I Ching
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12. Standstill

pǐ · Heaven ☰ over Earth ☷

A lack of flow, isolation. A time to hold on to integrity, even when nothing is going your way.

The Noble One's Path

Heaven and earth pass each other by, never touching. In a time like this, the Noble One protects himself through restraint — he isn't tempted by glittering things, nor does he fight a wind blowing the wrong way.

The Lesson

If you run into a wall, don't beat against it. Withdraw inward and wait for a better moment.

A question to sit with

What values do I need to hold on to right now, even if no one around me appreciates them?

Related hexagrams

In the I Ching no hexagram stands alone. Each one enters into relationships with others, and those relationships show the situation seen from the other side, in its opposite, and in its hidden tendency.

The classical deep dive for this hexagram — the Judgment and the Image after Richard Wilhelm — along with the texts of all six changing lines, is in the book. Get the book

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