60 - Chieh (Jie) - Limitation (Restricting)

I Ching Explorations - Part 60 of 64

Professor:  Limitation (restriction) is represented by the image of water over the lake.  It is formed from the trigrams K’an (The Abysmal, Water) over Tui (The Joyous, Lake).

Student:  To me that suggests rain falling on a lake.   

P:  Or perhaps a waterfall dropping into a pool.   

S:  Or a stream emptying into a pond?

P:  Sure.  And we needn’t be literal about the imagery.  We can think of the lake as something with a fixed capacity.  And when the flow in exceeds the capacity...?

S:  It’ll overflow unless some other condition like evaporation, seepage, or consumption balances the amount going in.

P:  The point being that there is a limit or restriction to the amount of water that can flow in as defined by the capacity of the vessel.

S:  That makes me think of the classic story of the Zen master overfilling the teacup to illustrate that there is a limit to what can be taught because the student's mind is full of preconceptions. 

P:  Right.  The vessel, in that case the student’s capacity to acquire knowledge, is limited while the knowledge to be gained (the water) is not.  This hexagram addresses the idea of "keeping or containing something within a specified area." (AH)  Similarly, this hexagram encompasses limits on behavior.  The element of water is shapeless and formless but when it flows into the space defined as a lake, it achieves form and identity.  Similarly, without water there is no lake, just a depression.  Water gives the lake an identity and the lake gives the water form.

S:  And in relation to human behavior?

P:  When a person does things to excess – say drinking, partying, and other hedonistic pleasures, limits are ignored.  The longer that continues, like any obsession or addiction, the more painful can be the consequences – physically, emotionally, or socially.  One’s funds are exhausted, one contracts STDs, the liver is shot, and the mortgage isn’t paid – he or she is homeless on the street.

S:  That’s a pretty extreme scenario, but I get the point.  Laws and morals give shape to human behavior – they define the boundaries of right and wrong, as defined by society.  I drive on this side of the road, you drive on that side, and everyone stays safe.  Unchecked love and emotion may lead to destructive hedonism while restricted and focused expressions lead to a healthy family and community.

P:  Similarly, when one blithely proceeds from one day to the next without establishing a budget or other limit for expenditures consistent with income, there is a greater likelihood that a time of want and suffering will follow.

S:  I understand self-imposed limits like that and I recognize that society places limits on behavior for the good of everyone too, but what about how we deal with naturally-imposed limits like a finite lifespan, the laws of physics, or the inability to know what your loved one is thinking?

P:  Confucius offers this commentary:

When Heaven and Earth regulate their restriction,

Then the four seasons complete their functions.

When restriction is put into regulation,

Then resources will not be exhausted

And people will not be hurt. (AH)

Physically, we must accept the constraints of naturally-imposed limits.  Mentally we can reach beyond such boundaries although we’re still limited to that which we can imagine, dream, or otherwise envision.  In the physical realm though, we can apply the lesson of limitation and restriction to help structure our lives and achieve productive outcomes.  

S:  What about fairness in the application of limits?  Not everyone plays by the same rules.  We hear about people who think they’re above the law.

P:  Unfair limitations will provoke resistance which is clearly not a sustainable situation.  Tax laws in the U.S. are an example.  Why not have everyone pay an equal percentage?  Why make the laws so obfuscating that average people have difficulty determining their obligations and rich people are able to work the system to avoid the limitations imposed on the rest?  The I Ching advises that when conditions proceed beyond their extremes, we enter a different condition entirely, one of Dispersing as we’ll discuss next time in #59.

S:  So how do we know when limitations are good and fair?  Is it one size fits all or do we each need to define our own personal limits?

P:  Each person is responsible for establishing limits on his or her behavior and acting accordingly.  Society imposes limits that are hopefully developed through an enlightened and benign process.  Extreme restrictions can be oppressive and painful.  Limits that are too loose engender chaos.  Ideally, an harmonious balance that is right for the conditions at hand is achieved.  Doing so requires wisdom.  Without limits as defined by law, duty, or morality we lack structure.  Without the structure defined by these limitations, our energies will be Dispersed. 

(Editor's note.  With this posting, a highly recommended new edition, The Complete I Ching 10th Anniversary Edition, translated by the Taoist Master Alfred Huang, Inner Traditions, Rochester, 2010 will be used and referred to as [AH] while references to the Wilhelm Baynes edition will be designated [WB]).