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I Ching · Hexagram 52 Keeping Still

Hexagram 52 for career: Keeping Still

艮 Gèn · Career

A pause. Stop, attend to what is in front of you, and do not let the mind race to the next thing. Not the time for initiatives. The reading is favourable for reflection, planning done quietly, and the restraint of ambition for a season.

Mountain below, mountain above: stillness upon stillness. Keeping Still is the hexagram of rest, of the pause between movements, of the mind that has stopped chasing itself. The tradition's judgement is an image of meditation: keeping the back still so that the body is no longer felt, going into the courtyard and not seeing the people there, without blame. Stillness of this kind is not withdrawal from life; the image says the wise person does not let their thoughts go beyond the situation. The reading says the moment asks for stopping, for full attention to what is here, and for restraint of the impulse to move. Every line is a part of the body coming to rest.

Advice
Stop; keep the mind within the present situation and let the body rest.
Warning
Stillness forced on the body while the mind races, or imposed on someone not ready for it, is not rest but strain.

The changing lines, read for career

If your cast of Hexagram 52 had changing lines, these are what each one adds to a career question, and where each leads.

  1. Line 1 · changes into 22 Grace

    Keeping the toes still. No blame. Continued persistence furthers. Stop before you start; it is the easiest place to stop.

  2. Line 2 · changes into 18 Work on What Has Been Spoiled

    Keeping the calves still. Cannot rescue the one he follows. His heart is not glad. If you must stop because your leader is wrong, accept it; you cannot save them by moving.

  3. Line 3 · changes into 23 Splitting Apart

    Keeping the hips still. Making the sacrum stiff. Dangerous; the heart suffocates. Do not force the stillness; rigidity is not rest.

  4. Line 4 · changes into 56 The Wanderer

    Keeping the trunk still. No blame. Let the body rest even if the mind is not entirely still; that is progress.

  5. Line 5 · changes into 53 Development

    Keeping the jaws still. The words have order. Remorse disappears. Govern your speech; say what is in order and no more.

  6. Line 6 · changes into 15 Modesty

    Noble-hearted keeping still. Good fortune. Rest completely; the stillness is yours now.

Hexagram 52 in fullLove & relationshipsMoneyA decision

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