Preparing for the future
One makes of climate the central question of their intervention. taoscopy.com
Controlled Power26
Cultivate inner strength and patience to overcome obstacles. Harness your energy wisely and focus on gradual progress.
↓ Line 1
The situation is precarious. It is wise to hold back and avoid taking action.
↓ Line 6
Achieving harmony with the natural order brings ultimate success.
↓ Pushing Upward46
Steady growth and progress through perseverance and effort. Step-by-step advancement leads to success.
Original Readings
26 Controlled Power
Other titles: The Taming Power of the Great, The Great Nourisher, Taming the Great Powers, Great Accumulating, Great Accumulation, Great Storage, Nurturance of the Great, Great Buildup, Restraint of the Great, Restraint by the Strong, Potential Energy, The Great Taming Force, Energy Under Control, Power Restrained, Sublimation, Latent Power
Judgment
Legge: Controlled Power means being firm and correct. If its subject doesn't enjoy his family revenues at the expense of public service, there will be good fortune. It will be advantageous to cross the great stream.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The Taming Power of the Great. Perseverance furthers. Not eating at home brings good fortune. It furthers one to cross the great water.
Blofeld: The Great Nourisher favors righteous persistence. Good fortune results from not eating at home. It is a favorable time for crossing the great river (sea). [I.e. going on a long journey, perhaps abroad.]
Liu: Taming the Great Powers. Persistence benefits. Not to eat at home is good fortune. It is of benefit to cross the great water.
Ritsema/Karcher: Great Accumulating. Harvesting Trial. Not dwelling, taking-in. Significant. Harvesting: wading the Great River. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of an overriding concern that defines what is valuable. It emphasizes that bringing the variety of things under the control of this central idea is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy: Great Storage: Beneficial to determine; not eating at home is auspicious; beneficial to ford the great river.
Cleary (1): In Nurturance of the Great it is beneficial to be chaste. It is good not to eat at home; it is beneficial to cross great rivers. [This hexagram represents incubation nurturing the spiritual embryo. On this path, it is beneficial to still strength, not to use strength. Therefore it says: “it is beneficial to be chaste.” Chastity here means quietude. Stilling strength is nurturing strength. It is good to be still, not active – if one is still, this preserves strength; if one is active, this damages strength. This is the work referred to as “nine years facing a wall.”]
Cleary (2): Great Buildup is beneficial if correct, etc.
Wu: Restraint of the Great indicates prosperity and perseverance. It will be auspicious not to have meals at home. It will be advantageous to cross the big river. [The character chu in the present context has two meanings: one is to accumulate and the other to restrain.]
The Image
Legge: Heaven in the midst of the mountain -- the image of Controlled Power. Thus, the superior man studies the words and deeds of ancient men in order to build his virtue.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Heaven within the mountain: the image of the Taming Power of the Great. Thus the superior man acquaints himself with many sayings of antiquity and many deeds of the past, in order to strengthen his character thereby.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes the sky visible amidst the mountain peaks. The Superior Man, acting from his profound knowledge of the words and conduct of the wise men of old, nourishes his virtue. [The arrangement of the component trigrams suggests glimpses of the sky among the peaks of the mountains. This points to something very far off and thereby indicates the advisability of setting out for some distant place. This is a time for going from home and giving concrete expression to our appreciation of what others have done for us or for the public good.]
Liu: Heaven within the mountain symbolizes Taming the Great Powers. The wise man studies ancient knowledge to improve his character.
Ritsema/Karcher: Heaven located-in mountain center. Great
Accumulating. A chun tzu uses the numerous recorded preceding words going to move. [A chun tzu] uses accumulating one's 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): Heaven is in the mountains, great accumulation. Thus do superior people become acquainted with many precedents of speech and action, in order to accumulate virtue.
Cleary (2): …Leaders build up their virtues by abundant knowledge of past words and deeds.
Wu: Heaven is within the mountain; this is Restraint of the Great. Thus the jun zi accumulates his virtue by remembering past words and deeds.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The trigrams that compose Controlled Power show the intelligence of Strength and Mass renewing their virtue every day. A dynamic line is in the highest place, displaying the worth of talent and virtue -- his is the power that keeps Strength in restraint and displays the will necessary to the hexagram. Talents and virtue are nourished because he refuses to confine his power within his immediate family. Heaven in the second line responds to the ruler in the fifth, thus it is favorable to cross the great stream.
Legge: Controlled Power symbolizes both restraint and the accumulation of virtue. What is restrained accumulates its strength and increases its volume to become a great reservoir of force. The Judgment teaches that if one is firm and correct in this endeavor he may then engage in public service and enjoy the king's grace.
The dynamic line in the highest place is line six who is above the ruler and has all of heaven in which to move. This, plus the power to suppress the strongest opposition, shows how he is supported by all that is correct.
Concerning the Image, Chu Hsi says: "Heaven is the greatest of all things, and its being in the midst of a mountain gives us the idea of a very large accumulation. This is analogous to the labor of the superior man in learning, acquiring and remembering, to accumulate his virtue."
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment:Controlled Power is willpower. The ego renounces selfish indulgences to work for the good of the whole. With such a spirit, great transformations are possible.
The Superior Man studies the precepts of the Work to increase his comprehension and fortitude.
The essential image to remember in this hexagram is that of Mount Everest holding down Heaven itself: raw power is controlled by the sheer mass of Keeping Still. Thus we see that Controlled Power is Willpower -- arguably the most potentially creative force in the universe, because used correctly it can accomplish anything.
The will is, curiously, not recognized as the central and fundamental function of the ego. It has often been depreciated as being ineffective against the various drives and the power of the imagination, or it has been considered with suspicion as leading to self-assertion (will-to-power). But the latter is only a perverted use of the will, while the apparent futility of the will is due only to a faulty and unintelligent use. The will is ineffective only when it attempts to act in opposition to the imagination and to the other psychological functions, while its skilful and consequently successful use consists in regulating and directing all other functions toward a deliberately chosen and affirmed aim. Roberto Assagioli –Psychosynthesis
An extreme example of this is illustrated by Cleary’s commentary on the Judgment where he says: “This is the work referred to as “nine years facing a wall.” The reference is to Bodhidharma (the patriarch who brought Zen Buddhism to China), who meditated facing a wall for nine continuous years until he attained enlightenment.
"If its subject doesn't enjoy his family revenues at the expense of public service, there will be good fortune” is an image of the ego renouncing its illusions of free choice. Psychologically, inner complexes will drain energy from the situation unless the ego has the will to control their manifestation. Every line except the sixth depicts some kind of restraint of power -- only in the top line is the energy available for use. It is significant that the superior man is advised to study the ancient wisdom, for it is in the Mysteries, the Perennial Philosophy, that one discovers the secrets and applications of the will. In other contexts (for example, a question about business matters), this can refer to making connection with sound and established practices.
In the larger philosophical sense, we see that the evolving illusions of every age insure that the masses will remain attached to the wheel of birth and death -- continuously repeating endless variations of the same basic lessons. When each individual is finally ready to escape from these cycles, it is only within the ancient and eternal template of the Work that transcendence can be found.
The analogies between religious ideas in Jewish mysticism that are hundreds of years old and the scientific findings of modern psychology can be explained only by the archetypal structure of the psyche. Man's images and ideas concerning the mysteries of being fall into the timeless patterns arranged by the archetypes of the unconscious; his meditations are determined by them. Within the setting of his culture and his time, he creates new forms for the expression of age-old truths. A. Jaffe -- The Myth of Meaning
Through contact with the Self, negative cycles can be broken and positive cycles begun, but it always requires a mountain's worth of Controlled Powerto make it happen.
Line 1
Legge: The first line, dynamic, shows its subject in a position of peril. It will be advantageous for him to stop his advance.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Danger is at hand. It furthers one to desist.
Blofeld: Trouble threatens -- it would be wise to bring activities to a halt.
Cleary (1): There is danger; it is beneficial to stop.
Cleary (2): There is danger; help yourself.
Wu: There is danger ahead. It will be advantageous to stop here.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: He should not rashly expose himself to calamity. Wilhelm/ Baynes: Thus one does not expose oneself to danger. Blofeld: That is, no attempt should be made to avert the trouble. Ritsema/Karcher: Not opposing calamity indeed. Cleary (2): Help yourself – do not get into trouble. Wu: To avoid calamities.
Legge: Line one is subject to opposition or repression from line four. This calamity will be increased if he tries to advance, so it is better for him to halt.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: At the outset, the man is confronted with dangerous obstacles. He should not attempt to advance rashly but remain composed.
Wing: Compose yourself. You may feel that you are restrained from advancing. In fact, there are obstacles on the path ahead. It would be wise to halt.
Editor: The line itself is unambiguous, though the contradictory Confucian commentaries are subject to interpretation: depending on context, one should either actively avoid danger, or passively allow it to run its course. It is generally safest to accept Wilhelm's translation when doubt prevails.
Those that live their life in Tao achieve realization of their nature in inaction. Chuangtse, quoting Confucius
A. Stop now -- don't expose yourself to danger.
Line 6
Legge: The sixth line, dynamic, shows its subject as in command of the firmament of heaven. There will be progress.
Wilhelm/Baynes: One attains the way of heaven. Success.
Blofeld: Carrying (i.e. according with) heaven's way.
Cleary (1): Carrying the crossroads of heaven; development. [At the end of nurturance of the great, the achievement complete, the practice fulfilled, with a peal of thunder the real person emerges, startling the ignorant, amazing the mundane … When practitioners of the Tao reach liberation and attain reality, there is a body outside the body, beyond heaven and earth.]
Cleary (2): Carrying the crossroads of heaven is successful.
Wu: It is at the crossroads of heaven. There will be pervasiveness.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The way is grandly open for movement. Wilhelm/ Baynes: Truth works in the great. Blofeld: This implies great progress along the way of virtue. Ritsema/Karcher: Tao: the great moving indeed. Cleary (2): The way is carried out on a grand scale. Wu: The way of heaven prevails.
Legge: The work of repression is over, and the dynamic subject of line six now has ample scope to carry out the idea of the hexagram in the accumulation of virtue.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man eventually removes all obstacles and attains progress and honor.
Wing: All obstacles give way. potential energy can be used to accomplish great deeds in the world. Align yourself with the tao and you will meet with unparalleled success.
Editor: This is the only line of the hexagram that does not depict some form of restraint of power, implying that when the ego has learned to control its inner forces they are available for transformation by the Self. Cleary’s commentary describes what this experience may be like: “When practitioners of the Tao reach liberation and attain reality, there is a body outside the body, beyond heaven and earth.” If this is the only changing line, the new hexagram created is number eleven, Harmony, in which Heaven and Earth unite: ego and Self are as portrayed in this line.
The great majority of humanity are ruled by their external circumstances, but the superior man is he who works out his own direction and then changes his environment, or his reaction to it, accordingly. He is a master of his destiny. Gareth Knight -- Qabalistic Symbolism
A. Use your power to further the Work.
46 Pushing Upward
Other titles: The Symbol of Rising and Advancing, Ascending, Ascension, Rising, Promotion, Advancement, Sprouting from the Earth, Organic Growth
Judgment
Legge:Pushing Upward means successful progress. Have no anxiety about meeting with the great man. An advance to the south is fortunate.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Pushing Upward has supreme success. One must see the great man. Fear not. Departure toward the south brings good fortune.
Blofeld: Ascending. Supreme success! It is essential to see a great man, so as to banish anxiety. Progressing towards the south brings good fortune.
Liu: Ascending. Great Success. One should see a great man. Without fear. An expedition to the south leads to good fortune.
Ritsema/Karcher:Ascending, Spring Growing. Availing-of visualizing Great People. No cares. The South, chastising significant. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of rising to a higher level. It emphasizes that setting a higher goal and working toward it step by step is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told to: ascend!]
Shaughnessy:Ascending: Prime receipt; beneficial to see the great man. Do not pity. For the southern campaign, auspicious.
Cleary(1): Rising is greatly developmental; it calls for seeing a great person, so there will be no grief. An expedition south brings good fortune.
Cleary (2):Rising is very successful, etc.
Wu:Ascension indicates great pervasion. It will be useful to see the great man. No anxiety. It will be auspicious to go south.
The Image
Legge: Wood growing in the earth -- the image of Pushing Upward. The superior man accumulates small increments of virtue until it becomes high and great.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Within the earth, wood grows: the image of Pushing Upward. Thus the superior man of devoted character heaps up small things in order to achieve something high and great.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes tress growing upwards from the earth. The Superior Man most willingly accords with virtuous ways; starting from small things, he accumulates a great heap of merit.
Liu: The wood grows in the earth, symbolizing Ascending. The superior man devotes his virtue to building things up from the small to the high and great.
Ritsema/Karcher: Earth center giving-birth-to wood. Ascending. A chun tzu uses yielding to actualize-tao. A chun tzu uses amassing the small to use the high great.
[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): Trees grow on the earth, rising. Thus do superior people follow virtue, accumulating the small to lofty greatness.
Wu: Trees grow from earth; this is Ascension. Thus the Jun zi diligently cultivates his virtues little by little to become tall and large like trees growing.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The magnetic line ascends as opportunity permits. We have Flexibility, Obedience and a dynamic line below with his magnetic correlate above: this means successful progress. See the great man -- his will is accomplished in the south.
Legge: The character for this hexagram means advancing in an upward direction, or ascending. The figure symbolizes the promotion of an able officer to the highest pinnacle of distinction. The action of the dynamic second line is tempered by being in the magnetic central position of the lower trigram. As the representative of Pushing Upward he is forceful, yet modest and the magnetic fifth line ruler welcomes his advance. The officer therefore has the qualities that fit him to ascend as well as a favorable opportunity to do so.
After he has met with the "great man" in line five, advance to the south will be fortunate. Chu Hsi says that this is equivalent to "advancing forwards.” Since the south is the region of brightness and warmth, the progress will be easy and agreeable.
The lower trigram symbolizes Wood, and its weak first line is the root of a tree buried in the earth of the upper trigram. The gradual growth of this root pushes the trunk upward as the circumstances of time permit.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Ascend in accordance with the will of the Self. Turn toward clarity.
The Superior Man grows a little every day.
The image of the 46th hexagram is of a plant growing in the earth, gradually pushing upward toward the sun. That "an advance to the south is fortunate" means that as all plants turn southward toward the sun, their source of nourishment, so should we turn toward the light and clarity of the "great man" or Self within us.
The upward advancement of the Work is an organic process. There is no such thing as "instant enlightenment." The many stories and parables of instant Satori which are common in the Zen Buddhist tradition are actually just dramatic accounts of the final few moments' resolution that come after a lifetime of slow and patient devotion. The Work progresses at the pace of a tree -- what started out as an acorn eventually becomes a forest giant, but it doesn't happen overnight.
Remember ever that Mind in its entirety is ever the Builder. For it is step by step, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little, that the attaining is accomplished in the mental, the spiritual, the material applications of an entity in this material world. Edgar Cayce – Book of Changes
This slow growth is an accumulation of countless "gathering togethers" as depicted in the preceding hexagram, of whichPushing Upward is the upside-down image. It is estimated that an adult human being grows from a single cell to about one-hundred billion cells through a process of fifty-billion mitotic divisions. It is interesting to observe that "one-hundred-billion" is the scientific estimate of the number of stars in any given galaxy. If we apply the Hermetic Axiom: "As above, so below" to this relationship of macrocosm to microcosm we get the image of our solar system as a single atom in the "body" of a galactic entity.
That should put the Work into perspective!
Understand that thou art a second little world and that the sun and the moon are within thee, and also the stars. Origen --Homiliae in Leviticum