One makes others envy when one shows what one has received from one's benefactors. taoscopy.com
Breakthrough 43
Break through obstacles with determination and clarity. Confront negativity openly while maintaining integrity and wisdom. The truth must be revealed, yet patience is required.
↓ Line 2
Stay vigilant and prepared, but do not let fear control you.
↓ Line 3
Standing firm in one's beliefs may lead to isolation and criticism, but it is necessary.
↓ Line 4
Struggles and difficulties are present, but following guidance can alleviate remorse.
↓ Line 5
Address problems with determination and maintain balance to avoid blame.
↓ Return24
Pause, reflect, and start anew. Embrace change and renewal.
Original Readings
43 Breakthrough
Other titles: Break-through, The Symbol of Decision, Resolution, Determination, Parting, Removing Corruption, Eradication
Judgment
Legge: Recognizing the risks involved in criminal prosecution, justice demands a resolute proof of the culprit's guilt in the royal court. One informs one's own city that armed force is not necessary. In this way progress is assured.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Break-through. One must resolutely make the matter known at the court of the king. It must be announced truthfully. Danger. It is necessary to notify one's own city. It does not further to resort to arms. It furthers one to undertake something.
Blofeld: Resolution. When a proclamation is made at the court of the King, frankness in revealing the true state of affairs is dangerous. [In vital matters, frankness may prove dangerous.] In making announcements to the people of his own city, it is not fitting for the ruler to carry arms. [It is better to repose trust in our own people.] It is favorable to have some goal (or destination).
Liu: Determination. Someone is proud in the king's court, and the king trusts him. If one exposes the truth, danger. It must be told to one's own people. Using force does not benefit. It does benefit to do something else. [You must decide how to deal with a situation before it reaches a dangerous point, or things will take their own course and overwhelm you.]
Ritsema/Karcher:Parting, displaying tending-towards kingly chambers. Conforming, crying-out, possessing adversity. Notifying originates from the capital. Not Harvesting: approaching arms. Harvesting: possessing directed going. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of separation and diverging directions. It emphasizes that resolutely dividing your energies is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy:Resolution: Raised up at the royal court, returning crying out; there is danger. Announcing from the sky; not beneficial to regulate the belligerents; beneficial to have someplace to go.
Cleary (1): Parting is lauded in the royal court. The call of truth involves danger. Addressing one’s own domain, it is not beneficial to go right to war, but it is beneficial to go somewhere. [The royal court is the abode of the mind-ruler, where true and false are distinguished.]
Cleary (2): Decision is brought up in the royal court. A sincere statement involves danger, etc.
Wu:Eradication indicates a conceited pronouncement in the royal court on the one hand, and a concerted call for vigilance on the other. It is essential to make the danger known to the people, but not to resort to force now. It is advantageous to have undertakings.
The Image
Legge: The image of the waters of a marsh mounting over heaven forms Resoluteness. The superior man, in accordance with this, does not hoard his wealth, but shares it with his subordinates.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The lake has risen up to heaven: the image of Break-through. Thus the superior man dispenses riches downward and refrains from resting on his virtue.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes a marshy lake being drawn (sucked) towards the sky. The Superior Man distributes his emoluments to those below; dwelling in virtue, he renounces them.
Liu: The lake ascends to heaven, symbolizing Determination. The superior man distributes wealth below him, without displaying his favors.
Ritsema/Karcher: Above marsh with-respect-to heaven. Parting. A chun tzu uses spreading-out benefits to extend to the below. A chun tzu uses residing-in actualizing tao, by- consequence keeping-aloof. [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 what it is meant to be.]
Cleary (1): Moisture ascends to heaven, which parts with it. Thus do superior people distribute blessings to reach those below, while avoiding presumption of virtue. [After people get mixed up in temporal conditioning, the discriminatory consciousness takes charge of affairs; wine and sex distract them from reality, the lure of wealth deranges their nature, emotions and desires well forth at once, thoughts and ruminations arise in a tangle, and the mind-ruler is lost in confusion. Because habituation becomes second nature over a long period of time, it cannot be abruptly removed. It is necessary to work on the matter in a serene and equanimous way, according to the time: Eventually discrimination will cease, and the original spirit will return; the human mind will sublimate and the mind of Tao will be complete – again you will see the original self.]
Cleary (2): … If they presumed on their virtue, they would be resented.
Wu: The marsh rises to heaven; this is Eradication. Thus the jun zi distributes his emolument to those below and is loath to monopolize virtues.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Resoluteness is the symbol of displacing or removing. We see the dynamic lines displacing the magnetic line. The figure displays the attributes of Strength and Cheerfulness. There is displacement, but harmony continues. The exhibition of the criminal's guilt in the royal court is shown by the magnetic line mounted on five dynamic lines. The awareness of danger and appeal for justice makes the matter clear. If he has recourse to arms, what he prefers will soon be exhausted. When the advance of the dynamic lines is complete, there will be an end to displacement.
Legge:Resoluteness represents the third month when the last vestige of winter, represented by the sixth line, is about to disappear before the advance of summer. The single yin line at the top symbolizes an inferior man, a feudal prince or high minister who is corrupting the government. The five yang lines below are the representatives of good order. The lesson of the hexagram is how to remove corruption from the kingdom. He who would do this must do so by the force of his character more than the force of arms. Never forgetting the dangerous nature of his undertaking, he must openly denounce the criminal in the court and awaken general sympathy to his cause. Among his own adherents ("In his own city") he must prevent any tendency to resort to armed conflict. As a worthy statesman he is not motivated by private feelings.
Hu Ping-wen says: "If but a single inferior man is left, he is sufficient to make the superior man anxious; if but a single inordinate desire be left in the mind, that is sufficient to disturb the harmony of the heavenly principles. The eradication in both cases must be complete, before the labor is ended."
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment:Resoluteness involves astute discernment of what is wrong and a discreet re-establishment of order without polarizing the situation. Be clear in your own strategy, but let common sense be your guide about how much you need to disclose to others. Avoid aggression at all costs.
The Superior Man maintains equilibrium by distributing his energy equitably -- he smoothes things out.
The forty-third hexagram is an image of the eradication of an inferior force from the situation at hand: five yang lines resolutely advance on the single yin line, which is about to be pushed out of the hexagram at the top. This is a negative image of the twenty-third hexagram, Disintegration, which shows the opposite situation of five lower yin lines undermining one upper yang line. It is instructive to compare the nearly identical message for the superior man in the Images of each of these figures. The idea is one of fostering an equitable distribution of energy within the situation -- Disintegration and the Resoluteness required to rectify it are extreme situations requiring extreme measures. Such extremes must always be neutralized through a justly distributed balance of forces.
It's not the concern of law that any one class in the city fare exceptionally well, but it contrives to bring this about for the whole city, harmonizing the citizens by persuasion and compulsion, making them share with one another the benefit that each class is able to bring to the commonwealth. And it produces such men in the city not in order to let them turn whichever way each wants, but in order that it may use them in binding the city together. Plato --The Republic
Compare the nuances of meaning in each translation of the Judgment. Wilhelm's is most radical, advising a direct (albeit dangerous), expose of what is wrong. Most of the others imply room for discretion about what needs to be revealed. Diplomacy is the art of knowing when full- disclosure only prevents resolution of the problem. Ritsema/Karcher allude to the proper mind-set required to manage such situations: "[A chun tzu uses] residing-in actualizing tao, by-consequence keeping-aloof." To "reside in actualizing tao," is to live directly from one's essence, and when this is associated with "keeping-aloof" we get an image of quietly rectifying a situation without revealing our purpose or strategy.
Psychologically interpreted,Resoluteness, like Disintegration, depicts an extreme situation which must first be rectified, then prevented from re-occurring through the maintenance of a just balance of power which is administered by the ego under the will of the Self.
Line 2
Legge: The second line, dynamic, shows its subject full of apprehension and appealing for sympathy and help. Late at night hostile measures may be taken against him, but he need not be anxious about them.
Wilhelm/Baynes: A cry of alarm. Arms at evening and at night. Fear nothing.
Blofeld: Though disturbed by cries in the night, he who is armed knows no fear. [It is well to be forearmed.]
Liu: A cry of warning. One arms at night against the unexpected without fear.
Ritsema/Karcher: Awe, an outcry. Absolutely-no night-time, possessing arms. No cares.
Shaughnessy: Softly crying out; at dusk and at night there are belligerents; do not pity them.
Cleary (1): If one is cautious and alert, though there be armed troublemakers in the night, one need not worry.
Cleary (2): When there is a cry of alert, even if there are attackers in the night, there is no worry.
Wu: There is a warning of violence at night, but nothing to worry.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: He pursues the course of the due mean. Wilhelm/ Baynes: Despite weapons, no fear -- because one has found the middle way. Blofeld: Being armed and fearless is indicated by the central position of this line. Ritsema/Karcher: Acquiring centering tao indeed. Cleary (2): Because one has attained balance. Wu: Having the central position.
Legge: Line two is dynamic and central -- possessed with determination to do his part in the work of removal. But his eagerness is tempered by being in a magnetic place, and he is cautious. However artful they may be, no attempts to harm him will take effect.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man remains alert to unseen dangers at all times. Hostile measures against him will fail even at night because of his guarded alertness.
Wing: It is best now to develop a continuous caution and inner strength. Behave as though you are constantly in danger. Through intense awareness you gain in security and need not fear difficulties.
Editor: Psychologically, "late at night" is when consciousness is asleep and vulnerable and when autonomous forces within the psyche are most powerful. However, this line displays a strength that is balanced and conscientious: despite anxiety he is able to take care of himself. The line can be a warning to prepare yourself against approaching stress.
If by setting one's heart right every morning and evening, [a samurai] is able to live as though his body were already dead, he gains freedom in the Way. His whole life will be without blame, and he will succeed in his calling. Yamamoto Tsunetomo -- The Book of the Samurai
A. Vulnerable, yet protected: "Forewarned is forearmed."
B. Balanced perception protects the Work from the excesses of unconscious forces.
Line 3
Legge: The third line, dynamic, shows its subject about to advance with strong and determined looks. There will be evil. But the superior man, bent on cutting off the criminal, will walk alone and encounter the rain, till he be hated by his proper associates as if he were contaminated by the others. In the end there will be no blame against him.
Wilhelm/Baynes: To be powerful in the cheekbones brings misfortune. The superior man is firmly resolved. He walks alone and is caught in the rain. He is bespattered, and people murmur against him. No blame.
Blofeld: Strength in the cheekbones -- misfortune! [Making a parade of our strength.] The Superior Man is firmly determined; but if, while walking alone in the rain, he is irked by the mud, he is not to be blamed for that. [Nothing must deflect us, but a little grumbling at unpleasantness is in order.]
Liu: To display too much strength in the face -- misfortune. The superior man is determined. He walks alone through the rain. He gets wet. He is unhappy. No blame.
Ritsema/Karcher: Invigorating tending-towards the cheek- bones: Possessing a pitfall. A chun tzu: Parting, Parting. Solitary going, meeting rain. Like soaking, possessing indignation. Without fault.
Shaughnessy: Mature in the cheekbones; there is inauspiciousness. The gentleman so broken-up moves alone, meeting rain that is like moistening; there are hot springs; there is no trouble.
Cleary (1): Vigor in the face has bad luck. A superior person leaves what is to be left; going alone, encountering rain and so getting wet, there is irritation, but no fault.
Cleary (2): Vigor in the face involves misfortune. Developed people part decisively and travel alone. Encountering rain, if they get wet there is irritation but no fault.
Wu: He has strong cheekbones. Foreboding. The jun zi is determined to eradicate the little man. Walking alone, he encounters rain and gets wet. He is angry, but not to be blamed.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The superior man looks bent on cutting off the culprit – there will in the end be no error. Wilhelm/Baynes: Ultimately this is not a mistake. Blofeld: The resolutely determined Superior Man is blameless to the end. Ritsema/Karcher: Completing without fault indeed. Cleary (2): Developed people part decisively and are faultless in the end. Wu: (He) will not be blamed in the end.
Legge: Line three is dynamic, and displays his purpose too eagerly. Being beyond the central position gives an indication of evil. Lines three and six are also proper correlates, and as elsewhere in theI Ching, the meeting of yin and yang lines is associated with falling rain. Line three, therefore, communicates with line six in a way that annoys his associates. Nevertheless, he commits no error, and in the end incurs no blame.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man displays his purposes too openly. The superior man does not show outward hostility when bent on cutting off the criminal, since the time is not ripe and the inferior man will endanger the situation through countermeasures. He resolves the difficulty by maintaining outward politeness, avoiding recriminations, and awaiting the propitious opportunity. Although he is misunderstood and maligned by the multitude, there will be no blame in the end.
Wing: Your struggle against an adversary is one you must approach alone. Although your entire milieu may be against this foe, the battle is still yours. In overcoming this difficulty, you may temporarily align yourself with it. This looks bad and you are misunderstood but you remain without error in the end.
Editor: Rain symbolizes the union of heaven and earth -- male with female, thought with feeling. It means encountering the truth -- making a "fertile connection." Psychologically, this line suggests the travail and turmoil involved in coming to grips with an unpleasant truth or duty. The superior man's "associates" are those complexes in the psyche which prefer not to cope with the situation. The misfortune of being "strong in the cheekbones" suggests that determined action accomplishes more than expressions of righteous indignation.
And he who takes his hand from the plough of his immediate Earthly duty, (which is a Cosmic and Spiritual duty also, however much familiarity may tend to breed contempt), will never by that act attain to his heavenly home in the stars. The furrow awaits his tilling – and until it be tilled, and the seed sown, and the harvest garnered and gathered in -- his place remains in Earth, with the added burden of rooting out the weeds and breaking up the clodded sods brought about by his own neglect and spiritual defection. Gareth Knight -- Qabalistic Symbolism
A. Bite the bullet and do what needs to be done without making a big deal out of it.
B. You are stuck with an unpopular but necessary duty.
Line 4
Legge: The fourth line, dynamic, shows one from whose buttocks the skin has been stripped, and who walks slowly and with difficulty. If he could act like a sheep led after its companions, occasion for repentance would disappear. But though he hear these words, he will not believe them.
Wilhelm/Baynes: There is no skin on his thighs, and walking comes hard. If a man were to let himself be led like a sheep, remorse would disappear. But if these words are heard they will not be believed.
Blofeld: His haunches have been flayed and he walks falteringly, though he could put an end to his shame by allowing himself to be dragged along like a sheep. Moreover, he puts no faith in the words of others. [Having recently suffered, we advance with hesitation and are unwilling to accept useful but rather humiliating assistance.]
Liu: He injures his thighs. He walks with difficulty. If he were to follow like a sheep, remorse would vanish. People will not believe his words when they hear them.
Ritsema/Karcher: The sacrum without flesh. One moves the resting-place moreover. Hauling-along the goat, repenting extinguished. Hearing words, not trustworthy.
Shaughnessy: The lips do not have skin; his movement is herky-jerky, pulling sheep; regret is gone; you will hear words that are not trustworthy.
Cleary (1): No flesh on the buttocks, not making progress. Leading a sheep, regret disappears. Hearing the words but not believing.
Cleary (2): With no flesh on the buttocks, one walks haltingly. Leading the sheep, regret disappears. The words heard are not believed.
Wu: His buttocks have no skin. He hobbles along. If he would lead away the sheep, there will be no regret; but he does not trust what he hears.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: He is not in the place appropriate to him. He hears, but does not understand. Wilhelm/Baynes: There is no clear comprehension. Blofeld: Having no faith in the words of others shows lack of intelligence. Ritsema/ Karcher: Understanding not brightened indeed. Cleary (2): Being out of place. Not hearing clearly. Wu: His position is improper.He does not understand it.
Legge: Line four is not in the center, nor in a place appropriate for a dynamic line. He therefore will not be at rest, nor do anything to accomplish the work of the hexagram. He is symbolized as a culprit who has been whipped. Alone he can do nothing. If he could follow others, like a sheep led along, he might accomplish something, but he will not listen to advice.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man is restless and wishes to enforce his will by stubbornly pushing forward. But he meets with insuperable antagonisms. Advice to desist and to follow others is ignored.
Wing: As you continue to push forward, you meet with one obstacle after the next. Your resoluteness has reached a degree where you cannot stop yourself. If you would submit to the difficult times and allow others to lead, your problems would resolve themselves. Such advice is meaningless, however, since you cannot be led.
Editor: The image here is clearly one of willful stubbornness. The harsh indictment is mitigated somewhat by Legge's Confucian commentary -- "He hears, but does not understand.” With all of the goodwill in the world, it is still possible to receive this line, and the commentary takes some of the sting out of it by saying that you simply haven't gotten the message yet. The Self is a terrible archetype -- far more like the wrathful Yahweh than the forgiving Christ, and there are phases of the Work in which no matter what you do, it seems to be wrong. One must learn to live with this fact.
The Lord leads the willing; He drags the unwilling in his wake. A. Rothberg -- The Sword of the Golem
A. You create hardship for yourself through your own stubbornness.
B. You haven't gotten the message yet. You don't understand, yet insist on pushing ahead anyway.
Line 5
Legge: The fifth line, dynamic, shows the small men like a bed of purslaine, which ought to be uprooted with the utmost determination. The subject of the line having such determination, his action, in harmony with his central position, will lead to no error or blame.
Wilhelm/Baynes: In dealing with weeds, firm resolution is necessary. Walking in the middle remains free of blame.
Blofeld: With the tenacity of spinach clinging to the earth, he blamelessly steers a middle course. [That is, weak but determined.]
Liu: Clinging weeds. Determination is necessary. Taking the middle path. No blame.
Ritsema/Karcher: Reeds, highlands: Parting, Parting. Center moving, without fault.
Shaughnessy: The amaranth burns so broken-up, in the middle of the ranks; there is no trouble.
Cleary (1): Wild burdock root; cut through resolutely. Balanced action is impeccable.
Cleary (2): A hill of amaranth; parting with what is to be parted with, balanced action is faultless. [Here it is appropriate to part with what the other yangs part with [i.e., the top yin line], but still preserve and nurture it; this is the path of balanced action, whereby it is possible to be faultless. However, when parting, after all one does not avoid distinguishing between developed and undeveloped people, though one still does not forget what is universally the same in everyone – therefore“balance is not yet obvious.”]
Wu: Like the lead sheep of a flock, he is determined to lead the charge against the little man. His approach from the center results in no error.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: His standing in the due mean is not yet clearly displayed. Wilhelm/Baynes: The middle is not yet in the light. Blofeld: Yes, blamelessly but not brilliantly! [In this situation, we can do well enough, but not very well.]Ritsema/Karcher: Center not-yet shining indeed. Cleary (2): Balanced action is faultless, but balance is not yet obvious. Wu: Though central, his action is not enlightening.
Legge: Purslaine grows in shady places, and hence we find it here in close contiguity to the topmost line, which is yin. Line five's proximity to line six is supposed to have a bad effect on him, so that while he does what his central position requires, it is not without an effort. Ch'eng-Tzu says: "If a man cherishes a single illicit desire in his mind, he has left the right way." Since five is the ruler's seat, evil may come to him, and strenuous efforts must be made to prevent such an evil.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: Uprooting corruption from high offices requires the utmost determination.
Wing: When attempting to overthrow adversaries or obstacles in powerful positions, great Resolution and determination are necessary. The roots of this opposition run wide and deep and, unless completely eradicated, it may spring back to power. A calm thoroughness will see you through.
Editor: Wilhelm and Liu render the other translators’ wide range of specific plants as "weeds,” which is a much more evocative image of the inferior forces symbolized in this line. Psychologically, the idea is clear enough: unless one uproots (brings under control) every remnant of independent (habitual) affect within the psyche, it will eventually return to harm the Work. Sometimes the majority Confucian commentary does not seem to apply, in which case Cleary’s minority Buddhist interpretation (above) may be more apt.
Now 'tis the spring, and weeds are shallow-rooted;
Suffer them now and they'll o'ergrow the garden.
Shakespeare -- Henry VI
A. Succumbing to neither despair nor overconfidence, one resolutely eliminates every trace of inferior perception and feeling associated with the matter at hand.
B. A balanced viewpoint roots out error.
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