03 - Difficulty at the Beginning

no2DO - eine Annäherung aus Westen

Contemporary Interpretation

03 - Difficulty at the Beginning

Surprising insights into
our own source of being

A clear,
Well rooted
Determination
Requires
Disengagement
To then provide
[perhaps surprising]
Insights into
Our own
Source of being:
Abysses,
Springboards.

The Changes

yin yang yin yin yin yang

Upper Trigram: Kan, Water

2nd Core Character: Gen, Mountain

1st Core Character: Kun, Earth

Lower Trigram: Zhen, Thunder

Informationen zum Interpretationsmodell

Classical Interpretation

Dschun [Zhen, difficulty at the beginning] (03) is visible, but has not yet lost its residence.

The image

Clouds and thunder: the image of difficulty at the beginning. Thus the superior man disentangles and arranges in proper order.

The judgement

Difficulty at the beginning works sublime success. Furthering through perseverance. Nothing should be undertaken. It furthers one to deploy assistants. Full text of Richard Wilhelm's 1924 translation by Cary F. Baynes

Dynamics of the Hexagram

The Changes: 03 - difficulty at the beginning

Lower Trigram: Zhen, the Thunder

Zhen represents our ability to make decisions, our determination, enthusiasm, courage, and precision; but also ... Read more flexibility and strength belong to Zhen. If we look at nature, then Zhen's pattern of movement is that of a bud in its protective sleeve, just beginning to break open: a sudden, decisive and courageous move Hide

First Change: Zhen → Kun, the Earth

Kun develops when a (broken) yin line is added (dark arrow; yin symbolizes receptivity). The clear decision that becomes ... Read more visible in Zhen, falls on fertile grounds. Hide

Second Change: Kun → Gen, the Mountain

During the phase of growth (Kun), while something concrete emerged from unstructured potential, we may have noticed things that are ... Read more unnecessary ballast and block our energies. When Gen evolves from Kun, we can confidingly let go of ballast and entrust ourselves to earth's gravity. This way we not only release muscles and tendons, but our entire being. Hide

Third Change: Gen → Kan, the Water

Kan develops when a (broken) yin line is added (dark arrow; yin symbolizes receptivity). Gen's disengagement opened a path for ... Read more us to reconnect with our spiritual self: our own inner, intuitive wisdom, collected all along our path to here and now, ready to nurture us. Hide

Upper Trigram: Kan, the Water

Kan represents our basic trust and our unconscious resources, a distillate of our own - and sometimes third party ... Read more - experiences and information that lie beyond our daily consciousness. Impulses and inspirations emerge from Kan and may trigger decisions or initiate actions. If we follow this gut feeling our actions will have a special quality: they feel a particular way "right". Hide

Follow the Path of the Dao: A Western Approximation

The interpretations shown above gradually moved away from Eastern concepts. Let us proceed even a little further. In this section I develop a model of interpretation from a Western perspective, more precisely: from the perspective of philosophical anthropology.
A detailed article on the subject can be found here: A Western Approximation

Dem Weg des Dao folgen: Annäherung aus Westen

Exemplary Experiences

Support no2DO: Give me feedback!

You can help the further development of no2DO by sending me the question you asked the I Ching and its response (the hexagram's name and number). Each hexagram's tendencies open up most clearly when examined in the context of a personal situation.

References and Connotations