One has taken less time than expected because one hastened to act before the others had a chance of saying anything. taoscopy.com
After Completion63
Completion; things fall into place, but remain cautious. Stability achieved, yet vigilance needed to sustain harmony.
↓ Line 1
Caution at the beginning prevents future problems. Avoid rushing into things.
↓ Line 2
Patience is required. What is lost will return in due time.
↓ The Well48
Seek renewal and sustenance from shared resources and deep wells of knowledge. Nurture the source to ensure lasting abundance.
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
Line 1
Legge: The first line, dynamic, shows its subject as a driver who drags back his wheel, or as a fox which has wet his tail. There will be no error.
Wilhelm/Baynes: He brakes his wheels. He gets his tail in the water. No blame.
Blofeld: He brakes the wheel of his chariot and gets the rear part wet -- no error!
Liu: The brake to the wheel. The tail gets wet. No blame.
Ritsema/Karcher: Pulling back one's wheels. Soaking one's tail. Without fault.
Shaughnessy: Dragging his ribbon, wetting his tail; there is no trouble.
Cleary (1): Dragging the wheel, wetting the tail, there is no fault.
Cleary (2): Dragging the wheels – it is right that there be no problem.
Wu: The wheels are pulled back. The tail is immersed in water. There will be no error.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: As we may rightly judge, there will be no mistake. Wilhelm/ Baynes: According to the meaning, there is no blame in this. Blofeld: Since we manage to stop at the right moment we are not to blame for what happens. Ritsema/Karcher: Righteous, without fault indeed. Cleary (2): (None.) Wu: In principle there is nothing wrong.
Legge: Line one, the first of the hexagram, represents the time immediately after the successful completion of something -- a time for resting and being quiet. For a season at least, all movement should be hushed. Hence we have the symbolism of a driver trying to stop his carriage, and a fox who has wet his tail, and will not attempt the stream again.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: At the outset, the man is not caught in the intoxication of the masses during a great transition. The general pressure finally overwhelms him. However, this occurs only at the last minute, after he has successfully completed the enterprise.
Wing: As you move forward with your plans, the pressure starts to build and you feel an urge to reconsider. You must face the fact that you will be affected by the events that you have inexorably set into motion, but not detrimentally, as you are generally correct.
Editor: Wilhelm, Blofeld and Liu all use the image of brakes to stop a wheel. If the hexagram is turned upside down it becomes number sixty-four, Before Completion or Unfinished Business,and this line becomes number 64:6 which has a similar message. Even the fox is mentioned. The image is one of avoiding danger by holding back.
The contented man meets no disgrace;
Who knows when to stop runs into no danger --
He can long endure.
Lao Tzu
A. Stop pushing -- hold and consolidate your position.
B. "Leave well enough alone."
Line 2
Legge: The second line, magnetic, shows its subject as a wife who has lost her carriage-screen. There is no occasion to go in pursuit of it. In seven days she will find it.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The woman loses the curtain of her carriage. Do not run after it; on the seventh day you will get it.
Blofeld: The lady loses the blind from her chariot window. She should not go in search of it, for she will recover it in seven days.
Liu: A lady loses her carriage curtain. Without seeking it, it will be regained within seven days.
Ritsema/Karcher: A wife losing her veil. No pursuit. The seventh day: acquiring.
Shaughnessy: The wife loses her hair; do not follow, in seven days you will get it.
Cleary (1): A woman loses her protection. Do not pursue; you will get it in seven days.
Cleary (2): A woman loses her protection. Let her not give chase: she will find it in seven days.
Wu: A woman has lost the curtain of her carriage. There is no need to look for it. After seven days it will be found.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The course pursued is that indicated by the central position of the line. Wilhelm/Baynes: As a result of the middle way. Blofeld: Restraint or moderation will be rewarded. Ritsema/Karcher: Using centering tao indeed. Cleary (2): Because of her balanced course. Wu: Because she take a middle course.
Legge: The second line is magnetic and in her proper place. With her dynamic correlate in line five, she might be expected to take action, but she is central and correct – a lady who has lost her carriage screen. She will not advance further so soon after success has been achieved, but keeps herself in hidden retirement. Let her not seek the screen. The seven days is a cycle of completion running its course -- then a new period when action will be proper shall have commenced.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man is not accorded the protective confidence of his superiors. In his desire to achieve something, he is tempted to seek it and draw it to himself. He should not do so, but should remain patient and faithful. What is truly his will come to him eventually.
Wing: You are suddenly exposed, whether by your own hand or by circumstances beyond your control. Do nothing. Don't try to cover up, or attempt to make a case for your position. This time of conspicuousness will soon pass.
Editor: The image of the hexagram suggests a high water mark -- the point at which a cycle is completed. Beyond this point is the beginning of a whole new cycle. The second line is the ruler of the hexagram -- a magnetic, receptive, yin line who remains fully devoted to the dynamic yang line, her husband, in the fifth place. A magnetic force is vulnerable during a period of completion -- it must remain in place until the synthesis is complete and the next cycle begins.
When a patient begins to feel the inescapable nature of his inner development, he may easily be overcome by a panic fear that he is slipping helplessly into some kind of madness he can no longer understand. More than once I have had to reach for a book on my shelves, bring down an old alchemist, and show my patient his terrifying fantasy in the form in which it appeared four hundred years ago. This has a calming effect, because the patient then sees that he is not alone in a strange world which nobody understands, but is part of the great stream of human history, which has experienced countless times the very things that he regards as a pathological proof of his craziness. Jung -- Alchemical Studies
A. An image of temporary vulnerability: take no action until the situation matures.
48 The Well
Other titles: Welling, Potentialities Fulfilled, The Source, The Deep Psyche, "A resurrection or transformation. Generations coming and going and the continuance of life and development." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge: Although a town site may be altered, The Well remains the same. Its water level neither disappears nor receives any great increase, and the people can draw from it freely. Misfortune ensues if the rope breaks or the bucket is broken before it reaches the water.
Wilhelm/Baynes:The Well. The town may be changed, but the well cannot be changed. It neither decreases nor increases. They come and go and draw from the well. If one gets down almost to the water and the rope does not go all the way, or the jug breaks, it brings misfortune.
Blofeld: A Well. A city may be moved, but not a well. [The building of a city depends upon ourselves; but wells cannot be moved to places where nature supplies no water. The implication is that our activities are limited by natural conditions.] A well suffers from no decrease and no increase; but often, when the people come to draw water there, the rope is too short or the pitcher gets broken before reaching the water -- misfortune! [What we desire is there for the taking, but we may not succeed in getting it.]
Liu: The Well. The city might be moved; but not the well. It neither overflows nor runs dry. People come and go, drawing from the well. The rope nearly reaches the water, but not quite; the jug breaks -- misfortune.
Ritsema/Karcher: The Well: amending the capital, not amending the Well. Without losing, without acquiring. Going, coming: Welling, Welling. Muddy culmination: truly not-yet the well- rope Well. Ruining one's pitcher: Pitfall. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of the life water coming from the depths that everyone may draw on. It emphasizes that maintaining access to this central source is the adequate way to handle it. To be in accord with the time, you are told to go to the well!]
Shaughnessy: The Well: Changing the city but not changing the well; there is no loss, there is no gain. Going and coming so orderly; when the drying up arrives one also has not yet drawn from the well; burdening its formed earthenware jug; inauspicious.
Cleary (1):The Well: Changing the village, not changing the well; no loss, no gain. Those who come and go use the well as a well. If the rope does not reach all the way into the well, of if the bucket breaks, that is unfortunate.
Cleary (2): … People come and go, but the well remains a well. Lowering the bucket to the water, if you overturn the bucket before drawing it up from the well, this is unlucky.
Wu:The Well indicates that the planning of a district may be changed, but the location of the well may not. The water level of a well will neither increase nor decrease from use. There are wells here and there. When one is drawing water from a well, if he tangles the rope and damages the bucket just before it clears the well, it will be foreboding.
The Image
Legge: The image of water over wood forms The Well. The superior man comforts the people and stimulates their mutual cooperation.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Water over wood: the image of The Well. Thus the superior man encourages the people at their work and exhorts them to help one another.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes water over wood. The Superior Man encourages the people with advice and assistance.
Liu: Water on wood symbolizes The Well. The superior man inspires people to work diligently, and advises them to help each other.
Ritsema/Karcher: Above wood possessing stream. The Well. A chun tzu uses toiling commoners to encourage mutualizing.
Cleary (1): There is water above wood – A Well. Thus do superior people comfort the people and encourage reciprocity.
Wu: There is water above wood; this is The Well. Thus, the jun zi encourages people to work for the good of the public and to help one another for a better life.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Wood penetrates the water and raises it, giving the image ofThe Wellwhich gives nourishment yet is not exhausted. The dynamic central lines in the second and fifth places indicate that the town site may change, but the well does not. If the rope does not reach the water the well does not serve its purpose. A broken bucket brings about evil.
Legge: The upper trigram represents Water, and the lower symbolizes Wood, giving the image of a wooden bucket in the water of a well. What is said on this hexagram might be styled: "Lessons to be learned from a well for the proper government of a country." A well is to its users what a government is to its subjects, and if rulers would only apply the ancient precepts of government to the present circumstances, they and their people would benefit greatly.
In the Judgment we see the well remaining substantially the same through many changes of society -- a dependable source of refreshment to its users. As the fashion of the well remains changeless, so do the principles of human nature and good government. The value of the well depends upon the water being drawn up and used -- and so must the principles of good government be implemented.
Anthony: This hexagram usually indicates that we have a hidden doubt or fear. We may secretly disbelieve our path.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Amid the changes of life the only constant is the psyche itself -- to be alive is to draw upon its energy. The ego’s challenge lies in the correct comprehension of its images.
The Superior Man promotes the harmonious interplay of his thoughts and feelings. (Works on the integration of his complexes.)
A well is a universal symbol of a source of inner truth, and is often associated with a place that is sacred to the gods:
There he built an altar and invoked the name of Yahweh. There he pitched his tent, and there Isaac's servants sank a well. Genesis 26: 25
From the first well, which is of animal nature and deep, the father drinks, together with his children and cattle; from the second, which is yet deeper and on the very margin of nature, there drink only the children of men, namely those whose reason has awakened and whom we call philosophers; from the third, the deepest of all drink the sons of the All-Highest, whom we call gods and true theologians. Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa
Psychologically interpreted, a well symbolizes the continuously flowing unconscious psyche, the fountain of all awareness. In this hexagram each line represents a level within the well -- by extension suggesting a hierarchy of value in the unconscious. It is important to remember that not all of our inner images, intuitions or impulses come from the Self. Note that lines one through four all show the water of the well not being utilized for one reason or another -- only in lines three, five and six is it actually available for use.
In some sensitive individuals there is an awakening of para-psychological perceptions. They have visions, which they believe to be of exalted beings; they may hear voices, or begin to write automatically, accepting the messages at their face value and obeying them unreservedly. The quality of such messages is very varied. Sometimes they contain fine teachings, but they should always be examined with much discrimination and sound judgment, and without being influenced by their uncommon origin or by any claim by their alleged transmitter. No validity should be attributed to messages containing definite orders and commanding blind obedience, and to those tending to exalt the personality of the recipient. Roberto Assagioli --Psychosynthesis
The ego's point of view in relation to The Well is from the outside looking in – the insights emerge from beneath the surface of awareness and can be held in the light of consciousness only if one’s comprehension is able to contain them. If "the bucket breaks," our understanding is unequal to our observation and the insights are lost. (One might plausibly find the image for a cancer cure within one's psyche, but without a conscious frame of reference to acknowledge it, it would be unrecognized and lost.) Those who closely monitor their dreams know that there is an endless outpouring of strange images within the psyche which might be of inestimable value if only we knew what they referred to.
Wilhelm emphasizes the idea of "nourishing the people," which psychologically means that the role of the ego is to facilitate the cooperation of intra-psychic forces.
The solution lies, rather, along the lines of a harmonious integration of all drives into the total personality, first through the proper subordination and coordination, and then through the transformation and sublimation of the excessive or unused quota of energy. Roberto Assagioli --Psychosynthesis