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◈ Primary hexagram: 3—Difficulties in beginnings.

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Name from “Language of the Lines”

Difficulties in beginnings.

Lines

Image created from the lines

Here we accept our outer world activity (lines 4 and 3) while ignoring our intuitive feeling (lines 5 and 2), so we go into things without preparation and learn from experience. This is not a criticism but just a fact; as our inner being is receptive to this (line 6), and is changed by it. The emerging life force is not in change so this experience is outward-looking.

Image created from the trigrams

There is great energy in the emerging life force (Chên) and flowing in the outer world (K’un), but it is stilled by our lack of involvement (Kên); we are at a loss as to how to move (K’an). This situation occurs when we are in unfamiliar circumstances and have to find out how to respond; the common name of the hexagram is “difficulty in beginnings”.

The Chinese Oracle

> Difficulty is followed by great success.

> Continuance in the way is rewarded.

> Remain in the existing, not seeking the new.

> To appoint princes brings advantage.

Comments

When something starts, there is the energy of its inception; when this runs out, there is the temptation to seek a new direction, but the energy must now come from our own self. By continuing in our present circumstances we become strong, which is the success.

Princes are the sons of the ruler, the king, and in our reality of distinguishing things the identifying process is our ruler; so appointing princes is to adopt new ways of identifying, new ways of approaching our experience.

Manifestations

The pattern

When the young flows first

with little stamina,

it is overcome by obstacles.

By flowing on it overcomes them.

For humans

New things begin to move.

Difficulties arise in the path.

To halt at difficulty brings out danger.

Perseverance brings on flowing.

In nature

Young growths grow fast, sappy,

and easily hurt against obstacles;

but new shoots are ready

to follow up.

In forms we make

When they first come together

there is a honeymoon,

then a strength of will,

then a compromise

for the sake of travelling together.

Moving lines

Line 1 goes yin — life force shows more change

Here a need for activity stirs, appearing as a move of fate opening up activity. It is necessary to give strength to this and make it a force, otherwise we cannot gain experience (make mistakes and learn) and come up against the world.

> The hinderance of hesitation.

> Be firm in perseverance.

> To appoint princes brings advantage.

The phrase about princes is interpreted in the oracle comments above. The hesitation comes from unawareness of our intuitive feeling of the life force shown in the yang line 5.

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Line 2 goes yang — intuitive feeling less active

Our feelings are not recognizing that the challenge of individual activity is necessary and so we lose driving power. This is part of the birth of an individuality; there are still forces within us which are not ready to leave the great tao, the total parent, and become separate. Knowledge of this is not enough by itself, we need to woo the feeling towards taking part before we really join the dance. We _are_ born and need to accept this fully; the beginning is difficult but as we continue it gets easier.

> No advance.

> Horse and carriage not connected.

> A chaste maiden is wooed

> but refuses; after ten years

> she accepts.

The chaste maiden is our feeling which is not at this time accepting a challenge. There is no driving power because the horse, feeling, is not connected to our circumstances which are the carriage of our activity. When we refuse a challenge in this way we cannot advance until we meet a new challenge of this same sort, which is the symbol of a whole cycle of ten years before the maiden accepts.

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Line 3 goes yang — outer world changes less

Here we come up against outer world activity, find ourselves without guidelines, and desist. Indeed it is only prudent to do this while we assess the new activity—to rush in with newly-found ego energy is going to create problems.

> If a hunter hunts without a guide he gets lost in the forest. The superior man sees danger and does not go into it; to do so would bring misfortune.

The superior man is our wide-seeing ability which comes from having many experiences and taking their essence or wisdom into our inner being. In this tao we are in unfamiliar experience but here we can use our existing wisdom to avoid entanglement.

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Line 4 goes yang — accepting the outer state less

Here we withdraw our identification from outer activity, perhaps for fear of consequences. To work through this difficulty we need to see our inner need for activity in order to have experience of the world which is what this tao is about.

> Horse and wagon are disconnected.

> Seek union.

> Going forward brings good fortune

> and actions prosper.

When growing some part of our identity, it halts our progress if we do not identify ourselves with our actions. This identification is part of all growing phases, so union between ourself and our action is needed for our manifestation to prosper.

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Line 5 goes yin — more awareness of intuition

In this tao we are actively feeling a new situation; here we open ourselves to this because it is pleasurable in some way. In this learning tao, there is also learning in how to handle pleasurable situations; if we give ourselves to them like a tap fully turned on, the supply is soon exhausted. On the other hand if we confine our participation to a trickle, the experience is too mean. Here the flow of feeling should be open but not under the pressure of the need to develop self.

> Difficulties with something that is fulfilling. A little perseverance is a good thing but great perseverance is disastrous.

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Line 6 goes yang — our inner being accepts less

Here we do not accept a new situation into our ongoing self and so we separate this personal self from our circumstances.

> Horse and carriage are disconnected.

> Blood and tears.

We cannot flow in our experience so symbolically our life-blood (experience) overflows in regretful feeling.

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