Rejecting explanations
One criticizes actions that one does not understand. taoscopy.com
Duration32
Consistency brings endurance. Stay true to your path, create lasting habits, and cultivate patience for sustainable success.
↓ Line 1
Rushing into things without proper consideration leads to ongoing difficulties.
↓ Line 3
Lack of consistency in one's character results in ongoing shame and dishonor.
↓ Line 6
Anxiety and instability arise from an excessive focus on maintaining duration, leading to negative consequences.
↓ Opposition38
Conflict arises from differences. Seek common ground and understanding to overcome separations and oppositions. Mutual respect paves the way for harmony.
32 Duration
Other titles: Duration, The Symbol of Constancy, The Long Enduring, Constant, Persevering, Standing Fast, Continuity, Constancy in the Midst of Change, Holding Firm, "Get yourself into a fixed routine like the orbiting planets." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge:Consistency means successful progress without error through firm correctness. Movement in any direction is advantageous.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Duration. Success. No blame. Perseverance furthers. It furthers one to have somewhere to go.
Blofeld: The Long Enduring. Success and freedom from error! Righteous persistence brings reward. It is favorable to have in view some goal or destination.
Liu:Duration. Success. No blame. It benefits to continue. Going anywhere is advantageous.
Ritsema/Karcher:Persevering, Growing. Without fault. Harvesting Trial. Harvesting: possessing directed going. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of continuity and endurance. It emphasizes that continuing on and renewing the way you are following is the adequate way to handle the situation. To be in accord with the time, you are told to persevere!]
Shaughnessy: Constancy: Receipt; there is no trouble; beneficial to determine; beneficial to have someplace to go.
Cleary (1):Constancy is developmental. Impeccable. It is beneficial to be correct. It is beneficial to have a place to go.
Cleary (2):Constancy comes through without fault, beneficial insofar as it is correct. It is beneficial to have a place to go.
Wu: Constancy indicates pervasion. There will be no blame. It also indicates advantage of being persevering and having undertakings.
The Image
Legge: Thunder over wind -- the image of Consistency. The superior man stands firm and does not change his method of operation.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Thunder and wind: the image of Duration. Thus the superior man stands firm and does not change his direction.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes thunder accompanied by wind. The Superior Man stands so firmly that he cannot be uprooted.
Liu: Thunder and wind symbolize Duration. The superior man stands firm without changing direction.
Ritsema/Karcher: Thunder, wind, Persevering. A Chun tzu uses establishing, not versatility on-all-sides.
Cleary (1): Thunder and wind are perpetual. Thus does the superior person stand without changing places.
Cleary (2): Thunder and wind are constant; so do developed people stand without changing place.
Wu: A combination of thunder and wind forms Constancy. Thus the jun zi establishes himself by not changing his post.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Consistency means long continuance. The dynamic trigram of Thunder is above, and the magnetic trigram of Wind is below. Docility and Motive Force are in sympathetic communication because their dynamic and magnetic lines all correspond. When the motive power is spent it will begin again -- hence movement in any direction is advantageous. The sun and moon are consistent in their illumination, and the four sequential seasons are consistent in their cycles of growth. The sages are consistent in their work and all under heaven are transformed. When we examine this consistent perseverance the natural tendencies of heaven and earth are revealed.
Legge: The subject of the hexagram is perseverance in what is right, or in continuously acting out the law of one's being. It is seen as a sequel to the previous hexagram,Initiative. As that figure deals with the correct relations
between husband and wife, so this figure treats of the continuous observance of their respective duties. Initiativeconsists of the trigrams symbolizing the youngest son and youngest daughter and shows how the attraction and influence between the sexes is strongest in youth. Consistency on the other hand, consists of the trigrams symbolizing the oldest son and oldest daughter. This couple is more staid. The wife occupies the lower place, and their relationship is characterized by her submission. Given two parties, a magnetic and a dynamic in correlation, if both consistently observe what is correct and natural (i.e., the magnetic submissive and the dynamic firm), then good fortune and progress may be predicted for their course.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: The will to maintain the consistency of the Work assures progress in whatever direction it may take.
The Superior Man holds fast to the principles of the Work.
Wilhelm's title for this hexagram is Duration. I feel that the word Consistency best evokes the meaning of the figure. In an existence consisting of continuous change the only things that have duration are the principles upon which change is based. To adhere to these principles is to maintain consistency. Implicit here is a consistent balance of forces. Consistency in the Work means neither consistent action nor inaction, but an appropriate combination of the two principles as required by changing circumstances. The Confucian commentary alludes to this characteristic of the Work when it mentions the sun, moon and changing seasons as examples of forces which maintain their consistency within a context of continuous change.
Just as the moon at night reflects the light of the hidden sun, so in the Work the ego is always magnetic in relation to the dynamic Self. A moon that thought that it was the source of its light would be egregiously deluded, despite superficial appearances to the contrary; so too the ego that thinks that its powers come from anywhere but the Self.
Motives and standards of choice are not invented by the ego but are structured by the actualization of archetypal predispositions through personally acquired value standards. E. C. Whitmont -- The Symbolic Quest
SUGGESTIONS FOR MEDITATION
Note that all of the lines in the hexagram are generally unfavorable except two and five, and that when they both change places the hexagram becomes number thirty-one, Initiative. There is a profound lesson here which is best appreciated by meditating on the associations implied. The fact that each hexagram is the inverse of the other should not be forgotten.
Line 1
Legge: The first line, magnetic, shows its subject deeply desirous of long continuance. Even with firm correctness there will be evil; there will be no advantage in any way.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Seeking duration too hastily brings misfortune persistently. Nothing that would further.
Blofeld: To ensure his continuance, he digs a hole for himself. This sort of determination brings misfortune, for he is unable to go anywhere.
Liu: One seeks duration too insistently; to continue this brings misfortune. Nothing is of benefit.
Ritsema/Karcher: Diving Persevering, Trial: pitfall. Without direction: Harvesting.
Shaughnessy: Distant constancy; determination is inauspicious; there is no place beneficial.
Cleary (1): Deep constancy; fidelity brings misfortune. No benefit.
Cleary (2): In deep constancy, fidelity brings misfortune; there is no gain.
Wu: He seeks a lasting relationship from afar. Even though he is earnest, it will be foreboding and there is nothing to be gained.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The evil attached to the deep desire for long continuance arises from the deep seeking of it at the commencement of things. Wilhelm/ Baynes: The misfortune arises from wanting too much immediately at the outset. Blofeld: Misfortune caused by trying to achieve enduring results at the very beginning. Ritsema/Karcher: Beginning seeking depth indeed. Cleary (2): The misfortune … is from seeking depth to start with. Wu: Because he starts by seeking an intimate relationship.
Legge: Line one has a proper correlate in four, but between them are two dynamic lines, and it is itself magnetic. These conditions prevent her from receiving much help from line four. She should be quiet and not be anxious for action. The emphasis of what is said derives from her being the first line of the figure, at "the commencement of things."
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: At the outset the man wants to endure. Whatever endures must be gradually matured. There is no advantage in precipitous action.
Wing: Do not attempt to wholly and quickly embrace a method or system that is new to you. Life-styles cannot be changed overnight. There are no shortcuts to reform. Such things are cultivated and matured in order to bring about the desired results.
Editor: The image depicts compulsive persistence in trying to force an issue or in seeking a premature synthesis. If this is the only changing line, the hexagram becomes number thirty-four, Great Power,implying that perhaps you are too impatient for results. The Work demands change, and often we long for some measure of stability which is inappropriate to the process taking place. Ritsema/Karcher translate “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." The second clause suggests that circumstances will improve if you just don't meddle with them.
A nation may be said to consist of its territory, its people, and its laws. The territory is the only part which is of certain durability. Abraham Lincoln
A. Don't push the river. You are trying too hard to succeed. Curb your impatience and allow the Work to go at its own pace. Let things develop naturally.
B. A premature synthesis. You are jumping to conclusions. The principles of the Work are your guide to action, not the superficial changes in your milieu.
Line 3
Legge: The third line, dynamic, shows one who does not continuously maintain his virtue. There are those who will impute this to him as a disgrace. However firm he may be, there will be ground for regret.
Wilhelm/Baynes: He who does not give duration to his character meets with disgrace. Persistent humiliation.
Blofeld: He is not consistently virtuous and therefore meets with disgrace. To continue thus would be shameful.
Liu: If he does not continue to improve his character, he will be disgraced. Continuing (not to improve) brings humiliation.
Ritsema/Karcher: Not preserving one's actualizing-tao. Maybe receiving's embarrassing. Trial: abashment. [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.]
Shaughnessy: Not making constant his virtue, he perhaps receives its disgrace; determination is distressful.
Cleary (1): If one is not constant in virtue, one may be shamed; even if right, one is humiliated.
Cleary (2): Not being constant in virtue may be taken as a disgrace. Even if one is right, one is humiliated.
Wu: The subject does not persevere in principle. He may feel humiliated for his support. Even though he does nothing wrong, he will be remorseful.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: He does not continuously maintain his virtue -- nowhere will he be borne with. Wilhelm/Baynes: He meets with no toleration. Blofeld: Because, then, no one could endure him. [We can bear with an evil man more easily than with one who is liable to behave so inconsistently that we never know what to expect of him.]Ritsema/ Karcher: Without a place to tolerate indeed. Cleary (2): There is no accommodation. Wu: Consequently, he will not be welcome.
Legge: The third line is dynamic in a dynamic place, but has passed the center position of the lower trigram. He is too active, and coming under the attraction of his sixth line correlate, he is impelled to abandon his place and virtue. The K'ang-hsi editors' version of the commentary is: "Nowhere can he bear to remain."
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man does not maintain an inner consistency of character. His vicissitudes lead to troubles from unforeseen quarters.
Wing: Your reactions and moods caused by external situations are as unpredictable as these varying circumstances. This inconsistency within the Self will bring your humiliation. In turn, this creates a cycle of difficulties. Try to center yourself.
Editor: To parody Emerson: "A foolish inconsistency is the hobgoblin of small minds."
There is nothing worse than to begin work on oneself and then leave it and find oneself between two stools. Gurdjieff
A. Inconstancy and vacillation threaten the Work.
Line 6
Legge: The sixth line, magnetic, shows its subject exciting herself to long continuance. There will be evil.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Restlessness as an enduring condition brings misfortune.
Blofeld: Prolonged violent exercise -- misfortune! [This implies violent activity directed to wrong ends and therefore barren of result.]
Liu: Continuous agitation means misfortune.
Ritsema/Karcher: Rousing Persevering: pitfall.
Shaughnessy: Distant constancy; inauspicious.
Cleary (1): Constancy of excitement is bad.
Cleary (2): Constant excitement bodes ill.
Wu: He changes his constant course. This is foreboding.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Far will she be from achieving merit. Wilhelm/Baynes: Restlessness as an enduring condition in a high position is wholly without merit. Blofeld: The prolonged violent exercise signified by this line is completely void of worthwhile results. Ritsema/Karcher: The great without achievement indeed. Cleary (2): Constant excitement in those on top is utterly unsuccessful. Wu: Changing his constant course at the last stage will not accomplish anything.
Legge: The principle of perseverance has run its course and the energy of the upper trigram of Movement is exhausted. The line itself is magnetic, and her violent efforts can only lead to evil.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man in a high position is perpetually excited and restless. As a result he does not have the inner composure necessary for positive contributions. His motive power is soon exhausted by violent efforts.
Wing: If you handle your affairs in a perpetual state of anxiety, you will soon exhaust yourself. More could be accomplished with a calm and composed demeanor. Make an attempt to comprehend and align yourself with what is truly happening before you create serious problems for yourself.
Editor: Legge's interpretation of this line is inconsistent with the other translators, depicting "foolish consistency" as the problem, whereas Wilhelm, Blofeld and Liu all identify it as "consistent foolishness." (Ritsema/Karcher's "literal English" could be interpreted either way.) My experience endorses the majority opinion. The line often reminds us how anticipation is inconsistent with centeredness. Perhaps you're trying too hard. "Be here now" -- allow the Work to unfold as it will.
Favorinus tells how Epictetus would also say that there were two faults far graver and fouler than any others - inability to bear, and inability to forbear, when we neither patiently bear the blows that must be borne, nor abstain from the things and the pleasures we ought to abstain from. The Golden Sayings of Epictetus
A. The times call for endurance, but you are not enduring the times. Constant fretting wears down the soul.
38 Opposition
Other titles: Opposition, The Symbol of Strangeness and Disunion, The Estranged, Opposites, Polarizing, Alienation, Distant From, Perversion, Disharmony, Separated, Contradiction, Estrangement, Incongruity
Judgment
Legge: Despite Mutual Alienation there will be success in small matters.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Opposition. in small matters, good fortune.
Blofeld: The Estranged -- good fortune in small matters.
Liu: Opposition. In small things, good fortune.
Ritsema/Karcher:Polarizing, Small Affairs significant. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of things that are connected but should not join. It emphasizes that putting things in opposition while acknowledging their essential link is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy: Perversion: Little affairs are auspicious.
Cleary (1): Disharmony. A small matter will turn out all right.
Cleary (2): Opposition, Etc.
Wu: Incongruity indicates auspiciousness for doing small things.
The Image
Legge: The image of fire over a marsh forms Mutual Alienation. The superior man, in accordance with this, accepts the diversities which make up the whole.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Above fire; below the lake: the image of Opposition. Thus amid all fellowship the superior man retains his individuality.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes fire above and a marshy lake below. The Superior Man achieves difference through unity.
Liu: Fire above the lake symbolizes Opposition. Living with the people, the superior man distinguishes among them.
Ritsema/Karcher: Fire above, marsh below. Polarizing. A chun tzu uses concording and-also dividing. [Cf. Solve et Coagula—Ed.]
Cleary (1): Above is fire, below is a lake, disparate. Thus are superior people the same yet different.
Cleary (2): Above is fire, below is a lake – opposite. Developed people, etc.
Wu: Fire above and marsh below form Incongruity. Thus the Jun zi take separate paths, but arrive at the same goal.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: In Mutual Alienation we see fire ascending and water descending. We see two sisters living together whose wills move in opposite directions. However, the lower trigram of Cheerfulness is attached to the upper trigram of Clarity, and the magnetic fifth line is responded to by the dynamic second line; these are signs that there can still be good fortune in small matters. Heaven and earth are separate and apart, but the work which they do is the same. Male and female are separate and apart, but with a common will they seek the same object. There is a diversity between the myriad classes of beings, but there is an analogy between their several operations. Great indeed are the phenomena and the results of this condition of disunion and separation.
Legge: Mutual Alienationshows a condition in which disunion and mistrust prevail. The hexagram teaches how this state of affairs may be overcome in small matters and the way prepared for the cure of the whole system. The commentators suggest that the condition symbolized here is a necessary sequel to the regulation of the family in the preceding hexagram.
The K'ang-hsi editors observe that in many hexagrams we have two daughters dwelling together, but that only in this and number forty-nine is attention called to it. The reason is that in these two diagrams the sisters are the second and third daughters, while in the others one of them is the eldest, whose place and superiority are fixed, so that between her and either of the others there can be no division or collision. The lesson in the Confucian commentary is not unity in diversity, but union with diversity.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: In resolving disputes, begin with their least controversial aspects.
The Superior Man respects alternative points of view.
Turn the hexagram of Familyupside-down and you get the hexagram ofMutual Alienation. The opposite of family unity is estrangement, which combined with the idea of polarity, suggests the kind of energetic "pushing away" one feels when two horseshoe magnets are matched to the same poles. Despite this opposition however, every line deals positively with the situation -- there is not one image in the hexagram that doesn't intimate an eventual resolution.
The thirty-eighth hexagram lays even more emphasis than usual on the relationships (polarities) existing between its correlate lines. This suggests that inner connections outrank any superficial estrangement. The Mutual Alienationthen, is not a permanent condition -- it represents more of a challenge than a disaster. All polarity is potential energy to accomplish useful work, and in this hexagram the polarities are more than usually available for this purpose. This doesn't mean that the work here is necessarily easy, just that it offers a major opportunity for growth.
A crisis develops when some pressure or event creates a state of uncomfortable disequilibrium which fails to respond to usual defenses and coping mechanisms. It involves danger with both a considerable risk for worsening and opportunity for growth (with enhancement of insight, mastery, and self-esteem) ... The patient should be educated to understand his situation and helped to see that painful episodes may prove to be part of a constructive process, and are not proof of a dire outcome. R.P. Kluft -- Hypnotherapeutic Crisis Intervention in Multiple Personality