virtue

What should I bear in mind tonight in order to cultivate virtue?

4 - Four

Mêng / Inexperience

A fresh Spring at the foot of the Mountain: The Superior Person refines his character by being thorough in every activity. The Sage does not recruit students; the students seek him. He asks nothing but a sincere desire to learn. If the student doubts or challenges his authority, the Sage regretfully cuts his losses.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

This is a time of interchange between a mentor and pupil. Whether you are the teacher or the student, it is a time of companionship along a mutual path. This hexagram also emphasizes the eternal, cyclical nature of the mentor/student relationship -- a mentor is merely a more seasoned pupil, further along on the journey. A pupil holds within himself the seed of a future Master.

IN THIS HEXAGRAM we are reminded of youth and folly1 in two different ways. The image of the upper trigram, Kên, is the mountain, that of the lower, K'an, is water; the spring rising at the foot of the mountain is the image of inexperienced youth. Keeping still is the attribute of the upper trigram; that of the lower is the abyss, danger. Stopping in perplexity on the brink of a dangerous abyss is a symbol of the folly of youth. However, the two trigrams also show the way of overcoming the follies of youth. Water is something that of necessity flows on. When the spring gushes forth, it does not know at first where it will go. But its steady flow fills up the deep place blocking its progress, and success is attained.

THE JUDGEMENT

Youthful folly has success. It is not I who seek the young fool; The young fool seeks me. At the first oracle I inform him. If he asks two or three times, it is importunity. If he importunes, I give him no information. Perseverance furthers.

IN THE TIME OF youth, folly is not an evil. One may succeed in spite of it, provided one finds an experienced teacher and has the right attitude toward him. This means, first of all, that the youth himself must be conscious of his lack of experience and must seek out the teacher. Without this modesty and this interest there is no guarantee that he has the necessary receptivity, which should express itself in respectful acceptance of the teacher. This is the reason why the teacher must wait to be sought out instead of offering himself. Only thus can the instruction take place at the right time and in the right way. A teacher's answer to the question of a pupil ought to be clear and definite like that expected from an oracle; thereupon it ought to be accepted as a key for resolution of doubts and a basis for decision. If mistrustful or unintelligent questioning is kept up, it serves only to annoy the teacher. He does well to ignore it in silence, just as the oracle gives one answer only and refuses to be tempted by questions implying doubt. Given in addition a perseverance that never slackens until the points are mastered one by one, real success is sure to follow. Thus the hexagram counsels the teacher as well as the pupil.

THE IMAGE

A spring wells up at the foot of the mountain: The image of YOUTH. Thus the superior man fosters his character By thoroughness in all that he does.

A SPRING succeeds in flowing on and escapes stagnation by filling up all the hollow places in its path. In the same way character is developed by thoroughness that skips nothing but, like water, gradually and steadily fills up all gaps and so flows onward.

1. ["Fool" and "folly" as used in this hexagram should be understood to mean the immaturity of youth and its consequent lack of wisdom, rather than mere stupidity. Parsifal is known as the "pure fool" not because he was dull-witted but because he was inexperienced.]

Hexagram Four/Line Four

You are so terrified of being wrong, you leave no room for learning what is right.

64 - Sixty-Four

Wei Chi / The End In Sight

Fire ascends above the Water: The Superior Person examines the nature of things and keeps each in its proper place.

Too anxious the young fox gets his tail wet, just as he completes his crossing. To attain success, be like the man and not like the fox.

SITUATION ANALYSIS:

Resist the rush to completion. Anticipation of fulfillment may callous you before you have fully absorbed the lessons of the journey. The endpoint of this Quest will only prove to be the threshold for another. You are short steps from Mastery on this plane, yet you stride toward Ignorance of the challenges lying beyond. Savor this accomplishment. Fully Become. Take full possession of your world before embarking to discover the next one. That voyage begins soon enough, and you will reminisce about this one. These are the Good Old Days.

This hexagram indicates a time when the transition from disorder to order is not yet completed. The change is indeed prepared for, since all the lines in the upper trigram are in relation to those in the lower. However, they are not yet in their places. While the preceding hexagram offers an analogy to autumn, which forms the transition from summer to winter, this hexagram presents a parallel to spring, which leads out of winter's stagnation into the fruitful time of summer. With this hopeful outlook the Yi Jing come to its close.

THE JUDGEMENT

BEFORE COMPLETION. Success. But if the little fox, after nearly completing the crossing, Gets his tail in the water, There is nothing that would further.

The conditions are difficult. The task is great and full of responsibility. It is nothing less than that of leading the world out of confusion back to order. But it is a task that promises success, because there is a goal that can unite the forces now tending in different directions. At first, however, one must move warily, like an old fox walking over ice. The caution of a fox walking over ice is proverbial in China. His ears are constantly alert to the cracking of the ice, as he carefully and circumspectly searches out the safest spots. A young fox who as yet has not acquired this caution goes ahead boldly, and it may happen that he falls in and gets his tail wet when he is almost across the water. Then of course his effort has been all in vain. Accordingly, in times "before completion," deliberation and caution are the prerequisites of success.

THE IMAGE

Fire over water: The image of the condition before transition. Thus the superior man is careful In the differentiation of things, So that each finds its place.

When fire, which by nature flames upward, is above, and water, which flows downward, is below, their effects take opposite directions and remain unrelated. If we wish to achieve an effect, we must first investigate the nature of the forces in question and ascertain their proper place. If we can bring these forces to bear in the right place, they will have the desired effect and completion will be achieved. But in order to handle external forces properly, we must above all arrive at the correct standpoint ourselves, for only from this vantage can we work correctly.