61 中孚 Inner Truth
Judgement
Inner truth is a sincere trust that reaches even pigs and fish, that is, what is hardest to persuade. It looks promising, and there is an advantage in crossing the great river and in staying firm and upright. What is done with complete sincerity reaches where words do not. Ask yourself whether what you say and do truly comes from inside, and where duplicity costs you strength.
Image
Wind over a lake: the air brushes the water and moves it without forcing. The wise person deliberates calmly on lawsuits and postpones what cannot be undone. When sincerity guides, there is no hurry to condemn. Before judging someone, listen. Ask yourself whom you have judged in haste, and what might change if you gave yourself time to understand their reasons.
Lines
Line 1
You rest in yourself: it looks promising. If you sought support in another, you would not find it. This is the first step of trust: being at ease with who you are before depending on anyone. Do not look for it outside. Ask yourself where you feel real calm.
Line 2
A crane cries in its retreat, and its young answer. "I have a cup of good wine," it says, and the answer is: "I will drink it with you." It is the image of mutual resonance: what is called from within finds an echo. Ask yourself whom you call without needing to shout, and who answers you.
Line 3
You have found your partner: sometimes you beat the drum and sometimes you drop it; sometimes you weep and sometimes you sing. This is someone who depends on another's mood and shifts with it. There is no verdict, but the instability shows. Ask yourself how much of your emotional state depends on someone else.
Line 4
You are like the almost full moon, and like a horse whose companion has gone. You are unlikely to go wrong. This is someone about to achieve something who is left without those who accompanied them. Going on by yourself is not losing: it is being able to advance alone. Ask yourself what company you left behind.
Line 5
You are sincere to the core and bind others to you in close union. You are unlikely to go wrong. It is the authority that comes from truth: it does not need to impose itself. Someone of a piece draws those who recognize it. Look after that coherence. Ask yourself what makes you of a piece with those around you.
Line 6
A rooster tries to climb to the sky. Even if it is firm and upright, that tends to end badly. It is sincerity turned into mere voice: lots of noise and little height. Pretending to rise without the wings for it is ridiculous. Ask yourself where your word runs ahead of your acts.
Reflection
- Where do you feel a true calm that depends on nobody?
- Whom do you call without needing to shout, and who answers you?
- Where does your word run ahead of your acts?