姤

44. Unexpected encounter

gòu · Heaven ☰ over Lake ☱

Something uninvited enters and demands attention.

The Leader's Path

Wind blowing beneath heaven, touching everything along the way. What is unexpected and all-pervading calls for a clear, decisive response.

The Lesson

Stay alert to what appears suddenly. Don't let a passing fascination cloud your good sense.

A question to sit with

In this new situation, am I too easily carried away, losing sight of what really matters to me?

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.

易

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

卦

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