Case Study
A user consults the I Ching with the following concern: “How can I get to work independently in my profession?” She adds: “This year I attended a professional training course. Since then I have been playing with the idea of working independently, self-employed, to develop a new mainstay. I was really impressed by the speaker at the professional training. And anyway, for some time now I have felt like trying out some new methods and professional approaches.”
The I Ching responds with hexagram 52 – keeping still.
“Supporting leg and non-supporting leg” spontaneously comes to my mind as I read the user’s concern. Our supporting leg, our firm stand… rooted in the ground that nourishes us. And our non-supporting leg which allows us to experience freedom and to try out new things, to be playful and sometimes daring.
Regarding the supporting and non-supporting leg I found the following in (German) Wikipedia:
Physiologically, the human gait consists of an alternating motion between the supporting leg and the non-supporting leg The supporting leg remains connected to the ground and is usually in an extended position, while the non-supporting leg leaves the ground and is slightly flexed at the knee as it is lifted to take a step. As the (non-supporting) leg is lowered, the lower leg is increasingly extended until it reaches the ground. At this point, the non-supporting leg becomes the supporting leg and the supporting leg becomes non-supporting leg. Wikipedia
As long as we are moving, our legs dynamically alternate between supporting and non-supporting functions. It is only when we stand still that this dynamic alternation ends.
Hexagram 52 – keeping still begins with Gen (the mountain) as the lower trigram. Gen represents our ability to let go and focus on the essential. The user wants to “develop a new mainstay” – but every supporting leg begins as – see above! – non-supporting leg. Her desired independence should begin playfully: as a non-supporting leg.
So how can the user free her non-supporting leg and take the first step toward independence? The best way is to let go of what is superfluous and unnecessary, and to focus her energies. By reducing the load on the supporting leg, the leg can support the weight of the body with greater ease and reliability. In Taiji releasing also means “sinking into the root”, firmly rooting oneself. Only when we are well rooted, and the supporting leg reliably carries the body, can the non-supporting leg confidently lift off the ground and initiate a new step.
The lower trigram Gen (the mountain) develops into Kan, the water (first core character). Kan helps us to find our way. When we let go and root ourselves, we reconnect with our spiritual roots: our own intuitive wisdom of life that we have collected along our life path and can draw from here and now. It is good to be connected to these primal grounds. All actions that we initiate from this place have a special quality, they feel “right” in a very special way. From our good roots, the non-supporting leg will find its way all by itself: intuitively.
From Kan (the water; first core character) arises Zhen, the thunder (second core character). Zhen represents decision and action. When Zhen develops from Kan, action is being initiated from our own gut feeling. And this is very good: our gut has much more information – beyond language – than the sharpest intellect. And a gut decision usually has much more wisdom and power than a mere head decision.
Zhen, thunder (second core character), eventually develops into Gen (the mountain, upper trigram). Hexagram 52 – keeping still ends with shifting weights: the non-supporting leg becomes the supporting leg…
Another Case Study
“May I heal with Reiki and alternative methods?” asks another user, and the I Ching also responds with hexagram 52 – keeping still. As a background to his question, he later told me that he was still working in the profession he learned as a butcher, but that this was becoming more and more of a burden, especially since this environment did not share his spiritual interests. He has been studying Reiki for more than 15 years now and has great respect for this kind of work. Hence his reluctance to ask if he could help others with Reiki.
I have been thinking about the Reiki practicing butcher for some time. Life is development. We start at a certain point in life, and from there we develop. Some people go a long way, some people do not. From the beginning butcher to the (provisional) end position Reiki practitioner is quite a long way.
Or maybe not. As a butcher, cutting up oxen can also be done in a very spiritual way. In the Zhuangzi (Dschuang Dsï: The True Book of the Southern Flowerland) there is a story about a cook:
“His cook was cutting up an ox for the ruler Wen Hui. Whenever he used his hand, leaned forward with his shoulder, planted his foot, and used the pressure of his knee, in the audible ripping off of the skin, and the slicing operation of the knife, the sounds were all in a regular cadence. The movements and sounds proceeded as in the dance of ‘the Mulberry Forest’ and the blended notes of the King Shou.’ The ruler said, ‘Ah! Admirable! That your art should have become so perfect!’ (Having finished his operation), the cook put down his knife, and replied to the remark, ‘What your servant loves is the method of the Dao, which is ahead of any art. When I first started cutting up an ox, I saw nothing but the (entire) carcass. After three years I stopped seeing it as a whole. Now I treat it in a spirit-like manner, and do not look at it with my eyes. The use of my senses is discarded, and my mind acts as it wills. Observing the natural lines, (my knife) slips through the great crevices and slides through the great cavities, taking advantage of the opportunities thus presented. My art avoids the membranous ligaments, and much more the large bones. A good cook changes his knife every year; (it may have been injured) in cutting – an ordinary cook changes his every month – (it may have been) broken. Now my knife has been in use for nineteen years; it has cut up several thousand oxen, and yet its edge is as sharp as if it had just come off the grindstone. There are the gaps of the joints, and the edge of the knife has no (appreciable) thickness; when that which is so thin enters where the gap is, how easily it moves along! The blade has more than enough room. Nevertheless, when I come to a complicated joint and see that there will be some difficulty, I proceed cautiously, not allowing my eyes to wander from the place, and move my hand slowly. Then, with a very slight movement of the knife, the piece is quickly separated, and falls to the ground like (a lump of) earth. Then I stand up with the knife in my hand, look around, and in a leisurely manner, with an air of satisfaction, wipe it clean, and put it back in its sheath.’ The ruler Wen Hui said, ‘Excellent! I have heard the words of my cook, and learned the food of (our) life from him.’” Dsi, Chapter 3.2
I like this story, I find it inspiring and impressive to see that mastery is obviously about finding the just right way. Whether it’s butchering an ox, chopping a tree for firewood, or even healing another person. If you start in the wrong place, you ruin the tool, you waste energy, and the result is bad. But if you start in the right place, everything is very easy and the result is fantastic.
I believe that mastery in one area can be applied to other areas. After all, mastery is a kind of sensitivity, a feeling for the right way. In this respect, it is perhaps not so much a question of whether it is butchery or Reiki, but rather whether one has attained mastery in one area, whether one is familiar with sensitive feeling of where the right path lies. And that can be practiced in butchering, but also in chopping wood. And Reiki could benefit.
Yes, I admit, this is a very individual interpretation. And from a purely external point of view, dead animals and patients are actually quite far apart. If at all and how this fits together for the user, the Reiki butcher, he has to find out.
But maybe one part of him likes to be a butcher, and the other part likes to be a Reiki therapist. If that is the case, I think that you don’t have to construct a conflict if there is no conflict in your heart, just because outsiders might want to see a conflict . If you are clear about how things fit together for you, then you can practice them. Lightheartedly.
Scope of Questions
I have received a number of questions regarding hexagram 52 – keeping still:
- One user receives hexagram 52 – keeping still as a comment on his situation: “I am in a hopeless situation. Nothing works anymore!”
- A user asks: “What is the best way to quit smoking?” The I Ching’s advice: hexagram 52 – keeping still.
- A user is afraid to quit her job (and thus a stable income) with no prospect of getting a new one. The job market is difficult. However, she has an upcoming interview with a 25 percent chance because she is one of four applicants in the second round. She is very interested in this new position.
- A user asks: “What is relevant in the current situation regarding my partner?”
- A user writes: “Today I was once again impressed by the depth of this site and am currently digesting the story about the cook/oxen. Very exciting – thank you!”
The current interpretation can be found here: https://www.no2do.com/hexagramme_en/887887.htm
