47. K'un / Oppression (Exhaustion)

[rosada]

THE LINES

Six at the beginning means:
One sits oppressed under a bare tree
And strays into a gloomy valley.
For three years one sees nothing.

When adversity befalls a man, it is important above all things for him to be strong and to overcome the trouble inwardly. If he is weak, the trouble overwhelms him. Instead of proceeding on his way, he remains sitting under a bare tree and falls ever more deeply into gloom and melancholy. This makes the situation only more and more hopeless. Such an attitude comes from an inner delusion that he must by all means overcome.

One is gloomy and not clear.

The trigram K'an stands in the north, where gloom prevails. The nuclear trigram is Li, clarity. The line stands outside of clarity. In other cases the first line images the foot, the toes. But in times of oppression a man sits; therefore the first line here represents the buttocks. The gloomy valley is the first line in the trigram K'an, the pit in the abyss.
-Wilhelm

 

[rosada]

hmm..how about three days and haven't seen nothin'?

 

[rosada]

YEARS
-Wilhelm

 

[rosada]

I Ask the tarot from some inspiration and pull the Four of Cups. The picture is of a gloomy soul sitting alone under a tree staring at three cups. The Past? The Three years? The dread of three more years like the ones before? A hand offering a fourth cup goes unseen. New possibilities not recognized?

 

[Trojina]

I Ask the tarot from some inspiration and pull the Four of Cups. The picture is of a gloomy soul sitting alone under a tree staring at three cups. The Past? The Three years? The dread of three more years like the ones before? A hand offering a fourth cup goes unseen. New possibilities not recognized?

in the 4 of cups hes so busy looking at what he hasn't got he doesn't see what he has got. all he has to do is shift his gaze and theres a souce of refreshment right there before him...(is he staring at the 3 of cups ? never noticed that, thought he was staring at the ground,) anyway hes sulking.

Funny i see the 4 of cups as realting to 47.2 especially reading the ittle spheel that goes with the Rider cards.."weariness, aversion, imaginary vexations, as if the wine of this world had caused satiety only: another wine, as if a fairy gift, is now offered the wastrel, but he sees no consolation therein. This is also a card of blended pleasure". In 47.2 someones coming or something, perhaps like the goblet hanging in front of the man in the 4 cups. 47.2 says its good to offer him sacrifice. I've never been sure what kind of action is suggested in 47.2 ? A sacrifice of willingness just to look perhaps, the man in 4 cups won't even raise his head to look ?

 

[frank_r]

The first line is the one of trigram water. This line is yin on a yang place, so it doesn't feel comfertable. There it is also the bottum line of trigram water, which has movement downwards.The fear to fall is great here. This line doesn't get much help of the second line, because this is the first line of nucleur trigram fire that wants to go upwards. Because the movement of water and lake are in opposite directions is the resonating help from the fourth line not very great.

But the two trigrams have a connection in both the sequences. Lake and Water are both standing in the same position(West). Both on the position of the Sun that goes under, the postion where the yin is becoming more than the Yang, the position of the night and death.
So everything together there is improvement possible only it will take a longer time( 3 years). The number 3 is also a new begin( 3 is the first real number), the start of the 10.000 things(posibilities).

 

[rosada]

Hey cool, Twilight, that interpretation gives me permission to carry on now rather than waiting three years!
btw, were you thinking of posting this several days ago but got side tracked? Just curious cause that would fit in with 47.4

 

[rosada]

47.2
0 Nine in the second place means:
One is oppressed while at meat and drink.
The man with the scarlet knee bands is just coming.
It furthers one to offer sacrifice.
To set forth brings misfortune.
No blame.

 

[rosada]

47.2
This pictures a state of inner oppression. Externally, all is well, one has meat and drink. But one is exhausted by the commonplaces of life, and there seems to be no way of escape. Then help comes from a high place. A prince - in ancient China princes wore scarlet knee bands - is in search of able helpers. But there are still obstructions to be overcome, Therefore it is important to meet these obstructions in the invisible relm by offerings and prayer. To set forth without being prepared would be disastrous, though not morally wrong. Here a disagreeable situation must be overcome by patience of spirit.
-Wilhelm

 

[rosada]

K'an is wine, Tui food. The man with the scarlet knee bands is the nine in the fifth place, the ruler (the nuclear trigram Sun, in which the nine in the fifth place is the top line, means leg). Between the two rulers of the hexagram - the prince, the nine in the in the fifth place and the official, the nine in the second place - the significant relationship is that of congruity rather than that of correspondence.
Accordingly, it is a matter not of natural but of supernatural relationships, and therefore the religious act of sacrifice is mentioned. Since it accords with the time, going to the prince who is kindred in spirit is in itself not a mistake, but it cannot be done, because the six in the third place obstructs the way and makes it dangerous.
-Wilhelm

 

[rosada]

I wonder if this is line is about death by chocolate?

47.2
One is oppressed while porking out.
You just can't help yourself.
It would be good to cut back.
Keep this up and you'll hate yourself in the morning.
But it's so good, no one blames you.

 

[my_key]

Mmmm - chocolate !!!! Good analogy.

Widening it out a bit here's my take.

47.2 - On the face of it everything seems acceptable, but you are not feeling at ease within yourself. The way you are behaving and the things that are going on around you does not sit right with you. Changing the way you think and behave will be good for you. However, if you don't then you'll get more of the same - you may be experiencing external positives or negatives but whatever it is you are feeling out of sorts inside. Don't fret.That's how you are at the moment and you are already doing the best you can.

Remember, If you keep doing the same things you get the same results.

Take Care

Mike

 

[rosada]

Very cool, thanks my_key. Now would you say this next one is about being stuck between a rock and hard place, that is, really stuck, or is it the person's own attitude creating barriers that don't exist?

 

[rosada]

Six in the third place means:

47.3
A man permits himself to be oppressed by stone,
And leans on thorns and thistles.
He enters his house and does not see his wife.
Misfortune.

 

[rosada]

This shows a man who is restless and indecisive in times of adversity. At first he wants to push ahead, then he encounters obstructions that, it is true mean oppression only when recklessly dealt with. He butts his head against a wall. Then he leans on things that have in themselves no stability and that are merely a hazard for him who leans on them. Thereupon he turns back irresolutely and retires into his house, only to find, as a fresh disappointment, that his wife is not there. Confucius says about this line:

If a man permits himself to be oppressed by something that ought not to oppress him, his name will certainly be disgraced, If he leans on things upon which one cannot lean, his life will certainly be endangered. for him who is in disgrace and danger, the hour of death draws near; how can he still see his wife?

"He leans on thorns and thistles": he rests on a hard line.
"He enters his house and does not see his wife": this bodes misfortune.

The oppression that afflicts this line is due to the hard line below it and to the hard line above, which is like a stone over it. Thus it can neither progress nor retreat. It represents a man holding the wrong office and hence in an untenable position. The appended judgments therefore allude directly to imminent death; this is what the text refers to in the words "bodes misfortune."
-Wilhelm

 

[frank_r]

line 3

Line 3 - the line of selfpity

I think line 3 of 47 is really interesting. 47 is one of the hexagram that have a quantum jump between the trigrams. In 47 the jump is from trigram lake to trigram lake. Trigram lake is the trigram of the Heart and his protector(the ego) and also the trigram of death. Trigram lake is standing in the west in the KWS.
47 line 3 is changing the lower core of 47, here it is changing in 28. A hexagram of individuality/responsibility and also death( in contrast with 27 which is the hexagram of life).
And when you change the 4th line of 28 you get 48(which is the quantum jump between trigram thunder and thunder).

27.4 -- 21 = 22 -- 27.3
----------- X -------------
28.3 -- 47 = 48 -- 28.4

21, 22, 47, 48 are all quantum jumps. So there the energy stays the same but goes to a deeper layer. Like the ring in an union.

What I think here in 47.3 is happening is that this line is telling you things about death and the afterlife, that you feel the afterlife here. And in that way you can learn from it.

 

[rosada]

Thank you, Frank! I didn't understand why 47.3 was connected with death.

Hmm, just looking at the sequence here and how we're coming up on 48. The Well. I wonder if 47 could be considered to be describing the hard part, the digging the well, and then 48 the bringing the water to the surface. Or to put it another way, 47 would represent the digging deep within the self to find the inner connection with source, and then 48 the recognition that we are all connected on a deep inner level. 47.3 then could represent that the ego not getting the recognition it craves from the outer world?

 

[my_key]

Line 3 - the line of selfpity

I think line 3 of 47 is really interesting. 47 is one of the hexagram that have a quantum jump between the trigrams. In 47 the jump is from trigram lake to trigram lake. Trigram lake is the trigram of the Heart and his protector(the ego) and also the trigram of death. Trigram lake is standing in the west in the KWS.
47 line 3 is changing the lower core of 47, here it is changing in 28. A hexagram of individuality/responsibility and also death( in contrast with 27 which is the hexagram of life).
And when you change the 4th line of 28 you get 48(which is the quantum jump between trigram thunder and thunder).

27.4 -- 21 = 22 -- 27.3
----------- X -------------
28.3 -- 47 = 48 -- 28.4

21, 22, 47, 48 are all quantum jumps. So there the energy stays the same but goes to a deeper layer. Like the ring in an union.

What I think here in 47.3 is happening is that this line is telling you things about death and the afterlife, that you feel the afterlife here. And in that way you can learn from it.

Frank this is a wonderful insight. Death and the afterlife is an interesting concept especially when you identify this as a key hexagram for deeper insight. Is this like personal and spiritual step changes like jumping the grand canyon in a single bound, a real step change / leap of faith is there for you to take?

I've seen 47.3 as being caught between a rock and a hard place as Rosada says. The rock is the ego trying to protect you by keeping you in those old safe behaviour patterns (permits himself to be oppressed by stone) and the hard place of not yet letting the new inner you being realised (leans on thorns and thistles), you are caught in the old patterns. It's teh painful place of between the two states. It's clinging to the old ways even though they cause you pain but you have yet to find teh courage to do something different, step out of your comfort zone. The ego is hanging on for it's life it is fighting it's hardest, putting up all the old smoke screens so that you are not able to see what future really holds (enters his house and does not see his wife) The "petit mort" of allowing an old part of you to die and the new inner you to burst out. Learning to take full responsibility for your actions and to step in to the new you,

Perhaps it's about coming to terms with the retirement of your faithful old soldiers who have protected you well up until now and the turmoil you experience while you battle with realising that the best thing for you to go forward is allowing them to retire with grace and dignity.

Remember, if you keep doing the same things you get the same results.

Mike

 

[frank_r]

Hmm, just looking at the sequence here and how we're coming up on 48. The Well. I wonder if 47 could be considered to be describing the hard part, the digging the well, and then 48 the bringing the water to the surface. Or to put it another way, 47 would represent the digging deep within the self to find the inner connection with source, and then 48 the recognition that we are all connected on a deep inner level. 47.3 then could represent that the ego not getting the recognition it craves from the outer world?

Yes, I also think that 47 is going deep into yourself, 48 finding the water(48 is the quantum jump between trigram thunder and thunder, this is the beginning of the KW sequence, so the Water/history will never end)And then 49 that will be the real change.

Frank

 

[frank_r]

Frank this is a wonderful insight. Death and the afterlife is an interesting concept especially when you identify this as a key hexagram for deeper insight. Is this like personal and spiritual step changes like jumping the grand canyon in a single bound, a real step change / leap of faith is there for you to take?

I've seen 47.3 as being caught between a rock and a hard place as Rosada says. The rock is the ego trying to protect you by keeping you in those old safe behaviour patterns (permits himself to be oppressed by stone) and the hard place of not yet letting the new inner you being realised (leans on thorns and thistles), you are caught in the old patterns. It's the painful place of between the two states. It's clinging to the old ways even though they cause you pain but you have yet to find teh courage to do something different, step out of your comfort zone. The ego is hanging on for it's life it is fighting it's hardest, putting up all the old smoke screens so that you are not able to see what future really holds (enters his house and does not see his wife) The "petit mort" of allowing an old part of you to die and the new inner you to burst out. Learning to take full responsibility for your actions and to step in to the new you,

Perhaps it's about coming to terms with the retirement of your faithful old soldiers who have protected you well up until now and the turmoil you experience while you battle with realising that the best thing for you to go forward is allowing them to retire with grace and dignity.

Remember, if you keep doing the same things you get the same results.

Mike

Yes, Mike I think it is the perception you have to jump, because you went this road for a long time. You know what it can give but are still afraid for the new road because this is a real new one. You have to learn how to walk again. In 47-3 you know how you walked the old road because you feel death here, how this road went for many generations. in 47-3 is part of the inner trigram, so its still very personal. It's the top line of trigram water. Water is the history, the blood that is flowing through our veins. When this line is changing than it is changing into trigram heaven, so the yang energy is giving his creativity. The lower nucleur trigram fire, what gives the red colour to the blood is also changing in trigram heaven. So both give new creative energy to change the proces.

The kidney(water) and Heart(fire) are our deepest axis they are getting both new creative energy, so you have the strenght(water) and the confidence(fire) that you can change this old path. And this goes beyond our ego, when we don't drown in our own selfpity. When we can do this than our ego knows that this is the moment to make the jump. And then we can follow the Kosmic heart(Spirit, or Oneness).

Frank

 

[rosada]

47.4 Nine in the fourth place means:

47.4
He comes very quietly, oppressed in a golden carriage.
Humiliation, but the end is reached.

 

[my_key]

I know we are only at 47.4 but I was pondering over Frank's comments of death associated with 47 and was set to thinking that there could be similarities with the Kubler- Ross model of Grief ......
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kübler-Ross_model

...but in some way related to inner struggles to change the way you behave in certain situations. Here's the process with a few cribs from Wilhlem (who was obviously thinking along the same lines)

47.1 - Denial "remains sitting under a bare tree"
47.2 - Anger "a state of inner oppression............ must be overcome by patience of spirit"
47.3 - Bargaining "a man who is restless and indecisive in times of adversity"
47.4 - Depression " instead of proceeding with speed and energy where
their is need, he begins in a hesitant and measured way. "
47.5 - Acceptance " little by little, things take a turn for the better."
47.6 - Acceptance Manifest ?? " But as soon as he grasps the situation, changes this mental attitude, and makes a firm decision, he masters the oppression."

This "connection" has only just come into my thinking. There looks to be a reasonable fit for the process, but I'll throw it out there for the glitteratti's comments.

Take Care

Mike

 

[my_key]

Yes, Mike I think it is the perception you have to jump, because you went this road for a long time. You know what it can give but are still afraid for the new road because this is a real new one. You have to learn how to walk again. In 47-3 you know how you walked the old road because you feel death here, how this road went for many generations. in 47-3 is part of the inner trigram, so its still very personal. It's the top line of trigram water. Water is the history, the blood that is flowing through our veins. When this line is changing than it is changing into trigram heaven, so the yang energy is giving his creativity. The lower nucleur trigram fire, what gives the red colour to the blood is also changing in trigram heaven. So both give new creative energy to change the proces.

The kidney(water) and Heart(fire) are our deepest axis they are getting both new creative energy, so you have the strenght(water) and the confidence(fire) that you can change this old path. And this goes beyond our ego, when we don't drown in our own selfpity. When we can do this than our ego knows that this is the moment to make the jump. And then we can follow the Kosmic heart(Spirit, or Oneness).

Frank

Hi Frank
Following the Kosmic Heart is a wonderful vision to hang on to and a great outcome to have after periods of Oppression / Exhaustion especially when we have succeeded in not allowing ourselves to wallow in our own self pity.

Reading between the lines here, I'm getting a feeling that you are talking about is not just oppression from this life but that it has a very deep spiritual root connection. You say "how this road went for many generations" and "Water is the history, the blood that is flowing through our veins."
Are you linking this right back to oppressions from our ancestoral roots which are manifesting themselves now ?.
Mike

 

[frank_r]

Reading between the lines here, I'm getting a feeling that you are talking about is not just oppression from this life but that it has a very deep spiritual root connection. You say "how this road went for many generations" and "Water is the history, the blood that is flowing through our veins."
Are you linking this right back to oppressions from our ancestoral roots which are manifesting themselves now ?.
Mike

Hallo Mike,

Yes I do, because the trigrams Water and Fire are changing into trigram Heaven. So both are getting a creative impuls, the beginning of the Heavenly cycle. The creation from Heaven to Earth(Fire and Water are standing in the Fu Shi sequence on the place of Heaven and earth), so there is a deep connection between Fire-Water and Heaven- Earth).

47 is the hexagram that brings you back to your own basis. The hexagram of loneliless, nobody can help you here in 47, you are on your own.The hexagram that is known in the literature as one of the 4 most difficult hexagrams(together with 3, 29 and 39).In 47 you have to change your course radically. And the third line the most personal of the Man lines is changing. So deep inside you can find this change, a change of history.
In this hexagram the Great Man brings you good fortune, you need perseverence.
In 47 you go that deep that you have to meet the Great Man.
And what is deeper than to change your own history, your old paterns?

And Mike I like your anology with the Grief model of Kubler Ross

Frank

 

[rodaki]

dear all,

Not wishing to side- or backtrack this thread, there have been wonderful views here ever since I visited last and there is a lot to digest! :bows:
but there is a thought/question I'd like to share :
Could the '3 years' of line 1 be the next 3 lines of the hex. (lines 2, 3, and 4)?

this might sound like a joke (I don't mean to offend anyone but this is how it came to me) I guess you've all seen the typical cartoon of the prisoner counting time by drawing lines . .

p.s.: Again I know this is hardly as deep as the rest of the insights posted here, and I don't mean to be rude to all of you who are putting so much in your posts, but maybe it makes some sense?

rodaki

 

[rodaki]

(by the way, I wasn't sure how you might feel about this post of mine here,
but I ching said 51.1 to 16: terror (that's my anxiety), then laughter (hopefully your reaction)!

rodaki

 

[Trojina]

(by the way, I wasn't sure how you might feel about this post of mine here,
but I ching said 51.1 to 16: terror (that's my anxiety), then laughter (hopefully your reaction)!

rodaki

Frankly I'm shocked at your light hearted treatment of this very serious topic !! Don't you know everyone here at Clarity only ever makes profound observations and in depth insights pertaining to the I Ching !!




just kidding of course


i think the cartoon sums up the 47 feeling pretty well

 

[rodaki]

rodaki

 

[charly]

... the typical cartoon of the prisoner counting time by drawing lines . . ... maybe it makes some sense?
rodaki

Rodaki:

You'r not alone. Rutt says that Gao Heng take the hidden place as a prison.

I believe that all H.47 could be interpreted in terms of punishment and prison:

47:

• 困 kun4: enclosure + tree, tree → 大人da4ren2: big man → A JAIL FOR THE BIG MAN
• no blame → maybe innocent, but in jail
• words not believed → Words written by a man in jail are hard to believe or maybe to understand.

47.1:

• entering into the dark valley → in prison, to be «at the shadows»
• three years without seeing the own face → in jail!, maybe he has no mirror.

47.2:

• profitable to enjoy the sacrifice → better relax,
• to attack is unlucky → guardians love vengeance

47.3:

• not meeting with his wife, unlucky → without conjugal visits.

47.4:

• stingy but finite (having end) → all passes, maybe with good behavior...

47.5:

• «red stripes» are gentle persuading → like in 47.2 說 could mean «to persuade» and also «to enjoy».
• profitable to offer sacrifices → better to commend to god, people who become religious get better conditions in prison.

47.6:

• changing regret → sometimes repentance brings freedom, negotiate with the fiscal
• to attack is lucky → sometimes the only possibility of freedom is to escape

But must be noted that the only persons that explicitly appear at H.47 are:

• 大人 da4ren2: «big / great» and «man» → BIG MAN
• 妻 qi1: «spouse / legal wife» (the character depicts a lady cought by the neck, I believe) → WIFE

... and that the red ribbon is a well known symbol of success for married couples.

The guy that Luis (Sparhawk) posted was also in jail, but he had brush and paper for writing. Maybe too much paper.

Yours,

Charly


________________
(1) IN SPANISH «ESPOSAS» MEANS HANDCUFFS

 

[rosada]

A well-to-do man sees the need of the lower classes and would like very much to be of help. But instead of proceeding with speed and energy where there is need, he begins in a hesitant and measured way. Then he encounters obstructions. Powerful and wealthy acquaintances draw him into their circle; he has to do as they do and cannot withdraw from them. Hence he finds himself in great embarrassment. But the trouble is transitory. The original strength of his nature offsets the mistake he has made, and the goal is reached.
-Wilhelm