随
GUA 17 · SUI
FOLLOWING
Overall Image (大象)
Within the pool there is thunder
Following
The noble young one, accordingly, approaching nightfall,
Goes indoors for refreshment and relaxation▼
Overall Image (大象)
Within the pool there is thunder
Following
The noble young one, accordingly, approaching nightfall,
Goes indoors for refreshment and relaxation
Movement under the surface. Times have their rhythms, their pulses and currents, their tuggings and tides, times to move forward, times to pull back, the drumming that speaks of the world’s inclinations. Move to this natural rhythm and joy leads the way. A sage adapts gladly and follows his tastes: when hungry, he eats, when tired, he sleeps. Which direction will he take as his own? The one which finds the right place at just the right time. He may pause to ask for directions and allow the whole world to show him the way. Nothing is surrendered here. Following leaders or following prey, if he follows his own best interests, this will show him his way.
Main Judgment (Following) (卦辞)
Most fulfilling
Worthwhile to be dedicated
Not a mistake▼
Main Judgment (Following) (卦辞)
Most fulfilling
Worthwhile to be dedicated
Not a mistake
We truly misunderstand what pursuit of happiness means: it is happiness that does the pursuing and tells us when we are on the right track, while as prey it is nothing but trouble. There are right and wrong ways to follow, but not the way most think. Those who believe first and then follow have basic things confused. They follow the song and dance of another, thus half a step out of time. Or they follow promotional schemes. And confidence games. And the shepherd, fearing his censure. And the fisherman with his bait. All bait, in fact, is named happiness by the one who sets the trap. Now take a look at the king: as leader he’s more of a servant than the one who washes his master’s feet. Is he less of a king when he follows? He conquers at his best when obeying the natural law. He follows to know how time moves, submitting in order to rule, attending the world’s rhythms, following hints and trails and clues, following up and through. The things which are greater than we are, but still outside of ourselves, can still show or teach us our own true paths. But we cannot follow nearly as well when grovelling down on our knees, or unable to question or think.
Key Words (关键词)
Quest, search, pursuit, seeking; incentives, attraction, allure, affinity, tugging, bait▼
Key Words (关键词)
Quest, search, pursuit, seeking; incentives, attraction, allure, affinity, tugging, bait
Draw, pull, persuasion, compliance; consequent, consequence; adapting as fitness To go along with, find the rhythm of, taking a pulse; follow up & follow through Allegiances, loyalties; subordinating, adherence, obedience, consent, submission Guidance, orientation; succeeding, succession; magnetic center, ethical compass Opportunism in taking guidance, advice & direction; follow as tracking & hunting
Structure & Connections
Structure Class
No Family
This classification indicates the hexagram's role in the 12 Sovereign Cycle (Earthly Branches) or its structural family.
Astrology
note:Sagittarius Ascending, Mutable Fire
element:Fire
Tarot
card:Queen of Wands
suit:Wands
Qabalah
note:Briah of Atziluth
sphere:Briah
The Lines
11st • YangStandards will change
Persistence is promising
Leaving the gate to interact has merit▼
1
1st • YangStandards will change
Persistence is promising
Leaving the gate to interact has merit
17.1x Standards will change:
To follow the true (is) promising
* Leaving the gate to interact has merit:
Nothing (is) lost
Some believers believe that paradise is a walled-in garden of truth, a windowless monad, without any windows to let in bad news, or doors to admit any makers of mischief. They feel secluded, safe and secure behind the things that they are told. The news and the current events, the rhythm of the world outside the walls, are fogs and ephemera in the glare of eternal and unchanging truths. It may be true that the classics and standards change more slowly than fashion. Some laws might live for centuries, some dharmas, thousands of years. But even these adapt to new cultures and times. Who makes up these strange ideas, and why do people embrace them? What makes change so distasteful to insecure people? Why not tell them stories for grownups? Paradise is big and round. And you stand exposed on the outside.
22nd • YangBound to the little child
Giving up one of maturity▼
2
2nd • YangBound to the little child
Giving up one of maturity
17.2x Bound to the little child:
As opposed to joining (their) company
He believes in and clings to the nice and the fun. Thus he guards his innocence and cultivates his childlike qualities in order to stay in a happier state. The elders have all been there and done that, so long ago, and sucked all the juices out. Now theirs is a dry, second-hand, grumpy thing. Rigorous thinking and knowhow frown too much for his taste. Wide-eyed, but short sighted, a deficit of attention will not let him think this all through. Distractions cannot track this thing to its end. And so he will live to discover, in difficult ways, as much incompetence in innocence as arrogance in age. There is a way to be both, and to have the best of both, but this lies on the far side of adulthood, which also will need outgrowing. Neither youth nor maturity need take as much time as allotted. But beginner’s mind is the best place to start and return to.
33rd • YangBound to one of maturity
Giving up the little child
Following comes to be seeking of gain
Worthwhile to abide in persistence▼
3
3rd • YangBound to one of maturity
Giving up the little child
Following comes to be seeking of gain
Worthwhile to abide in persistence
17.3x Bound to one of maturity:
Intending to give up the lowly
On the path we must take to maturity, the time comes to put away childish things, such as innocence, trust, enthusiasm and wonder. To cling to the time-tested elders means great expectations are served. Tomorrow will be set and known to the mind. We now follow answers instead of the quest. We accomplish our tasks without so many digressions, no questions asked. No wonder we get precisely what we seek. The larger decisions demand serious thought, although games may be played if in earnest for serious stakes. The elder follows a path, but to do this he must miss the field. While just off the side of the path, a little folly explores a bit over the edge, and sometimes finds the path to be a wrong rut. To follow is to ask questions and cherish the wisdom in being surprised. These are not lowly, or things to outgrow.
44th • YangFollowing to achieve success
Persistence has pitfalls
Being truly on the path,
Using clarity,
Where is the error?▼
4
4th • YangFollowing to achieve success
Persistence has pitfalls
Being truly on the path,
Using clarity,
Where is the error?
17.4x Following to achieve success:
This means pitfalls
* Being truly on the path,
Clarity (is) the success
Goal-oriented behavior has much to recommend it, along with some widely known problems. There is always this advice: be careful what you ask for. And: enjoy the journey as much as the destination. And: don’t look so far ahead that you stumble on things at your feet. And: a confidence man looks for “enlightened” self-interest. Then there are the troubles known to the larger followings. When a group builds up its machinery around the pursuit of a goal and then the goal is attained, it begins to imagine a body and soul for itself. Having started out its life as a good idea, it now wants to live forever. So it starts giving orders and laying down rules to keep itself conserved: be it now resolved, against all change. All of these share a solution: keep all the goals, just make them ad hoc and provisional, and never stop looking around.
55th • YangTrusting in excellence
Promising▼
5
5th • YangTrusting in excellence
Promising
17.5x Trusting in excellence (is) promising:
The position (is) correct (and) central
If there are too many choices and not enough lifetime for every digression, maybe the best way to limit them is to set higher standards. Not higher ideals, but higher realities. Life is not tested or greatly advanced by the easy ordeals. Great strides are seldom taken in lockstep with others. We learn to swim best in cold water over our heads, when we are most alive to the living yet to be done. To face greater contexts and challenges will more likely cure us of snobbery than it will foster conceit. The superior man is a humbler man, in spite of all he has conquered. Selection brought this tribe far, but we may still want heirs who can walk more erect and think better than we, their primitive ancestors. Some will follow and seek, others track and find. To be the best that’s within us, to get past ourselves, we need the unequal outcomes.
6 • YangSeize and bind them
Then follow, holding them fast
The Sovereign* will offer a sacrifice at the Western Mountain▼
6
• YangSeize and bind them
Then follow, holding them fast
The Sovereign* will offer a sacrifice at the Western Mountain
17.6x Seize (and) bind them:
At the top (is) extremity
The followers of a toppled tyrant are seized and bound and being taken to sacrifice. They were only following orders, doing as they were told. But now they are held to account for their actions, for their law-abiding crimes against humankind. The king will be on the high ground here, making some examples of the things not to follow. These will not be lambs or young goats; nor are they innocent victims. Where does one’s innocence end and culpability begin? Can a conscience be required? There is a higher law and a justice to go with it. There are consequences to what we follow, or what we attach ourselves to. It is for us to step up and do the right thing, even in times that we are alone. We need not be told what truth is to be true. This is a part of what will finally stop war: people must learn to destroy or undo their own tyrants.
Reference in Original Text & Resources
This content is derived from Bradford Hatcher's THE BOOK OF CHANGES: Yijing, Word By Word.
Original text for Hexagram 17 begins on Page 162-170.
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