One has understood before everyone else, even if the others have sought the solution. taoscopy.com
The Well48
Seek renewal and sustenance from shared resources and deep wells of knowledge. Nurture the source to ensure lasting abundance.
↓ Line 1
The well is neglected and not used. There is no benefit in a resource that is not maintained.
↓ Line 4
Efforts are being made to improve and maintain resources. This is a positive step and should be continued.
↓ Line 5
The resource is in excellent condition and provides benefit to all. It is a source of nourishment and refreshment.
↓ Great Power34
Harness inner strength wisely; true power comes from patience and understanding, not force.
48 The Well
Other titles: Welling, Potentialities Fulfilled, The Source, The Deep Psyche, "A resurrection or transformation. Generations coming and going and the continuance of life and development." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge: Although a town site may be altered, The Well remains the same. Its water level neither disappears nor receives any great increase, and the people can draw from it freely. Misfortune ensues if the rope breaks or the bucket is broken before it reaches the water.
Wilhelm/Baynes:The Well. The town may be changed, but the well cannot be changed. It neither decreases nor increases. They come and go and draw from the well. If one gets down almost to the water and the rope does not go all the way, or the jug breaks, it brings misfortune.
Blofeld: A Well. A city may be moved, but not a well. [The building of a city depends upon ourselves; but wells cannot be moved to places where nature supplies no water. The implication is that our activities are limited by natural conditions.] A well suffers from no decrease and no increase; but often, when the people come to draw water there, the rope is too short or the pitcher gets broken before reaching the water -- misfortune! [What we desire is there for the taking, but we may not succeed in getting it.]
Liu: The Well. The city might be moved; but not the well. It neither overflows nor runs dry. People come and go, drawing from the well. The rope nearly reaches the water, but not quite; the jug breaks -- misfortune.
Ritsema/Karcher: The Well: amending the capital, not amending the Well. Without losing, without acquiring. Going, coming: Welling, Welling. Muddy culmination: truly not-yet the well- rope Well. Ruining one's pitcher: Pitfall. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of the life water coming from the depths that everyone may draw on. It emphasizes that maintaining access to this central source is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told to go to the well!]
Shaughnessy: The Well: Changing the city but not changing the well; there is no loss, there is no gain. Going and coming so orderly; when the drying up arrives one also has not yet drawn from the well; burdening its formed earthenware jug; inauspicious.
Cleary (1):The Well: Changing the village, not changing the well; no loss, no gain. Those who come and go use the well as a well. If the rope does not reach all the way into the well, of if the bucket breaks, that is unfortunate.
Cleary (2): … People come and go, but the well remains a well. Lowering the bucket to the water, if you overturn the bucket before drawing it up from the well, this is unlucky.
Wu:The Well indicates that the planning of a district may be changed, but the location of the well may not. The water level of a well will neither increase nor decrease from use. There are wells here and there. When one is drawing water from a well, if he tangles the rope and damages the bucket just before it clears the well, it will be foreboding.
The Image
Legge: The image of water over wood forms The Well. The superior man comforts the people and stimulates their mutual cooperation.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Water over wood: the image of The Well. Thus the superior man encourages the people at their work and exhorts them to help one another.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes water over wood. The Superior Man encourages the people with advice and assistance.
Liu: Water on wood symbolizes The Well. The superior man inspires people to work diligently, and advises them to help each other.
Ritsema/Karcher: Above wood possessing stream. The Well. A chun tzu uses toiling commoners to encourage mutualizing.
Cleary (1): There is water above wood – A Well. Thus do superior people comfort the people and encourage reciprocity.
Wu: There is water above wood; this is The Well. Thus, the jun zi encourages people to work for the good of the public and to help one another for a better life.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Wood penetrates the water and raises it, giving the image ofThe Wellwhich gives nourishment yet is not exhausted. The dynamic central lines in the second and fifth places indicate that the town site may change, but the well does not. If the rope does not reach the water the well does not serve its purpose. A broken bucket brings about evil.
Legge: The upper trigram represents Water, and the lower symbolizes Wood, giving the image of a wooden bucket in the water of a well. What is said on this hexagram might be styled: "Lessons to be learned from a well for the proper government of a country." A well is to its users what a government is to its subjects, and if rulers would only apply the ancient precepts of government to the present circumstances, they and their people would benefit greatly.
In the Judgment we see the well remaining substantially the same through many changes of society -- a dependable source of refreshment to its users. As the fashion of the well remains changeless, so do the principles of human nature and good government. The value of the well depends upon the water being drawn up and used -- and so must the principles of good government be implemented.
Anthony: This hexagram usually indicates that we have a hidden doubt or fear. We may secretly disbelieve our path.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Amid the changes of life the only constant is the psyche itself -- to be alive is to draw upon its energy. The ego’s challenge lies in the correct comprehension of its images.
The Superior Man promotes the harmonious interplay of his thoughts and feelings. (Works on the integration of his complexes.)
A well is a universal symbol of a source of inner truth, and is often associated with a place that is sacred to the gods:
There he built an altar and invoked the name of Yahweh. There he pitched his tent, and there Isaac's servants sank a well. Genesis 26: 25
From the first well, which is of animal nature and deep, the father drinks, together with his children and cattle; from the second, which is yet deeper and on the very margin of nature, there drink only the children of men, namely those whose reason has awakened and whom we call philosophers; from the third, the deepest of all drink the sons of the All-Highest, whom we call gods and true theologians. Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa
Psychologically interpreted, a well symbolizes the continuously flowing unconscious psyche, the fountain of all awareness. In this hexagram each line represents a level within the well -- by extension suggesting a hierarchy of value in the unconscious. It is important to remember that not all of our inner images, intuitions or impulses come from the Self. Note that lines one through four all show the water of the well not being utilized for one reason or another -- only in lines three, five and six is it actually available for use.
In some sensitive individuals there is an awakening of para-psychological perceptions. They have visions, which they believe to be of exalted beings; they may hear voices, or begin to write automatically, accepting the messages at their face value and obeying them unreservedly. The quality of such messages is very varied. Sometimes they contain fine teachings, but they should always be examined with much discrimination and sound judgment, and without being influenced by their uncommon origin or by any claim by their alleged transmitter. No validity should be attributed to messages containing definite orders and commanding blind obedience, and to those tending to exalt the personality of the recipient. Roberto Assagioli --Psychosynthesis
The ego's point of view in relation to The Well is from the outside looking in – the insights emerge from beneath the surface of awareness and can be held in the light of consciousness only if one’s comprehension is able to contain them. If "the bucket breaks," our understanding is unequal to our observation and the insights are lost. (One might plausibly find the image for a cancer cure within one's psyche, but without a conscious frame of reference to acknowledge it, it would be unrecognized and lost.) Those who closely monitor their dreams know that there is an endless outpouring of strange images within the psyche which might be of inestimable value if only we knew what they referred to.
Wilhelm emphasizes the idea of "nourishing the people," which psychologically means that the role of the ego is to facilitate the cooperation of intra-psychic forces.
The solution lies, rather, along the lines of a harmonious integration of all drives into the total personality, first through the proper subordination and coordination, and then through the transformation and sublimation of the excessive or unused quota of energy. Roberto Assagioli --Psychosynthesis
Line 1
Legge: The first line, magnetic, shows a well so muddy that men will not drink of it; or an old well to which neither birds nor other creatures resort.
Wilhelm/Baynes: One does not drink the mud of the well. No animals come to an old well.
Blofeld: The muddy water at the well bottom is undrinkable; an old well attracts no animals.
Liu: No one drinks from a muddy well. Even animals do not come to an old well. [A time of obstacles.]
Ritsema/Karcher:The Well: a bog, not taking-in. The ancient well without wildfowl. [Wildfowl, CH’N: all wild and game birds; untamed.]
Shaughnessy: If the well is muddy do not drink; the old well does not have game.
Cleary (1): Mud in a well is not to be consumed. There are no animals at an abandoned well.
Wu: The muddy water is not drinkable. The old well has nothing to offer.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: It has been forsaken in the course of time. Wilhelm/Baynes: Time forsakes it. Blofeld: The first clause signifies that our affairs take a downward trend; the second, that it is time to give up. Ritsema/Karcher: The below indeed. The season stowed-away indeed. Cleary (2): It is below. Because its time is gone. Wu: It has been abandoned.
Legge: Line one is magnetic and at the bottom of the figure - suggesting the mud at the bottom of a well. Many men in authority are like such a well: corrupt, useless, unregarded. It is said of line one: "Those who have a mind to do something in the world, when they look at this line and its symbolism will learn how they ought to exert themselves."
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: At the outset, the man's life is immersed in corrupt, useless, and repulsive muck. No one is attracted to him.
Wing: You rely too much upon your own opinions and perceptions and therefore have little to offer others in the way of insight or nourishment. When there is no longer an exchange with others, you are lost and forgotten.
Editor: The Legge and Ritsema/Karcher translations are the only ones which mention "birds" or "wildfowl" here; the other translators use "animals," “game,” or "creatures." I have often found the attribute of the bird to be useful in interpreting the psychological intent of this line. Birds symbolize the realm of intellect, ideas or thought, and often this line has clearly meant that my idea or concept of the matter at hand was stagnant or out-moded. For example, the notion that the world is flat is an idea which was once widely held, but which has since been "forsaken in the course of time." The image also suggests a very primitive level within the psyche which is best shunned by consciousness.
In order to seize hold of the fantasies, I frequently imagined a steep descent. I even made several attempts to get to the very bottom. The first time I reached, as it were, a depth of about a thousand feet; the next time I found myself at the edge of a cosmic abyss ... I had the feeling that I was in the land of the dead. Jung --Memories, Dreams, Reflections
A. Image of an archaic, stagnant level of awareness or point of view. Obsolete thinking.
B. Avoid primitive or inferior elements within the situation.
Line 4
Legge: The fourth line, magnetic, shows a well, the lining of which is well laid. There will be no error.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The well is being lined. No blame.
Blofeld: The well is being tiled -- no error!
Liu: The well is being rebuilt. No blame.
Ritsema/Karcher: The Well: lining, without fault.
Shaughnessy: The well is walled; there is no trouble.
Cleary (1): The well is tiled, without fault.
Cleary (2): When the well is tiled, there is no fault.
Wu: There is no error in repairing the well.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The well has been put in good repair. Wilhelm/Baynes: The well is being put in working order. Blofeld: For it is under repair. [We are likely to suffer a necessary delay, but the situation is hopeful.]Ritsema/Karcher: Adjusting the well indeed. Cleary (2): This means fixing the well. Wu: Because it is functioning.
Legge: Line four is magnetic, but in its proper place. She is neither to be condemned nor praised. She takes care of herself, but does nothing for others. The cultivation of one's self, which is represented here, is fundamental to the government of others.
Wilhelm/Baynes: …In life also there are times when a man must put himself in order. During such a time he can do nothing for others, but his work is nonetheless valuable, because by enhancing his powers and abilities through inner development, he can accomplish all the more later on.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man begins to organize his life and develop his capacities. He is too occupied in this task to help others at the moment. For this he deserves no blame, since he will be able to contribute more later on.
Wing: The time has come to pull back and reorganize your life or re-evaluate your goals. This means that you will not be taking an active part in the affairs of others. By putting your life in order, however, you will be able to contribute more fully later on.
Editor: Wilhelm, Blofeld and Liu all translate this line in terms of an incomplete process: the well is undergoing reconstruction. It isn't "well laid" it is "being well laid." That is, the well is undergoing repairs now and cannot be used until the repairs are completed. Psychologically, an inner transformation is taking place.
While the hidden life forces are performing their mysterious work of transformation, the rational and willed attitude of the conscious ego can only interfere. It can neither assist nor guide. The libido is withdrawn from it, and it is left high and dry. When this happens one can do nothing but await the re- emergence of the psychic energy, alert to profit by the creative work in which it has been taking part. M.E. Harding -- Psychic Energy
A. While inner forces are being transformed they are unavailable for conscious use.
B. The image suggests the idea of "putting one's house in order." Something is being transformed.
Line 5
Legge: The fifth line, dynamic, shows a clear, limpid well, the waters from whose cold spring are freely drunk.
Wilhelm/Baynes: In the well there is a clear, cold spring from which one can drink.
Blofeld: The well is cool; its water tastes like water from an icy spring. [All goes well with us.]
Liu: The water of the well is clear and cool. People drink from it. [People will succeed in their undertakings and profit from them.]
Ritsema/Karcher: The Well: limpid, cold spring water taken-in.
Shaughnessy: If the well is crisscrossed with cold springs, drink.
Cleary (1): The well is pure, the cold spring is used for drinking.
Cleary (2): The cold spring in the well is drunk from.
Wu: The well water is fresh and clean. It is like drinking from a cool spring.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: This is indicated by the central and correct position of the line. Wilhelm/Baynes: Drinking from the clear, cold spring depends on its central and correct position. Blofeld: This is indicated by the suitable position of the line, which is central to the upper trigram. Ritsema/Karcher: Centering correcting indeed. Cleary (2): Balance and correctness. Wu: Central and correct.
Legge: Line five is dynamic and in his correct place -- the seat of the ruler. As a well full of clear water is accessible to its users, so should a ruler be to his subjects.
Wilhelm/Baynes: A well that is fed by a spring of living water is a good well. A man who has virtues like a well of this sort is to be a leader and savior of men, for he has the water of life. Nevertheless, the character for “good fortune” is left out here. The all-important thing about a well is that its water be drawn. The best water is only a potentiality for refreshment as long as it is not brought up. So too with leaders of mankind: it is all-important that one should drink from the spring of their words and translate them into life.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The natural-born leader performs wide and useful services for the people.
Wing: You possess all the potential possible for insight and wisdom. This gift is the mark of an unparalleled leader. Such abilities and insights, however, must be applied to your daily life in order to continue growing and developing.
Anthony: It is not enough to have the water of the well; to be of use we must drink it. If we have doubts about our path, it cannot work for us. We can only make knowledge ours by putting it to experience, and accepting the hazard of depending on it.
Editor: When our conscious attitude is open to inner truth, that truth is reflected in the world. The image suggests that an outer attitude reflects an inner reality. See line six for the subtle difference between the two images.
For when the surface of those waters is disturbed by no slightest ripple of thought, Then shall the glory of my Self, Which is thy true Self, Be mirrored unto thee. P.F. Case -- The Book of Tokens
A. Integrated energy is at the surface of awareness.
B. You have what you need to succeed.
34 Great Power
Other titles: The Power of the Great, The Symbol of Great Vigor, Persons of Great Authority, Great Strength, Great Invigorating, Great Maturity, Accumulated Force, The Strength of the Mighty, Righteous Power, Excessive Force
Judgment
Legge:Great Power necessitates firm correctness.
Wilhelm/Baynes:The Power of the Great. Perseverance furthers.
Blofeld: The Power of the Great. Persistence in a righteous course brings reward. [This hexagram with a solid group of firm lines topped by a small number of yielding lines obviously signifies strength -- in this case the power to succeed in spite of difficulties. Much of what follows concerns goats -- a symbol presumably suggested by the form of the hexagram, namely a solid body distinguished by a pair of horns -- the yielding lines at the top.]
Liu: Great Power. It is of benefit to continue.
Ritsema/Karcher: Great Invigorating , Harvesting Trial. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of the invigorating power of a central creative idea. It emphasizes that animating everything around you through this guiding motivation is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told to invigorate through the great!]
Shaughnessy: Great Maturity: Beneficial to determine.
Cleary(1):Great power is beneficial when correct.
Wu: Great Strength indicates that it is advantageous to be persevering.
The Image
Legge: The image of thunder over heaven forms the hexagram of Great Power. The superior man, in accordance with this, does not take one step that is not in accordance with propriety.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Thunder in heaven above: The image of The Power of the Great. Thus the superior man does not tread upon paths that do not accord with established order.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes thunder in the sky. The Superior Man never takes a step involving impropriety. [Note: The combination of trigrams meaning thunder and sky suggests something of the awe-inspiring quality of the truly great.]
Liu: Thunder in the sky above symbolizes Great Power. The superior man's conduct does not oppose the rules.
Ritsema/Karcher: Thunder located above heaven. Great Invigorating. A chun tzu uses no codes whatever, nowhere treading.
Cleary (1): Thunder is up in the sky, with great power. Thus do superior people refrain from what is improper.
Cleary (2): … Developed people do not do what is improper.
Wu: There is thunder above heaven; this is Great Strength. Thus the jun zi does not practice what is not proper.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: In Great Powerwe see that which is great becoming strong. The trigram of Strength directs the trigram of Movement, and hence the whole is expressive of vigor. But that which is great necessitates firm correctness. The attributes of heaven and earth are displayed when firmness and correctness attain their ideal state.
Legge: Because the dynamic lines predominate in Great Power,the figure suggests a state in which there is an abundance of strength and vigor. Is strength alone enough for the conduct of affairs? Of course not! Strength must always be subordinated to the idea of right, and exerted only in harmony with it.
The lower trigram symbolizes Strength, the upper symbolizes Movement. In the Confucian commentary, "that which is great” denotes the group of four dynamic lines which strikes us on looking at the figure, and also the superior men in positions of power, of whom these are the representatives. That the attributes of heaven and earth are displayed means that the power of men should be a reflection of the great power which we see impartially working in nature.
Ch'eng-tzu says on the Image: "Thunder rolling in the sky and making all things shake is the symbol of Great Power." In relating its application to man, he quotes a beautiful saying of antiquity: "The strong man is he who overcomes himself."
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Control yourself.
The Superior Man does nothing that is not in accordance with the principles of the Work.
Wilhelm and Blofeld translate this hexagram as The Power of the Great., but I prefer Liu's rendition of Great Power, because it has a more neutral connotation. The Power of the Great suggests the might of kings and emperors, and implies "superior" power wielded at one's own discretion. It is too easy to misinterpret this hexagram as a clear injunction to take unilateral action. Such is seldom the case -- the hexagram depicts a charge of latent energy which must be properly managed.
The figure is usually compared with the image of a ram or goat -- the four lower dynamic lines being the body, and the two upper magnetic lines representing the horns. Since this hexagram is the preceding figure of Retreat turned upside down, one can imagine the two together as a person retreating across a pasture pursued by a charging beast. The ram/goat is mentioned in four of the six lines of the hexagram. This is certainlyGreat Power, but in such a crude form it cannot be truthfully called The Power of the Great.
Truly Great Power, as the Judgment tells us, is derived from our will to restrain our emotions, instincts and appetites. Note that lines two and four are the most positively forceful lines in the hexagram and that both imply restraint of power as the proper way to attain one's goals. Without changing lines, the hexagram sometimes refers to provocations in which one is "legitimately” tempted to a self-righteous display of "power.” Remember that other people's ego-trips are none of your concern: the superior man does not respond to them with other than dignified reserve. Regard it as a test and be joyful if you pass it!
Everything found in later literature seems to indicate that these meditative schools required a strong discipline and faithful adherence to a strict regimen. The schools were extremely demanding, and were open only to those willing to devote themselves totally. Before even being admitted to one of these ancient meditative schools, a person had to be not only spiritually advanced but in complete control of all his emotions and feelings. Beyond that, the disciplines of the Torah and commandments were central to these schools, and these disciplines required a degree of self-mastery to which not everyone could aspire. Aryeh Kaplan -- Jewish Meditation