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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.
↓ Line 2
Despite injury or setbacks, one should continue to strive forward with determination and strength, leading to eventual success.
↓ Line 5
Even in difficult times, maintaining integrity and perseverance will lead to eventual recognition and success.
↓ Waiting5
Be patient and prepare. Trust timing for success. Be steady and ready.
Original Readings
36 Clouded Perception
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.
Line 2
Legge: The second line, magnetic, shows its subject with clouded perception and wounded in the left thigh. She saves herself by the strength of a swift horse, and is fortunate.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Darkening of the light injures him in the left thigh. He
gives aid with the strength of a horse. Good fortune. [Here the Lord of
Light is in a subordinate place and is wounded by the Lord of Darkness. But
the injury is not fatal; it is only a hindrance. Rescue is still possible.]
Blofeld: Though injured in the left thigh, he made use of a horse in relieving distress -- good fortune!
Liu: The darkened light injures his left thigh, but he is saved by a strong horse. Good fortune.
Ritsema/Karcher: Brightness Hiding. Hiding tending-towards the left thigh. Availing-of a rescuing horse, invigorating significant.
Shaughnessy: The calling pheasant is wounded in the left thigh; herewith hold aloft the horse's vitality; auspicious.
Cleary (1): Concealment of illumination. Getting hurt in the left leg calls for rescue; if the horse is strong, it bodes well.
Wu: His left thigh is wounded. There will be good fortune if a strong horse is used to save him.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Her good fortune is due to the proper fashion of her acting according to her circumstances. Wilhelm/Baynes: The good fortune comes from [the line's] devotion to the rule. Blofeld: This good fortune results from compliance with laws and regulations. [The implication would seem to be that, when charged with emergency duties, we must persist in carrying them out at all costs.] Ritsema/Karcher: Yielding used by-consequence indeed. [By-consequence (-of), TSE: very strong connection, reason, cause, result; rule, law, pattern, standard...] Cleary (2): The luck of the second yin is in model obedience. Wu: Abiding by the principle.
Legge: Line two is magnetic, but in her proper and central place, giving us the idea of an officer, obedient to duty and the right. Her wound in the left thigh may impede her movements, but it does not disable her. She finds the means to save herself and maintain her good purpose. The "proper fashion of acting" is suggested by the magnetic line being the central place.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man is injured but is not disabled. He recovers and pursues his good purpose with the strength of a horse.
Wing: Rather than disabling you, a recent injury that you have sustained on your path will serve to inspire you toward affirmative and vigorous action in the direction of the general good.
Editor: The thigh is a walking muscle, giving us the power to move or act. The left is a universal symbol of the unconscious psyche and its functions. The left thigh, then, is an image of unconscious motive power, or natural motivation. To be "wounded in the left thigh" suggests an impeded natural response, as opposed to a conscious, willed response. (When associated with the idea of Clouded Perception, this may refer to a failure of insight or intuition.) A horse represents energy in general; here it may be psychic energy relating to perception -- "horse- sense," if you will. One is reminded of the centaur Chiron, the “wounded healer” of Greek myth, who was also wounded in the thigh. In astrology, Chiron symbolizes unhealable wounds, and although it may be stretching the symbolism here, dealing with such wounds is a natural part of the Work: they may be unhealable, but they must be dealt with nonetheless. In the words of an old Blues lyric: “I may get better, but I won’t get well.” Sometimes receiving this line is a hint that if you were in touch with your inner processes you wouldn't have needed to ask the question.
Fusion, inner unity, is obtained by means of "friction," by the struggle between "yes" and "no" in man. If a man lives without inner struggle, if everything happens to him without opposition, if he goes wherever he is drawn or wherever the wind blows, he will remain such as he is. But if a struggle begins in him, and particularly if there is a definite line in this struggle, then, gradually, permanent traits begin to form themselves, he begins to "crystallize." Gurdjieff
A. Crippled by ignorance, but saved by instinct -- let horse-sense be your guide.
B. A lack of awareness has crippled your ability to respond, but the impetus of your innate sense of what is correct will carry you through.
Line 5
Legge: The fifth line, magnetic, shows how the Count of Chi fulfilled the condition indicated by clouded perception. It will be advantageous to be firm and correct.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Darkening of the light as with Prince Chi. Perseverance furthers.
Blofeld: Prince Chi suffered injury, but his persistence along a righteous course was rewarded.
Liu: The darkened light of Prince Chi. Continuance benefits.
Ritsema/Karcher: The winnowing son's Brightness Hiding. Harvesting Trial.
Shaughnessy: Jizi's calling pheasant; beneficial to determine.
Cleary (1): Concealment of illumination in a basket is beneficial if correct.
Cleary (2): The concealment of illumination on the part of a just scion of an evil ruling house is beneficial and upright.
Wu: The way the Viscount of Qi handled the situation of Light Obliterated is advantageous only through perseverance.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: His brightness could not be quite extinguished. Wilhelm/ Baynes: The perseverance of Prince Chi shows that the light cannot be extinguished. Blofeld: His was a light which can never be extinguished. Ritsema/Karcher: Brightness not permitted to pause indeed. Cleary (2): His understanding cannot be suppressed. [This represents being outwardly flexible while inwardly strong, remaining balanced in the middle, appearing to be ignorant while actually being illuminated.] Wu: The perseverance of the Viscount of Qi made it impossible to obliterate the light.
Legge: Line five should be the place of the ruler, but in this hexagram line six takes that position. The officer here, in the center of the upper trigram, just below the sovereign, is modeled on the Count of Chi, an historical personage.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man recalls the manner in which Prince Chi preserved his convictions by feigning insanity when trapped in the court of the tyrant Chou Hsin. In coping with danger during times of darkness, he exhibits an invincibility of spirit, coupled with unusual caution.
Wing: You are in an obvious and important role in this situation, yet you are not in accord with it. You are not in a position to struggle against elements that run contrary to your principles. Conceal your ideals and acquiesce outwardly to the powers that be. You will ultimately be rewarded.
Editor: Count Chi "hid his light" by feigning insanity to deceive the tyrant holding him captive. Basically, the idea is that you are "imprisoned" by the situation at hand and powerless to do anything but adapt to it. If you don't surrender your integrity you can persevere through a dark and difficult time. As so often in fifth lines, the image is an echo of the ideas in the Judgment and/or Image of the hexagram as a whole. This particular predicament reminds us of the Biblical story of David:
David ... became very frightened of Achish the king of Gath. When their eyes were on him he played the madman and, when they held him, feigned lunacy. He would drum on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard. Achish said to his servants, "You can see this man is mad. Why bring him to me? Have I not enough madmen without your bringing me this one to weary me with his antics?" I Samuel 21: 13--15:
A. In the presence of arrogance, the wise man plays the fool. (Now is the time to hide your light.)
B. The Dark Night of the Soul.
C. Clarity in the matter at hand is concealed for now.
5 Waiting
Other titles: Nourishment, Calculated Inaction, Attending, Biding One's Time, Nourishment Through Inaction, Waiting for Nourishment, Moistened, "Waiting with the assurance that a blessing will come." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge:Waitingintimates that with sincerity and firmness there will be brilliant success and good fortune. It will be advantageous to cross the great stream.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Waiting. If you are sincere, you have light and success. Perseverance brings good fortune. It furthers one to cross the great water.
Blofeld: Calculated inaction (or exhibiting the power to wait) and the confidence of others win brilliant success. Righteous persistence brings good fortune. It will be advantageous to cross the great river (or sea). [The significance of this hexagram is that inaction while awaiting the outcome of events will enable us to avoid a danger now threatening. Firmness, clarity of mind and success in winning the confidence of others are now demanded of us; with them, our undertakings will prosper. Moreover, this period of inaction is a good time in which to go on a journey or else for relaxation and enjoyment.]
Liu: Waiting.If you are sincere you will have glory (light) and success. Continuing leads to good fortune. It is of benefit to cross the great water (to travel to remote places).
Ritsema/Karcher: Attending, possessing conformity . Shining Growing, Trial: significant. Harvesting: wading the Great River. (Editor: "Possessing conformity" is translated as: ... "Inner and outer are in accord; confidence of the spirits has been captured...") [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of being compelled to wait for and serve something. It emphasizes that fixing your attention on what is required while waiting carefully for the right moment to act is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told to: attend!]
Shaughnessy: Moistened: There is a return, radiant receipt; determination is auspicious; beneficial to ford the great river.
Cleary (1): In Waiting there is sincerity and great development. It is good to be correct. It is beneficial to cross a great river.
Cleary (2):Waiting with truthfulness lights up success in correct orientation toward good. It is beneficial to cross a great river.
Wu: Waiting indicates having confidence. It is brilliant and pervasive and auspicious to be persevering. It will be advantageous to cross the big river.
The Image
Legge: The image of clouds ascending over the sky forms Waiting. The superior man, in accordance with this, eats and drinks, feasts and enjoys himself as if there were nothing else to employ him.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Clouds rise up to heaven: the image of Waiting. Thus the superior man eats and drinks, is joyous and of good cheer.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes clouds rising to the zenith -- inactivity! The Superior Man will pass this time in feasting and enjoyment.
Liu: Clouds rise up in the sky; this symbolizes Waiting. The superior man enjoys his food and drink. He remains relaxed and happy.
Ritsema/Karcher: Above clouds with-respect-to heaven. Attending. A chun tzu uses drinking [and] taking-in to repose delighting.
Cleary (1): Clouds rise to heaven, waiting. The superior person makes merry with food and drink.
Wu: The clouds ascend to the sky; this is Waiting. Thus the jun zi enjoys food and peace.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Waiting shows peril in front, but its subject does not allow himself to be involved in the dangerous defile. The success in sincerity and good fortune in firmness are shown by the position of the fifth line which is correctly situated in the central place assigned by Heaven. Crossing the great stream will be followed by meritorious achievement.
Legge: Waiting is composed of the lower trigram of strength and the upper trigram of peril. Strength confronted by peril might be expected to advance boldly and deal with it at once, but the lesson of the hexagram is that it is wiser to wait until success is sure. In the situation at hand, firm correctness is all that is required for eventual victory.
"Crossing the great stream" is a frequent expression in the I Ching which symbolizes the undertaking of hazardous enterprises, or encountering great difficulties. Historically it refers to the Yellow River which the lords of Chou had to cross in their revolution against the Yin Dynasty tyrants. The crossing made by King Wu in 1122 B.C. was one of the greatest deeds in the history of China, and was preceded by a long period of waiting until success could be assured.
Regarding the Image, it is said that the cloud that has risen to the top of the sky has nothing to do but wait until the harmony of heaven and earth require it to discharge its store of rain. The superior man is likewise counseled to enjoy his idle time while waiting for the correct moment to deal with the approaching danger.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Strength in the face of danger here consists of the will to sit tight and do nothing.
The Superior Man carries on as if nothing was the matter, and nourishes himself through inaction.
There are many kinds of courage -- perhaps the greatest of all is the courage to remain unflinchingly in place when all the circumstances seem to cry out for action. It takes far more courage to wait for the dragon to slowly come to you than to rush forth and attack him in his lair. As a strategy, to out-wait your opponent through pure willpower and inner strength can be more effective than a direct attack -- but it can only succeed when you are truly strong. It is as if the real battle takes place on the inner planes, and the first one to act in the world thereby concedes defeat.
A very large part of the Work consists in disciplining oneself to wait -- to take no action until some indefinite time in the future. This is exceedingly difficult to do, and creates incredible stresses within the psyche -- which is exactly why it is necessary. Psychologically, to "cross the great stream" is to subdue all of the autonomous instincts, drives and emotions that are accustomed to responding whenever they are stimulated. As long as waiting creates feelings of stress, you can be sure that the battle has not been won. When you can wait like the superior man -- as if there were nothing else to do, then you can allow yourself to hope that you may be getting somewhere.
To nourish oneself through inaction is to digest and absorb the energy of one's instinctive responses. As in any nourishing assimilation, their strength then becomes your strength. The true adept is one who has digested all of his passion and is thereby empowered to use it for his own purposes. Instead of engaging in civil war, he has united his forces to act in the world.
Tradition says that Moses did not set the Tabernacle up straight away, but delayed for three months, despite the fact that the people wanted to dedicate it at once. In this is repeated a lesson of patience concerning matters of the spirit. For instead of accepting their Teacher's word, which conveyed the will of God, the Israelites sought to impose their own will over what they had made ... This phenomenon is not unknown among those who cannot wait, which is a vital part of esoteric training. Unfortunately, it has to be demonstrated over and over again that the timing of a spiritual event is contingent upon a cosmic schedule, and not the will of the individual. Z.B.S. Halevi -- Kabbalah and Exodus