Wiki I Ching

Youthful Folly 4.2.5 20 Contemplation

From
4
Youthful Folly
To
20
Contemplation

Seeing the bothers piling up
One goes through difficult times looking at their problems.
taoscopy.com


Youthful Folly 4
Seek guidance and be open to learning.
Embrace mistakes as opportunities for growth.


Line 2
Patience and understanding with those who are inexperienced lead to positive outcomes.
Knowing how to manage relationships is beneficial.


Line 5
Approaching situations with a sense of innocence and openness can lead to positive results.


Contemplation 20
Pause and observe the world around you.
Gain clarity by distancing yourself from immediate involvement, allowing for a broader perspective.
Insight comes from seeing both the big picture and the subtle details.



4
Youthful Folly


Other Titles: Youthful Folly, The Symbol of Covering, Immaturity, Uncultivated Growth, Youth, Acquiring Experience, Youthful Ignorance, Enveloping, Folly, Darkness "Often the I Ching uses this hexagram to show us that we should not be asking this question." -- D.F. Hook

 

Judgment

Legge: Inexperience means progress and success. I do not seek the inexperienced youth, but he seeks me. When he shows the sincerity proper for divination, I instruct him. If he asks two or three times, that is troublesome, and I do not instruct the troublesome. Firm correctness brings advantage.

Wilhelm/Baynes:Youthful Folly has success. It is not I who seek the young fool; the young fool seeks me. At the first oracle I inform him. If he asks two or three times, it is importunity. If he importunes, I give him no information. Perseverance furthers.

Blofeld: Immaturity. Good fortune! I am not one to seek out uncultivated youths, but if such a youth seeks me out, I shall at first read and explain the omens. Yet should he ask me many times, just because of his importunity, I shall not explain anything more. The omen indicates a need for proper direction. [This hexagram suggests stubbornness (the upper trigram) issuing from the softness of the womb (the lower trigram). While it sometimes happens that youthful rashness succeeds where sober counsels fail, it is nevertheless the duty of the mature man to cultivate the minds of the young and to respond, within reason, to their requests for guidance. As an omen, this hexagram may be taken to imply a case in which a certain amount of rashness may lead to success, but in which older people are not absolved from the duty of guiding the young. There is also a suggestion that the Book of Change itself, though fully responsive to those who make the right approach, will not brook importunity in the form of trivial questions or of seeking to reverse its judgments by further questioning. Whether the omen may be taken to mean that we should go ahead with some rash scheme or that it is time for us to restrain someone's youthful rashness will depend upon the nature of the enquiry, the people concerned in it and the particular moving lines involved in the response.]

Liu: It is not I who seek him, the youth seeks me. The first time he asks, I answer; but if he asks again and again, it is annoyance: no answer. Benefit for continuance.

Ritsema/Karcher: Enveloping, Growing. In-no-way me seeking youthful Enveloping. Youthful Enveloping seeking me. The initial oracle-consulting notifying. Twice, three-times: obscuring. Obscuring, by-consequence not notifying. Harvesting Trial. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of concealment and clouded awareness. It emphasizes that actively accepting this concealment in order to nurture growth is the adequate way to handle it...]

Shaughnessy: Folly: Receipt; it is not we who seek youthful folly; youthful folly seeks us. The initial milfoil divination is auspicious, but if two or three times drawn out, being drawn out then it is not auspicious; beneficial to determine.

Cleary(1): In darkness is development. It is not that I seek naïve innocence; naïve innocence seeks me. The first augury informs; the second and third defile. Defilement does not inform. It is beneficial to be correct.

Cleary(2):Darkness. Getting through. It is not that I seek the ignorant; the ignorant seek me. The first pick informs, the second and third muddle. That which is muddled does not inform. Benefit is a matter of correctness.

Wu:Ignorance is pervasive. It is not that I ask the ignorant lad to come for instruction. It is that the ignorant lad comes to request my instruction. As in divination, he will be instructed the first time. If he asks the same question for the second and third times, he is disrespectful. Having been judged disrespectful, he will not be instructed again. It will be advantageous to be persevering.

 

The Image

Legge: A spring issuing from the mountain -- the image of Inexperience. The superior man, in accordance with this, nourishes his virtue and strives for resoluteness of conduct.

Wilhelm/Baynes: A spring wells up at the foot of the mountain: the image of Youth. Thus the superior man fosters his character by thoroughness in all that he does.

Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes a watery hole at the foot of a mountain amidst uncultivated growth. The Superior Man by determined good conduct nourishes his virtue. [The second sentence is deduced from the first; both are suggested by the component trigrams.]

Liu: A spring comes out at the foot of the mountain; this symbolizes Youth. The superior man will cultivate his character through decisive action.

Ritsema/Karcher: below Mountain issuing-forth spring-water. Enveloping. A chun tzu uses fruiting movement to nurture 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): Under a mountain a spring is produced, in darkness. A superior person nurtures character with fruitful action.

Cleary (2): Under a mountain emerges a spring, in darkness. Leaders use effective action to nurture inner qualities.

Wu: A spring flows at the foot of a mountain; this is Ignorance. The jun zi resolves to taking steps to cultivate his virtue.

 

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge:Inexperience shows the trigram of the Mountain above that of the Abyss. The perilous impasse suggested by these figures evokes the idea of inexperience. Progress and success are suggested because the action and development of the hexagram conform to the requirements of the time. When inexperience seeks wisdom, will responds to will. The oracle responds to sincerity because it has the qualities of the dynamic line in the central second place, but the oracle does not respond to ignorant importuning. The proper duty of a sage is to nourish the correct nature of the ignorant.

Legge: Difficulty shows us plants struggling within the earth, and Inexperiencesuggests the small and undeveloped sprouts which then appear upon its surface. This is an image of youthful ignorance, and the object of the hexagram is to show how those in authority should deal with it. The Judgment takes the form of the oracle's response to the questioner.

The upper trigram represents a frowning mountain which blocks the progress of the traveler. The lower trigram symbolizes a stream of water in a dangerous canyon, such as might be found at the foot of a mountain. The combination of these symbols suggests the perilous nature of ignorant inexperience.

The subject of line two represents the oracle, who demands sincerity from the unenlightened. It is his duty to evoke the innate "correct nature" hidden within the questioner, to bring this quality out and develop it. In regard to the Image, Chu Hsi says that "the water of a spring is sure to move on and gradually advance." This may serve as a symbol of the general process and progress of education.

 

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Judgment: Inexperience portrays the relationship between the ego and the Self as one of student to master. Communication via the oracle demands seriousness of purpose -- the Self refuses to pander to the ego's illusions.

The Superior Man furthers the Work by developing his will and intent.

Wilhelm's title for this hexagram is Youthful Folly, which tends to lend it a negative connotation that is not always strictly applicable. However, he is quick to point out that the title "should be understood to mean the immaturity of youth and its consequent lack of wisdom, rather than mere stupidity."

While the title of Inexperience avoids the negative connotation, it must be acknowledged that there is an aura of irritation in this hexagram which illustrates an uncomfortable truth about the relationship between the ego and the Self. The Self is an awesome archetype, and once one has established contact with him, he assumes a distinctly stern personality. The Self will not pander to the ego's illusions, and has no patience with anything but the unvarnished truth. Tact and patience are not among his attributes. Lao Tse describes him very accurately:

The Sage is unkind: He treats the people like sacrificial straw dogs.

Which is just the way it is. As a satellite of the Self, the ego-complex was not created just so that it could spend a lifetime indulging its fantasies. The Work must be undertaken, and the Self knows more than you do what remains to be done. Like any excellent teacher, he demands more of us than we think we have in us to give. This phenomenon of the tyrannical and often "unjust" Self has been noted in many times and places. Here is an example from Neo-Platonism:

What shall we say in regard to the question: "Why do the divinities that are invoked require the worshipper to be just, although they themselves when entreated consent to perform unjust acts?" In reply to this I am uncertain in respect to what is meant by "performing unjust acts," as the same definition may not appear right both to us and to the gods. We, on the one hand, looking to that which is least significant, consider the things that are present, the momentary life, what it is and how it originates. The beings superior to us, let me say, know for certain the whole life of the soul and all its former lives; and if they bring on a retribution from the supplication of those who invoke them, they do not increase it beyond what is just. On the contrary, they aim at the sins impressed upon the soul in former lifetimes, which men do not perceive, and so imagine that is unjust that they fall into the misfortunes which they suffer.
Iamblichus -- The Egyptian Mysteries

A contemporary expression of this idea comes from consciousness researcher, John Lilly, famous for his work with dolphins and isolation tank experiments with psychedelic drugs:

Cosmic Love [e.g., the Spiritual Self] is absolutely Ruthless and Highly Indifferent: it teaches its lessons whether you like/dislike them or not.
John Lilly

By definition, "the gods" (archetypes) are not human. Were it possible for them to evolve without human vessels in Spacetime, presumably we humans would not exist. It is these archetypes, in the guise of our complexes and limiting beliefs, that are being altered by the Work. Because the unconscious psyche is a multiverse, it is sometimes very difficult to differentiate just "who" is advising us, and the Self via the oracle, will occasionally test us for our ability to use intuitive common sense.

Which is to say: when the gods (or the "Self") become totally "unreasonable," we can only go along with them to the limit of our human understanding. Slavish obedience to all injunctions from the unconscious is to sell our souls outright to something that we don't understand. The renunciation of "common sense" is the renunciation of our most precious birthright.

On the other hand, to "disobey" at will is to put our souls at risk. This is one of the most painful of all dilemmas -- how far do we go in our obedience to unseen powers? Aspects of this problem have been called The Dark Night of the Soul -- an inner initiation, a trial by fire to see what we are really made of. There are times in the advanced course of the Work when one receives the strange insight that the Self actually wants us to disobey! This ordeal can only be lived through -- no one can advise you except your own sense of what is right for you at any given moment.

The most useful guideline that I have found is that the precepts of the Work (as found in the Perennial Philosophy) are consistent worldwide, and constitute a reliably moral structure for responsible choice. If the oracle seems to be telling you to do something contrary to your inner sense of right and wrong, contrary to your understanding of the precepts of the Work, then go with this intuition rather than the oracle. The Self, via the oracle, will test you in many ways to make you develop. (The ultimate goal is to become so infallibly intuitive that oracles become superfluous.)

The gods need our intelligent disobedience if they themselves are to evolve. It is in the stress between obedience and conscientious disobedience that growth takes place. In one sense, whatever choice you make, as long as it is conscious and you fully accept the consequences, is the right choice for you at that moment. We learn through our mistakes, and can never fail our lessons if we truly integrate the experience into our unfolding lives.

Confucius, one of the greatest teachers who ever lived, obviously took his teaching method from the Judgment of this hexagram:

The Master said:"I won't teach a man who is not anxious to learn, and will not explain to one who is not trying to make things clear to himself. And if I explain one- fourth and the man doesn't go back and reflect and think out the implications in the remaining three-fourths for himself, I won't bother to teach him again."

And so it is with the oracle (the Self) -- the deeper one gets involved in the Work, the more difficult the lessons become, so that one is always kept in a position of relative Inexperience. There are times, when a simple answer would suffice, that you will receive an ambiguous image, which (if you do three-fourths of the work), will lead you to a profound insight.


Line 2

Legge: The second line, dynamic, shows its subject exercising forbearance with the ignorant, in which there will be good fortune; and admitting even the goodness of women, which will also be fortunate. He may be described also as a son able to sustain the burden of his family.

Wilhelm/Baynes: To bear with fools in kindliness brings good fortune. To know how to take women brings good fortune. The son is capable of taking charge of the household.

Blofeld: Being gentle with the immature brings good fortune. Taking a wife brings good fortune. Sons will be capable of taking over the household affairs when the strong (young) and the weak (old) are in mutual harmony.

Liu: To treat youth generously brings good fortune. Arranging a marriage brings good fortune. The son can take over the household.

Ritsema/Karcher: Enwrapping Enveloping. Significant. Letting-in the wife. Significant. The son controlling the dwelling.

Shaughnessy: Wrapping folly; auspicious. Sending in the wife; auspicious. The son can marry.

Cleary (1): Taking in darkness is good, taking a wife is good; the heir ably takes over the family affairs.

Cleary (2): It bodes well to embrace the ignorant. It bodes well to take a wife. The child becomes head of the family.

Wu: Accommodating the ignorant is auspicious. It is also auspicious to take a wife. A son will bring prosperity to the family.

 

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge: He is able to sustain the burden of his family because of the reciprocation between this dynamic line and the magnetic fifth line. Wilhelm/ Baynes: Firm and yielding are in union. Blofeld: [No Confucian commentary on this line, Ed.]Ritsema/Karcher: Solid and Supple articulating indeed. Cleary (2): Firmness and flexibility meeting and joining. Wu: The strong-minded and the softhearted have communicated with each other.

Legge: On the second line, dynamic and in the central place, devolves the task of enlightening the ignorant with forbearance and humility. In proof of his generosity he even receives or learns from weak and ignorant women. He appears as the son taking his father's place.

 

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Siu: The man is tolerant of the ignorant and kind to women. He resembles an official capable of assuming the delegated duties of a prince in directing a large social body with inner strength and outward reserve.

Wing: The person in this position has indeed developed in himself a true appreciation of humanity in all of its folly and beauty. Such a person can lead others with wisdom, compassion, and inspiration, and attain all the success attributed to the great and wise historical leaders.

Editor: Because the I Chingis an empirically valid guide to ethical behavior, we must interpret the sexist imagery in Legge and Wilhelm's version of this line as intrapsychic symbolism. Ignorant: Aspects within the psyche resistant to change. Women: Eros function, emotions, feelings. To "admit even the goodness of women" is to acknowledge those feelings which nurture the psyche. Family:The psyche. Son: The conscious ego. (Father = the Self.) Able to sustain the burden of his family: Able to control psychic impulses.

From Sextus I learned a benevolent disposition, and the example of a family governed in a fatherly manner ... And to tolerate ignorant persons, and those who form opinions without consideration: he had the power of readily accommodating himself to all.
Marcus Aurelius

A. You are competent to handle the situation.

B. The image suggests the consciously responsible management of thoughts and feelings.

Line 5

Legge: The fifth line, magnetic, shows its subject as a simple lass without experience. There will be good fortune.

Wilhelm/Baynes: Childlike folly brings good fortune.

Blofeld: Youthful innocence brings good fortune. [Here the Chinese text suggests that we are dealing not with youthful folly but with the innocent misdemeanors of quite small children.]

Liu: The youth submits. Good fortune. [If you receive this line, you can expect to attain your goals easily.]

Ritsema/Karcher: Youthful Enveloping. Significant.

Shaughnessy: Youthful folly; auspicious.

Cleary(1): Innocence is auspicious.

Cleary(2): Innocent ignorance has a good outlook.

Wu: Being an ignorant lad will be auspicious.

 

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge: Her good fortune is due to her docility going on to humility. Wilhelm/Baynes: The good fortune of the childlike fool comes from his being devoted and gentle. Blofeld: This is because such conduct coincides with what is soft and gentle. Ritsema/Karcher: Yielding uses Ground indeed. Cleary (2): Harmonizing smoothly. Wu: (This) is due to his docility and humility.

Legge: Line five is in the place of honor, and has for its correlate the dynamic line in the second place. Being receptive, it is taken as the symbol of a simple lass, willing to be taught by its dynamic correlate in line two.

 

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Siu: The unassuming youth seeking instruction with humility gains good fortune.

Wing: An attitude of innocent acceptance in regard to seeking advice from others will be rewarded. Good fortune.

Editor: As so often in theI Ching, the full meaning of this line is found in the relationship between it and its correlate. The second line is the dynamic sage, and the fifth line is the magnetic (receptive) student. As the ruler of the hexagram, line five exemplifies the idea of receptivity to instruction necessary for the evolution of ignorance into gnosis. This is the relationship of the inexperienced ego to the omniscient Self.

Sit down before fact like a little child, and be prepared to give up every preconceived notion; follow humbly wherever and to whatever abysses nature leads, or you shall learn nothing.
– T. H. Huxley

A. "Awaken the mind by fixing it nowhere." -- Zen proverb.

B. Accept your ignorance and inexperience and humbly devote yourself to comprehension of the Work.

20
Contemplation


Other titles: View, The Symbol of Steady Observation, Looking Down, Observation, Viewing, Looking Up, Observing, Admiration, To Examine, Rulers and Their Subjects, Introspection, Perception, Contemplation of the Work

 

Judgment

Legge: Contemplation shows us a worshipper who has purified himself, but must still present his sacrifice with that dignified sincerity which inspires reverence.

Wilhelm/Baynes: Contemplation . The ablution has been made, but not yet the offering. Full of trust they look up to him.

Blofeld: Lookingdown.[This word often means “contemplation" and I have so translated it when the context so requires.] The ablution has been performed, but not the sacrifice. Sincerity inspires respect. [This is generally understood to mean that the first step has been taken or that one has bound oneself to follow a certain course...but that the main duties are yet to be performed.]

Liu:Observation. The hand-washing ritual is completed, but the sacrifice is still to come. All done and looked upon with sincerity.

Ritsema/Karcher:Viewing: hand-washing and-also not worshipping. Possessing conformity, like a presence. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of something seen from a distance, out of immediate reach. It emphasizes that carefully observing and divining the meaning is the adequate way to handle it...]

Shaughnessy: Looking Up. Washing the hands but not making offering; there is a return with head held high.

Cleary (1): Observing, one has washed the hands but not made the offering; there is sincerity, which is reverent.

Wu:Admiration indicates a worshipper washing his hands in preparation for the offerings, but not participating in it. He shows sincerity and awe.


The Image

Legge: The image of earth and wind moving above it form Contemplation. The ancient kings, in accordance with this, examined the different regions of the kingdom to see the ways of the people, and set forth their instructions.

Wilhelm/Baynes: The wind blows over the earth: the image of Contemplation. Thus the kings of old visited the regions of the world, contemplated the people, and gave them instruction.

Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes wind blowing across the earth. The ancient rulers visited the different regions to keep watch over their people and carefully instruct them.

Liu: The wind blowing over the earth symbolizes Observation. The ancient kings visited their territories, observed the people, and gave instruction.

Ritsema/Karcher: Wind moving above earth. Viewing. The Earlier Kings used inspecting on-all-sides, viewing the commoners to set-up teaching.

Cleary (1): Wind is over the earth, observing. Thus did the kings of yore set up education after examination of the region and observation of the people.

Cleary (2): Wind travels over the earth – observing.Kings of yore examined the regions and observed the people to set up education. [In Buddhist terms, the ancient Buddhas examined the “regions” of possible experience and observed the people in various states of being, then set up various teachings to accommodate them, just as the wind travels over the earth reaching everywhere.]

Wu: The wind pervades above the earth; this is Admiration. Thus the ancient kings inspected various regions of the country, observed the sentiments of the people, and laid down their instructions.

 

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge:Observation from above -- from the trigram of Flexibility surmounting the trigram of Docility. The ruler is in his correct central position, and thus exhibits his lessons to all below. He has purified himself, but not yet sacrificed. All beneath look to him and are transformed. When we contemplate the spirit-like way of heaven, we see how the four seasons proceed without error. The sages, in accordance with this spirit-like way, laid down their instructions, and all under heaven yield submission to them.

Legge: The Chinese character from which this hexagram is named is used in the sense of both seeing and being seen. The theme is the sovereign and his people -- how he shows himself to them, and how they in turn perceive him. The two dynamic lines at the top belong to the ruler, and the four magnetic lines below represent his subjects. In the Judgment the ruler is portrayed as a worshipper at the commencement of a sacrifice. He is the great Manifester in line five.

The lower trigram symbolizes earth, with the attribute of Docility; the upper trigram symbolizes wind, with the attributes of Flexibility and Penetration. Wind moving above the earth has the widest sweep, and nothing escapes its influence. The personal influence of the ruler effects much, but the ancient kings wished to add to that the power of published instructions which were specially adapted to the character and circumstances of the people.

The spirit-like way of heaven is the invisible order underlying the laws of nature. [Ed. Note: Ritsema/Karcher use the phrase: "Viewing Heaven's spirit tao... The all-wise person uses spirit tao to set-up teaching." Spirit(s), SHEN: independent spiritual powers that confer intensity on heart and mind by acting on the soul, KUEI; gods, daimons. Tao: way or path; ongoing process of being and the course it traces for each specific person or thing; keyword. The ideogram: go and head, leading and the path it creates.]

 

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Judgment: Contemplate your motivations and discern the purity of your intent. "Put your money where your mouth is.” or "Walk your talk.”

The Superior Man evaluates and rectifies his attitudes.

The "ancient kings” in the Image symbolize the creators of an original state of perfection -- an archetypal model toward which the superior man aspires. This idea is common to all mystical traditions, many of which depict this state in the image of an ideal or prototypical man. Here is a summary of the Gnostic conception:

Not only the body but also the "soul" is a product of the cosmic powers, which shaped the body in the image of the divine Primal (or Archetypal) Man and animated it with their own psychical forces: these are the appetites and passions of natural man, each of which stems from and corresponds to one of the cosmic spheres [i.e., planets] and all of which together make up the astral soul of man, his "psyche."
H. Jonas -- The Gnostic Religion

In the Kabbalah, the template of this archetypal man (named Adam Kadmon) exists in each of the four realms of consciousness corresponding to intuition, intellect, emotion and sensation, and "he" is perceived as androgynous in all of these worlds except the last -- the "sensation” world of our physical spacetime reality.

The Adam of these first three worlds was androgynous. The Adam of the fourth world is the Adam of the expulsion, the Adam of flesh traversing the desert of his exile, and the Adam capable of reproducing himself now that he is no longer androgynous.
C. Ponce -- Kabbalah

Considering that androgyny is one of the symbols used in the Western Mystery Tradition to depict the correct union of male and female forces within the psyche, we quickly recognize that the properly matched male and female correlate lines in theI Ching are a Chinese depiction of the identical concept. Note that the messages of the following three quotations are in complete accord with the goal of the Work as outlined in theI Ching:

Somewhere there is an Adam within each of us in need of restoration, in exile from the Garden. The aim of Kabbalism is the restoration of the divine man in the medium of mortal man. We are the laboratory and we are the workers who work in that space.
C. Ponce --Kabbalah

Within our six-foot body we must strive for the form which existed before the laying down of heaven and earth.
The Secret of the Golden Flower

The destiny of man is to build the Heavenly Jerusalem on Earth. In other words, to civilize a planet. It is the aim of the occultist, in consort with all men of good will, to bring about this heavenly fact into earthly reality. And the only way it will come about is by every man doing the right thing at the right time for twenty-four hours a day.
Gareth Knight -- The Work of a Modern Occult Fraternity

The ancient kings in hexagram number-20 base their laws upon their recognition of diversity among the various forces which make up the kingdom of the psyche. Their divine regulations therefore represent the proper ecology existing between heaven and earth, yin and yang, male and female, Logos and Eros. In this regard, theI Ching's version of the Archetypal Man might be seen as hexagram number-63, Completion, in which the polarity of each of the lines is in perfect correlation. (See the editor's commentary on Hexagram number 11 for further insights into this idea.)

The theme of the hexagram is Contemplationof your situation to see if your attitude meets the archetypal standards of the Work. The worshipper in the Judgment has purified himself for sacrifice but has not yet carried it out. Wilhelm uses the word "ablution” in his translation of the Judgment. An ablution is a ritual cleansing associated with a religious rite:

Ablution: In alchemy ... the adept worker achieves [success] only by purifying his soul of all that commonly agitates it. Washing, then, symbolizes the purification not so much of objective and external evil as of subjective and inner evils ... The principle involved in this alchemic process is that implied in the maxim "Deny thyself."
J. E. Cirlot --Dictionary of Symbols

It is important to note that the sacrifice has yet to be performed: preparation is meaningless until it is acted upon. Psychologically, this refers to intellectual "gnosis" which still needs to be grounded in behavior.

Wisdom is achieved very slowly. This is because intellectual knowledge, easily acquired, must be transformed into `emotional,' or subconscious, knowledge. Once transformed, the imprint is permanent. Behavioral practice is the necessary catalyst of this reaction. Without action, the concept will wither and fade. Theoretical knowledge without practical application is not enough ... Intellectually the answers have always been there, but this need to actualize by experience, to make the subconscious imprint permanent by `emotionalizing' and practicing the concept, is the key.
Brian L. Weiss, MD -- Many Lives, Many Masters

Without changing lines, Contemplation is an oracular invitation for you to consider your situation and especially your motivations in regard to it. One way of doing this is to reduce everything to a brief written statement, including your best conscious conclusions. Then ask for a comment from the oracle -- often it will become apparent that you have been undergoing a kind of examination.

 

SUGGESTIONS FOR MEDITATION

The ancient kings are mentioned in the Images of both this figure and number twenty-one, Discernment, immediately following. What are the differences between Contemplation and Discernment, as depicted in these images? How does the concept of sacrifice relate to this, as mentioned in the Judgment? Compare the Judgment of this hexagram with hexagrams and lines 17:6, 45:2, 46:2, 46:4, 47:2, 47:5 and 63:5 for further insights on this extremely important tenet of the Work.