K^ en / Keeping Still, Mountain
above:K^ en Keeping Still, Mountain
below:K^ en Keeping Still, Mountain
The image of this hexagram is the mountain, the youngest son of heaven
and earth. The male principle is at the top, because it strives upward
by nature; the female principle is below, since the direction of its
movement is downward. Thus there is rest because the movement has come
to its normal end.
In its application to man, the hexagram turns upon the problem of
achieving a quiet heart. It is very difficult to bring quiet to the
heart. While Buddhism strives for rest through an ebbing away of all
movement in nirvana, the Book of Changes holds that rest is merely a
state of polarity that always posits movement as its complement.
Possibly the words of the text embody directions for the practice of
yoga.
The Judgement
KEEPING STILL. Keeping his back still
So that he no longer feels his body.
He goes into his courtyard
And does not see his people.
No blame.
True quiet means keeping still when the time has come to keep still,
and going forward when the time has come to go forward. In this way
rest and movement are in agreement with the demands of the time, and
thus there is light in life.
The hexagram signifies the end and the beginning of all movement. The
back is named because in the back are located all the nerve fibers that
mediate movement. If the movement of these spinal nerves is brought to
a standstill, the ego, with its restlessness, disappears as it were.
When a man has thus become calm, he may turn to the outside world. He
no longer sees in it the struggle and tumult of individual beings, and
therefore he has that true peace of mind which is needed for
understanding the great laws of the universe and for acting in harmony
with them. Whoever acts from these deep levels makes no mistakes.
The Image
Mountains standing close together:
The image of KEEPING STILL.
Thus the superior man
Does not permit his thoughts
To go beyond his situation.
The heart thinks constantly. This cannot be changed, but the movements of the heart--that is, a man's thoughts--should restrict themselves to the immediate situation. All thinking that goes beyond this only makes the heart sore.