the universal experience of everyone who follows the way beyond the tried and true paths of the spiritual dilettante. It is an archetypal filter for determining the survival of the fittest in psychic evolution. For those who have entered this phase of the Work, it is good to remember that no one is given a test that they can't pass if they sincerely want to.
The situation in line five of this hexagram means little to one who is unacquainted with Chinese history. In its essence, the story of Count Chi concerns a superior man who was imprisoned by an evil emperor. The only way that he could survive this dark time was to feign insanity. Thus the message in the Image counsels us to show our intelligence by concealing it. There is a wide range of applications for this rule, and perhaps Lao Tse gives us the best paraphrase of the idea in his famous aphorism: He who knows does not speak; He who speaks does not know.
In terms of the Work this can mean that one must firmly understand that there are some things which cannot be shared with just anyone. Inner work is very fragile until it has had time to crystallize, and to expose its truths to the harsh light of unsophisticated intellect is to risk severe damage to the process of individuation.
One must not tell people of things they cannot grasp. There are mysteries that cannot be shared with everybody ... Some things can be told to no one and a secret told to a wrong person is destructive and even irresponsible. M.L. Von Franz -- The Feminine in Fairytales
This hexagram can symbolize many situations, but sometimes it is a suggestion that you are ignorant or "in the dark" about the true state of affairs now prevailing.