Transformation · lines 4 and 6
Success in Small Matters becomes Abiding
What this change means
Mountain joins mountain as the fourth and top lines move, and the thunder above falls silent. The top line leads: chasing what lies out of reach for now drains everything you invest, like the bird that flies past and lands in the net. The fourth line shows the alternative: don't act now; stand firm and keep your purposes until the right time arrives, staying on guard. The resulting hexagram, 52 Abiding, describes a stillness that is itself the best way forward: stay centered and calm, wait for outer conditions to show you when to act, and don't go beyond what is happening now. The message could hardly be clearer. Stop chasing. Sit with the situation as it is, keep your aim quietly, and let calm do what effort can't.
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 62 Success in Small Matters
If you insist on chasing goals that are out of reach for now, you'll lose whatever you put into them.
Not meeting it, goes past it. The bird in flight falls into the net. Misfortune. This is called calamity and ruin.
- Line 4 of 62 Success in Small Matters
It's not the time to act, but it is the time to stand firm, without straying from your purposes, until the time to act arrives.
No fault. Without going beyond, it meets it. Going is dangerous: be on guard. Do not act with lasting constancy.
- The judgment of 62 Success in Small Matters
This isn't a time for great things; it's a time for small achievements. Recognizing that will help you live in step with the moment. Trying to go beyond your present means and resources will lead you astray and waste your efforts.
Success. Constancy is favorable. Small things can be done, not great ones. The flying bird leaves its call behind: it is not fitting to rise, it is fitting to descend. Great good fortune.
- 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 → 62 Success in Small Matterslines 4 and 6
Other transformations of Success in Small Matters
- 34Great Manifestationlines 1 and 2
- 51Shocklines 1 and 3
- 40Clearing Obstacleslines 2 and 3
- 36Darknesslines 1 and 4
- 46Going Uplines 2 and 4
- 2Passivitylines 3 and 4
- 49Renewallines 1 and 5
- 28Excesseslines 2 and 5
- 45Meetinglines 3 and 5
- 39Held Backlines 4 and 5
- 30The Flamelines 1 and 6
- 50The Vessel of Nourishmentlines 2 and 6
- 35Advancelines 3 and 6
- 33Leaving Behindlines 5 and 6
Make your own cast
The answer changes with the question. Toss the coins and see which lines move for you.