Imitating a famous work
One makes a cover because one lacks creativity. taoscopy.com
Small Powers62
Focus on the details. Embrace humility and small steps to achieve success. Avoid overreaching or taking on too much to prevent failure.
↓ Line 4
This line suggests that one should avoid unnecessary actions and remain cautious. It advises maintaining a steady course and being prepared for potential challenges.
↓ Line 5
This line indicates that while conditions may seem unfavorable, success is still possible through careful and precise actions. It suggests that one should focus on what can be achieved rather than what seems impossible.
↓ Obstruction39
Obstacle to progress; seek guidance.
62 Small Powers
Other titles: Preponderance of the Small, The Symbol of Excess in Small Things, The Small get by, Slight Excess, Small Exceeding, Small Surpassing, Excess of the Small, Small gains, Conscientiousness, Smallness in Excess, Exceeding the Mean, Proliferation of Details, "Like a bird, do not fly too high or attempt too much because this will lead to disaster." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge:Small Powers indicates that there will be progress and attainment in small affairs, but not in great affairs. It will be advantageous to be firm and correct. It is like the song of a flying bird: It is better to descend than to ascend. In this way there will be good fortune.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Preponderance of the Small. Success. Perseverance furthers. Small things may be done; great things should not be done. The flying bird brings the message: It is not well to strive upward, it is well to remain below. Great good fortune.
Blofeld:The Small Get By -- success! Persistence in a righteous course brings reward. Small things can be accomplished now, but not great ones. When birds fly high, their singing is out of tune. The humble, but not the mighty, are favored now with great good fortune. [To aim high now would be to put ourselves out of accord with the times.]
Liu:Slight Excess. Success. Continuing is of benefit. Undertaking small things, not great things. The song of the flying bird. It is not good to go up; it is good to stay below. Great good fortune. [Slight Excess signifies the slight excess or small mistake that can prevent the achievement of great things.]
Ritsema/Karcher:Small Exceeding, Growing. Harvesting Trial. Permitting Small
Affairs. Not permitting Great Affairs. Flying bird: abandoning's sound. Above not proper, below proper. The great significant. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of an overwhelming variety of encounters and details. It emphasizes that an excessive concern with adapting yourself to these inner and outer events is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy: Small Surpassing : Receipt; beneficial to determine; possible for little service, but not possible for great service. The sound left by the flying bird is not proper for ascent but is proper for descent; greatly auspicious.
Cleary (1):Predominance of the small is developmental, beneficial if correct. It is suitable for a small affair but not for a great one. The call left by a flying bird should not rise but descend. This is very auspicious.
Cleary (2):Small excess turns out all right. It is beneficial to be correct. It is all right for small matters, not for great matters. A flying bird leaves its cry; it should not ascend but descend – then there will be great good fortune.
Wu: Excess of the Small indicates pervasiveness and the advantage of being persevering. One may succeed in doing small business, but not big one. Like the lingering sound of a bird flying by, it is not suitable to go upward, but suitable to go downward. Great fortune.
The Image
Legge: The image of thunder above a hill forms Small Powers. The superior man, in accordance with this, in his conduct exceeds in humility, in mourning exceeds in sorrow, and in his expenditure exceeds in economy.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Thunder on the mountain: the image of Preponderance of the Small. Thus in his conduct the superior man gives preponderance to reverence. In bereavement he gives preponderance to grief. In his expenditures he gives preponderance to thrift. [The superior man derives an imperative from this image: he must always fix his eyes more closely and more directly on duty than does the ordinary man, even though this might make his behavior seem petty to the outside world. He is exceptionally conscientious in his actions.]
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes thunder over the mountains. The Superior Man now acts with too much reverence, experiences too much sorrow from bereavement and is overly thrifty in satisfying his needs.
Liu: Thunder over the mountain symbolizes Slight Excess. The superior man's conduct is overly humble; In mourning he laments exceedingly, and he is stingy in his spending.
Ritsema/Karcher: Above mountain possessing thunder. Small Exceeding. A chun tzu uses moving Exceeding to reach-to courtesy. A chun tzu uses losing Exceeding to reach-to mourning. A chun tzu uses availing of Exceeding to reach-to parsimony.
Cleary (1): There is thunder over a mountain, exessively small. Thus superior people are excessively deferential in conduct, excessively sad in mourning, excessively frugal in consumption.
Cleary (2): Thunder over a mountain – small excess. Genteel people are exceedingly deferential in conduct, exceedingly sad in mourning, and exceedingly abstemious in consumption.
Wu: Thunder rolls over the mountain; this is Excess of the Small. Thus the jun zi conducts himself with a little excess in respect to others, a little excess in sorrow at mourning, and a little excess in frugality in expenditure.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: In Small Powers we see the magnetic lines exceeding the others, and giving the intimation of progress and attainment. To be advantageous, such excesses must be associated with firm correctness, and must always be in harmony with the requirements of the time. The magnetic lines are in the central places, and hence it is said that small excesses may be done in small affairs with good effect. Of the dynamic lines, one is not in its proper place, and the other is not central; thus it is said that small excesses should not be done in great affairs. In the hexagram we have the symbol of the flying bird, whose song reminds us that it is better to descend than ascend. To ascend is contrary to what is reasonable in the case, while to descend is natural and right.
Legge: The meaning of this hexagram in which an excess of yin lines prevails, may be grasped by contrasting its image with that of hexagram number twenty-eight, Critical Mass, in which an excess of yang lines prevails. Here the idea is the prevalence of small or inferior powers, and the lesson to be learned is how to distinguish essentials from non-essentials. Is it ever good to deviate from the established course of procedure? The answer is that it is permissible only in small matters, but never in matters of import. Sometimes form may be dispensed with, but never substance, and the thing must always be done responsibly and with appropriate humility. The symbol of the bird is to teach humility -- it is better for it to descend, keeping near to where it can perch and rest, than to ascend into the homeless regions of the upper air.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Ground your flights of fancy.
The Superior Man bends over backwards to be correct.
Small Powers shows the preceding figure of Inner Truth turned inside-out. Here the magnetic lines are all on the outside -- uncontained and uncontrolled. The hexagram often reflects a situation in which the "archetypes": the passions, appetites, emotions, drives and instincts have left their proper places within the psyche and are flying free like birds escaped from the zoo. Most of the lines either depict the danger of such a situation or warn about how to control it.
In this inflated, compulsive state of identity, we and the drive are at our most harmful; the drive will unfold and we will act out its extreme, inappropriate and destructive side. In the process we get the worst of it, along with the other people involved. The wrong thing usually happens at the wrong time and in the wrong place. A capacity for moving toward differentiation and transforming the drive will not arise until the state of identity has been dissolved. This requires a confrontation of the drive as a Thou, as something that is not I, as something separate from ourselves. Only at this point can the inner dialogue begin. Until then the drive remains unconscious, primitive and destructive. Only after the identity has been dissolved by learning to experience the drive as an autonomous entity that is separate from the ego, do we get a chance to choose a right time and place and to develop the positive potential of the drive. E.C. Whitmont --The Symbolic Quest
Interestingly, the only line that seems to be correctly "out of its cage" is the second -- suggesting a situation in which an intuitive inner wisdom takes proper precedence over the usual firm correctness of "reason."
Line 4
Legge: The fourth line, dynamic, shows its subject falling into no error, but meeting the exigency of his situation without exceeding in his natural course. If he goes forward, there will be peril, and he must be cautious. There is no occasion to be using firmness perpetually.
Wilhelm/Baynes: No blame. He meets him without passing by. Going brings danger. One must be on guard. Do not act. Be constantly persevering. [Hardness of character is tempered by yielding position, so that no mistakes are made.]
Blofeld: No error! Instead of passing him by, he accosts him. Advancing now entails dangers which have to be guarded against. This is not a time for action, but for unwavering determination.
Liu: He meets things without excessive reactions. No blame. He will meet danger if he advances. There must be caution. Do not continue.
Ritsema/Karcher: Without fault. Nowhere Exceeding meeting it. Going adversity necessarily warning. No availing-of perpetual Trial.
Shaughnessy: There is no trouble. Not surpassing him, but meeting him; to go is dangerous, there necessarily being a revolt. Do not herewith determine permanently.
Cleary (1): No fault. Do not dally with it too much; it is dangerous to go on. Caution is necessary. Don’t persist forever.
Cleary (2): No fault, meeting here without excess. To go is dangerous; it is necessary to be cautious and not do it. Always be correct.
Wu: There will be no blame, when he encounters a chance meeting with someone without exceeding the spirit of small excess. Any excessive effort must be curtailed. Nor it is proper to be persevering.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The position is inappropriate for a dynamic line. If he goes forward the result would be that his course would not be long pursued. Wilhelm/ Baynes: The place is not the appropriate one. Blofeld: Accosting someone instead of passing him by is now inappropriate or, is indicated by the unsuitable position of this line. The danger of going forward and the need for precaution imply that we should not continue long in our present course. Ritsema/ Karcher: Situation not appropriate indeed. Going adversity necessarily warning. Completing not permitting long-living indeed. Cleary (2): The position is not right. After all, it cannot last. Wu: This means that his position is improper. Because it will not last.
Legge: Line four is dynamic, but the exercise of his strength is tempered by his position in a magnetic place. He is warned however, to continue quiet and restrain himself.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man exercises restraint and caution. He meets the exigencies of the situation without exceeding the natural bounds.
Wing: Caution: Do not forge ahead toward your goals or force issues at this time. Stay low and remain inwardly persevering.
Editor: The image portrays a dynamic minister who might be inclined to surpass his magnetic ruler, but who is counseled to temper his impulse to advance. "He meets him without passing by" in Wilhelm's translation is another way of saying not to ignore the danger in the situation. Legge's rendering: "There is no occasion to be using firmness perpetually," Ritsema/Karcher's: "No availing-of perpetual Trial," and Shaughnessy’s "Do not herewith determine permanently," all contradict Wilhelm, Blofeld and Liu, who translate constant perseverance. The logic of the imagery and Confucian commentary argue for this latter rendering, though the circumstances of your query may leave the other interpretation open for consideration. Indeed, Cleary’s Taoist and Buddhist translations offer each version!
To put it in psychological terms, it is the unawareness of danger that constitutes the greatest threat to one who is assailed by an uprush of primitive libido from the unconscious. If he could see the threat or temptation clearly enough to call it by its true name, half the battle would be won. M.E. Harding -- Psychic Energy
A. Don't get ahead of yourself or exceed your authority. Unilateral action is inappropriate.
B. "Modesty is the best policy."
Line 5
Legge: The sixth line, magnetic, shows its subject not meeting the exigency of her situation, and exceeding her proper course. It suggests the idea of a bird flying far aloft. There will be evil. The case is one of calamity and self-inflicted injury.
Wilhelm/Baynes: He passes him by, not meeting him. The flying bird leaves him. Misfortune. This means bad luck and injury.
Blofeld: Instead of accosting him, he passed him by, The bird flew away from him -- misfortune in the form of natural calamity and deliberate injury.
Liu: He passes over someone, not meeting him. The birds fly away. Misfortune. There will be disaster.
Ritsema/Karcher: Nowhere meeting, Exceeding it. Flying bird radiating it. Pitfall. That designates Calamity and Blunder.
Shaughnessy: Not meeting him, but surpassing him; the flying bird is netted in it; inauspicious. This is called calamitous imperfection.
Cleary (1): Don’t overstay here. The flying bird is gone. This is called calamity.
Cleary (2): The flying birds leave. This is unfortunate. This is called calamity.
Wu: He meets with no one even though he applies the spirit of small excess. Like a bird flying away from other birds, he is alone. Foreboding. It will be catastrophic.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The position indicates the habit of domineering. Wilhelm/ Baynes: He is already arrogant. Blofeld: The first sentence suggests that we behave too arrogantly. Ritsema/Karcher: Climaxing overbearing indeed. Cleary (2): Passing by without meeting is because of arrogance. Wu: Because he is too arrogant.
Legge: Line six is magnetic at the top of the trigram of Movement. She is possessed by the idea of the hexagram to an extreme degree, and is incapable of keeping herself under restraint.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man does not know how to control his preoccupation with trivia. His overshooting and restlessly pressing on bring disappointment and calamity to himself and his people.
Wing: Your ambitions may be too great. In an aggressive attempt to reach an unrealistic goal you will meet with disaster.
Editor: Wilhelm and Blofeld both translate "domineering" as "arrogance," thus creating an image of rising above one's proper station (exceeding the mean) through over-confidence or pride. If we accept the universal symbol of the bird as emblematic of thoughts or thought processes, the line becomes a commentary on the dangers of excessive intellectualism. Compare this line with the sixth line of hexagram number fifty-six.
Wherever there is identity, as we have seen, there is compulsiveness. When we are identical with a drive we never question why we are moving or where we are going: there is only automatic response to an impulse. This state of compulsiveness, moreover, gives us the feeling of being carried by a tremendous force of energy, in much the same way that an automobile going at the speed of eighty miles an hour may give us a feeling of exhilaration: We are really going fast now! This exhilaration, this unquestioning feeling of assurance that "I'm really going, and I'm going fine and well" is called inflation. E.C. Whitmont -- The Symbolic Quest
A. You have missed the mark. Arrogance or overconfidence have put your head in the clouds.
39 Obstruction
Other titles: Obstruction, The Symbol of Difficulty, Arresting Movement, Trouble, Obstacles, Barrier, Halt, Halting, Limping, Afoot, “Sit Tight—Don’t move” "One is surrounded by an underwater reef and should wait for assistance." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge: During an Impasse advantage is found in the southwest, disadvantage in the northeast. See the great man. Firm correctness brings good fortune.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Obstruction. The southwest furthers. The northeast does not further. It furthers one to see the great man. Perseverance brings good fortune.
Blofeld: Trouble. The west and the south are favorable, but not the east and north. [That is to say, if we try to forward our plans by proceeding in either of those directions, we shall get bogged down or lost. It could also mean that we should be driven to unvirtuous conduct.] It is advisable to see a great man. [We should seek advice from someone of lofty moral stature and profound wisdom.] Persistence in a righteous course brings good fortune.
Liu: Obstruction. The southwest is of benefit. The northeast -- no benefit. It benefits one to visit a great man. To continue brings good fortune.
Ritsema/Karcher: Limping, Harvesting: Western South. Not Harvesting: Eastern North. Harvesting: visualizing Great People. Trial: significant. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of being weak, afflicted or hampered. It emphasizes that going ahead even though haltingly is the adequate way to handle it. (Sic) To be in accord with the time, you are told to: limp!]
Shaughnessy: Afoot: Beneficial to the southwest, not beneficial to the northeast; beneficial to see the great man; determination is auspicious.
Cleary (1): When halted, the southwest is beneficial, not the northeast. It is profitable to see a great person; innocence is auspicious.
Cleary (2): When in trouble, it is beneficial to go southwest; it is not beneficial to go northeast. It is beneficial to see a great person. Correctness leads to good results.
Wu:Difficulty indicates that it will be advantageous in the southwest, but not so in the northeast. There will be advantage to meet with the great man. Auspiciousness will come with perseverance.
Hua-Ching Ni: The good direction is where there is no abyss or high mountains, like the Southwest, but not the Northeast. One should go to the great leader who can work with people in breaking through obstructions.
The Image
Legge: Water on the mountain -- the image of Impasse. The superior man turns around to examine himself and cultivate his virtue.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Water on the mountain: the image of Obstruction. Thus the superior man turns his attention to himself and molds his character.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes water upon a mountain. The Superior Man cultivates virtue by bringing about a revolution within himself.
Liu: Water on the mountain symbolizes Obstruction. The superior man reexamines himself and improves his character.
Ritsema/Karcher: Above mountain possessing stream. Limping. A chun tzu uses reversing individuality to renovate 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): There is water atop a mountain, halting. Thus do superior people examine themselves and cultivate virtue.
Cleary (2): Water on a mountain – trouble. Developed people examine themselves to cultivate virtue.
Wu: There is water on the mountain; this is Difficulty. Thus, the jun zi examines his own person to polish his virtue.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge:Impasse means difficulty, with the trigram of Peril up ahead. It is a wise man who can stop his advance at the first sign of danger. Advantage in the southwest means that the dynamic line has advanced to the central position. In the northeast, however, progress is halted. Seeing the great man insures progress and success. All of the lines except the first are in their appropriate places, suggesting the firm correctness in which the regions of the kingdom are brought to their natural order. Great indeed is the work to be done during an Impasse.
Legge: Impasse is the symbol of incompetency in the feet and legs involving difficulty in walking. Hence it represents a state of the kingdom which makes government an arduous task. The figure teaches how to perform this task under the prevailing circumstances.
The Judgment requires three things: the attention to place, the presence of the great man, and the observance of firm correctness. According to King Wen's arrangement of the trigrams, the southwest is occupied by the trigram of the Earth, and the northeast by the trigram of the Mountain. The former is the fertile lowland, the latter the mountain peaks; the former is easily traversed and held, while the latter presents obstacles. Thus the attention to place becomes a calculation of circumstances -- differentiating those that are promising from those that are likely to fail.
The great man is the correctly dynamic ruler in the fifth place, with the proper magnetic correlate in line two. However, favorable position and circumstances, and the presence of the great man do not relieve us from the observance of firm correctness -- this principle is consistent throughout the I Ching.
Ch'eng-tzu says: "We see here a steep and difficult mountain, on the top of which is water. Each trigram represents perilousness -- there is peril above and below. Hence it shows the difficulties of the state." The application of the symbolism is illustrated by the words of Mencius: "When our actions do not realize our desires, we must turn inwards and examine ourselves in every point."
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Dissolve the polarities of an Impasseby seeking its most fertile integration. Use your will in harmony with the principles of the Work.
The Superior Man seeks his center and refines his commitment.
Lines two and five of this difficult hexagram show those who struggle with hardship; all of the other lines show images of an improper advance followed by a proper return to a former position. Ritsema/Karcher's characterization of the hexagram's overall meaning as an injunction to "(go) ahead even though haltingly is the adequate way to handle (the situation)" is anomalous and at variance with the general import of this figure. Legge's Confucian commentary is more in keeping with its meaning: "It is a wise man who can stop his advance at the first sign of danger."
Legge also chooses an excellent paraphrase of the role of the superior man in the Image with his quotation from Mencius: "When our actions do not realize our desires, we must turn inwards and examine ourselves in every point." In other words, the chances are good that the Impassemay be self-created, and when the ego introspects with care the reasons usually become apparent.
It is not unknown at a certain stage of development for the ego, overwhelmed with the enormity of the Work, to evade its responsibilities and vainly try to return to the bliss of its former ignorance. At such times it soon becomes clear that no matter what you attempt, success will be blocked: where others succeed with ease, it will take you five times as much effort just to break even. ThisImpasse is permanent until you reassume responsibility for the Work. The following quotation is an allegory of this condition:
Yahweh Saboath says this: Reflect carefully how things have gone for you. You have sown much and harvested little; you eat but never have enough, drink but never have your fill, put on clothes but do not feel warm. The wage earner gets his wages only to put them in a purse riddled with holes ... The abundance you expected proved to be little. When you brought the harvest in, my breath spoiled it. And why? It is Yahweh Saboath who speaks. Because while my house lies in ruins you are busy with your own, each one of you. Haggai 1: 6-10
In one way or another, the Self will attain its intent. To ignore this hard truth is to experience Impasse.