56 story

The image of hexagram 56
Lǚ, itinerant troops

Hexagram 56 has trigram Gèn, Mountain, below or inside, Lí, Fire, above or outside. Mountain are the things which are solid, a given. Your situation and who you are. Fire is what you or others see, and also the rules of where you are.

What does it mean, 'inner' and 'outer trigram' (popup)

When trigram Gèn is below (popup)

When trigram Lí is above (popup)

Gèn below Lí: when they say "what is better than presence of mind...: absence of body", then it is this situation they have in mind. A situation in which you happen to arrive, and you have to adapt and improvise and guess, and yet be careful not to do something which goes against the way of the things or people you have to deal with. Traveling to a certain area and temporarily staying. Or itinerant troops, which have to organize a temporary stay.
Every day, every minute, is new and for a large part undefined. You cannot stand still and act out of habit, you have to renew yourself over and over and find new fuel. But also to explore the changing time and find your road in it. Every living creature is an exploring wanderer on this earth.

The old diviners gave this combination of trigrams a name: Lǚ, the wanderer. It is about the firm but also clear way one has to behave when things are not defined and familar. Morals, norms, structures, agreements, try to find them and adapt.

Ideogram of the hexagram name: a pole with a flag or banners and several people underneath it. An army division of 500 men, brigade, many, force, refers to travel reward, traveling to a certain area and temporarily staying, travel, guest, hostel, road, passengers, crowd, disseminated, stranger, be a partner, arrange in a series, one after the other, younger men of the family, a mountain offering. A journey was a hazardous undertaking back then, both spirits and other peoples were usually hostile, they had to be placated and set at ease.

The 'Great Image' says: High on the mountain there is fire: Itinerant. The noble one is clear minded and cautious in imposing punishment and does not protract lawsuits.
Reckon with the person you are judging, with emotions or morals which are different from yours. Don't take your own opinions for the only truth.

Hex.56 is the contrast of 60, which is about measures, the fixed units of time or weight or volume.
Hex.56 is where nothing is familiar or fixed, everything is unknown and has to be found out and done right.

  Story:
  In every country, even far away from home, one finds the same universal rules. Human rules can differ fundamentally, but the voice of the gods is everywhere the same.
  Who hears these voices can speak all languages on earth, he will find safety and a home wherever he is. God and Allah and Manitou and Buddha all come from the same source, only the names are different. So speak and behave from out this source, and accept the human rules as being part of the local landscape. Adapt to them with extra care, to make up for being unfamiliar with them.
  In every unknown and new situation, behave like being in a strange country.

The image of hexagram 56Lǚ, itinerant troops

The image of hexagram 56
Lǚ, itinerant troops