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Your reading

◈ Primary hexagram: 32—Continuing. Branching out.

▶ Select a secondary hexagram

Name from “Language of the Lines”

Continuing. Branching out.

Lines

Image created from the lines

While the energy manifesting from the inner and our own inner being are both active (lines 1 and 6), our direct feeling of the life force and our outer world approach is quiet (lines 2, 3, and 4 are yang). In line 5 we accept this inactivity by which we do not translate the life force into action.

This is a pattern of inner activity, attentiveness to quiet feeling, and an absence of outer activity. Because identity is always looking for outer activity to keep itself identified, the inner activity of the life force is not overtly felt; here we are watching for a feeling to develop, all our attention is on this and we are not interested in the world of outer activity.

Image created from the trigrams

Emerging energy is mature and unchanging (Sun) and does not make outer action (Ch’ien); identity has hope of activity (Tui) and our inner being is changing forcefully (Chên).

From this flow we can see that we are watching the life force and looking ahead for activity in the future; this persistence and expectation gives the hexagram its common name of “duration”.

The Chinese Oracle

> Long duration.

> Success.

> No error.

> Continuance brings advantage.

> Movement is favourable.

Comments

Movement is favourable because this tao is the continuation of movement in the life force to bring it to manifestation. We are working towards something new even if it is not at present clearly defined, and we need to keep going and not despair at what may seem tardy progress.

Manifestations

The pattern

A new cycle comes from the old.

It does not wither but continues,

producing new growth.

For humans

More than one life in life.

Maturity does not stagnate,

middle age no signal of decline.

Youth continues into the old.

In nature

From mature wood

new strong shoots continue to appear.

In forms we make

By continual renewal

living form has duration.

By exceptional renewal, rejuvenation.

Moving lines

Line 1 goes yang — life force shows less change

When inner energy does not flow we turn to something new in our environment for comfort, stimulation, food for identity.

> He concentrates on his desire for continuation.

> Misfortune.

His desire for continuation is for this identity-feeling to continue, it requires activity, demands experience, or it fears for its validity and existence. This makes it difficult for us to follow the tao when it is inactive.

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Line 2 goes yin — intuitive feeling more active

Feeling is the link between our inner and outer selves (one self in larger terms, but we feel it as two). Persisting in feeling the tao is, here, to have faith that the life force is providing the nourishment we need; this is the continuance in following the tao of which the oracle speaks.

> All regret disappears.

Following the tao is choiceless and when we make no choices we cannot regret them.

❧

Line 3 goes yin — outer world changes more

Here we cannot endure the inactivity of identity so we act out. Although this gives relief of the pressure to act, the outcome has no inner meaning and so is unsatisfactory.

> He who is not faithful to continuance meets with disgrace.

Even when there is no one judging us, dis-grace is a fact for we have lost our grace, we are clumsy here, not graceful.

❧

Line 4 goes yin — accepting the outer state more

Outer activity is potential in this tao, not manifest, but now we are concentrating on this outer place for our sense of activity; we are looking in the wrong place.

> No game in the field.

We are searching outside for what is inside, but what we seek will come from the inner, from nowhere it will seem, it does not exist out there.

❧

Line 5 goes yang — less awareness of intuition

Here we are not awaiting the emergence of the life force so feeling is released from being interpreted; the distinguisher or definer, on the other hand, is less able to operate.

> Continuance brings good fortune to the woman and evil to the man.

We do not simply remain open to everything, we take attention away from feeling, this narrows conscious identity in its ability to define our circumstance but allows intuitive feeling to be itself.

❧

Line 6 goes yang — our inner being accepts less

If we are not accepting the active emerging life force as the source of our next activity there is a tendency to prolong our present outer situation, especially in this tao of long duration.

> Forced continuance has no merit.

To insist that activity must always flow tries to replace the natural cyclic reality with an imposed linear one; we distort the cycle to get something we desire. We miss the essence of continuing inner acceptance if we do this.

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