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Before Completion64
Completing a task doesn’t guarantee rest. Remain vigilant, attentive to evolving situations, ready to adapt and act as needed.
↓ Line 1
At the beginning of an undertaking, one must be cautious. Impulsiveness leads to mistakes and embarrassment.
↓ Line 2
Restraint and careful planning are necessary. By holding back, one ensures success.
↓ Line 4
Steadfastness and discipline lead to success and the removal of regret. Long-term efforts are rewarded.
↓ Nourishment27
Focus on sustenance and nourishment, both physical and spiritual. Evaluate the sources from which you draw energy and wisdom. Guard against meaningless indulgence and seek genuine fulfillment.
Original Readings
64 Before Completion
Other titles: Before Completion, The Symbol of What is not yet Past, Not-yet Fording, Not Yet Completed, Tasks yet to be Completed, Not yet, Yet to be, Before the End, Mission yet Unaccomplished, A State of Transition
Judgment
Legge: Unfinished Business suggests successful progress, butif the young fox that has nearly crossed the stream gets his tail wet, there will be no advantage.
Wilhelm/Baynes:Before Completion. Success. But if the little fox, after nearly completing the crossing, gets his tail in the water, there is nothing that would further.
Blofeld: Before Completion -- success! Before the little fox has quite completed its crossing of the ice, its tail gets wet. [This implies that we are to expect a setback in our plans.] No goal (or destination) is favorable now. [Hence this is a time for waiting and for drawing in our horns. That the LAST of the sixty-four hexagrams should be Before Completion rather than After Completion (#63) may seem surprising until it is recalled that there is nothing final about it; the cycle of change continues, passing from hexagram #64 onto the first hexagram, and so on eternally.]
Liu: Before Completion. Success. A young fox almost across wets his tail in the water. Nothing benefits.
Ritsema/Karcher: Not-yet Fording, Growing. The small fox, a muddy Ford. Soaking one's tail: without direction: Harvesting. (Without direction: Harvesting, WU YU Li: no plan or direction is advantageous; in order to take advantage of the situation, do not impose a direction on events.) [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of being on the edge of an important change of situation. It emphasizes that waiting and accumulating energy to begin the upcoming move is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy:Not Yet Completed: Receipt; the little fox at the point of fording, wets his tail; there is no place beneficial.
Cleary (1): Being as yet unsettled is developmental. A small fox, having nearly crossed the river, gets its tail wet, does not succeed.
Cleary (2): Being unsettled leads to success. A little fox, almost crossing, gets its tail wet. Nothing is gained.
Wu:Mission yet Unaccomplished indicates pervasiveness. A little fox almost makes it crossing the river, but gets its tail wet. Nothing is gained.
The Image
Legge: Fire over water -- the image ofUnfinished Business. The superior man carefully discriminates among the qualities of things, and the different positions they naturally occupy.
Wilhelm: Fire over water: the image of the condition before transition. Thus the superior man is careful in the differentiation of things, so that each finds its place.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes fire above water. The Superior Man takes care to distinguish between things before arranging them in order.
Liu: Fire above water symbolizes Before Completion. The superior man carefully distinguishes things, and puts them in their appropriate place.
Ritsema/Karcher: Fire located above stream. Not-yet Fording. A chun tzu uses considering to mark-off the beings residing on-all-sides.
Cleary (1): Fire is above water, not yet settled. Thus superior people carefully discern things and keep them in their places.
Cleary (2): Fire over water – unsettled.
Wu: There is fire above water; this is Mission yet Unaccomplished. Thus the jun zi makes careful distinction of things and their proper places of being.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: Progress and success are suggested by the magnetic fifth line in the ruler's place. Although he has nearly crossed the stream, the young fox has not yet escaped from the midst of danger and calamity. Getting his tail wet means that the end does not reflect the intent of the beginning. Although the places of the different lines are not those appropriate to them, yet a dynamic and a magnetic line always respond to each other.
Legge:Unfinished Businessis the reverse of Completion: it means that the successful accomplishment of the matter at hand has not yet been realized; the crossing of the great stream is as yet incomplete.
Some have wished that theI Chingmight have concluded with Completion, and the last hexagram have left us with the picture of human affairs all brought to good order. But this would not have been in harmony with the idea of change. Again and again it has been pointed out that we find in the book no idea of a perfect and abiding state. Just as the seasons of the year change and pursue an ever-recurring round, so it is with the phases of society. The reign of order has peaked and declined, and this hexagram calls us to renew the struggle to make things right again. It deals with the conduct necessary to secure this result.
Not one of the lines in the hexagram is in its correct place -- all the dynamic lines are in magnetic places, and the magnetic lines are in dynamic places. At the same time, each of them has a proper correlate, so there is the possibility of some progress.
The symbol of the fox suggests a want of caution on the part of those who try to remedy prevailing disorders. They are unsuccessful and thereby get themselves into trouble. Line two represents this state of mind -- he is dynamic in a magnetic place in the center of the trigram of Peril. He is restless, and attracted by his magnetic correlate in the fifth place, he will be incautious in taking action. The outcome of the issue will be different than what was intended at the beginning.
The trigram of Water is below, and Fire above, showing how the two principles cannot act on each other profitably. This symbolizes the unregulated condition of general affairs now prevailing.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment: Although many achievements fuel our growth, the ego is only the facilitator, not the doer. To ignore this truth creates negative consequences: don't destroy the Work!
The Superior Man critically examines the situation and re-checks his priorities.
This hexagram represents the time before the climax of a cycle, just as the preceding figure symbolizes the time after the climax (and hence the transition to a new beginning). The Work is by no means "almost over" -- the lines all match as correlates, but every one of them unites "upside-down," so to speak. (Turn the hexagram over, and then they are in perfect correlation.) That the superior man "discriminates among the qualities of things, and the different positions they naturally occupy" means that he knows that the correct positions of the lines (the ones they "naturally occupy") are as in hexagram number sixty-three, not this one.
This "backward correlation of lines" is arguably a fair image of the relationship of thoughts and feelings in the average human psyche. The stresses of life are what eventually break up these mismatched correlates through endless cycles of stimulus and response until they finally all unite correctly in a hypothetical "Completion of the Great Work." That this is an ideal rather than a humanly attainable goal is suggested in this quote from Shao Yung:
The principle of the Way finds its full development in Heaven; the principle of Heaven, in Earth; the principle of Earth, in the myriad things; and that of the myriad things, in man. One who knows how the principles of Heaven, Earth, and all things find their full development in man can give full development to his people.
For all practical purposes, it is wisest to aspire to attainable completions and realize that the Work's "full development" is the Self's, not the ego's responsibility.
To strive for perfection is a high ideal. But I say: "Fulfill something you are able to fulfill rather than run after what you will never achieve." Nobody is perfect. Remember the saying: "None is good but God alone" [Luke 18:19], and nobody can be. It is an illusion. We can modestly strive to fulfill ourselves and to be as complete human beings as possible, and that will give us trouble enough. Jung -- The Tavistock Lectures
The Judgment suggests that before any climax or resolution there may still exist an indeterminate amount of free choice to influence the outcome -- only the specific circumstances can suggest how much or how little. As always, the choices are defined within the structure of the situation. The magnetic ruler in the fifth place implies that a favorable outcome is possible, but only through clear perception and willpower can it come about.
The conditional interpretation (boldface italics added) in both Legge's and Wilhelm's translation of the Judgment is necessary for its text to make sense. Note that Ritsema/Karcher define "Without direction: Harvesting" as: "No plan or direction is advantageous; in order to take advantage of the situation, do not impose a direction on events." This is a common oracle response, and sharpens the meaning here. Line one depicts the negative consequences of ignoring the Judgment’s explicit message.
Line 1
Legge: The first line, magnetic, shows its subject like a fox whose tail gets immersed. There will be occasion for regret.
Wilhelm/Baynes: He gets his tail in the water. Humiliating.
Blofeld: Its tail gets wet -- disgrace! [If we receive this moving line, the setback is likely to be discreditable to us.]
Liu: He wets his tail. Humiliation.
Ritsema/Karcher: Soaking one's tail. Abashment.
Shaughnessy: Wetting his tail; distress.
Cleary (1): Getting the tail wet, one is humiliated.
Cleary (2): Getting the tail wet is humiliating.
Wu: The tail is immersed. Humiliating.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: This is the very height of ignorance. Wilhelm/Baynes: For he
cannot take the end into view. Blofeld: This also implies that we do not know how to take advantage of opportunities. Ritsema/Karcher: Truly not knowing the end indeed. Cleary (2): One still does not know the limit. Wu: It shows the subject is clumsy.
Legge: Line one is magnetic, at the bottom of the trigram of Peril, and responds to the dynamic fourth line who is not in his correct place. She attempts action but finds cause to regret it.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: At the outset, the man attempts to advance in a frenzy during times of disorder in pursuit of tangible accomplishments. This only leads to humiliation, since the time for good results is not at hand.
Wing: There is a strong urge to end a chaotic situation, yet it is not the time for clearheaded action. You do not see clearly all of the implications and consequences of your actions. Any actions will bring you problems and, perhaps, disgrace.
Editor: This line portrays the negative interpretation of the conditional Judgment. You are vulnerable to detrimental influences -- this could be due to either arrogance or ignorance, or both. The line often refers to going too far, or forcing an issue. Compare with line 63:6: Wilhelm/Baynes: "He gets his head in the water. Danger."
The people who fancy they are sure of themselves are the ones who are truly unsure ... In the long run it is the better adapted man who triumphs, not the wrongly self-confident, who is at the mercy of dangers from without and within. Jung --Depth Psychology and Self-Knowledge
A. Your assumptions in the matter at hand are premature and ignorant of their consequences.
B. You are rashly presumptuous.
Line 2
Legge: The second line, dynamic, shows its subject dragging back the carriage wheel. With firmness and correctness there will be good fortune.
Wilhelm/Baynes: He brakes his wheels. Perseverance brings good fortune.
Blofeld: He brakes the wheel of the chariot -- righteous persistence brings good fortune! [But note that he uses his brake; i.e. our persistence must be in the form of determination to halt now and proceed later.]
Liu: He brakes the wheel. Continuing -- good fortune.
Cleary (1): Dragging the wheels, it bodes well to be upright.
Cleary (2): … Rectitude is auspicious.
Wu: He pulls back the wheels. Perseverance brings good fortune.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: He is in the central place, and his action thereby becomes correct. Wilhelm/Baynes: The second line has good fortune if it is persevering. It is central and hence acts correctly. Blofeld: Namely, the good fortune of being able to steer a middle course and go straight forward. [If events permit us to interpret the braking of the wheel as a recent success in preventing ourselves being dragged into a wrong course, then all is well and there is no need to halt now.]Ritsema/ Karcher: Centering using moving correcting indeed. Cleary (2): Its activity is balanced. Wu: It is the correct way to go from the center.
Legge: Line two is dynamic, in the center, and is able to repress himself. He keeps the vehicle from advancing and there is good fortune. The K'ang-hsi editors observe that a dynamic line in the second place and a magnetic line in the fifth place are both incorrect, and yet with firm correctness in their subjects there will be good fortune -- such is the virtue of the central position.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The man represses untimely actions through patient control of his strength, while remaining steadfast in his resolve.
Wing: Even though you may know what must be done, the time is not right for action. Exercise patience and develop strength. If you maintain an inner determination to proceed when the opportunity presents itself, you will be successful. Do not allow this delay to turn you away from your goal.
Editor: Wilhelm, Blofeld and Liu use the more forceful image of "brakes" instead of "dragging a wheel." The image is one of halting forward motion: Action will harm the Work unless it is stopped immediately. It is wise to remember Ritsema/Karcher's advice in the Judgment here: "No plan or direction is advantageous; in order to take advantage of the situation, do not impose a direction on events."
For as man gradually emerges from unconsciousness and learns to subdue his instinctive nature, making it serve him and his needs, he possesses himself of the energy that formerly resided in the natural process. M.E. Harding -- Psychic Energy
A. "Cease and desist."
B. Slow down; curb your impatience to advance; control your enthusiasm; restrain your flights of fancy.
Line 4
Legge: The fourth line, dynamic, shows its subject by firm correctness obtaining good fortune, so that all occasion for repentance disappears. Let him stir himself up, as if he were invading the Demon region, where for three years rewards will come to him and his troops from the great kingdom.
Wilhelm/Baynes: Perseverance brings good fortune. Remorse disappears. Shock, thus to discipline the Devil's Country. For three years, great realms are awarded.
Blofeld: Persistence in a righteous course brings reward and regret vanishes. The subjugation of the land of Kuei involved tremendous activity; but, at the end of three years, great territories were bestowed upon the successful generals. [This implies that we must work and, perhaps, suffer much in order to gain the fulfillment of our will promised in the commentary on this line.]
Liu: Continuing -- good fortune. Remorse vanishes. Great power is used to attack the land of the barbarians. Within three years, rewards from the Great Country.
Ritsema/Karcher: Trial: significant, repenting extinguished. Shake avails-of subjugating souls on-all-sides. Three years- revolved, possessing donating tending-towards the great city.
Shaughnessy: Determination is auspicious; regret is gone. Zhen herewith attacks the Devil-land, in three years having a reward from the great state.
Cleary (1): Remaining correct brings good results, regret vanishes; rising up to conquer the barbarians, in three years one will have the reward of a great country.
Cleary (2): Correctness brings good results; regret vanishes. Vigorously acting to conquer barbarians, etc.
Wu: To be persevering is auspicious and regrets will disappear. A general was appointed to conquer Guifan and decorated accordingly after three years.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: The aim of the subject of the line is carried into effect. Wilhelm/ Baynes: What is willed is done. Blofeld: The reward to be gained by persistence and the disappearance of regret both imply that what we will come about. Ritsema/Karcher: Purpose moving indeed. Cleary (2): The aim is carried out. Wu: The aspiration has prevailed.
Legge: The dynamic fourth line is in a magnetic place, which might hinder his endeavors to bring about better conditions. But he is firm and correct, and in the place of the minister next to the magnetic ruler, who is humble and prepared to welcome the fourth line's endeavors. Let him exert himself vigorously and long, as Kao Tsung did in his famous expedition (see hexagram 63:3), and he will make progress and have success. Expeditions beyond the frontier in those days were not very remote. Contact was maintained between the army and the court, and rewards and encouragement were often sent to the troops in the field. Ch'eng-tzu says: "The subject of line four has the ability which the time requires, and possesses also a firm solidity. He can carry out his purpose. There will be good fortune and all occasion for repentance will disappear. The smiting of the demon region was the highest example of firm correctness."
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Siu: The time for fierce struggles against the forces of decadence has arrived. The man lays the foundation of power and mastery for the future with vigor. Misgivings are to be silenced. Rewards will come later.
Wing: There is an unavoidable struggle at hand, perhaps a battle of principles. Develop discipline and determination, for the battle must be fought without misgiving to the end. Rewards will come later. Good fortune.
Editor: The Demon region is also mentioned in the third line of hexagram number sixty-three, Completion.It is interesting to note that when this hexagram is turned upside down it becomes hexagram number sixty-three, and line 64:4 is thereby transformed into line 63:3, which see. Psychologically, "the Demon region" is the unintegrated psyche, inhabited by autonomous complexes. The Great Kingdom is the One, the integrated psyche, the abode of the Self.
Therefore know the Self, who is superior to the understanding, control the [ego] by the Self, and destroy, O mighty Arjuna, the enemy, who comes in the guise of desire and is hard to overcome. Bhagavad-Gita 3: 42-43
A. Be firm in a vulnerable position -- a warrior's determination integrates the psyche.
27 Nourishment
Other titles: The Corners of the Mouth, Providing Nourishment, The Symbol of the Cheek and of Nourishment, Jaws, Lower Jaw, Nurturing, Swallowing, Sagacious Counsel, Nourishing, To Feed, "Can mean money, usually as the result of effort." -- D.F. Hook
Judgment
Legge:Nourishmentindicates good fortune through firm correctness. Make sure you know what you are feeding, and determine your proper diet.
Wilhelm/Baynes: The Corners of the Mouth . Perseverance brings good fortune. Pay heed to the providing of nourishment and to what a man seeks to fill his own mouth with.
Blofeld: Nourishing. (Nourishment -- literally Jaws) [The form of this hexagram readily brings to mind the concept of wide open jaws, but the word nourishment must not be taken only in a literal sense; for we are concerned here with all those things which men seek both for their own advantage and for giving succor or assistance to others.] Righteous persistence brings good fortune. Watch people nourishing others and observe with what manner of things they seek to nourish themselves. [For this will teach us a lot about their characters.]
Liu: Nourishment. Continuing leads to good fortune. Observe the providing of nourishment and the food someone seeks for himself.
Ritsema/Karcher: Jaws, Trial: significant. Viewing Jaws. Originating-from seeking mouth substance. [This hexagram describes your situation in terms of nourishing and being nourished. It emphasizes that opening in order to take things in as well as providing to others is the adequate way to handle it...]
Shaughnessy:Jaws: Determination is auspicious. View the jaw; oneself seeking the mouth's fullness.
Cleary (1): In nourishment, it is good to be correct. Observe nourishment, and seek fulfillment for the mouth by yourself.
Cleary (2): Nourishment is good if correct. Observe nourishment, and seek food by yourself.
Wu: Nurturing indicates that with perseverance there will be auspiciousness. People should observe the principle of nurturing and find proper foods for nourishment.
Hua-Ching Ni: In nourishment, one should seek the right nutrition and not be tempted by what others enjoy.
The Image
Legge: The image of thunder under a mountain forms Nourishment. The superior man, in accordance with this, controls his speech and regulates his eating and drinking.
Wilhelm/Baynes: At the foot of the mountain, thunder: the image of The Corners of the Mouth. Thus the superior man is careful in his words and temperate in eating and drinking.
Blofeld: This hexagram symbolizes thunder rumbling at the foot of a mountain. The Superior Man is thoughtful in speech and frugal in his eating and drinking. [The lower trigram, thunder, also represents the power of quickening growth; hence its place in a hexagram concerned with nourishment.]
Liu: Thunder rolling around the foot of the mountain is the symbol of Nourishment. The superior man is cautious in his speech; he restrains and regulates his eating and drinking.
Ritsema/Karcher: Below mountain possessing thunder. Jaws. A chun tzu uses considering words to inform. [A chun tzu uses] articulating to drink and take-in.
Cleary (1): There is thunder beneath the mountain. Superior people are careful about what they say, and moderate in eating and drinking.
Cleary (2): … Leaders are prudent in speech, moderate in consumption.
Wu: There is thunder below the mountain; this is Nurturing. Thus the jun zi speaks with caution and drinks and eats with moderation.
COMMENTARY
Confucius/Legge: When the nourishing is correct, there will be good fortune. We must examine those whom we wish to nourish, and we must also examine our own nourishing of ourselves. Heaven and earth nourish all things. The sages nourish men of talent and virtue in order to reach the masses. Great is the work intended in the time of nourishing.
Legge: The character ofNourishment is the symbol of the upper jaw, but the image of the hexagram suggests a whole mouth with undivided lines at top and bottom, and divided lines between them. The bottom line is in the trigram of Movement, and the top line is in the trigram of Keeping Still -- giving the image of a mobile lower jaw and a fixed upper jaw. The divided lines represent the mouth cavity. The hexagram denotes nourishing of body or mind, of one's self or others, and the proper nourishment in each case must necessarily vary according to circumstances. Thus, judgment must be exercised to determine which nourishment is in harmony with correctness and virtue.
NOTES AND PARAPHRASES
Judgment:Nourishment asks you to examine your motives in the allocation of your energy. Willpower creates a well- balanced apportionment.
The Superior Man controls his expression and monitors his appetites.
The lines in the lower trigram of Movement are all rendered unfavorably to one degree or another, while the lines of the upper trigram of Keeping Still are all generally correct. The implication is that non-action is almost always preferable to movement. This idea is fundamental to the philosophy of the I Ching, and in the hexagram of Nourishmentthe lesson is that non-action feeds and strengthens the psyche.
All actions are the expression of psychic energy through a physical body to create an effect in spacetime. Each effect creates consequences which usually demand further action. It is easy to see that action which is not initiated by the Self can only result in unexpected consequences, and that action which conforms to the will of the Self is motivated by and directed toward a transcendent goal. Although correct non-action generally creates no negative consequences in spacetime, it does have nourishing consequences in the psyche as autonomous forces are gathered, digested, assimilated and renewed in ascending configurations of growth.
As this Path represents the structure of the [ego], the attribution of the Mouth reminds us that the purpose of incarnation is the seeking of the food of experience in Form for the benefit of the [Self] and the Spirit. Gareth Knight -- Qabalistic Symbolism
SUGGESTIONS FOR MEDITATION
Compare the Image of Nourishment in this hexagram with those in hexagram number five, Waiting; number forty-eight, The Well; and number fifty, The Sacrificial Vessel.