巽
GUA 57 · XUN
ADAPTATION
Overall Image (大象)
Subsequent winds, adapting
The noble young one, accordingly,
sets forth the higher purpose in carrying out the work▼
Overall Image (大象)
Subsequent winds, adapting
The noble young one, accordingly,
sets forth the higher purpose in carrying out the work
The wind does not push itself into the crevice unchanged. It only adapts its way in, so it finds a home in all niches. A feeler root, then a complex of roots, a will to live, then a gnarly old tree. Repeated attempts will find the right path, as repeated steps will make one. Continuous subtle influence makes incremental gains. Wind blows and grass bends, so too with mind. The master repeats himself, but not to drive his message home. He speaks once to find and learn what might be resisted and again to complete the work. Science begins with hypothesis, not with developed theory. A mutable mind is matched to a mutating world. Perception adapts or means little.
Main Judgment (Adaptation) (卦辞)
In little successes
Worthwhile to have somewhere to go
Rewarding to encounter a mature human being▼
Main Judgment (Adaptation) (卦辞)
In little successes
Worthwhile to have somewhere to go
Rewarding to encounter a mature human being
Great minds learn to think twice, and not the same way each time. Learning can alter the mind and what the mind sees. If a higher purpose is to obey higher laws, it will let itself be adjusted, from the general to the specific, then look for the exceptions. Those with effective wisdom will discover what is before they decree what will be. The sage introduces his teaching, the king sets forth a draft of his orders, the diviner offers a brief to the seeker. And all crouch behind these first words, weighing initial reactions, searching for lines where resistance is least, or ways to enter the minds of their subjects and fellows, while taking the special things into account. The path of power does not simply blunder straight forward: it makes some allowance for how much greater reality is before presuming to change it. The real and the ideal need to be rubbed together for these adaptations to fit. This is why the mind is so elastic and plastic, suggesting that life is for learning first, and only later for teaching. Thus we begin with provisional plans and goals, then adapt our big ideas to all of those little details, where gods and devils live. Then meanings grow where meanings belong.
Key Words (关键词)
Penetrate, insinuate, encroach, conform, comply; gain admittance, entry or access▼
Key Words (关键词)
Penetrate, insinuate, encroach, conform, comply; gain admittance, entry or access
Nichemanship; occupy, adjust, adopt, adapt, conform, submit, accommodate self Fitting in, fitness; subtlety, resilience, shape shifting; persuasion, sway; reconsider Finding a path of least resistance; asserting without aggression, subtle persistence In-formation, to assess before following through; learning and teaching processes Reconnoiter, many-angled approach; rethinking, thinking twice, second thoughts
Structure & Connections
Structure Class
Xun-Zhen Family
This classification indicates the hexagram's role in the 12 Sovereign Cycle (Earthly Branches) or its structural family.
Astrology
note:Aquarius Ascending, Fixed Air
element:Air
Tarot
card:Prince of Swords
suit:Swords
Qabalah
note:Yetzirah of Yetzirah
sphere:Yetzirah
The Lines
11st • YangAdvancing and retreating
Warranting a warrior’s resolve▼
1
1st • YangAdvancing and retreating
Warranting a warrior’s resolve
57.1x Advancing (and) retreating:
The purpose wavers
* Warranting the warrior’s resolve:
The purpose (is) under control
He vacillates pro and then con in intention. His small intent to move forward or right is undone by another to move back or left. The subject or self is subject to a whole herd of fancies and whims, which vote to go one way, but then change their minds. The self is really a larger community, a collection of selves, always shifting. Often there’s no one to lead, no chain of command, or no established set of priorities. It is possible, in theory, to harness a thousand rabbits to pull the chariot forward, but the ramifications and variables will harm net direction and speed. Each vector has worth, but one is made null by another. A warrior will want a simpler harness, on a single, spirited beast. His urgency needs the time, and clarity, not commotion. This is his ruling thought, but it bends to his will and learns. He will not win a fight doing kata.
22nd • YangSubtleties happening under the bed
Employing scribes and diviners, a confusion of these
Promising
No harm done▼
2
2nd • YangSubtleties happening under the bed
Employing scribes and diviners, a confusion of these
Promising
No harm done
57.2x A confusion of these holds promise:
(In) regaining balance
Something is crouching beneath the bed, like wind stirs behind the curtains at night. It nags at his rest from below and disturbs his soft zone of comfort. What hidden creatures, low and sub-conscious, lurk down there, recessive truths in secret places, unseen to the untutored vision? In the terra incognita, aye - here there be monsters. And so he calls in the experts, to expose and uncover his fears: first a confusion of priests and diviners to find and define the unspeakable thing and then a confusion of wizards and shamans to coax the thing out and banish it back to the void, or drive it into the light. To make it known or give it a name is often enough to empty the thing of its charge. An unknown keeps the attention awake until it’s thought to be known. Sometimes we like to know because we like to sleep. Mystery is a strong stimulant.
33rd • YangRecurrent adaptations
Embarrassing▼
3
3rd • YangRecurrent adaptations
Embarrassing
57.3x Recurrent adaptation’s embarrassment:
The purpose (is) exhausted
His repeated attempts to push through all seem to push from the same direction.* It may be time to rethink the worth of this whole approach. A breeze seems to have more wits: when it goes its way with direction, this does not mean that it makes no turns. At the first confrontation with what will not sway, it will seek out the limits of what has opposed it. It will turn to the side to find itself free. It is broader than its obstacles, it moves through a wider world. In firmness, it’s steady, not stubborn, in yielding, it’s patient, not flaccid. Moving according to narrow ideas will show no regard for the real. If at first it doesn’t succeed, it will fail and fail again. Repetition is not continuity. We change as our experience grows. Trials should precede errors. The pathological process and maladaptive behavior have lost their sense of context.
44th • YangRegrets pass
In the field take three kinds of game▼
4
4th • YangRegrets pass
In the field take three kinds of game
57.4x (In) the field take three kinds (of game):
This will be an accomplishment
To focus on one thing at a time is not always the smart way to think. Suppose that he needs to get three things out of the garden: a carrot for his meal, a turnip for his guests and a rutabaga for the sacrifice. If he only paused for a moment, and spent some time in his mind, he’d find that he does not need to make three separate trips with his shovel. Adaptive behavior is versatile. This is how a mind can make up for all the trouble it causes, and pay its rent in the skull, how air and distance are useful. We can examine our theory both in the mind and the world. We’ll think it through first, start with a plan, and then change it as it needs changing. Hunting and seeking, when bound or confined to the things we expect, will only use half of our wits, and the game is too clever for halfwits. A flexible response looks into the actual niches.
55th • YangPersistence is promising
Regrets pass
Nothing cannot be turned to advantage
Regardless of beginning, there will be an outcome
Before reforming, three days
After reforming, three days
Opportune▼
5
5th • YangPersistence is promising
Regrets pass
Nothing cannot be turned to advantage
Regardless of beginning, there will be an outcome
Before reforming, three days
After reforming, three days
Opportune
57.5x Nine fifth holds promise:
The position (is) correct (and) central
His first attempt throws him back on himself, as a breeze first backs up to overleap the mountain, informed now by what has occurred. The wind, in ever-resilient ways, keeps after the problem. Getting impatient too soon is thinking in one dimension, and so many of our thoughts can be linear, like lines from the start to the goal, which ignore both surprise and advantage on route. But there are more dimensions than one. Even the shortest of moments might be at least six days wide. A wise one will make adaptable plans. Three days before making his changes, he watches the nexus of forces gather. For three days after, he watches how things are unfolding. At any point here he is ready to shift his direction as needed. A process is not the same as a thing. To mistake reforming and learning for things will take them out of context.
6Top • YangSubtleties happening under the bed
Losing some valuables and an axe
Constancy has its pitfalls▼
6
Top • YangSubtleties happening under the bed
Losing some valuables and an axe
Constancy has its pitfalls
57.6x Subtle (things) happening under the bed:
The top (is) exhausted
* Losing some valuables (and) an axe:
“Correct” along with unfortunate
Something is crouching beneath the bed, like wind stirs behind the curtains at night. Oh, is that so? He decides that he will not be fooled twice. The last time this thing happened, it was only a couple of spooks, and it cost him a bundle for all of those wizards and priests and scribes and diviners, just to settle his nerves. He decides that he has been there and done that now and needs not go there again. Content with his better sense, and certain of his maturity, he assembles his fine explanation, solidly based upon one single case, and goes right back to sleep. But sometime between this dream and the dawn, these spooks run away with his treasures, they spirit away his belongings. Of course the mind needs to generalize. It needs to oversimplify things. Sometimes it thinks belief can stand in for learning. But then it gets mysteries back.
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 57 begins on Page 402-410.
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