Wiki I Ching

Limitation 60.1.2.4.5.6 35 Progress

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60
Limitation
To
35
Progress

One listens again tirelessly to resounding speeches.
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Limitation 60
Set boundaries and apply discipline to create balance and order in life.
Prioritize moderation and clear limits for greater focus and harmony.


Line 1
Staying within limits and not overreaching oneself leads to no blame.


Line 2
Excessive limitation and isolation can lead to misfortune.


Line 4
Accepting limitations with contentment leads to success.


Line 5
Embracing limitations with a positive attitude brings good fortune and respect.


Line 6
Persisting in harsh limitations leads to misfortune, but recognizing this can alleviate remorse.


Progress 35
Progress and clarity emerge.
With effort and clarity, advancement is possible.
Keep honesty and integrity at the forefront.



60
Limitation


Other titles: Restrictive Regulations, Restraint, Regulations, Articulating, Receipt, Restraining, Containment

 

Judgment

Legge:Restrictive Regulations bring progress and success, but if they are severe and difficult they cannot be permanent.

Wilhelm/Baynes:Limitation. Success. Galling limitation must not be persevered in.

Blofeld:Restraint -- success! It is wrong to persist in harsh restraint.

Liu: Limitation. Success. Bitter limitation should not be continued.

Ritsema/Karcher:Articulating, Growing. Bitter Articulating not permitting Trial. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of confused relations. It emphasizes that making limits and connections clear, particularly through speech, is the adequate way to handle it...]

Shaughnessy: Receipt. Withered moderation; one may not determine.

Cleary (1):Discipline is developmental, but painful discipline is not to be held to. [Discipline means having limits that are not to be exceeded. This hexagram represents practicing obedience in unfavorable circumstances, adaptably keeping to the Tao. The situation may be up to others, but creation of destiny is up to oneself. When discipline gets to the point of inflicting suffering, it brings on danger itself even where there was no danger; you will only suffer toil and servility which is harmful and has no benefit.]

Cleary (2): Regulation is successful, but painful regulation is not to be held to.

Wu: Regulation indicates pervasiveness. Excessive regulation should not be obstinately pursued. [Sometimes the meaning of conservation or moderation is implied. Although the idea of regulation is convincing, it should not be applied blindly without regard to conditions.]

 

The Image

Legge: Water over a lake -- the image of Restrictive Regulations. The superior man constructs methods of numbering and measurement, and examines the nature of virtuous conduct.

Wilhelm/Baynes: Water over lake: the image of Limitation. Thus the superior man creates number and measure, and examines the nature of virtue and correct conduct.

Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes water held in a dyke above a marshy lake. The Superior Man employs a system of regulations in his plans for the widespread practice of virtue.

Liu: Water above the lake symbolizes Limitation. The superior man devises number and measure, and measures conduct and virtue.

Ritsema/Karcher: Above marsh possessing stream. Articulating. A chun tzu uses paring to reckon the measures. A chun tzu uses deliberating actualizing-taoto move.

[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): There is water over a lake, regulated. Thus superior people determine measures and discuss various actions.

Cleary (2): … Leaders establish numbers and measures, and consider virtuous conduct.

Wu: There is water above the marsh; this is Regulation. Thus, the jun zi enacts statutes and deliberates virtues. [A study of the limits and merits will avert difficulties.]

 

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge: Progress and attainment are seen in the equally divided dynamic and magnetic lines, with the dynamic lines in the central places. If the regulations are severe and difficult, the course of action will come to an end. We see a cheerful attitude directing the course amidst peril. The rules are correctly initiated by the ruler in the fifth place. Heaven and earth observe their regular cycles and complete the four seasons. When rulers frame their laws according to just limitations, the resources of the state suffer no injury, and the people receive no hurt.

Legge: The written Chinese character which denotes Restrictive Regulations means the regular division of a whole, such as the division of the seasons of the year into ninety-day periods clearly marked by the solstices and equinoxes. Whatever makes regular division may be denominated by a "restrictive regulation," and there enter into it the ideas of ordering and restraining. The hexagram deals with the regulations of government enacted for the guidance and control of the people. An important point is made that these regulations must be adapted to the circumstances and not made too strict and severe.

Ch'eng-tzu says on the Image: "The water which a lake or marsh will contain is limited to a certain quantity. If the water flowing in exceeds that amount, it overflows. This gives us the idea of Restrictive Regulations."

 

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Judgment: Restrictive Regulations are necessary for growth, but severe restriction must itself be limited.

The Superior Man differentiates his options in relation to the goals of the Work.

The Work itself is nothing if not a rigid structure imposed upon one's life -- a "restrictive regulation" of the ego's illusion of freedom of choice. Ordinary people insist that their lives are ordered by the intelligent exercise of free will, but this "freedom" is more commonly just a rationalization for the activity of autonomous complexes. No one can look objectively at the current state of the world and seriously claim that it reflects either rational order or balanced perception. Collective human experience on this planet is determined by the whims of archetypal forces expressing themselves through the unconscious psyches of six-billion people.

The Work then, is a restrictive regulation of these autonomous forces -- it is a limitation, a containment of the expression of instinct and desire. We are reminded of the alchemical vessel which is hermetically sealed to prevent its contents from escaping before they have been transmuted into gold. If the alchemist miscalculates his "methods of numbering and measurement" the vessel becomes a kind of bomb: the seal breaks, the contents explode, and the Work is ruined. This is what is meant by "if the regulations are severe and difficult, the course of action will come to an end." If we restrict the contents of the vessel beyond their capacity for confinement the psyche boils over in some degree of rebellion. This is no minor thing -- depending on the circumstances, severe psychotic reactions can be created in this manner.

On the other hand, the ego thinks that all but the most minor restrictions are severe and difficult, and it is constantly on the verge of rebellion. As always, it is the Self which must determine how far the restrictive regulations can be taken. From its perspective outside of spacetime it is best able to determine how much pressure the psyche can take -- frequently it is far more (or sometimes far less) than the ego thinks possible.

The Confucian commentary observes: "We see a cheerful attitude directing the course amidst peril." This refers to the lower trigram of Cheerfulness encountering the upper trigram of Peril or Danger. The restrictions of the Work are more often than not unpleasant and risky, constantly verging on some kind of an explosion. An attitude of cheerful acceptance enables one to survive these difficult trials. This is an extremely important concept, because without it one can all too easily fall into a suicidal despair. The Work can become an impossible burden unless one learns how to approach stress and hardship with an almost irreverent sense of humor. (This in itself is an essential lesson about how to purge the ego of its myopic notions of what it will and will not "accept" in life.)

There is an old Zen proverb that says: "Hell, also, is a place to live in." The message is clear: be of good cheer, because without it you are sure to fail.

The seeming inevitability of conflict among the archetypal "powers" can cause us to experience life as a hopeless, senseless impasse. But the conflict can also be discovered to be the expression of a symbolic pattern still to be intuited. It can be lived as if it were a drama, the play of life or of the gods, for the purpose of experiencing an ultimate meaning ... When one can feel with Goethe that "everything transient is but a symbol," then meaning can be found not only in creativity, joy and love but also in impasse, suffering and conflict. Then life can be lived as a work of art.
E.C. Whitmont -- The Symbolic Quest


Line 1

Legge: The first line, dynamic, shows its subject not quitting the courtyard outside his door. There will be no error.

Wilhelm/Baynes: Not going out of the door and the courtyard is without blame.

Blofeld: He goes not go forth from the outer gates and courtyards of his home -- no error!

Liu: One does not go out of the door and courtyard. No blame.

Ritsema/Karcher: Not issuing-forth-from the door chambers. Without fault.

Shaughnessy: Not going out of the door or window; there is no trouble.

Cleary (1): Not leaving home, there is no blame.

Wu: He does not go beyond the entrance hall of his house. No error.

 

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge: He knows when he has free course and when he is obstructed. Wilhelm/Baynes: One knows what is open and what is closed. Blofeld: He acts thus from his knowledge of when things can be carried through to their end and when they will be blocked. [The implication is that we should now hold back.]Ritsema/Karcher: Knowing interpenetrating clogging indeed. Cleary (2): Not leaving home is knowing passage and obstruction. Wu: He knows what can be done and what cannot be.

The Master said: "When disorder arises, it will be found that ill-advised speech was the stepping stone to it. If a ruler does not keep secret his deliberations with his minister, he will lose that minister. If a minister does not keep secret his deliberations with his ruler, he will lose his life. If important matters in the germ are not kept secret, that will be injurious to their accomplishment. Therefore the superior man is careful to maintain secrecy, and does not allow himself to speak."

Legge: Line one is dynamic in a dynamic place, and therefore has the power to move. But he is kept in check by the dynamic second line, and his fourth line correlate occupies the first position in the trigram of Peril. He therefore knows when he has free course and when he is obstructed, and in this case the course of wisdom is to keep still. He regulates himself by a consideration of the times. The Daily Lecture says that the line tells an officer not to take office rashly, but to exercise a cautious judgment in his measures.

 

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Wilhelm/Baynes: Often a man who would like to undertake something finds himself confronted by insurmountable limitations. Then he must know where to stop. If he rightly understands this and does not go beyond the limits set for him, he accumulates an energy that enables him, when the proper time comes, to act with great force. Discretion is of prime importance in preparing the way for momentous things. …We see locked doors ahead and therefore hold back.

Siu: At the outset, the man appreciates his own limitations and exercises judicious discretion in not pressing beyond them. He does not exert his authority rashly.

Wing: Although you would like to take certain measures in the current pursuit of your aims, when you see obstacles ahead you must stop. Such Limitations should be recognized and accepted. Stay within the limits and collect your strength quietly.

Editor: If this is the only changing line, the hexagram becomes number twenty-nine, Danger. Obviously, "discretion is the better part of valor" -- one should stay put and not act.

Never set your foot on the path of the wicked, do not walk the way that the evil go.
Avoid it, do not take it, turn your back on it, pass it by.
Proverbs 4: 14

A. Sit tight and accept the limitations of the situation.

Line 2

Legge: The second line, dynamic, shows its subject not quitting the courtyard inside his gate. There will be evil.

Wilhelm/Baynes: Not going out of the door and courtyard brings misfortune.

Blofeld: He goes not forth from the inner gates and courtyards of his home -- misfortune!

Liu: One does not go out the gate and courtyard. Misfortune. [Generally, this line bodes good fortune for action and misfortune for inaction.]

Ritsema/Karcher: Not issuing-forth-from the gate chambers. Pitfall.

Shaughnessy: Not going out of gate or courtyard; inauspicious.

Cleary (1): Not going outside bodes ill. [Holding fast to petty regulations is a great loss.]

Wu: He does not go beyond his courtyard. Foreboding.

 

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge: He loses the time for action to an extreme degree. Wilhelm/ Baynes: One misses the crucial moment. Blofeld: Misfortune because he neglects to take advantage of an opportunity now presenting itself. [The implication is that it would be wrong to hold back now.] Ritsema/Karcher: Letting-go the season end indeed. Cleary (2): One misses the timing in the extreme. Wu: He misses an opportunity.

Legge: Line two is dynamic in a magnetic place and without the help of a proper correlate. He keeps still when he ought to be up and doing. There will be evil.

 

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Siu: The time for immediate action has come. The opportunity should be seized quickly and energetically. The man does not act, and bad luck ensues.

Wing: Opportunity and potential are on their way. If you hesitate when the time is right, you will miss your chance entirely. Such bad timing is a result of excessive limitation.

Editor: Line one depicts one restricting himself when it is proper to do so -- line two symbolizes the opposite case: He restricts himself when the times call for action. A fearful, over-cautious or perhaps merely ignorant attitude prevents him from taking the necessary initiative. Sometimes one receives both lines: a seeming contradiction, unless seen as a subtle differentiation of choice. I.e., The first line negates the immediate question, but the second warns us that action of a different character is necessary.

There is a tide in the affairs of men,

Which, taken at the flood, leads on to

fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life

Is bound in shallows and in miseries.

Shakespeare -- Julius Caesar

A. You inhibit yourself unnecessarily -- take advantage of your opportunities. The time calls for action, but you aren't acting.

B. Seek wider horizons.

Line 4

Legge: The fourth line, magnetic, shows its subject quietly and naturally attentive to all regulations. There will be progress and success.

Wilhelm/Baynes: Contented limitation. Success.

Blofeld: Peaceful restraint -- success!

Liu: Peaceful limitation. Success.

Ritsema/Karcher: Quiet Articulating Growing.

Shaughnessy: Placid moderation; receipt.

Cleary (1): Peaceful discipline is developmental.

Cleary (2): Peaceful regulation is successful.

Wu: He achieves regulation with ease. Pervasive.

 

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge: Progress and success is due to the difference which accepts the ways of the ruler above. Wilhelm/Baynes: Accepting the way of the one above. Blofeld: Success is indicated by the firm line immediately above this one. Ritsema/ Karcher: Receiving tao above indeed. Cleary (2): Taking up the higher path. Wu: He supports his superior.

Legge: Line four is magnetic, as it ought to be, and she has respect for the authority of the dynamic ruler in line five above her -- hence the good symbolism and auspice.

 

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Siu: The man understands the nature of regulations and accommodates accordingly. He does not waste energy in useless struggles, but directs it effectively to solving the problem at hand.

Wing: Allow your Limitations to become natural extensions of your behavior.

Accommodate and adapt yourself to the fixed conditions in the situation. Don't carry on battles over "the principle of the thing." Deal with the matter at hand and you will meet with success.

Editor: The idea here is to work within the limitations of the situation at hand. By doing this, one acts according to the will of the Self: ("...accepts the ways of the ruler above").

When nothing is possible without His will, then what is the use of planning? Is it not better to depend on Him and do as He wills? ... When his will bids circumstances and environment change, then accept the change, not before.
Swami Saradananda

A. Accept the restrictions of the Work.

Line 5

Legge: Line five, dynamic, shows its subject sweetly and acceptably enacting his regulations. There will be good fortune. The onward progress with them will afford ground for admiration.

Wilhelm/Baynes: Sweet limitation brings good fortune. Going brings esteem.

Blofeld: Voluntary restraint -- good fortune! Advancing now wins praise. [Presumably this means that we have rightly exercised restraint and that the time has now come for us to continue our advance.]

Liu: Sweet limitation. Good fortune. Undertakings bring honor.

Ritsema/Karcher: Sweet Articulating significant. Going possesses honor.

Shaughnessy: Sweet moderation; auspicious; in going there will be elevation.

Cleary (1): Contented discipline is good: If you go on, there will be exaltation.

Cleary (2): Contented regulation is auspicious. To go on will result in exaltation.

Wu: There is optimal regulation. Auspicious. Wherever he goes, he will succeed.

 

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge: The good fortune is due to the line occupying the place of authority and being in the center. Wilhelm/Baynes: The good fortune comes from remaining central in one's own place. Blofeld: This is indicated by the central position of this ruling line. Ritsema/Karcher: Residing-in the situation: centering indeed. Cleary (2): The position one is in is balanced. Wu: His central position.

Legge: Line five is dynamic and in his correct place. He has no proper correlate, and so regulates himself. But he is the lord of the hexagram, and his influence is everywhere beneficially felt.

 

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Siu: Before exacting obedience from others, the man in a high position first applies the restrictions to himself. His beneficial influence is widely felt.

Wing: In influencing others you must become an example. When Limitations and restrictions are necessary, take them upon yourself first. In this way you are certain that they are acceptable while you win the praise and emulation of others. Good fortune.

Editor: If we don't impose restrictions on ourselves, we are not likely to influence others to do so: "Handsome is as handsome does." In many contexts, the line can suggest a situation in which one may advance only by clearly differentiating its inherent limitations.

But animals which live in pure nature never overdo anything, neither sex nor food nor anything else, because their patterns of behavior always impose the right measure and the moment to stop. The moment to start and the moment to stop is all built into their behavioral system, which is why Jung always said that animals were much more pious and religious than man because they really obey their inner order and really follow the meaning of what they are meant to be, never going beyond that.
M.L. Von Franz -- Alchemical Active Imagination

A. Equitable discipline advances the Work.

B. By recognizing innate difficulties within the situation one is enabled to proceed pragmatically.

C. Maintain realistic expectations in the matter at hand.

Line 6

Legge: The sixth line, magnetic, shows its subject enacting regulations severe and difficult. Even with firmness and correctness there will be evil. But though there will be cause for repentance, it will by and by disappear.

Wilhelm/Baynes: Galling limitation. Perseverance brings misfortune. Remorse disappears.

Blofeld: Painful restraint -- persistence brings misfortune! However, regret will cease later.

Liu: Bitter limitation. Continuing brings misfortune. Remorse vanishes.

Ritsema/Karcher: Bitter articulating, Trial: pitfall. Repenting extinguished.

Shaughnessy: Withered moderation ; determination is inauspicious; regret is gone.

Cleary (1): Painful discipline bodes ill if persisted in, but regret vanishes.

Cleary (2): Painful regulation bodes ill if persisted in. By repenting, it is eliminated.

Wu: There is excessive regulation. It will be foreboding to pursue it obstinately. Regret will disappear. [In this extreme position, he has no business to do stringent regulation. Whatever he does will be excessive and therefore foreboding. The fact that he remembers the virtue of regulation will mitigate his regret for overdoing it.]

 

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge: The course indicated by the hexagram has come to an end. Wilhelm/Baynes: Its way comes to an end. Blofeld: Misfortune in the sense that the road we are following peters out. [This implies that we should stop following our present course and that, by doing so, we shall eliminate the cause of our present worry or regret.] Ritsema/Karcher: One's tao exhausted indeed. Cleary (2): That path comes to an impasse. Wu: Excessive regulation is foreboding, because it goes nowhere.

Legge: Line six is magnetic, in its proper place. She must be supposed to possess an exaggerated desire for enacting regulations. They will be too severe, and the effect will be evil. But as Confucius says in the Analects 3:3, it is not so great a fault as to be easy and remiss. It may be remedied, and cause for repentance will disappear.

 

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Siu: The man exhibits an exaggerated desire for restrictive regulations. This will not be endured for long by the people. However, ruthless severity may, at times, be the only protection against temptation and irresolution and may eliminate later cause for repentance.

Wing: Excessive restrictions demanded of others will eventually meet with resentment. Nothing worthwhile can be accomplished in this way. However, for your own benefit, you may require severe restraints for a time to aid in your self-development and to help you avoid regretful mistakes.

Editor: In terms of the Work, this is an extremely tricky line demanding subtle interpretation. The first two sentences are a rephrasing of the Judgment; the last sentence is a disclaimer telling us that excessive regulations are acceptable after all. This juxtaposition of contradictory ideas suggests a test situation: it is left entirely up to the querent where to draw the line. In the absence of contrary data it is usually safe to side with Confucius as described in Legge's commentary. On the other hand, it must also be recognized that extreme restriction is not the middle way, hence can only be useful as a strategic temporary measure, not as a way of life.

Sacrifice is necessary. If nothing is sacrificed nothing is obtained. And it is necessary to sacrifice something precious at the moment, to sacrifice for a long time and to sacrifice a great deal. But still, not forever. This must be understood because often it is not understood. Sacrifice is necessary only while the process of crystallization is going on. When crystallization is achieved, renunciations, privations, and sacrifices are no longer necessary.
Gurdjieff

A. You are limiting yourself, but it is OK.

B. Too much structure inhibits growth.

C. When discipline becomes oppression, the Work suffers.

35
Progress


Other titles: Progress, Prospering, The Symbol of Forwardness, To Advance, Advancement, Making Headway, Getting the Idea, “Comes the Dawn”

 

Judgment

Legge: In Advance of Consciousness we see a prince who secures the tranquility of the people presented on that account with numerous horses by the king, and three times in a day received at interviews.

Wilhelm/Baynes: Progress . The powerful prince is honored with horses in large numbers. In a single day he is granted audience three times.

Blofeld: Progress. The richly endowed prince receives royal favors in the form of numerous steeds and is granted audience three times in a single day. [This passage indicates great merit richly rewarded.]

Liu: The Marquis K'ang (rich, powerful, healthy) is bestowed with many horses by the king, who receives him three times in a single day.

Ritsema/Karcher: Prospering , the calm feudatory avails-of bestowing horses to multiply the multitudes. Day-time sun three-times reflected. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of thriving in the full light of the sun. It emphasizes that contributing to this increase by helping things to flourish is the adequate way to handle it...]

Shaughnessy: The Lord of Kang is herewith awarded horses in luxuriant number, during daylight thrice connecting.

Cleary (1):Advancing, a securely established lord presents many horses, and grants audience three times a day.

Cleary (2): Advancing , a securely established lord is presented with, etc.

Wu: Advancement indicates that the prince who has secured peace and prosperity of the state is conferred with many fine horses. The king grants him an audience three times in one day.


The Image

Legge: The image of the earth and that of the bright sun coming forth above it form Advance of Consciousness. The superior man, in accordance with this, gives himself to make more brilliant his bright virtue.

Wilhelm/Baynes: The sun rises over the earth: the image of Progress. Thus the superior man himself brightens his bright virtue.

Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes fire blazing from the earth. The Superior Man reflects in his person the glory of heaven's virtue.

Liu: The sun rising above the earth is the symbol of Progress. Thus the superior man brightens his character.

Ritsema/Karcher: Brightness issuing-forth above earth. Prospering. A chun tzu uses originating enlightening to brighten actualizing-tao. [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): Light emerges over the earth, advancing. Thus do superior people by themselves illumine the quality of enlightenment.

Cleary (2): Light emerges over the ground, advancing. Developed people illumine the quality of enlightenment by themselves.

Wu: Brightness rises above the earth; this is Advancement. Thus the jun zi keeps his bright virtue shining.

 

COMMENTARY

Confucius/Legge: In Advance of Consciousnesswe have the bright sun appearing above the earth; the symbol of Docile Submission cleaving to that of the Great Brightness; and the magnetic line advanced and moving above: all these things give us the idea of a prince who secures the tranquility of the people.

Legge: The subject of the Judgment is a feudal prince whose services to his country have made him acceptable to his king. The King's favor has been shown to him by gifts and personal attentions. The symbolism of the lines indicates the situations encountered by the prince. The written character for this hexagram means "to advance," a quality it shares with hexagrams number forty-six, Pushing Upward, and number fifty-three, Gradual Progress. In the present case the sun ascending from the earth to the meridian readily suggests the idea of advancing.

Hu Ping-wen (Yuan dynasty) says: "Of the strong things there is none so strong as Heaven, and hence the superior man patterns himself on its strength. Of bright things there is none so bright as the sun, and he patterns himself on its brightness."

Anthony: This hexagram concerns self-development which yields progress in our external life situation. If we are not making progress, we should review our attitude. Some widely accepted ideas may be decadent from the viewpoint of the Sage, hence obstruct progress. [Anthony’s “Sage” is conceptually identical to the “Self. -- Ed.]

 

NOTES AND PARAPHRASES

Judgment: When the autonomous manifestations of our inner drives are channeled, their energy becomes the ego's own. (Psychologically interpreted: Ego and Self are in accord.)

The Superior Man focuses his awareness on perfecting the Work. (Sometimes this can take the meaning of: "Wise up!")

The trigram of Clarity in progression over that of Docility gives the formula for an Advance of Consciousness. The submission of the ego to the restrictions of the Work, and the consequent tranquil subjugation of one's restless drives, appetites and impulses, eventually results in a focused flow of energy from within. (After years of effort, this is sometimes felt physically as a radiating sensation emanating from the chest, or heart region.) To receive this figure without changing lines does not necessarily mean that one has reached this phase of the Work, but it suggests progress in that direction. The traditional name for this hexagram is, in fact: Progress.

The king presenting horses to the prince in reward for pacifying the kingdom is analogous to the Self rewarding the ego for controlling the autonomous forces within the psyche. This is a quintessentially shamanic discipline: the "horses" symbolize tamed drives and emotions. Such circumstances indicate an Advance of Consciousness or progression toward the goal of "en-light-enment" or psychic integration, symbolized by the sun traversing the earth.

That state of life dynamism in which consciousness realizes itself as a split and separated personality that yearns and strives toward union with its unknown and unknowable partner, the Self, Jung has called the individuation process. It is a conscious striving for becoming what one "is" or rather "is meant to be."
E.C. Whitmont -- The Symbolic Quest

The last sentence of the above quotation is exactly analogous to the Ritsema/Karcher translation of the Image of this hexagram, wherein the superior man (chun tzu) "uses originating enlightening to brighten actualizing-tao."

"Actualizing-tao" is the "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."

Psychologically interpreted then, this hexagram addresses various themes encountered during the progress of the individuation process, which is nothing if not an Advance of Consciousness.

The key phrase in Legge's Judgment is "tranquility of the people." It is relatively easy to sublimate one's drives, yet still feel resentful about it -- indeed, that is the form that the process normally takes at the beginning of the Work. Our inner forces are like children or animals who must learn to accept the restrictions of discipline. Once they have accepted it and have ceased to resent it (i.e. once they have become "tranquil"), they are ready to be useful to the Self's intentions.

For example: an untrained dog will instinctively chase and kill sheep if it gets the chance to do so; on the other hand, a properly trained dog will herd and control a flock of sheep even in its master's absence. Anyone who has observed a trained sheep dog in action knows what amazing feats they accomplish with great joy in the performance. They are "tranquil" in their role, and will even protect the sheep from untrained dogs that would kill them. When our instincts have learned how to tranquilly accept discipline they are ready to assist us in the higher levels of the Work. Until that time, the Work consists largely of "dog training." The analogy is apt, because just as an untrained dog is never as happy in its willfulness as a well-trained dog is in its purposefulness, so undisciplined permissiveness cannot compare with the joys of controlled power and focused intent.