One speaks as if others didn't know what to do. taoscopy.com
Youthful Folly4
Seek guidance and be open to learning. Embrace mistakes as opportunities for growth.
↓ Line 1
Discipline is necessary for growth, but it should not be excessive. Over-discipline can lead to shame.
↓ Line 2
Patience and understanding with those who are inexperienced lead to positive outcomes. Knowing how to manage relationships is beneficial.
↓ Line 6
When dealing with foolishness, it is important to avoid making mistakes oneself. Focus on preventing errors rather than punishing them.
↓ Return24
Pause, reflect, and start anew. Embrace change and renewal.
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 1
Legge: The first line, magnetic, has respect to the dispelling of ignorance. It will be advantageous to use punishment for that purpose, and to remove the shackles from the mind. But going on in that way of punishment will give occasion for regret.
Wilhelm/Baynes: To make a fool develop it furthers to apply discipline. The fetters should be removed. To go on in this way brings humiliation.
Blofeld: To enlighten immature youth, it is advisable to apply discipline; even fetters may be required, but to use them overmuch is harmful.
Liu: To enlighten youth, it is better to use discipline. Obstacles in the mind should be removed. Otherwise, humiliation.
Shaughnessy: Discarding folly; beneficial to use a punished man, and herewith to remove shackles and manacles. What has already gone is stressful.
Cleary (1): Opening up darkness, it is advantageous to use punishments. If restrictions are removed, it will lead to regret.
Cleary (2): To awaken the ignorant, it is beneficial to use punishments; if restrictions are eased, it will be regrettable to go that way.
Wu: This shows how to instruct the ignorant. It will be advantageous to use punishment, but let go manacles or shackles, for they will bring humiliation.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The object of punishment is to bring her under the influence of correcting law. Wilhelm/Baynes: Discipline: In order to give emphasis to the law. Blofeld: Though it is advisable to apply discipline, this must be done in accordance with just rules. Ritsema/Karcher: Using correcting laws indeed. Cleary (1): It is beneficial to use punishments, by the correct method. [The correct method of breaking down ignorance is not emotional attack.] Wu: It is a method of correcting wayward behaviors.
Legge: The first line, magnetic, and at the bottom of the figure, is in the grossest ignorance. Let her be punished. If punishment avails to loosen the shackles from the mind, well and good. If not, and if the punishment is prolonged, the effect will be bad.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: At the outset, the ignorant youth is being disciplined for the seriousness of life. Care should be exercised against attempts at rigid regimentation of the mind.
Wing: A little discipline is necessary here. There is not enough seriousness of attitude concerning the work to be done, and therefore the atmosphere is not conducive to proper growth. Yet, keep in mind that too many restrictions may lead to uncreative development. Apply just enough guidelines to keep things moving in the proper direction.
Editor: Wilhelm, Blofeld and Liu all render "punishment" as "discipline." The idea is that the discipline of a rigid structure, or confinement to basic principles prunes the psyche of its illusions -- "removes the shackles from the mind." Excessive discipline is counterproductive, however: A dynamic balance must be sought between the tyrannies of permissiveness and repression. The line is saying two things, and the balance between them is the lesson. If this is the only changing line, the hexagram becomes number 41, Compensating Sacrifice, which deals with finding balance. (Note, however that both of Cleary’s translations interpret the message as a warning against removing shackles! His interpretation seems to be in the minority.)
In reality the highest form of compassion may be in withdrawing from a given person any direct physical aid that would spare him a painful lesson, withholding it so that he would never again have to act according to a particular kind of program. The best teachers know that compassion does not prevent pain but allows pain to teach. Of course, carried to an extreme this too can be used in the service of destruction. John Lilly -- Simulations of God
A. Too much discipline is as bad as too little -- seek the mean.
B. The school of hard knocks -- learn from your pain or confusion.
C. Let go of your illusions or strongly held attitudes about the matter at hand.
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 6
Legge: The sixth line, dynamic, shows one smiting the ignorant youth. But no advantage will come from doing him an injury. Advantage would come from warding off injury from him.
Wilhelm/Baynes: In punishing folly it does not further one to commit transgressions. The only thing that furthers is to prevent transgressions.
Blofeld: In dealing with youthful immaturity, there is nothing to be gained from doing what is wrong. Advantage lies in preventing wrong. [In other words, we must be very careful to avoid putting ourselves in the wrong by being unjust or too severe in correcting the faults of our juniors.]
Liu: To punish youth, it does no good to commit a violation. The idea is to prevent a violation.
Ritsema/Karcher: Smiting Enveloping. Not Harvesting: activating outlawry. Harvesting: resisting outlawry.
Shaughnessy: Hitting the folly; not beneficial to be a robber, beneficial to have that which robs.
Cleary (1): Attacking darkness, what is not helpful is inimical, what is helpful prevents enmity.
Cleary (2): Attack ignorance. It is not beneficial to be a robber; it is beneficial to ward off robbers.
Wu: There is an indication of striking the ignorant. It will not be advantageous to be offensive. It will be advantageous to be defensive.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Above and below all do and are done to in accordance with their nature. Wilhelm/Baynes: "It furthers to prevent transgressions," for then those above and below conform to order. Blofeld: Preventing wrong has the advantage of bringing senior and junior into accord. [Improperly applied discipline may lead the young to hate those whom they are expected to love. Few young people gladly kiss the rod before punishment.] Ritsema/Karcher: Above and Below yielding indeed. Cleary (2): It is beneficial to ward off robbers, for then above and below are in harmony. Wu: Because it is agreeable to the above and the below.
Legge: Line six is dynamic and in the topmost place. It is natural, but unwise, for him to use violence in carrying out his educational measures. He represents, according to the scheme of the hexagram, one who uses force in the cause of education; but the force is best applied, not on the ignorant, but on those who would keep them ignorant, or increase their ignorance. He therefore acts according to his nature, and the subjects of all the magnetic lines below are cared for as is best for them.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man inflicts penalties not in anger but only as a preventive against unreasonable excesses.
Wing: An inexperienced person may need to be punished for his mistakes in order to put him on the right path. Punishment is by no means an end in itself, but is useful only in preventing further transgressions and maintaining a progressive attitude.
Editor: The imagery of line six can suggest the idea of Karma: a law of just compensation neutralizing past transgressions. In other words, "punishment" is only effective when it is used to correct an imbalance of forces, not to perpetuate injustice. Properly applied, discipline is never motivated by anger or a desire for revenge. Sometimes this line can suggest a situation in which external circumstances hold one in a kind of "protective custody" to prevent erroneous choices from being made.
None escapes the chastisements that it is fitting to undergo because of evil conduct. The divine law cannot be avoided. It has within itself the power to achieve what it has determined upon. Without knowing it, the guilty one is transported to places where it is suitable that it serve its sentence. Carried by uncertain movement, drifting everywhere, it ends, after wanderings and much fatigue because of foolish resistance, by tumbling into its appropriate place. And there it offers itself willingly to an unwilled suffering. Law prescribes the amount and duration of penalties. At the same moment that the penalty ceases, the power is given of escaping the place of chastisement thanks to the harmony that governs all things. Plotinus -- The Enneads
A. Correction is not punishment. Accept the consequences of your choices. Don't focus on the pain, but rather on the lesson that it offers.
B. Do what needs doing and let the chips fall where they may.
24 Return
Other titles: The Turning Point, The Symbol of Returning, Revival, Recovery, To Repeat, Renewal, Restore, Return to the Way, Cyclic Repetition, "Return to virtue or happier conditions." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge: Progress and freedom of action are found in Return. Goings and comings are unimpeded, and friends approach without error. Return to repeat the proper course. Seven days returns the cycle to its beginning. There is advantage in choosing one's path.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Return. Success. Going out and coming in without error. Friends come without blame. To and fro goes the way. On the seventh day comes return. It furthers one to have somewhere to go.
Blofeld: Return. Success! All going forth and coming in is free from harm. [For it is only when the whole series is completed that we can understand the reasons for many things (death, winter and so on) which, at the time, seemed unproductive, negative or positively evil.] Friends arrive and no error is involved. They return whence they came, spending seven days in all upon their coming and returning. It is favorable to have in view some goal (or destination).
Liu:Return:success. One goes out and comes back in without harm. Friends arrive without blame. Going to and fro is the way. Returning on the seventh day. It benefits one to go anywhere. [Return or Revival signifies a bad time becoming better... Anyone receiving this hexagram should prepare for a great opportunity...]
Ritsema/Karcher:Returning, Growing. Issuing-forth, entering, without affliction. Partnering coming, without fault. Reversing Returning one's tao. The seventh day coming: Returning. Harvesting: possessing directed going. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of something that is re-emerging. It emphasizes that going back to the starting point in order to begin anew is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the times you are told to return!]
Shaughnessy:Returning: Receipt; in exiting and entering there is no illness; when the burying comes there is no trouble; turning around and returning to its way, in seven days it comes in return; beneficial to have someplace to go.
Cleary (1): Return is developmental. Exiting and entering, there is no ill. When a companion comes, there is no fault. Reversing the path, returning in seven days, it is beneficial to have a place to go.
Cleary (2):Return is successful, etc. … Returning back on the path, etc.
Wu:Renewal is pervasive. He who comes and goes will have no error. Friends come without harm. The course repeats itself. In seven days, one cycle of reversion completes. There will be advantage to have an undertaking.
The Image
Legge: Thunder in the middle of the earth -- the image of Return. Thus the ancient kings closed the passes on the day of the winter solstice to prevent travelers from pursuing their journeys, and princes from inspecting their states.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Thunder within the earth: the image of The Turning Point. Thus the kings of antiquity closed the passes at the time of the solstice. Merchants and strangers did not go about, and the ruler did not travel through the provinces.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes thunder in the bowels of the earth. [The component trigrams in this position suggest thunder coming from under the earth; but the trigram of thunder also means to sprout or quicken; it is this concept of a quickening within the earth that makes this hexagram generally favorable.] The ancient rulers closed the passes during the solstices [The solstices were times for solemn sacrifice; it has always been the practice in China for people to return to their homes for the celebration of the great yearly festivals. Return in this sense is highly auspicious.] and the merchants were unable to travel. Even the rulers abstained from touring their territories at those times.
Liu: Thunder in the earth symbolizes Return. Thus in ancient times the kings closed the roads during the winter solstice. Merchants and travelers ceased traveling. And rulers would not visit their territories.
Ritsema/Karcher: Thunder located-in earth center. Returning. The Earlier Kings used culminating sun to bar the passages. Bargaining sojourners [used culminating sun] not to move. The crown-prince [used culminating sun] not to inspect on-all- sides.
Cleary (1): Thunder is in the earth; Return. Thus did the kings of yore shut the gates on the winter solstice; caravans did not travel, the ruler did not inspect the regions.
Wu: Thunder is inside the earth; this is Renewal. Thus on the day of the winter solstice, the ancient kings ordered the city gates closed, so that merchants and travelers could take a break of their journeys; the kings refrained from performing official duties.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge:Return shows the coming back of the dynamic principle. His actions show movement directed in accordance with the natural order. Such is the movement of the heavenly cycle. The dynamic lines are growing and increasing. Do we not see inReturn the mind of heaven and earth?
Legge: Return symbolizes the idea of coming back or over again. The previous hexagram showed the ascendancy of inferior forces, when all that is good in nature or society yields before what is bad. But change is eternal, and here we see the beginnings of recovery from the former situation. Return is associated with the time of the winter solstice when the sun begins its journey back toward summer. In harmony with these cycles in nature are the cycles in human affairs.
The dynamic bottom line is the first line of the trigram of Movement, and the upper trigram is that of Docility. The dynamic returning line will meet with no resistance and all the magnetic lines above it will be transformed into allies. The bright quality will be developed brighter and brighter from day to day and month to month.
"In seven days brings return" refers to the idea of a new cycle commencing when each of the six lines of a hexagram has changed -- the "seventh line," or seventh day begins a new cycle just as Sunday begins a new week.
Thunder in the midst of the earth is thunder shut up and silent, just able to make its presence felt. So it is with the first stirrings of life after the winter solstice and the first returning steps of the wanderer to virtue. As the spring of life has to be nurtured in quietness, so also the purpose of goodness.
Wilhelm: The hexagram of RETURN, applied to character formation, contains various suggestions. The light principle returns; thus the hexagram counsels turning away from the confusion of external things, turning back to one’s inner light. There, in the depths of the soul, one sees the Divine, the One. It is indeed only germinal, no more than a beginning, a potentiality, but as such clearly to be distinguished from all objects. To know this One means to know oneself in relation to the cosmic forces. For this One is the ascending force of life in nature and in man.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: The Work is recycled, perfected and refined over and over again.
The Superior Man pauses before he begins anew.
The mention of seven days in the Judgment and the winter solstice in the Image tells us that the hexagram of Return deals with cyclic progression.
In the I Ching, the hexagram fu, signifying the Return (one yang line beneath five yin lines) is the symbol of the rebirth of the Yang. At the winter solstice, the Yang seems to have disappeared, whereas the Yin is at its full; but this is the moment when the Yang is reborn and begins its return. Symmetrically, at the summer solstice the Yang is at the apogee of its power while the Yin prepares to return. The alteration of the Yin and the Yang is a going away and a coming back. Max Kaltenmark -- Lao Tzu and Taoism
Seven days is one-quarter of a lunar cycle and the module upon which a week is based. The Sabbath day is the seventh day and a day of rest in the Hebrew tradition, as was also the day of the new moon. The "closing of the passes" in the Image is another expression of the idea of resting at the beginning of a new cycle. To refrain from activity at these times was a sacrifice and a spiritual obligation. The concept behind it is the acknowledgment of one's Source, a review of the past cycle and a meditation upon the new cycle just beginning. Psychologically interpreted, forces in the unconscious psyche demand a pause before their dance can resume.
A special atmosphere of solemn celebration surrounded the Sabbath, which was thoroughly pervaded with Kabbalistic ideas about man's role in the unification of the upper worlds. Gershom Scholem -- Kabbalah
Although the Chinese observed no “Sabbath” that I am aware of, the idea of a rest at the commencement of a cycle is clearly intended in this hexagram. In terms of the Work, one eventually becomes aware of cycles and rest periods, even if one never noticed them previously. When one learns how to synchronize conscious awareness with these inner rhythms, the tempo of the Work begins to accelerate.
"There is advantage in choosing one's path" is rendered by Wilhelm as: "It furthers one to have somewhere to go." The idea is that when you are consciously on a path, the cycles begin to work in your favor. Instead of a monotonous round of inconclusive and random events, one's life takes on structure and purpose and inner progress becomes discernable.
Conforming to the rhythm of the universe is the prerequisite of wisdom in all Chinese thinking. But the Taoist mystic has greater ambitions than his ordinary compatriots: the question for him is not merely of adapting his ritual and hygienic observances to the alternation of the seasons; he intends to escape from the determinism of life and death by transcending it. This is what enables him to attain inner emptiness: he does not merely witness the return of all creatures to their origin, he precedes them to that origin. Max Kaltenmark -- Lao Tzu and Taoism
Every line of this hexagram refers to returning to the proper path, so the hexagram can imply that perhaps you have strayed from the Work to one degree or another. Without changing lines, it can mean to rest at the beginning of a cycle, or to get back on course: re-attune yourself with the current phase of the Work.
You have noticed that everything an Indian does is in a circle, and that is because the Power of the World always works in circles, and everything tries to be round. In the old days when we were a strong and happy people, all our power came to us from the sacred hoop of the nation, and so long as the hoop was unbroken, the people flourished. Black Elk