I Ching
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52. Stillness

gèn · Thunder ☳ over Thunder ☳

Stopping as a source of clarity of vision.

The Noble One's Path

Mountain upon mountain — a stillness that provides support. The Noble One doesn't try to think beyond his place and role — he knows the limits of what he can influence right now (Li).

The Lesson

Learn to interrupt constant motion. If you don't know what to do, do nothing. Calm is sometimes the best counselor.

A question to sit with

Can I truly stop, just to be?

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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