Hexagram 39 - Obstacles

Obstacles.

Harvesting:  Western South.

Not Harvesting:  Eastern North.

Benefit from seeing the spirit within.

                                    Adhering to what benefits all, significant.

Structure:  Dangerous water 3 above.  A mountain that keeps still 4 below. 

A dangerous abyss lies ahead of us, and a steep inaccessible mountain rises from behind, which make it impossible for us to advance.  Yet the mountain keeps still, pointing to the way for us to overcome the obstacles that block us. 

The northeast leads to the mountain and an impassable trail that leads no farther.  There we find ourselves alone.  The southwest, the place of the receptive Earth, offers us a refuge.  Here spiritual supports surround us.  By retreating, achievement is possible.  The wise yield in the downward movement that flows toward the Earth and benefits all.  To see danger and stop short in time is true wisdom.  

We experience an obstacle when dissatisfied with what we experience or do not get our way, reactively projecting our frustration and fears into the world.[1]  By externalizing our self-cherishing and negative feelings for others, we project onto others what we do not have the capacity to hold within presence.  Ignorantly, we then struggle to remove these projected feelings that we now experience as obstacles that thwart us. Obstacles mark the limits of our capacities of presence and abilities to respond well.

When the selfish experience obstacles, they react in competitive, hostile, fearful, and greedy ways.  They do not know how to develop themselves nor correct their errors.  Instead, those who are inwardly weak but outwardly harsh disparage the Way of humanity and cause great difficulties within the world and for themselves.

We have the potential to respond well creatively and beneficially to the Other and mindfully maneuver challenging situations.  To realize that potential, the wise know the importance of seeing how their projected obstacles are rooted within their self-cherishing and hostility for others.  The wise turn inward and see the spirit within.  Resting within the spirit while holding negative feelings and thoughts within presence transforms us. 

The wise practice the Way of humanity,[2] the caring for all and the Earth.   People who have a spiritual direction and know their duty have the means to move through their obstacles. They steadfastly hold to what benefits all and do not lose the path even when surrounded by danger.  Obstacles always appear in the course of time, but we should not allow them to endure as a lasting condition

Steps to Overcome Inner Obstacles

Awareness of obstacle:  Anxious feelings arise along with negative thinking.  We need to clearly identify these feelings and thoughts quickly before they solidify into an obstacle that we then project into the world.  The wise know their weaknesses and resist entangling themselves in a situation beyond their capacities to manage without supports; thus, they avoid increasing the danger of a situation. 

Retreat:  As soon as they recognize negative feelings and thoughts, the wise know that the situation has exceeded their capacity to remain present as their self-cherishing has been activated.  When threatened with danger, the ignorant blindly persist in advancing, which only results in a more dangerous situation. The wise know that they cannot overcome obstacles directly.  Instead, they pause in view of the danger and retreat inward to prepare for overcoming obstacles. 

A retreat from an obstacle requires us to take a step back and seemingly away from our desire to rid ourselves of our anxiety and distress.  The priority at this point is to regain presence and discern a safe and beneficial way forward. To retreat and prepare when we desperately want to advance requires perseverance and an unswerving inner purpose.

Turn inward toward the spirit:  When water on a mountain cannot flow downward because rocks hinder it, it stands still. In this way, the water accumulates until it can flow around the obstacle.  The way of overcoming inner obstacles and those within the world lies in turning toward the spirit and raising our being to a higher level.

The wise do not investigate the stories that they might have about why they have negative feelings and thoughts because they know that will only entangle them deeper into their harmful feelings and thoughts, crippling their resolve and increasing the danger.  In an anxious situation, we drop our projected stories and simply feel the negative feelings we have for the arising experience that challenges our capacity to respond well.  We hold this stress within a loving presence yet remain fully aware of its powers to collapse presence. 

When we continue to rest with these uncomfortable feelings within presence, we come to understand them for what they are:  self-cherishing and ill-will. Understanding their true nature gives us a taste of freedom from them.  Such a recognition allows us to make a purposeful cognitive shift toward resting within the spirit. 

By looking at how we struggle with the moment, we can better assess our feelings and thoughts.  This puts a space between mindfulness and the challenging anxiety. We eventually see a way forward to move through the obstacles in a skillful and beneficial way.  Success in one instance grows our confidence that we can overcome other obstacles in other situations.

Steps to Overcome Collective Obstacles in the World

When the selfish dominate society, they use their concentrated power to willingly harm others and the Earth for self-benefit and then ignore the suffering they cause.  The selfish are inwardly weak yet they act harshly within the world to profit from the misery of others. 

 

When powerful selfish groups cause difficulties within their world, an individual acting alone cannot undo their harm. Individuals who forge ahead on their own strength and without necessary preparations come to an impassable road as they do not find the support upon which they counted. 

Upon encountering an obstacle, the wise withdraw from the situation and reflect on how best to respond to it. They perceive subtle indications of the situation, the forces in play, and the consequences of rashly acting.   The wise do not give up the struggle but wait until they can see a beneficial path.

Withdrawing from the obstacle requires the will to persevere just when it seemingly takes us away from our goal.  The wise know they cannot overcome obstructions by persistently pressing forward into danger or by idly keeping still but by withdrawing and yielding.

When difficulties afflict the world, the wise join forces with others who struggle with the same obstacles and mutually align their direction with the Way of humanity to remove what harms Earth and all life.   The problems of the world must be solved by the people of the world.  Those who join forces will find ways as a group to discern a path through the difficulties.

When in a dangerous situation, the group take the safe road that leads toward greater support in benefiting all.  In this way, even if the group finds it cannot fully resolve a dangerous obstacle, it will not have lost the Way of humanity. Others coming after them will build upon their efforts. 

Value of Obstacles

Opposing what blocks our self-cherishing creates obstacles. Those who know their duty and have a direction in life have the capacity to move through own self-cherishing and then with others overcome injustices in the world in ways that benefit all.

These objectified and projected harmful feelings and thoughts should not endure as we have caused them by our self-cherishing; thus, we can use them to shape and test our practice.  We learn how to turn inward toward the spirit, which is the great value within the time of obstruction.

The difference between those who can cope with obstacles and those who cannot are a matter of resolve, wisdom, practice, and the readiness to act on opportunities.  Our capacities to move through obstacles grow as we practice moving through them.

We can reflect on how we successfully have held difficult experiences within a loving presence before making them into obstacles.  Instead of struggling with persistent negative feelings and yielding our life direction to them, we can learn how to carry them with us with compassion and awareness but not let them stop us from moving toward what we truly value. 

Our capacities to benefit all do not grow just because we have difficulties.  We grow because we have learned the practice of knowing the dangers of self-cherishing, turning inward to the spirit, discerning the way forward with the wisdom of others, and moving toward what benefits all.  The wise understand how they have projected feelings into obstacles within the world, and they reduce the harm they have caused.  Because of their success in transforming obstacles, their resolve to manifest the spirit’s love within their lives and in the world in ways that benefit all grows stronger.

The wise remain unclouded by worldly concerns.  They know both the ocean and the wave.  They are in the world but not of it.

Line 1: Struggling against projected feelings and thoughts leads to greater obstacles.  By turning inward toward the support of the spirit, the overcomes its self-cherishing.  The line rightly waits and prepares to meet the challenges of self-cherishing within the world.

At the beginning, when self-cherishing and hostile feelings first arises, the line recognizes its lack of capacity of moving against them.  It turns inward and rests within the spirit.

Line 2:  The line seeks out danger in the service of a higher cause even though difficulties pile upon difficulties.  The line does this without any hesitation about the rightness of its actions because it puts itself in harm’s way to fulfill its duty. 

Whenever possible, we should go around obstacles and overcome them by going along the lines of least resistance, just as does a stream flows over rocky ground.  However, here the path of duty leads directly to obstacles. 

Line 3:  Advancing against projected self-cherishing within the world leads to danger and isolation.  Turning inward toward the spirit and returning to the path brings joy.

Line 4:  The wise in this situation hold back to avoid the consequences of pressing ambitiously forward.  It gathers trustworthy partners to overcome the obstruction.  Those struggling with the same hardship are inherently of the same mind.

Those who join forces with the oppressed find beneficial ways to move through the difficult obstacles. The line associates with the wise to broaden its knowledge and vision so that they together can see the way to resolve the trouble.

Line 5:  The line struggles against the great obstruction, the crisis which imperils the whole community.  Yet it has strong partners (2^nd, 4^th, and 6^th lines) who come to support it. Together they clearly manifest the ways of the spirit among themselves and in the world.

Line 6:  The accomplished sage’s purpose lies in deepening its inner spiritual path, leaving the world and its tumult behind.  Yet when the time of dangerous obstruction arises within the world, duty calls its back into the turmoil of life.  Because of its experience and inner freedom, it lends its wisdom to the great effort of manifesting the spirit within the world and rescuing all.

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[1] World does not refer to nature but to how people live within nature.  The world – civilization, culture, history, society, beliefs, worldly influences – is embedded as a subsystem within the natural system.

[2] The Way of humanity:  the path of love that creatively responds to the experiences of life in ways that benefit all.  Sages shape the energies of Creation through the human virtues of caring for all, morality, justice, and wisdom, harnessing the creative energies of the spirit so that they manifest the spirit within the world, materializing the invisible.  The sage finds happiness by obeying the command of heaven to reduce inner faults and manifest the sacred within the world.  Suffering ends when we have the lived experience that the self and other are the same and arise from the sacred mystery.

he harm they cause others.