I CHING
The obstruction, stagnation
Hexagram 12
Standstill. Lack of understanding between the high and the low. The great and the good departs. The mean approach.
Violation of the rule
Those who are of weak intellect will believe that all forms of attention given is coming from a caring heart.
Some people appear to be all nice yet the total effect of their behavior makes you stagnate in mind and body.
This is a very subtle effect for deep within you there is a form of comfort so that one fears to move progressively.
The core is the fear of separation.
There is no threat given yet one is afraid to advance into something better that is truly beneficial–hence, standstill.
This is often observed in relationships that heve to a purposeful end.
The focus is more on superficial and make believe matters.
When one is fails to see this narrowness, one will fall prey to people who are greedy and selfish where even one’s soul is not enough for their advancement.
Observation of the rule
One does not allow himself to be tempted by honors and fame. One withdraws from public life if there is the chance of being tempted by such things.
It is to one’s advantage to decline any offers of publicity if it will lead one to loose one’s self-discipline.
It is the weakness of those who lack self-contentment to always court attention to the point of forgetting their sensibilities.
They are like small children who craves for attention even at wrong times.
Although it is part of our nature to need attention, yet one is careful not to attend to such attention given as not to appear like a clown in front of people.
One needs to distinguish one’s need for attention as human need for growth and not a dependency need.
By understanding the difference between the two, one is able to decline when the need for attention is tending towards dependency.
When it is dependency, then it is a warning sign that one is becoming a slave already than a master of oneself.
By becoming another person’s slave, one will lose all other virtues that one may have nurtured within oneself from the start.
Other suggestions:
- When retreat is inevitable, withdraw cooperatively.
- Take independent action when it is deemed necessary.
- Being expensive without proper qualifications is wrong.
- When matters are discordant, unite the divergent elements.
- Strong leadership is required to bring any stagnation to an end.
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