Transformation · lines 3 and 6
Release from Obstacles becomes Right Action
What this change means
Water drawn up over wood, the image of a well: when the third and top lines move, that's where release leads, to 48 Right Action. The top line weighs more. It asks you to withdraw in time from whatever endangers you and yours; stepping back now dissolves the risk before it reaches you. The third line adds an inner letting go: know your purpose well, and you can afford to step back from your own position for the sake of unity. Both ask you to release something. The resulting hexagram turns the focus to what you already have. Opportunities are on your side, but they won't help if you keep postponing decisions and actions. Don't go looking for something new; use what's here. Once you've stepped out of danger and loosened your grip on your own position, draw from the well.
What to read, in order
Marked ● is what Zhu Xi's tradition puts at the center for this number of moving lines.
- Line 6 of 59 Release from Obstacles
Get away in time from whatever puts you and your people in danger. Withdrawing now isn't running away: it's dissolving the risk before it reaches you, and there's no mistake in that.
Scatters its blood; goes away, departs far off. No fault.
- Line 3 of 59 Release from Obstacles
If you're clear about your goals and purposes, you'll be able to give ground so as to find unity and get past the obstacles.
Scatters its own self. No regret.
- The judgment of 59 Release from Obstacles
You can free yourself from the obstacles that hold you back if you're able to act sincerely and bring opposites together around shared goals. The tension has arisen because selfishness rules. To move forward, be humble and let the current carry you rather than going against it.
Success. The king goes to his temple. It is favorable to cross the great river. Constancy is favorable.
- The judgment of 48 Right Action
You're at a moment when opportunities are on your side. But if you don't know how to use them because you keep putting off decisions and actions, being in the right place at the right time won't do you any good. It's not about looking for new things but about making use of what you have, or there will be loss.
The town is changed, the well is not. Nothing lost, nothing gained. They come and go, and draw from the well. Nearly there, the rope does not yet reach the well; if the jar breaks, misfortune.
The trigrams
The way back
48 Right Action → 59 Release from Obstacleslines 3 and 6
Other transformations of Release from Obstacles
- 42Increaselines 1 and 2
- 9Small Thingslines 1 and 3
- 53Gradual Progresslines 2 and 3
- 10Treading Carefullylines 1 and 4
- 12Declinelines 2 and 4
- 44Lack of Firmnesslines 3 and 4
- 41Decreaselines 1 and 5
- 23The Falllines 2 and 5
- 18Loss, Then Gainlines 3 and 5
- 64Transitionlines 4 and 5
- 60Thriftlines 1 and 6
- 8Unionlines 2 and 6
- 47Overwhelmedlines 4 and 6
- 7The Armylines 5 and 6
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.