Hexagram 61 for decisions: Inner Truth

中孚 Zhōng Fú · A decision

Decide from your own inner truth, with an open mind and no prejudice. The reading supports the large decision when it rests on sincerity, and it asks you to examine whether your confidence is real or merely wishful.

Lake below, wind above: wind moving the surface of the water, the influence of the invisible on the visible. The hexagram's shape has two yielding lines at its centre, an emptiness in the middle, which the tradition reads as a heart free of prejudice and open to truth. Inner Truth describes sincerity that reaches even the least receptive, pigs and fishes, and that makes large undertakings possible. The judgement promises good fortune and the crossing of the great water. The image is of the wise person discussing criminal cases in order to delay executions: truth that leans toward understanding. The reading says the situation is decided by inner sincerity, and that the empty centre is not weakness but the space through which truth passes.

Advice: Keep the centre open and sincere; truth held that way reaches everyone and carries the large undertaking.
Warning: Sincerity that depends on being reciprocated, or confidence placed in the wrong person, is the hexagram's undoing.

The changing lines, read for decisions

If your cast of Hexagram 61 had changing lines, these are what each one adds to a decision question, and where each leads.

Line 1 · changes into 59 Dispersion
Being prepared brings good fortune. If there are secret designs, it is disquieting. Begin without a hidden agenda; secrets unsettle the truth.
Line 2 · changes into 42 Increase
A crane calling in the shade; its young answers it. I have a good goblet; I will share it with you. Speak sincerely and those who are yours will answer; share what you have.
Line 3 · changes into 9 Small Taming
He finds a comrade. Now he beats the drum, now he stops. Now he sobs, now he sings. If your steadiness rises and falls with another person, your centre is not yours; find it.
Line 4 · changes into 10 Treading
The moon nearly at the full. The team horse goes astray. No blame. Turn toward the higher truth even if it means leaving the team.
Line 5 · changes into 41 Decrease
He possesses truth, which links together. No blame. Let your sincerity be what holds people together.
Line 6 · changes into 60 Limitation
Cockcrow penetrating to heaven. Persistence brings misfortune. Do not let your words fly higher than your substance; the crow is heard and the bird cannot follow.

Hexagram 61 in full Love & relationships Career Money

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