What this change means
Mountain over mountain: the movement in the first and third lines stills the Thunder below, and the jaws come to rest. Leading the pair, the third line warns against overindulgence, against feeding only the worldly appetite while starving the higher one; that path brings misfortune and long stretches when nothing works. The first line adds envy, setting aside your own source of strength to watch what others have. Both are forms of hunger that won't be satisfied by more. The resulting hexagram, 52 Abiding, gives the remedy: stop. Stay centered and steady, calm and confident, and don't go beyond what's actually happening now. This is a good moment to pause your consumption and your comparisons alike, and to wait until outer conditions show you it's time to act. Stillness here isn't emptiness; it's how you rediscover what really feeds you.
What to read, in order
Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.
- Line 3 of 27 Nourishment
Watch the balance between your worldly food and your higher food closely: tending only to the first, and overindulging, brings misfortune.
Going against sustenance. Even with constancy, misfortune. For ten years, do not act. Nothing is favorable.
- Line 1 of 27 Nourishment
Being ungrateful for what you have and busying yourself envying what others have will hold back your achievements.
You let go of your sacred tortoise and watch my jaw working. Misfortune.
- The judgment of 27 Nourishment
Right now you need to take care of your physical and spiritual nourishment, so you have the resources you need in each area, and at the same time help others grow through what you do. Success lies in giving and receiving: take in what is good for you and share it with those around you.
Constancy brings good fortune. Watching the jaws; seeking for oneself what fills the mouth.
- The judgment of 52 Abiding
It's a time of stillness, of staying centered and steady: that's the best way forward in your present situation. Sometimes you need to stop, calm and confident, and wait for outer conditions to show you it's time to act. Don't go beyond what's happening now. There's no action, only a harmonious stillness, and staying that way brings success.
Still at the back; the body is not reached. Walking in the courtyard; its people are not seen. No fault.
The trigrams
The way back
52 Abiding → 27 Nourishmentlines 1 and 3
Other transformations of Nourishment
- 4Immaturitylines 1 and 2
- 26Great Achievementslines 2 and 3
- 35Advancelines 1 and 4
- 38Oppositeslines 2 and 4
- 30The Flamelines 3 and 4
- 20Observinglines 1 and 5
- 61Inner Integritylines 2 and 5
- 37The Tribelines 3 and 5
- 25Innocencelines 4 and 5
- 2Passivitylines 1 and 6
- 19Fleeting Successlines 2 and 6
- 36Darknesslines 3 and 6
- 51Shocklines 4 and 6
- 3Initial Obstacleslines 5 and 6
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.