Wiki I Ching

Dispersion 59.1.2.3.6 63 After Completion

From
59
Dispersion
To
63
After Completion

One explains to one's children how the modern world works.
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Dispersion 59
Adapt to situations by letting go of rigidity; dissolve obstacles through openness and flexibility.


Line 1
Initiating action with energy and determination leads to success.


Line 2
Seeking support and guidance during times of uncertainty brings relief and clarity.


Line 3
Letting go of ego and personal desires leads to harmony and peace.


Line 6
Removing oneself from harmful situations or influences is wise and leads to safety.


After Completion 63
Completion; things fall into place, but remain cautious.
Stability achieved, yet vigilance needed to sustain harmony.



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 1

Legge: The first line, magnetic, shows its subject engaged in rescuing from the impending evil and having the assistance of a strong horse. There will be good fortune.

Wilhelm/Baynes: He brings help with the strength of a horse. Good fortune.

Blofeld: Helping others with the strength of a horse – good fortune!

Liu: To rescue one with a strong horse. Good fortune.

Ritsema/Karcher: Availing-of a rescuing horse, invigorating significant.

Shaughnessy: Holding aloft a horse; auspicious; regret is gone.

Cleary (1): Act to save the horse. Vigor will have good results.

Cleary (2): For rescue, it is fortunate that the horse is strong.

Wu: To rescue with the aid of a strong horse is auspicious.

 

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge: The good fortune is due to the natural course pursued by its subject. Wilhelm/Baynes: Is based on its devotion. Blofeld: Results from willing accord with others. Ritsema/Karcher: Yielding indeed. Cleary (2): The fortune of the first yin is in following. Wu: The auspiciousness comes from an amiable relationship.

Legge: Line one, at the commencement of the hexagram, tells us that the evil has not yet made great progress, and that dealing with it will be easy. But the subject of the line is magnetic in a dynamic place. She cannot cope with the evil herself. She must have help, and she finds it in a strong horse, which is understood to symbolize the subject of the dynamic second line. The "natural course” that line one pursues is that required by the circumstances of the time.

 

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Siu: At the outset, the man overcomes misunderstanding through a precise and energetic response to the needs of the moment.

Wing: You can see the very beginning of discord. This is fortunate indeed, for it is far easier to reunify and overcome separation when it first arises. Good fortune.

Editor: Both the Wilhelm and Legge commentaries tell us that line two is the horse referred to here. It follows that if line two is the horse, then we can think of line one as its "rider.” Horses symbolize raw energy, and suggest the instinctual-emotional components of the psyche. The rider would be the ego who controls this energy. See the commentary on line two for additional insights.

One might compare the relation of the ego to the id with that between a rider and his horse. The horse provides the locomotor energy, and the rider has the prerogative of determining the goal and guiding the movements of his powerful mount towards it. But all too often in the relations between the ego and the id we find a picture of the less than ideal situation in which the rider is obliged to guide his horse in the direction in which it itself wants to go.
Sigmund Freud

A. The situation demands all of your energy. Concentrate your forces and do your utmost to guide the Work through difficulty.

B. Emotional energy serves the will.

C. Seek help.

Line 2

Legge: The second line, dynamic, shows its subject, amid the dispersion, hurrying to his contrivance for security. All occasion for repentance will disappear.

Wilhelm/Baynes: At the dissolution he hurries to that which supports him. Remorse disappears.

Blofeld: When disintegration is in process, hasten to the altar and regret will vanish.

Liu: At the dispersion he hastens to the opportunity. Remorse vanishes.

Ritsema/Karcher: Dispersing: fleeing one's bench. Repenting extinguished.

Shaughnessy: Dispersal rushes its stairs; regret is gone.

Cleary (1): Running to support upon dispersal, regret vanishes.

Wu: At the time of Dispersion, he rushes to where the couch is. The regret will disappear.

 

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge: He gets what he desires. Wilhelm/Baynes: And thus attains what he wishes. Blofeld: We shall obtain what we desire. Ritsema/Karcher: Acquiring desire indeed. Cleary (2): Running to support on dispersal is attaining what is wished. Cleary (2): Attaining what is wished. Wu: He gets what he wishes.

Legge: Line two is dynamic, but in a magnetic place, and although that place is central, it is in the trigram of Peril. These conditions indicate evil, and action will be dangerous. But line two looks to line one below him, and takes shelter in union with it. Line two desires success in counteracting the prevailing tendency to disunion, and the Confucian commentary suggests that he attains his desire.

 

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Siu: The man finds himself alienated from others because of the prevailing ill humor and misanthropy. However, he revises his judgment of humanity and takes shelter in his strong position. His moderate and just view of mankind removes the causes for repentance later.

Wing: Your problems originate from within. You must modify your attitudes and overcome any feelings of alienation. If you can improve your opinions and feelings toward your fellow man you will find peace of mind and avoid unnecessary suffering.

Editor: Legge renders the object of security here as a "contrivance.” Other translations of this are: "Altar,” "Opportunity,” "Bench,” "Stairs” "Shelter,” “Couch,” and “That which supports him.” Wilhelm and Blofeld say that this object is not line one, but line five. Blofeld's commentary on the Image is appropriate to this second line as well: "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.” In other words: when confusion prevails rely on the principles of the Work to guide your choices.

In the market place of every Chinese town there were a few I Ching priests who would throw coins for you or take the yarrow stalks, and get answers to your questions, but then it was forbidden. In 1960 Mao thought of slightly releasing the rationalistic political pressures on the masses and found out that there were two possibilities: either to give more rice, or to allow the use of the I Ching, and all those whom he consulted told him that the people were more eager to use the I Ching again than to get more food. Spiritual food, and the I Ching was their spiritual food, was more important to them, so it was allowed for I think one or two years and then he strangled it again.
M.L. Von Franz -- On Divination and Synchronicity

A. When things fall apart, maintain your center. (“The [Self] is indeed in the middle...”)

B. Have faith in the principles 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 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.

63
After Completion


Other titles: After Completion, The Symbol of What is Already Past, Already Fording, Already Completed, Settled, Mission Accomplished, Tasks Completed, After the End, A state of Climax

 

Judgment

Legge:Completion intimates progress and success in small matters. There is advantage in firm correctness. There had been good fortune in the beginning; there may be disorder in the end.

Wilhelm/Baynes: After Completion. Success in small matters. Perseverance furthers. At the beginning good fortune, at the end disorder.

Blofeld:After Completion -- success in small matters! Persistence in a righteous course brings reward. Good fortune at the start; disorder in the end. [Perhaps persistence may help to lessen the disorder that threatens to come upon us after some initial success.]

Liu: Completion. Success in the small. It benefits to continue. Good fortune at first; disorder in the end.

Ritsema/Karcher:Already Fording. Growing: the small. Harvesting Trial. Initially significant. Completing: disarraying. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of an important move from one position to another. It emphasizes that actively proceeding with the crossing is the adequate way to handle it...]

Shaughnessy:Already Completed: Receipt; slightly beneficial to determine; initially auspicious, in the end disordered.

Cleary (1):Settlement is developmental, but it is minimized. It is beneficial to be correct. The beginning is auspicious, the end confused.

Cleary (2): Settlement is successful, even in small matters … etc.

Wu: Mission Accomplished indicates a small degree of pervasiveness and the advantage of being persevering. It is characterized by goodness in the beginning, but tumult in the end.


The Image

Legge: The image of water above fire formsCompletion. The superior man, in accordance with this, thinks of the evil that may come, and guards against it in advance.

Wilhelm/Baynes: Water over fire: the image of the condition in After Completion. Thus the superior man takes thought of misfortune and arms himself against it in advance.

Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes water above fire. The Superior Man deals with trouble by careful thought and by taking advance precautions.

Liu: Water above fire symbolizes Completion. The superior man ponders danger and takes precautions against it.

Ritsema/Karcher: Stream located above fire. Already Fording. A chun tzu uses pondering distress and-also providing-for defending-against it.

Cleary (1): Water is above fire,Settled.Thus superior peopleconsider problems and prevent them.

Wu: There is water above fire; this is Mission Accomplished. Thus the jun zi conceives ways to prevent disaster.

 

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge: Progress and success in small matters, with advantage in firm correctness. The dynamic and magnetic lines are correctly arranged, each in its proper place. There has been good fortune in the beginning because the magnetic second line is in the center. In the end there is a cessation of effort, and disorder arises. The course that led to rule and order is now exhausted.

Legge: The two written Chinese characters translated here as Completion represent two ideas -- the symbol of being past or completed, and the symbol of crossing a stream -- with a secondary meaning of helping and completing. When combined, the two characters express the idea of successful accomplishment. The hexagram denotes the kingdom finally at rest -- the vessel of state has been brought safely across the great and dangerous stream, the distresses of the realm have been relieved and its disorders rectified. Small things need to be completed: the new government must be consolidated and its ruler must, without noise or clamor, go on to perfect what has been wrought with firm correctness and without forgetting the inherent instability of all human affairs. That every line of the hexagram is in its correct place, and has its proper correlate emphasizes the intimation of progress and success.

The K'ang-hsi editors compare this hexagram and the next with number eleven, Harmony, and number twelve, Divorcement, observing that the goodness of Harmony is concentrated, as here, in the second line. Disorder after completion is inevitable. All things move on with a constant process of change. Disorder succeeds to order, and again order to disorder.

 

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Judgment: All's well that ends well, but the new cycle demands as much willpower as the last. Make no drastic choices during a transition.

The Superior Man anticipates conflict and is prepared for it in advance.

The sixty-third hexagram is the reference hexagram which depicts the correlation of properly matched dynamic and magnetic lines. On the basis of this figure, all of the other hexagrams (except the first and second, which are their "parents"), are compared. Yet, despite the fact that every line is in its proper place, not one of them has an easy auspice, and both the Judgment and Image are subdued and cautionary. The general idea is that as long as we draw breath in this spacetime dimension, our lives and Work are incomplete. Cycles complete themselves, certainly, but Completion in that sense is the "completion" of the full moon, which as soon as it reaches maximum brilliance immediately begins to wane.

Among those engaged in psycho-spiritual work, there is a great deal of energy focused on "enlightenment," and the natural desire of each aspirant to attain that state of consciousness as soon as possible. Many there are who wander from one conception of the Work to another in the hope that this particular discipline, or that particular Guru will provide the transcendent answer that the last one didn't.

This is a very deceptive illusion, because the chances that any given individual will attain perfect enlightenment in any given lifetime are probably miniscule to the point of insignificance. (How many truly enlightened beings have you ever met in your life?)

But the first signs of this symbolism are far from indicating that unity has been attained. Just as alchemy has a great many procedures, ranging from the "work of one day" to the "the errant quest" lasting for decades, so the tensions between the psychic pair of opposites ease off only gradually; and, like the alchemical end- product, which always betrays its essential duality, the united personality will never quite lose the painful sense of innate discord. Complete redemption from the sufferings of this world is and must remain an illusion ... The goal is important only as an idea; the essential thing is the opus which leads to the goal: that is the goal of a lifetime. In its attainment "left and right" are united, and conscious and unconscious work in harmony.
Jung-- Psychology of the Transference

The Work is a slow, organic process of transforming unconscious forces, which demands almost superhuman levels of discipline to accomplish. One can make a great deal of progress in one lifetime, but the Work can not be said to be complete until physical death “completes” it -- at that point, assuming the ego has acquired enough strength of will, perhaps one can facilitate a "permanent" synthesis of the forces one has spent a lifetime in training. Death is the doorway back to our Source, and if we enter that doorway consciously and correctly we can consolidate a great deal of power which will serve us well in the next cycle, in whatever dimension that cycle may take place.

It is even doubtful whether a man can arrive at the summit of all perfection as long as he lives in an imperfect physical form, because the imperfections of the form hamper the spirit, and only a spirit that has outgrown the necessity to live in a physical form may be said to have arrived at that high degree of perfection at which a perfect knowledge of self, and consequently a perfect knowledge of the universe is obtained.
F. Hartmann --Paracelsus: Life and Prophecies