Wiki I Ching

Return 24.1.3.5 → 39 Obstruction

From
24
Return
To
39
Obstruction

Taking the time to make the finishing touches
One completes one's work to leave behind a lasting trace.
 taoscopy.com


Return 24
Pause, reflect, and start anew.
Embrace change and renewal.

↓
Line 1
The first step in returning is easy and brings good fortune.
There is no need for regret.

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Line 3
Returning repeatedly can be dangerous, but if one is cautious, there is no blame.

↓
Line 5
A return made with noble intentions is free from regret.

↓
Obstruction 39
Obstacle to progress; seek guidance.



Original Readings

24
Return


Other titles: The Turning Point, The Symbol of Returning, Revival, Recovery, To Repeat, Renewal, Restore, Return to the Way, Cyclic Repetition, "Return to virtue or happier conditions." -- D.F. Hook

 

Judgment

Legge: Progress and freedom of action are found in Return. Goings and comings are unimpeded, and friends approach without error. Return to repeat the proper course. Seven days returns the cycle to its beginning. There is advantage in choosing one's path.

Wilhelm/Baynes:Return. Success. Going out and coming in without error. Friends come without blame. To and fro goes the way. On the seventh day comes return. It furthers one to have somewhere to go.

Blofeld: Return. Success! All going forth and coming in is free from harm. [For it is only when the whole series is completed that we can understand the reasons for many things (death, winter and so on) which, at the time, seemed unproductive, negative or positively evil.] Friends arrive and no error is involved. They return whence they came, spending seven days in all upon their coming and returning. It is favorable to have in view some goal (or destination).

Liu:Return:success. One goes out and comes back in without harm. Friends arrive without blame. Going to and fro is the way. Returning on the seventh day. It benefits one to go anywhere. [Return or Revival signifies a bad time becoming better... Anyone receiving this hexagram should prepare for a great opportunity...]

Ritsema/Karcher:Returning, Growing. Issuing-forth, entering, without affliction. Partnering coming, without fault. Reversing Returning one's tao. The seventh day coming: Returning. Harvesting: possessing directed going. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of something that is re-emerging. It emphasizes that going back to the starting point in order to begin anew is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the times you are told to return!]

Shaughnessy:Returning: Receipt; in exiting and entering there is no illness; when the burying comes there is no trouble; turning around and returning to its way, in seven days it comes in return; beneficial to have someplace to go.

Cleary (1): Return is developmental. Exiting and entering, there is no ill. When a companion comes, there is no fault. Reversing the path, returning in seven days, it is beneficial to have a place to go.

Cleary (2):Return is successful, etc. … Returning back on the path, etc.

Wu:Renewal is pervasive. He who comes and goes will have no error. Friends come without harm. The course repeats itself. In seven days, one cycle of reversion completes. There will be advantage to have an undertaking.

 

The Image

Legge: Thunder in the middle of the earth -- the image of Return. Thus the ancient kings closed the passes on the day of the winter solstice to prevent travelers from pursuing their journeys, and princes from inspecting their states.

Wilhelm/Baynes: Thunder within the earth: the image of The Turning Point. Thus the kings of antiquity closed the passes at the time of the solstice. Merchants and strangers did not go about, and the ruler did not travel through the provinces.

Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes thunder in the bowels of the earth. [The component trigrams in this position suggest thunder coming from under the earth; but the trigram of thunder also means to sprout or quicken; it is this concept of a quickening within the earth that makes this hexagram generally favorable.] The ancient rulers closed the passes during the solstices [The solstices were times for solemn sacrifice; it has always been the practice in China for people to return to their homes for the celebration of the great yearly festivals. Return in this sense is highly auspicious.] and the merchants were unable to travel. Even the rulers abstained from touring their territories at those times.

Liu: Thunder in the earth symbolizes Return. Thus in ancient times the kings closed the roads during the winter solstice. Merchants and travelers ceased traveling. And rulers would not visit their territories.

Ritsema/Karcher: Thunder located-in earth center. Returning. The Earlier Kings used culminating sun to bar the passages. Bargaining sojourners [used culminating sun] not to move. The crown-prince [used culminating sun] not to inspect on-all- sides.

Cleary (1): Thunder is in the earth; Return. Thus did the kings of yore shut the gates on the winter solstice; caravans did not travel, the ruler did not inspect the regions.

Wu: Thunder is inside the earth; this is Renewal. Thus on the day of the winter solstice, the ancient kings ordered the city gates closed, so that merchants and travelers could take a break of their journeys; the kings refrained from performing official duties.

 

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge:Return shows the coming back of the dynamic principle. His actions show movement directed in accordance with the natural order. Such is the movement of the heavenly cycle. The dynamic lines are growing and increasing. Do we not see inReturn the mind of heaven and earth?

Legge: Return symbolizes the idea of coming back or over again. The previous hexagram showed the ascendancy of inferior forces, when all that is good in nature or society yields before what is bad. But change is eternal, and here we see the beginnings of recovery from the former situation. Return is associated with the time of the winter solstice when the sun begins its journey back toward summer. In harmony with these cycles in nature are the cycles in human affairs.

The dynamic bottom line is the first line of the trigram of Movement, and the upper trigram is that of Docility. The dynamic returning line will meet with no resistance and all the magnetic lines above it will be transformed into allies. The bright quality will be developed brighter and brighter from day to day and month to month.

"In seven days brings return" refers to the idea of a new cycle commencing when each of the six lines of a hexagram has changed -- the "seventh line," or seventh day begins a new cycle just as Sunday begins a new week.

Thunder in the midst of the earth is thunder shut up and silent, just able to make its presence felt. So it is with the first stirrings of life after the winter solstice and the first returning steps of the wanderer to virtue. As the spring of life has to be nurtured in quietness, so also the purpose of goodness.

Wilhelm: The hexagram of RETURN, applied to character formation, contains various suggestions. The light principle returns; thus the hexagram counsels turning away from the confusion of external things, turning back to one’s inner light. There, in the depths of the soul, one sees the Divine, the One. It is indeed only germinal, no more than a beginning, a potentiality, but as such clearly to be distinguished from all objects. To know this One means to know oneself in relation to the cosmic forces. For this One is the ascending force of life in nature and in man.

 

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Judgment: The Work is recycled, perfected and refined over and over again.

The Superior Man pauses before he begins anew.

The mention of seven days in the Judgment and the winter solstice in the Image tells us that the hexagram of Return deals with cyclic progression.

In the I Ching, the hexagram fu, signifying the Return (one yang line beneath five yin lines) is the symbol of the rebirth of the Yang. At the winter solstice, the Yang seems to have disappeared, whereas the Yin is at its full; but this is the moment when the Yang is reborn and begins its return. Symmetrically, at the summer solstice the Yang is at the apogee of its power while the Yin prepares to return. The alteration of the Yin and the Yang is a going away and a coming back.
Max Kaltenmark -- Lao Tzu and Taoism

Seven days is one-quarter of a lunar cycle and the module upon which a week is based. The Sabbath day is the seventh day and a day of rest in the Hebrew tradition, as was also the day of the new moon. The "closing of the passes" in the Image is another expression of the idea of resting at the beginning of a new cycle. To refrain from activity at these times was a sacrifice and a spiritual obligation. The concept behind it is the acknowledgment of one's Source, a review of the past cycle and a meditation upon the new cycle just beginning. Psychologically interpreted, forces in the unconscious psyche demand a pause before their dance can resume.

A special atmosphere of solemn celebration surrounded the Sabbath, which was thoroughly pervaded with Kabbalistic ideas about man's role in the unification of the upper worlds.
Gershom Scholem -- Kabbalah

Although the Chinese observed no “Sabbath” that I am aware of, the idea of a rest at the commencement of a cycle is clearly intended in this hexagram. In terms of the Work, one eventually becomes aware of cycles and rest periods, even if one never noticed them previously. When one learns how to synchronize conscious awareness with these inner rhythms, the tempo of the Work begins to accelerate.

"There is advantage in choosing one's path" is rendered by Wilhelm as: "It furthers one to have somewhere to go." The idea is that when you are consciously on a path, the cycles begin to work in your favor. Instead of a monotonous round of inconclusive and random events, one's life takes on structure and purpose and inner progress becomes discernable.

Conforming to the rhythm of the universe is the prerequisite of wisdom in all Chinese thinking. But the Taoist mystic has greater ambitions than his ordinary compatriots: the question for him is not merely of adapting his ritual and hygienic observances to the alternation of the seasons; he intends to escape from the determinism of life and death by transcending it. This is what enables him to attain inner emptiness: he does not merely witness the return of all creatures to their origin, he precedes them to that origin.
Max Kaltenmark -- Lao Tzu and Taoism

Every line of this hexagram refers to returning to the proper path, so the hexagram can imply that perhaps you have strayed from the Work to one degree or another. Without changing lines, it can mean to rest at the beginning of a cycle, or to get back on course: re-attune yourself with the current phase of the Work.

You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round. In the old days when we were a strong and happy people, all our power came to us from the sacred hoop of the nation, and so long as the hoop was unbroken, the people flourished.
Black Elk


Line 1

Legge: The first line, dynamic, shows its subject returning from an error of no great extent, which would not proceed to anything requiring repentance. There will be great good fortune.

Wilhelm/Baynes: Return from a short distance. No need for remorse. Great good fortune.

Blofeld: Returning from nearby -- nothing much to regret and sublime good fortune!

Liu: Return from not far away. No remorse. Great good fortune.

Ritsema/Karcher: Not distancing Returning. Without merely repenting. Spring significant.

Shaughnessy: Not returning from afar; there is no mention of regret; prime auspiciousness.

Cleary (1): Returning not far; no regret.

Cleary (2): Returning not far, no regret, very auspicious.

Wu: He does not wander far from Return. There will be no cause for regret. Great fortune.

 

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge: Returning from an error of no great extent is the prelude to the cultivation of the person. Wilhelm/Baynes: Thus one cultivates one's character. Blofeld: Turning back before having gone too far is a means of self-discipline. Ritsema/Karcher: Using adjusting individuality indeed. Cleary (2): Returning that is not far is done by cultivating oneself. Wu: To return before wandering far is a way of cultivating oneself.

The Master said:I may venture to say that the son of the Yen family [Yen Hui, Confucius' favorite disciple] had nearly attained the standard of perfection. If anything that he did was not good, he was sure to become conscious of that; and when he knew it, he did not do the same thing again. As is said in the I Ching, "The first line shows its subject returning from an error that has not led him far away. There is no occasion for repentance. There will be great good."

Legge: The subject of line one is the only dynamic line in the hexagram, meaning here, says Ch'eng-tzu, "the way of the superior man." There must have been some deviation from that, or "returning" could not be spoken of.

 

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Siu: At the outset, the man returns to the original course of goodness after a minor setback. There is no cause for remorse since the evil is put aside quickly.

Wing: You may be considering an idea that is by nature contrary to your principles. Exercise self-discipline and hold to what you feel is right. In this way you cultivate your character and will surely attain great things.

Editor: The line describes one who turns around immediately when he discovers his error.

A man should always have these two rules in readiness; the one, to do only whatever the reason of the ruling and legislating faculty may suggest for the use of men; the other, to change thy opinion, if there is any one at hand who sets thee right and moves thee from any opinion. But this change of opinion must proceed only from a certain persuasion, as of what is just or of common advantage, and the like, not because it appears pleasant or brings reputation.
Marcus Aurelius

A. Rectify a minor mistake.

B. Abandon an inferior action or attitude now before it causes serious problems later on.

Line 3

Legge: The third line, magnetic, shows one who has made repeated returns. The position is perilous, but there will be no error.

Wilhelm/Baynes: Repeated return. Danger. No blame.

Blofeld: Frequent returns -- trouble, but no error!

Liu: Frequent returns. Danger. No blame.

Ritsema/Karcher: Imminent Returning. Adversity. Without fault.

Shaughnessy: Sequenced return; danger; there is no trouble.

Cleary (1): Repeated return; danger, no fault.

Cleary (2): Repeated return is diligence. There is no fault.

Wu: He who regains Return after repeatedly losing it will be in a perilous position, but blameless. [The person seems to be unable to stay on course, but manages to correct his error every time as soon as he knows it. A combination of vacillation and endeavor to be right earns him a passing grade.]

 

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge: Notwithstanding her many returns there will be no error because she aims after righteousness. Wilhelm/Baynes: The danger of repeated return is, in its essential meaning, deliverance from blame. Blofeld: This means that we are in no way to blame for the trouble. Ritsema/ Karcher: Righteous, without fault indeed. Cleary (2): The diligence of repeated return is faultless if right. Wu: The peril of repeatedly losing Return is in principle blameless.

Legge: Line three is magnetic in the dynamic place at the top of the trigram of Movement. Any evil issue may be prevented by caution and awareness of danger.

 

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Siu: The man is changeable, departing time after time from the right course because of his uncontrolled desire for apparent advantages and returning to it for seemingly better solutions. No great blame will be attached to him, but there is still some danger.

Wing: This position indicates the type of person who is constantly vacillating because of the imagined advantages of other paths. This kind of experimentation could be dangerous, but is mostly an annoyance to all concerned. It is indicated that the situation will improve nevertheless.

Editor: Implicit here is the idea that there are many lessons to be learned and reinforced when one undertakes the Work, and uncertainty and vacillation are to be expected. Often we expect more of ourselves than we are capable of performing. One doesn't learn how to be a mountain climber by immediately attempting to scale Mt. Everest. The Work is a task of many lifetimes, involving the step by step integration of countless disparate complexes within the psyche. Occasionally we may get off the path, but as long as we remain committed to the Work we must always return -- hopefully having learned something from our temporary detour. This is not a justification for a failure of willpower, but it is a recognition that such failures exist here in the World of the Senses. Blofeld's interpretation of the Confucian commentary can be misleading -- the "no blame" or "no error" proviso in the original line derives from our recognition that we have gotten off the path and are determined to return to it, not usually that we are entirely free of culpability. On the other hand, the line can sometimes represent a recurring issue in which personal blame is not an obvious factor: one just has to deal with it until it’s resolved. (For example, a problem which others have not integrated, that they keep pushing on you.) In its most negative interpretation, the line images a chronic condition.

Those relationships which arouse, beckon to us or repel us embody the archetypal "grand themes" which have been brought into actualization more or less adequately in our childhood by our parental encounters; now they confront us ever and again, making us renew old encounters or making us complete or compensate for that which is still incomplete.
E.C. Whitmont -- The Symbolic Quest

A. An unresolved situation presents itself again.

B. The image suggests a vacillation of willpower.

C. You'll have to do it over again until you get it right.

D. A repeated offender -- you haven't yet gotten a grip on an old issue.

Line 5

Legge: The fifth line, magnetic, shows the noble return of its subject. There will be no ground for repentance.

Wilhelm/Baynes: Noble hearted return. No remorse.

Blofeld: Returning for some high purpose -- no regret!

Liu: Benevolent return. No remorse.

Ritsema/Karcher: Magnanimous Returning. Without repenting.

Shaughnessy: Thick return; there is no regret.

Cleary (1): Attentive return; no regret.

Wu: He attains Return with assiduities. There will be no regret.

 

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge: This is due to her striving to perfect herself in accordance with her central position. Wilhelm/Baynes: Central, therefore he is able to test himself. Blofeld: This middle line (of the upper trigram) implies critical self-examination. Ritsema/Karcher: Centering originating-from the predecessor indeed. Cleary (2): Attentive return without regret is balanced reflection on oneself. Wu: From a central position he examines himself.

Legge: Line five is in the central place of honor, and the middle of the trigram of Docility; hence its auspice.

 

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Siu: The man makes a noble hearted recovery by squarely facing his own shortcomings rather than leaning on trivial excuses.

Wing: You are aware of the need for a new beginning and have the courage to make the change. By observing your faults with objectivity and resolution at this time you will gain the strength of character necessary to overcome them.

Editor: Wilhelm's commentary describes a test situation: "(The line) is central; therefore it is possible for it to test itself and thus to find a way of turning back from all mistakes. The relationship with the (first line) is not suggested by any external ties, hence it represents noble hearted free decision." Blofeld's: "critical self- examination" in the Confucian commentary repeats this idea, as does Cleary’s “Balanced reflection on oneself.”

The recovery of the original unity cannot come about without the aid of man, for which purpose he was created and sent down into the place of the shells which is our world. The restoration of the original unity is a collective venture each individual must set out to accomplish for himself, for the restoration of his exiled soul is his own responsibility.
C. Ponce -- Kabbalah

A. One tests one's will by returning to the Work.

B. Self-examination reveals your deficiencies. Once they are recognized, re-center your perception.

39
Obstruction


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.