47 – K’un / Oppression (Exhaustion)

I Ching explorations:  Part 47 of 64

Tui – The Joyous (Lake) over K’an – The Abysmal (Water)

Situation:

The water is below the lake and the lake bed is dry.  This represents exhaustion.  The nuclear trigrams wind/wood and fire dry any remnants of remaining water and leave a parched and cracked lakebed.  The querent is faced with oppressive exhaustion.

This exhaustion is not the result of one’s hard work, the lack of nourishment, too much partying, or too little preparation.  Instead, this exhaustion is oppressive and has been caused by a chance encounter, an unexpected situation, an exceptional circumstance, an uncontrollable negative force.  As such, we have been thrust into a dire situation that is full of danger:  we’re unable to prevent the water from dissipating from the lake into the abyss.  Our energies are consumed by dire unexpected circumstances.  Our objective is to endure.

A. Huang states that this is one of the most difficult situations described by the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching.  Situations such as this are a test of character.  Hopefully we survive the test, but that depends on our ability to be stronger than fate.

Response:

A strong person remains cheerful in the face of adversity and danger.  That cheerfulness and an ability to follow one’s own will are said to be stronger than fate.  We are encouraged to not let our spirits be broken by exhaustion and oppression.  “But if adversity only bends…it creates…a power to react that is bound in time to manifest itself” (W/B).  As F. Nietzsche would echo some 4,000 years later:  “what does not kill us makes us stronger...”

In this case though, the I Ching characterizes the situation as dire enough to kill us if appropriate measures aren’t taken.  We’re talking about situations that are beyond our control that we’re swept up into and must find a way to survive.  In such circumstances, the I Ching advises that we must remain true to our selves because when adversity strikes – this alone is superior to all external fate.

Outcome

By accepting the situation with faith and ease we enable ourselves to have the clarity of mind to discover the cause and seek a solution.  When we are hemmed in by powerful forces, we stay strong within but sparing of words.  By not complaining or being resentful, we hide our capacities, bide our time, and conserve our energy.  We remain steadfast in our convictions and have faith that this too will pass. 

Individual Lines

All six lines in this hexagram are unfavorable:

1.  Adversity comes and rather than move on he lets it overwhelm him and draw him further into gloom.

2.  Externally all is well, but not internally.  Make offerings to overcome invisible obstructions.

3.  One is confined, humiliated, and oblivious to one’s spouse.  Misfortune.

4.  Finding oneself in an awkward situation, the mistakes are offset in time by one's inner strength.

5.  One has good intentions but is oppressed from above and below – remain calm, make offerings, and pray for well-being.

6.  Distress is nearing its end – don’t fear to be decisive by moving ahead and thereby mastering your oppression.

This hexagram is the inverse of the following – Ching #48 (TheWell).  While the situation portrayed by Ching presents limitless spiritual or physical nourishment, K’un portrays a period of devastating oppression.  Where Ching represents an opportunity to be fed by the spring of life, here the situation is one of uncontrollable extraction into the bottomless abyss.  Despite the severity of the situation, even periods of extreme distress bears within them the seeds of great regeneration if we’re able to endure.