Transformation · lines 4, 5, and 6

Inner Peace becomes Decrease

Starting hexagram
Resulting hexagram

What this change means

The three upper lines move, and the upper Lake becomes Mountain: a lake lying at the foot of a mountain. Both judgments share the weight. Inner Peace supplies serenity and companionship, a good ground for achievement as long as purpose stays awake. The resulting hexagram, 41 Decrease, calls for moderation and saving: conserve your resources and energy, avoid excess of every kind, and prepare for larger projects that can come later, after this lean stretch. Together they suggest a quieter kind of peace, one that doesn't need much to feel complete and asks little of the world. Cut back on what's superfluous, including the pleasures that only distract, and let restraint become a source of calm. What you save now becomes your strength later.

What to read, in order

Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.

  1. The judgment of 58 Inner Peace

    You're in a time of calm and inner peace that lets you achieve great things. Spending time with people whose energy is like yours will nourish and recharge you to reach your aims. Still, don't lose sight of your goals, or you'll slide into inertia.

    Success. Constancy is favorable.

  2. The judgment of 41 Decrease

    It's a time for moderation and saving: conserving your resources and energy matters a great deal now. A period of growth will follow, but for now you need to stay aware and avoid excess of every kind while you get ready to take on big projects.

    There is sincere trust. Great good fortune. No fault. Constancy is possible. It is favorable to have somewhere to go. What to offer? Two bowls will do for the offering.

  3. Line 4 of 58 Inner Peace

    You're moving between serenity and indulgence. Indulgence leads to empty pleasure; serenity, to inner joy. That is the true path to success.

    Joy that bargains, never at rest. Once the ill is set apart, there is gladness.

  4. Line 5 of 58 Inner Peace

    Contact with the wrong people can lead you into distraction and addiction. Once you realize it and put a stop to it, you'll get back on the path to inner peace.

    Trusting what strips away: there is danger.

  5. Line 6 of 58 Inner Peace

    If you haven't developed real inner peace, you're easy prey for shallow entertainments, which will win you over bit by bit until you lose yourself in them. Now you're only in the hands of fate; you have no control.

    Joy that draws on.

The trigrams

Below Lake stays
Above Lake Mountain

The way back

41 Decrease → 58 Inner Peace
lines 4, 5, and 6

Other transformations of Inner Peace

Make your own cast

The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.

Toss the coins