One hardly wakes up when the others have made a noise at night. taoscopy.com
Dispersion59
Adapt to situations by letting go of rigidity; dissolve obstacles through openness and flexibility.
↓ Line 3
Letting go of ego and personal desires leads to harmony and peace.
↓ Line 5
Expressing oneself openly and honestly can lead to resolution and understanding.
↓ Line 6
Removing oneself from harmful situations or influences is wise and leads to safety.
↓ Pushing Upward46
Steady growth and progress through perseverance and effort. Step-by-step advancement leads to success.
Original Readings
59 Dispersion
Other titles: Dispersion, Dissolution, Disintegration, Dispersal, Overcoming Dissension, Scattering,Dispersing, Unintegrated, Reuniting, Evaporation, Reorganization, New Deal, Re-Shuffle, Course Correction, Catharsis
Judgment
Legge: Expansion intimates that there will be progress and success. The king goes to his ancestral temple. It will be advantageous to cross the great stream. It will be advantageous to be firm and correct.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Dispersion. Success. The king approaches his temple. It furthers one to cross the great water. Perseverance furthers.
Blofeld:Scattering -- success! The King has approached his temple. [An omen of safety.] It is advantageous to cross the great river (or sea). [I.e., to go on a long journey.] Persistence in a righteous course brings reward.
Liu: Dispersion. Success. The king approaches the temple. It is of benefit to cross the great water. It benefits to continue.
Ritsema/Karcher: Dispersing , Growing. The king imagines possessing a temple. Harvesting: wading the Great River. Harvesting Trial. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of confronting obstacles, illusions and misunderstandings. It emphasizes that clearing away what is blocking the light is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told to: disperse what obstructs awareness!]
Shaughnessy: Dispersal: Receipt; the king approaches into the temple; beneficial to ford the great river; beneficial to determine.
Cleary (1): In Dispersal there is development. The king comes to have a shrine. It is beneficial to cross great rivers . It is beneficial to be correct.
Cleary (2):Dispersal is successful. The king goes to his ancestral temple. The benefit crosses great rivers. It is beneficial if correct.
Wu: Dispersion indicates pervasiveness. The king does homage to his ancestral temple. It will be advantageous to cross the big river, but only with perseverance.
The Image
Legge: The image of wind moving over water forms Expansion. The ancient kings, in accordance with this, presented offerings to God and established the ancestral temple.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The wind drives over the water: the image of Dispersion. Thus the kings of old sacrificed to the Lord and built temples.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes wind blowing across the face of the waters. The kings of old built temples in which to sacrifice to the Supreme Lord of Heaven. [A temple is a place of safety from the ills of the world. The symbolism here is that the upper trigram forms a temple in which people are safe from the pit (the lower trigram); its middle line (five) signifies the King. The implication is that we should employ spiritual or moral means to preserve ourselves from the danger threatened by the lower trigram.]
Liu: Wind blowing over water symbolizes Dispersion. The ancient kings offered sacrifices to the Deity, then built temples.
Ritsema/Karcher: Wind moves above stream. Dispersing. The Earlier Kings used presenting tending-towards the supreme to establish the temples.
Cleary (1): Wind blows above water, Unintegrated. Thus ancient kings honored god and set up shrines.
Cleary (2): Wind travels over the water, dispersing. Ancient kings honored God and set up shrines.
Wu: The wind moves above water; this is Dispersion. Thus, the ancient kings made offerings to the Supreme Being and consecrated their ancestral temple.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The dynamic line is central in the lower trigram, and the magnetic fourth line is correct in the upper trigram, uniting with the dynamic ruler above her. The king's mind is without any deflection as he goes to his ancestral temple. He rides over water in a vessel of wood, and will cross the great stream with success.
Legge: The hexagram of Expansion denotes a state of dissipation or dispersion. It shows men's minds alienated from correctness and sure to go on to disorder. Here an attempt is made to show how the situation should be remedied.
The lower trigram represents Water, and the upper, Wind. Wind moving over water evaporates it, and suggests the idea of dispersion. Success is intimated because there are dynamic lines occupying the central places in the trigrams. The king's piety moves the spirits by its sincerity -- when the religious spirit rules men's minds, there will be no alienation from what is right and good. Under such conditions even hazardous enterprises may be undertaken.
The second sentence of the Confucian commentary literally begins: "The king is indeed in the middle..." This means that his heart and mind are set on the central truth of what is right and good. The ancestral temple signifies the recognition that sincere religious practices counteracted the tendency to mutual alienation and selfishness among men. The wooden vessel refers to one of the attributes of the upper trigram, which is Wood. It suggests a boat riding on water (the lower trigram), hence: crossing the great water.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Focus on the ideals of the Work and maintain your will. A major synthesis is possible.
The Superior Man subdues his ego to attain his latent potential.
Because of the intimate relationship between this figure and hexagram number 45, Contraction, I have chosen the title of Expansionto best emphasize their polarity.
The "ancient kings and sages" are more mythical than historical, so we can assume that they symbolize archetypal forces ("gods") within the psyche -- of whom the ego is only the current spacetime representative (i.e., servant- facilitator). The Self is the focal point, the center of this multidimensional awareness complex.
In both timeless and spaceless experiences, the mundane world is virtually excluded. Of course, the converse is true of the mundane state of daily routine, in which the oceanic unity with the universe, in ecstasy and Samadhi, is virtually absent. Thus, the mutual exclusiveness of the "normal" and the exalted states, both ecstasy and Samadhi, allows us to postulate that man, the self- referential system, exists on two levels: as "Self" in the mental dimension of exalted states; and as "I" in the objective world, where he is able and willing to change the physical dimension "out there.” R. Fischer -- "A Cartography of the Ecstatic and Meditative States," Science:174, 1971
The symbol of a temple, where one worships one's ancestors may be taken as the perfect gestalt of the Work as it exists outside of spacetime, as well as the karmic repository of all previous incarnations. It represents both the completed Work and the Work in progress. That the family temple was regarded in China as symbolic of an ideal standard of perfection such as this, is implied in the following passage:
Diplomatic negotiations were carried on in the ancestral temple, in the veritable presence, it was believed, of the ancestors; diplomatic banquets were given there, also. Even a proposal of marriage was received by the father of the prospective bride in his ancestral temple, in the presence of the spirits ... (The world of Confucius), we must remember, was one in which there was a nearly complete breakdown of moral standards ... Only in the performance of religious ceremonies could there still be found, consistently, a type of conduct regulated by a socially accepted norm of behavior, in which men's actions were motivated by a pattern of cooperative action, rather than swayed by the greed and passions of the moment. H.G. Creel -- Confucius and the Chinese Way
Psychologically, Expansion depicts a state of inner pressure capable of fruitful resolution if it can be properly guided. The king in the Image (in this case, the ego) sacrifices for a high ideal: the good of the Work. Legge's commentary tells us that the "second sentence of the Confucian commentary literally begins: `The king is indeed in the middle...'" This suggests a combination of his second and third sentences into the paraphrase: "The king steers a middle course when crossing the water to the ancestral temple." This gives the image of a vessel and the proper way to guide it toward a destination. Anyone who has ever steered a boat with a rudder knows that to over-correct on either side is a mark of poor seamanship: the goal is to maintain a dynamic balance in our guidance of the Work. Lines two and five represent proper course-correction because they are both in the middle of their respective trigrams.
Expansionis the inverse of the following hexagram of Restrictive Regulations. What is there confined and hoarded is here dispensed -- but this dispensation must conform with the ultimate good of the Work. Not just any release of tension will do -- it must recombine itself into a new and better organization, as imaged in the fourth line. If this new order is a proper one, the released tension precipitates a catharsis, as imaged in line five.
The form, then, in which our complexes confront us is the form in which the fundamental materials of our human structure come into our here-and-now existence. Like crystals they are always imperfect to some extent and often unrecognizable or grossly disfigured in comparison with the “ideal” shape, the shape that would represent the “pure” incorporation of the crystal scheme. But we have to meet them in this more or less imperfect or distorted form and out of this form we have to transform them into something that may be more akin to the aboriginal “intent” inherent in their archetypal cores. This undertaking, this process, is what Jung calls individuation. E.C. Whitmont -- The Symbolic Quest
SUGGESTIONS FOR MEDITATION
The Judgment of hexagram number forty-five, Contraction, also mentions the king going to his ancestral temple. A close comparison of this figure with Expansion will reveal much about the dynamics of the Work.
Line 3
Legge: The third line, magnetic, shows its subject discarding any regard to her own person. There will be no occasion for repentance.
Wilhelm/Baynes: He dissolves his self. No remorse.
Blofeld: Self-centered thoughts are dispersed -- no regret!
Liu: He dissolves his egotism. No remorse. [A person should be wary of disaster: if it occurs, he may not be able to escape its results.]
Ritsema/Karcher: Dispersing one's body. Without repenting.
Shaughnessy: Dispersing his torso; there is no trouble.
Cleary (1): Dispersing the self, there is no regret.
Wu: He distributes his personal belongings to others. There will be no regret.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: She has no regard for her own person. Her aim is directed to what is external to herself. Wilhelm/Baynes: His will is directed outward. Blofeld: The will is fixed upon something external to our own well-being. Ritsema/Karcher: Purpose located outside indeed. Cleary (2): The aim is outside. Wu: His goal is to reach out.
Legge: Line three is magnetic in a dynamic place. Although we might fear an excessive self-regard which would render her useless in the work of the hexagram, she discards selfishness and will do nothing shameful. There is a change of style in the Chinese text at this point. As Wang Sheng-tzu (Yuan dynasty) says -- "Here and henceforth the scattering is of what should be scattered, that which should not be scattered may be collected."
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man disregards his own personal interests in order to work for the benefit of others.
Wing: The proposed task is so great and difficult that you will need to put all personal concerns aside. Working toward common goals will greatly benefit your inner strength; there is no regret in such selflessness.
Editor: This line changes the hexagram to number fifty-seven, translated by Blofeld as Willing Submission. The idea of selfless devotion to the Work is clearly implied. Liu's version is the most concise, depicting "the sacrifice of egotism (in favor of the higher possibilities within the situation)." Note that Wang Sheng-tzu’s commentary (see Legge above) suggests the alchemical principle of solve et coagula – a profound concept from the Perennial Philosophy.
The actual realization or living incarnation of the Self, however, requires the presence of a disciplined ego to function as a responsible and conscious executor, in the limited world of the here and now, of the Self's intentions and visions. E.C. Whitmont --Return of the Goddess
A. Subdue your ego -- the Work takes precedence over your limited, divisive fixations.
Line 5
Legge: The fifth line, dynamic, shows its subject amidst the dispersion issuing his great announcements as the perspiration flows from his body. He scatters abroad also the accumulations in the royal granaries. There will be no error.
Wilhelm/Baynes: His loud cries are as dissolving as sweat. Dissolution! A king abides without blame.
Blofeld: Scattering perspiration, he issues his royal command. The King disperses the treasures in his palace among the people -- no blame. [One additional commentary suggests that perspiration comes from illness and anxiety and that the meaning is: "The King rids himself of cause for anxiety by ordering that his goods be dispersed among the needy.” Again, large generosity is required for our success.]
Liu: Dispersion is like sweat pouring from the body, with loud cries. Separation from the king's palace. No blame.
Ritsema/Karcher: Dispersing sweat, one's great crying out. Dispersing. Kinghood residing, without fault.
Shaughnessy: Dispersing his liver with a great cry. Dispersing the king's residence; there is no trouble.
Cleary (1): Dispersing defilement, that is a great directive. The dispersing king remains impeccable.
Cleary (2): Scattering sweat; the great call scatters. The king abides. There is no fault.
Wu: At the time of dispersion, he proclaims with loud voice until he perspires. He distributes the contents in the royal residence. No error.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The accumulations of the royal granaries are dispersed, and there is no error -- this is due to the correctness of the position. Wilhelm/Baynes: He is in his proper place. Blofeld: The correct position of this ruling line. Ritsema/ Karcher: Correcting the situation indeed. Cleary (2): This is the right position. Wu: His position is correct.
Legge: Line five shows us the proclamations and benevolent actions of the ruler himself. Canon McClatchie gives an ingenious and original note upon the symbol of the perspiration: “As sweat cures fevers, so do proclamations cure rebellions.”
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man announces a great policy during a period of disunity and deadlock which serves as a rallying point for reforms. Misunderstanding is thereby dissipated by his proclamation.
Wing: During times of discord and disunity a great proclamation or inspiring idea is necessary to again reunify the situation. In this way, others put aside their factionalism and work together once again.
Editor: Perspiration is a healing release of energy in response to somatic disequilibrium: a catharsis. The definition of catharsis is: "Any purification or purgation that brings about a spiritual renewal or a satisfying release of tension.” Wilhelm interprets this as an idea or concept: “In times of general dispersion and separation, a great idea provides a focal point for the organization of recovery.” Psychologically interpreted, "royal granaries” (or "treasures”) are wellsprings of libido or Chi (Qi). The line thus suggests psychic energy being redistributed as the result of the elimination of a previously blocked condition. The keywords are redistribution/ reorganization -- showing how the forces symbolized in this hexagram and Number 45, Contraction, comprise the expansion and contraction phases of a larger evolutionary process. At its most neutral, the line can depict any sudden release of energy, such as conversational enthusiasm.
Shaughnessy’s rendering: “Dispersing his liver with a great cry…” suggests a connection with Chinese medicine which may be useful in interpreting the symbolism of this line:
“Traditional Chinese physiology tells us that the healthy liver establishes a smooth and soothing flow of energy through the whole person, in both body and mind … When obstructed, stagnant, or overheated, the energy flow in the liver and throughout the body is hampered, resulting in myriad physical and emotional problems … Mood swings as well as emotional excesses in general are liver-related … From the Five Element perspective, an excessive and “greedy” liver not only steals from its mother, the kidneys, but…also refuses to give sufficient energy to its own son, the heart. One of the most efficient ways of improving the condition of the liver is to give its excess a place to go, and the obvious place is where it naturally flows – to its son, the heart. By strengthening the heart and encouraging it to receive energy, the liver is encouraged to release its excess .” P. Pitchford – Healing with Whole foods
A. Release of tension ("letting-go") creates a nourishing catharsis.
B. Image of a beneficial reorganization of some kind: perhaps of ideas or beliefs.
C. "You can't make an omelet without breaking eggs."
Line 6
Legge: The sixth line, dynamic, shows its subject disposing of what may be called his bloody wounds, and going to separate himself from his anxious fears. There will be no error.
Wilhelm/Baynes: He dissolves his blood. Departing, keeping at a distance, going out, is without blame.
Blofeld: Dispersing blood (i.e. fending off injury or violence), he keeps it at a distance -- no blame! [The text of the original is so unclear that the additional commentaries all disagree as to the meaning of dispersing blood, but the general idea is perfectly clear from the commentary on the line.]
Liu: Dissolving his (coagulated) blood. Departing to a remote place. No blame.
Ritsema/Karcher: Dispersing one's blood. Departing far-away, issuing-forth. Without fault.
Shaughnessy: Dispersing his blood, he departs, warily exiting.
Cleary (1): Dispersing the blood, going far away, there is no fault.
Wu: At the time of dispersion, he disperses what hurts himand alleviates what worries him. No error.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: His bloody wounds are gone. He is far removed from the danger of injury. Wilhelm/Baynes: He keeps at a distance from injury. Blofeld: This means keeping evil at a distance. Ritsema/Karcher: Distancing harm indeed. Cleary (2): Scattering the blood means avoiding harm. Wu:“He disperses what hurts him,” because he is able to distance it.
Legge: Line six is dynamic, with a magnetic third line correlate. However, because three is at the top of the trigram of Peril, six avoids her company. He does this in the spirit of dispersion, and therefore incurs no blame.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man removes the sources of danger and bloodshed.
Wing: Avoidance of danger is necessary at this time, both for yourself and especially for those of your concern. This should be accomplished in whatever way possible. Depart the situation if necessary. You will not be blamed for such action.
Editor: Wilhelm emphasizes in his commentary the idea of one who helps his kin avoid danger. Psychologically, this means to keep your "inner family” from harm. If this is the only changing line, the hexagram becomes number twenty-nine, Danger, suggesting a serious situation demanding a careful choice of options. Wu’s translation seems to convey the idea most succinctly.
ONE STEP BACKWARD TAKEN
Not only sands and gravels
Were once more on their travels,
But gulping muddy gallons
Great boulders off their balance
Bumped heads together dully
And started down the gully.
Whole capes caked off in slices.
I felt my standpoint shaken
In the universal crisis.
But with one step backward taken
I saved myself from going.
A world torn loose went by me.
Then the rain stopped and the blowin g
And the sun came out to dry me.
Robert Frost
A. For the good of the Work avoid any confrontation with disruptive elements.
B. Protect the psyche from harm. Avoid danger.
C. Disperse your anger, righteous indignation, etc.
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