The trigram above – KEN – Keeping Still, Mountain
The trigram below – KEN – Keeping Still, Mountain
General: Any and all effective action must be born out of stillness.
Love: In order to see things clearly you must let go of any preconceptions.
Business: Clear your mind before making any important business decisions.
Personal: Learn how to meditate to help achieve a still mind.
The image of this hexagram is the mountain, the younger son of heaven and earth. The male principle is at the top, because it strives upward by nature; the female principle is below, since the direction of its movement is downward. Thus there is rest because the movement has come to its normal end.
In its application to man, the hexagram turns upon the problem of achieving a quiet heart. It is very difficult to bring quiet to the heart. While Buddhism strives for rest through an ebbing away of all movement in nirvana, the Book of Changes holds that rest is merely a state of polarity that always posits movement as its complement. Possibly the words of the text embody directions for the practice of yoga.
