MEDITATIONS: I CHING; THE BOOK OF CHANGES, CANTO FIFTY-THREE

Headwaters—Advance—Slowly
|or| Gradual Progress

Now is the time to be aware of what others are saying about you. Be it praise or malicious gossip, listen dispassionately and try to determine what is really being said “between the lines.” Obstacles are a natural part of advancement. Do not be bothered by them. Be thankful for what you have already accomplished. (Bright-Fey 135)

Gradual progress as a woman marries is auspicious. It is beneficial to be correct.

Yin 1: Geese gradually proceed on the shore: the small ones are in danger; there is criticism but no fault.

Yin 2: Geese gradually proceed on boulders. They eat and drink happily. Auspicious.

Yang 3: Geese gradually proceed on a plateau. The husband goes on an expedition and does not return. The wife gets pregnant but does not raise the child. Inauspicious. It is advantageous to defend against brigands.

Yin 4: Geese gradually progress to the trees; if they find a flat limb, there is no trouble.

Yang 5: Geese gradually progress to a hill. The wife does not become pregnant for three years. In the end, no one can defeat this. Auspicious.

Yang 6: Geese gradually progress into the sky—their wings can be used as a standard. Auspicious. (Cleary 337-343)

 The Mountain hexagram formed by two mountains represented stillness and stopping in the sense of resting after extensive exertion. One rests so that he can begin again his journey. In this sense, Gradual Progression naturally follows from the Mountain hexagram.

In keeping with this spirit, Gradual Progress retains within it the essence of stopping. The mountain trigram lies below that of the wind. This is stillness within and initiation without—the movement is only beginning, and it is through obedience and propriety that great penetration, meaning traversal through and around obstacles, is achieved.

Then it is no surprise, then, that the first Yin is weakness at the outset of the journey. Using geese as a symbol, the I Ching describes them as waddling along the shore. Geese are chosen because they move in an ordered fashion, and since they are waterfowl, to be on the shore is to say they are just beginning their day. They have yet to swim, much less to fly any great distance. Such is the case with any long-term endeavor. Like this first Yin, one starts out at the bottom, powerless and without help from above, often criticized for one’s lack of progression. But the truth is, this early during the outset of a grand adventure, the critique is either unwarranted or useful. While small people, those benighted fools who can see no further than the moment, might react to the words of others, the wise listen and discern what is true from what is envious cruelty disguised as moral judgement.

The second Yin sits in a position of balance and has a correspondent helper above in the fifth Yang. Furthermore, she is in right relative relationship, Yin below and Yang above, and so not only does she have help, but she and her Yang pair occupy their proper and desired positions. This is like having an internal state of balanced acceptance of the transient state of affairs. While it can be frustrating—even agonizing—early during the course of a development or endeavor, it needs not to be. If one accepts and affirms the necessity of the current conditions as part of the journey toward better conditions in the future, than even a meager meal can taste delicious and can become in itself a means of celebration. This is the geese on the boulders between the shore and the water. They are in no hurry, and so they enjoy the simple aspects of life, eating and drinking, being present in the moment.

But before making it to the water, the geese reach a plateau. All of us should be familiar with this. Geese or human, we all reach a time of holding, a long stretch during which time has never moved so slowly. At the end of stillness, the third Yang is like this. He has the energy and strength to progress, but the time is not correct, and he does not have a correspondent to help him. This over-eagerness, combined by a lack of partnership, leads him into temptation. The third Yang associates with the fourth Yin, forming an improper relationship. This is not the metaphor of the woman marrying which opened the text for this hexagram. This is like a love-affair in which the third Yang ventures out without a plan to come back again, that is, without self-reflection. He has become like the very brigand from which he should be protecting himself and those around him: he uses and takes from others without conscience to their humanity. He is the transient psychopath—that is that fate of one who attempt to accelerate what ought to be gradual progress.

The fourth Yin is no more innocent. Also lacking a proper companion, she gets pregnant by the third Yang. This means the low-level officials and people of influence tempt those below them into overstepping what is proper, and also they are swayed into believing they can use the masses to accomplish their own ends. They have no intentions for the future and are squandering it for immediate results from which, in the short-run, they stand to benefit. This is likened to geese moving away from the water and into the trees. It is unnatural, for geese do not possess the right kind of feet for rooting. Unless they find an easy, flat branch on which to sleep, they will fall to the forest floor repeatedly. A few will do this: a few will settle for tackling small obstacles; and this will be like a goose stepping onto a branch heavily weighed down by fruit. But the rest will fly for higher branches, and they will find themselves much more troubled.

The Fifth yang is likened to geese flocking to a high hill as opposed to on a tree. This is the proper place for geese getting ready to ascend on their wings. They will be well-balanced for their take-offs. However, the aforementioned flight will take time. The birds will need to get into proper formation, and that only after making the slow, arduous climb. Such is the price of balance and stability. It is like getting married at the cost of three years of waiting for a baby. During those years, the couple have cause to lament; but after, once the baby is finally born into a secure marriage, the situation is as happy as it could have been. Compare this to a quick pregnancy outside of security of a marriage. Little has been so disastrous to society than this becoming normal.

But the above is all figures and symbols. What do these lines really mean?

The fifth Yang rests in the position of leadership and corresponds to the second Yin. Both are balanced and in proper relation to one another, which is like the people being patient and obedient to a leadership which also exercises patience and caution as steps are taken to secure the long-term flourishing of the populace. This can be extrapolated down to the family and even to the individual. Though the fourth Yin and third yang stand in the way as obstacles to the moral union of the fifth Yang and second Yin, it is worth the wait to join with others who are great and not small-minded. It is the injunction made by Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, “Do what is meaningful, not what is expedient.”

Last is the sixth Yang described as geese taking flight high in the sky. This is Yang in a Yang position, though at an extreme and on its own. Yet the I Ching calls this state of affairs auspicious. It is so because we are at the end of gradual progress. The step-by-step climb has reached its jumping-off point, and now it is time for the graduation to increase along an exponential curve. Those familiar with a Pareto distribution will know to what is being referred. Progress accumulates like a snowball gathering more and more mass as it goes. What begins as tiny and hardly noticeable will eventually swell into a cultural wave so great that it shadows the very people about to be splashed. The wings will then become the standard, meaning those who move quickly now that the time is right will become the exemplars and inspiring figures for future generations.

But such a flight can only be achieved by he who embodies gratitude in the moment, prudence in regard to temptations, temperance in regard to progress, wisdom in regard to justice and discernment, and courage when the moment finally comes.

I Ching; The Book of Changes, with commentaries by Cheng Yi, translated by Thomas Cleary, Shambala Library, 2003.

I Ching: The Book of Changes; An authentic Taoist translation, translated by John Bright-Fey, Sweetwater Press, 2006.