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Pushing Upward46
Steady growth and progress through perseverance and effort. Step-by-step advancement leads to success.
↓ Line 4
Receiving recognition and support from those in power leads to success.
↓ Line 6
Even in difficult times, continuous effort and perseverance are beneficial.
↓ The Cauldron50
Transformation and nourishment lead to inner and outer change. Embrace renewal by discarding the old and refining the new.
Original Readings
46 Pushing Upward
Other titles: The Symbol of Rising and Advancing, Ascending, Ascension, Rising, Promotion, Advancement, Sprouting from the Earth, Organic Growth
Judgment
Legge:Pushing Upward means successful progress. Have no anxiety about meeting with the great man. An advance to the south is fortunate.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Pushing Upward has supreme success. One must see the great man. Fear not. Departure toward the south brings good fortune.
Blofeld: Ascending. Supreme success! It is essential to see a great man, so as to banish anxiety. Progressing towards the south brings good fortune.
Liu: Ascending. Great Success. One should see a great man. Without fear. An expedition to the south leads to good fortune.
Ritsema/Karcher:Ascending, Spring Growing. Availing-of visualizing Great People. No cares. The South, chastising significant. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of rising to a higher level. It emphasizes that setting a higher goal and working toward it step by step is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told to: ascend!]
Shaughnessy:Ascending: Prime receipt; beneficial to see the great man. Do not pity. For the southern campaign, auspicious.
Cleary(1): Rising is greatly developmental; it calls for seeing a great person, so there will be no grief. An expedition south brings good fortune.
Cleary (2):Rising is very successful, etc.
Wu:Ascension indicates great pervasion. It will be useful to see the great man. No anxiety. It will be auspicious to go south.
The Image
Legge: Wood growing in the earth -- the image of Pushing Upward. The superior man accumulates small increments of virtue until it becomes high and great.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Within the earth, wood grows: the image of Pushing Upward. Thus the superior man of devoted character heaps up small things in order to achieve something high and great.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes tress growing upwards from the earth. The Superior Man most willingly accords with virtuous ways; starting from small things, he accumulates a great heap of merit.
Liu: The wood grows in the earth, symbolizing Ascending. The superior man devotes his virtue to building things up from the small to the high and great.
Ritsema/Karcher: Earth center giving-birth-to wood. Ascending. A chun tzu uses yielding to actualize-tao. A chun tzu uses amassing the small to use the high great.
[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): Trees grow on the earth, rising. Thus do superior people follow virtue, accumulating the small to lofty greatness.
Wu: Trees grow from earth; this is Ascension. Thus the Jun zi diligently cultivates his virtues little by little to become tall and large like trees growing.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The magnetic line ascends as opportunity permits. We have Flexibility, Obedience and a dynamic line below with his magnetic correlate above: this means successful progress. See the great man -- his will is accomplished in the south.
Legge: The character for this hexagram means advancing in an upward direction, or ascending. The figure symbolizes the promotion of an able officer to the highest pinnacle of distinction. The action of the dynamic second line is tempered by being in the magnetic central position of the lower trigram. As the representative of Pushing Upward he is forceful, yet modest and the magnetic fifth line ruler welcomes his advance. The officer therefore has the qualities that fit him to ascend as well as a favorable opportunity to do so.
After he has met with the "great man" in line five, advance to the south will be fortunate. Chu Hsi says that this is equivalent to "advancing forwards.” Since the south is the region of brightness and warmth, the progress will be easy and agreeable.
The lower trigram symbolizes Wood, and its weak first line is the root of a tree buried in the earth of the upper trigram. The gradual growth of this root pushes the trunk upward as the circumstances of time permit.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Ascend in accordance with the will of the Self. Turn toward clarity.
The Superior Man grows a little every day.
The image of the 46th hexagram is of a plant growing in the earth, gradually pushing upward toward the sun. That "an advance to the south is fortunate" means that as all plants turn southward toward the sun, their source of nourishment, so should we turn toward the light and clarity of the "great man" or Self within us.
The upward advancement of the Work is an organic process. There is no such thing as "instant enlightenment." The many stories and parables of instant Satori which are common in the Zen Buddhist tradition are actually just dramatic accounts of the final few moments' resolution that come after a lifetime of slow and patient devotion. The Work progresses at the pace of a tree -- what started out as an acorn eventually becomes a forest giant, but it doesn't happen overnight.
Remember ever that Mind in its entirety is ever the Builder. For it is step by step, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little, that the attaining is accomplished in the mental, the spiritual, the material applications of an entity in this material world. Edgar Cayce – Book of Changes
This slow growth is an accumulation of countless "gathering togethers" as depicted in the preceding hexagram, of whichPushing Upward is the upside-down image. It is estimated that an adult human being grows from a single cell to about one-hundred billion cells through a process of fifty-billion mitotic divisions. It is interesting to observe that "one-hundred-billion" is the scientific estimate of the number of stars in any given galaxy. If we apply the Hermetic Axiom: "As above, so below" to this relationship of macrocosm to microcosm we get the image of our solar system as a single atom in the "body" of a galactic entity.
That should put the Work into perspective!
Understand that thou art a second little world and that the sun and the moon are within thee, and also the stars. Origen --Homiliae in Leviticum
Line 4
Legge: The fourth line, magnetic, shows its subject employed by the king to present his offerings on mount Ch'i. There will be good fortune; there will be no mistake.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The king offers him Mount Chi. Good fortune. No blame.
Blofeld: The King sacrificed on Mount Chi -- good fortune and no error! [This suggests that faith in spiritual matters or ancient traditions will serve us well.]
Liu: The king makes an offering on Mount Ch'i. Good fortune. No regret.
Ritsema/Karcher: Kinghood availing-of Growing tending-towards the twin-peaked mountain. Significant. Without fault.
Shaughnessy: The king herewith makes offering on Mount Qi; auspicious; there is no trouble.
Cleary (1): The king makes offerings on the mountain. This is auspicious and blameless.
Wu: If the king would make offerings to mount Qi, it would have been auspicious and free from blame.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Such a service of spiritual beings is according to their mind. Wilhelm/Baynes: This is the way of the devoted. Blofeld: This indicates our willing compliance with duty, tradition, circumstances, etc. Ritsema/Karcher: Yielding affairs indeed. Cleary (2): Performs services accordingly. Wu: It would have been a matter of course.
Legge: This is the place of a great minister, in immediate contact with the ruler, who confides in him and raises him to the highest distinction as a feudal prince. The capital of Chou was at the foot of mount Ch'i. The king is the last Shang sovereign; the feudal prince is Wen. The K'ang-hsi editors say about the commentary: "Such an employment of men of worth to do service to spiritual beings is serving them according to their mind."
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man's progress is aided and abetted by gods and men. The ruler confides in him, facilitates his efforts, and raises him in distinction.
Wing: Your progress is amplified. It is now possible for your ambitions to be fulfilled. Continue in your principles and hold to sound traditions.
Editor: This line doesn't lend itself to the usual gender symbolism. Symbolically, mountains represent a high level of awareness within the psyche. To be employed by the king to present offerings on a holy mountain suggests actions which are extremely valuable to the Work, even if you may not understand what is taking place. (Compare with line 17:6.) Wu’s conditional phrasing here is in accord with a somewhat specialist historical political interpretation which may not apply in most modern contexts.
Mountains are symbols of the abode of the gods. Consider Sinai, Olympus, Meru, Fujiyama. Again, they suggest climbing, aspiration, the possibility of attainment. We all have peaks to climb, and the incentive to action, the disposing element in our consciousness which leads to volition, has always in the background this idea of climbing above our present level. Thus the mountain represents what alchemists call the Great Work. P.F. Case -- The Tarot
A. A major insight.
B. Ego and Self are in accord. Progress is in harmony with the goals of the Work.
Line 6
Legge: The sixth line, magnetic, shows its subject advancing upwards blindly. Advantage will be found in a ceaseless maintenance of firm correctness.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Pushing upward in darkness. It furthers one to be unremittingly persevering.
Blofeld: A night ascent -- advantage lies in unremitting persistence.
Liu: Ascending in ignorance, it is still beneficial to continue unceasingly.
Ritsema/Karcher: Dim ascending. Harvesting: tending-towards not pausing's Trial.
Shaughnessy: Dark ascent; beneficial for unceasing determination.
Cleary (1): Rising in the dark. Benefit lies in unceasing rectitude.
Cleary (2): Rising into the unknown, it is beneficial to be unceasingly correct.
Wu: This is a blind ascension. It will be good to be ever persevering.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: She blindly advances upwards, and is in the highest place -- but there is decay in store for her, and she will not preserve her riches. Wilhelm/ Baynes: At the top is decrease and not wealth. Blofeld: But the night ascent will lead to loss, not to wealth. [Taking the text and commentary of this line together, we may assume that righteous persistence will win some advantage for us as a result of rather blind progress, even though we are bound to suffer materially.]Ritsema/ Karcher: Dim Ascending located above. Dissolving, not affluence indeed. Cleary (2): Rising into the unknown on high dissolves poverty.Wu: A blind ascension at the top means a loss, not a gain.
Legge: What can the subject of the hexagram want more? She has gained all her riches, and still she is for going onwards. Her advance is blind and foolish, and only the most exact correctness will save her from the consequences. When one has reached the greatest height, she should think of retiring. Ambition otherwise may overleap itself.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man advances blindly. Only the most exacting correctness will save him from unfortunate consequences.
Wing: Advancement without constant re-evaluation and discrimination can easily become blind impulse. Such behavior will surely lead you into dangerous mistakes. Only the most careful and exacting conduct can save you from certain damage.
Editor: This line is a clear warning to be extremely careful in whatever endeavor prompted your question.Legge's translation of the Confucian commentary is quite literal here: "there is decay in store for her" refers to hexagram number eighteen: Decay (or Repair), which is the hexagram created if this is the only changing line. Cleary’s version of the Confucian commentary reads: “Rising into the unknown on high dissolves poverty.” This seems to be the exact opposite of all the other translations. (Wilhelm’s rendering is the most succinct:“At the top is decrease and not wealth.”) Cleary’s rendition is based on Chi-hsu Ou-I’s Buddhist commentary, which states: “When one rises into the unknown, then one can stop; but if one is unceasingly correct, then one should rise yet further into the unknown. This is what is called spiritual rank. If they cultivate spiritual rank, people of low social status are not really poor and lowly – their poverty can disappear.” Since Chi-hsu Ou-i was not a translator, but reading and writing in his own language, one wonders how such a seemingly anomalous interpretation of Confucius could occur. Nevertheless, from the Buddhist perspective the concepts of poverty and wealth are reversed: “poverty” is wealth, “wealth” is poverty in terms of spiritual value at the top of the hexagram of Ascending.
I go the way that Providence dictates with the assurance of a sleepwalker. Adolph Hitler
When you got nothin,’ you got nothin’ to lose. Bob Dylan
A. Blind advance leads to loss.
B. Proceed with caution in an uncertain situation.
C. Don't jump to conclusions when you don't understand what is going on.
D. Keep your wits about you during an opportunity for transcendence.
50 The Cauldron
Other titles: The Cauldron, The Vessel, Rejuvenation, Cosmic Order, The Alchemical Vessel, "A complete transformation of a person or circumstance." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge: The Sacrificial Vessel means great progress and success.
Wilhelm/Baynes:The Cauldron. Supreme good fortune. Success.
Blofeld: A Sacrificial Vessel -- supreme success!
Liu:The Cauldron. Great good fortune. Success.
Ritsema/Karcher:The Vessel, Spring significant. Growing. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of the imaginative capacity of a sacred vessel. It emphasizes that securing and imaginatively transforming the material at hand is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told to: hold and transform things in the vessel!]
Shaughnessy:The Cauldron: Prime auspiciousness; receipt.
Cleary (1): The cauldron is basically good; it is developmental.
Cleary (2): The Cauldron is very auspiciously developmental.
Wu: The Cauldron indicates great auspiciousness and pervasiveness.
The Image
Legge: Wood under a fire -- the image of a Sacrificial Vessel. The superior man maintains his correctness in every situation to secure the appointment of heaven.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Fire over wood: the image of The Cauldron. Thus the superior man consolidates his fate by making his position correct.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes fire upon wood. The Superior Man, taking his stance as righteousness requires, adheres firmly to heaven's decrees.
Liu: Fire above wood symbolizes the Caldron. The superior man makes his destiny firm with a correct position.
Ritsema/Karcher: Above wood possessing fire. The Vessel. A chun tzu uses correcting the situation to solidify fate.
Cleary (1): There is fire on top of wood; a cauldron. Thus do superior people stabilize life in the proper position.
Cleary (2): Fire over wood -- The Cauldron . Leaders stabilize their mandate by correcting their position.
Wu: There is fire on wood; this is The Cauldron . Thus the jun zi rectifies his position and consecrates the mandate.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The image of the Sacrificial Vessel shows us wood entering a fire, which suggests the idea of cooking. The sages cooked their sacrifices to God and nourished their able ministers with feasts. We have the trigrams of Flexible Obedience and Quick Intelligence, with the magnetic line advanced to the ruler's place and responded to by her dynamic correlate below. All these things give the auspice of successful progress.
Legge: The written Chinese character for Sacrificial Vessel represents a cauldron with three feet and two "ears" used for cooking and preparing food for both the table and the altar. The hexagram pictures this vessel -- the divided first line represents the feet, the three undivided lines above represent the body, the divided fifth line shows the ears (or carrying rings), and the top line is the handle by which the container is carried or suspended from a hook.
The lesson of the hexagram is that the nourishing of men of talent and virtue intimates great progress and success. The K'ang-hsi editors point out that the distinction between hexagram number forty-eight, The Well, and this one is the difference between the nourishment of the people in general and the specific nourishing of worthy men. They add that the reality of sacrifice is nourishing in this regard.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: You are the Sacrificial Vessel.
The Superior Man holds to the principles of the Work to attain transcendence.
The usual name for this hexagram is The Cauldron -- specifically, a type of food-containing vessel which was used in ancient China for religious sacrifices. I prefer Blofeld’s title of the Sacrificial Vessel as more evocative of the ideas presented in the figure.
When the forty-ninth hexagram of Transformation is turned upside down, it becomes the fiftieth hexagram of the Sacrificial Vessel, thus giving us some valuable insights into the nuances of meaning in each of the figures. The combined ideas of transformation and a cauldron used for sacrifices remind us of the alchemical vessel or retort which "cooked" its contents and transformed them into a higher state of matter -- turned lead into gold in the popular conception. Of course, the true esoteric purpose of the alchemist was psychological, not physical.
The vessel of the alchemists, like the circle of the psyche and the mandala, must be closed if the transformation process is to proceed satisfactorily. For the alchemists, the process took place in the material substances collected in the retort. For us, this is a symbol representing a similar process taking place within the psyche. Thus it is said that a wall must be securely built about the psyche before the reconciliation of the opposites can take place within it, and before the new center of the individual can be created. ... For if anything is lost the process is nullified and the final product will be incomplete, imperfect. So long, for instance, as the individual continues to project his deficiencies, or his values, upon circumstances or upon another, he does not have an impervious vessel ... Thus the contents essentially involved in the transformation are seen to be the irrational, instinctual, not yet human factors of the psyche, the nonego. The human and civilized factors, those subject to the will, make up the wall of the vessel. M.E. Harding -- Psychic Energy
Now an ancient Chinese cauldron used to contain food intended for religious sacrifices is not the same thing as a hermetically sealed alchemical retort made to withstand extreme pressures, but symbolically they are identical images. The ego sacrifices its autonomy for the good of the Work in the same way that the alchemist devotes his entire life to the transformation of base metal into gold -- i.e., to transform his psyche by following the extreme discipline of the Work. Thomas Cleary’s Taoist I-Ching explicitly tells us that this is the meaning intended here:
The work of refinement is the means by which to sublimate earthly energy and stabilize celestial energy, causing the raw to ripen and the old to be renewed, whereby it is possible to illumine the mind and to solidify life. Therefore the cauldron is basically good and it has a developmental path. The basis is the potential of everlasting life of goodness; the cooking of the great medicine in the cauldron is the firing of this living potential to make it incorruptible and permanent. But in this path there is process and procedure; even the slightest deviation and the gold elixir will not form. Therefore people must first thoroughly investigate the true principle. Liu I-ming
SUGGESTIONS FOR MEDITATION
In his commentary Legge mentions that the Chinese see an analogy between this figure and hexagram number forty-eight, The Well. Compare the two figures, noting the similarities between the first, third, fifth and sixth lines. The component trigrams of the Sacrificial Vessel appear in reverse sequence in hexagram number thirty-seven, Family. What other similarities are there in the two figures? How is the idea of a family analogous to the idea of a sacrificial vessel?