42 益 Increase
Judgement
Something grows and you are given more than you expected. There is an advantage in any move, even in crossing the great river, that is, in starting something risky. It is a time of opening: what is above bends toward what is below and everything circulates. Make use of it generously. What you receive is not only for you. Ask yourself what you could start now that you did not dare try before, and whom it would benefit.
Image
Wind and thunder reinforce each other, each making the other stronger. The wise person, when they see something good, moves toward it; and when they see their own faults, they turn away from them. It is a simple, brave ethic: approach the better and leave the worse, without delay. Ask yourself what good you have seen and not yet followed, and what fault of your own you have long looked at without correcting.
Lines
Line 1
It helps to make a great move. If it goes very well, there is no reproach. When you are given a boost, use it with ambition. Do not make small what lets you be great. Ask yourself what opportunity is within reach today and whether you will make full use of it.
Line 2
Others add to you ten pairs of tortoise shells, an oracle nobody can contradict. Stay firm and upright: it works in your favor. And if the king, with these virtues, offers sacrifices to God, the same holds. Receive it with humility. Ask yourself whom you owe your present situation to and whether you have acknowledged them.
Line 3
You receive an increase by way of something bad, so that you turn toward the good and stand without blame. Be sincere and follow the middle way, like an official who appears before his prince bearing the symbol of his rank. Ask yourself what a stumble has taught you that comfort never did.
Line 4
You follow the proper path and your advice to the one in command is accepted. You may trust that relationship even for something as large as moving the capital. When your judgment is sound and your intention clean, people listen. Ask yourself what advice you hold with good sense and how the person who must decide receives it.
Line 5
With a sincere heart, you seek to benefit others. There is no need to ask: it is a real advantage. Those who receive your good recognize it sincerely. Real kindness shows without needing proof. Do not do it for recognition. Ask yourself whom you are helping purely for their good, expecting nothing, and whether someone else could be reached.
Line 6
Nobody contributes to your increase, and many seek to attack you. You have no steady rule to order your heart. That is a bad sign. This is someone closed to others who has lost their center. Ask yourself what makes you close off from those who could help, and what simple rule could restore your course.
Reflection
- What good have you seen that you have not yet started to follow?
- Whom do you owe what you have today, and have you acknowledged them?
- What fault of your own have you long looked at without correcting?