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Posts tagged ‘retreat’

Withdrawal Isn’t Retreat

Spirit shares His understanding of the timeless wisdom
expressed within the I Ching Hexagram 33 – Withdrawal.

Heaven is above and Mountain is below. Both express
yang energy.

Withdrawal develops out of Constancy (32) in the order
of the hexagrams, and forms the foundation for
Great Power (34).

Withdrawal from battle is not necessarily to retreat.
A proven and respected martial arts strategy requires
knowing when to resist the temptation to advance when
such advance seems unwise, at this time. To withdraw,
re-group, and prepare to move forward when opportunity
presents itself, requires wisdom.

A need for time out?

Who is teaching whom?

You are, I hope.

And who seems to need time out?

You?

No.

Retreat is Not an Option

A spirit teacher shares His understanding of
I Ching 39 – Halting.

Water is above Mountain.

On high mountain tops, water expressing itself
as ice or snow can temporarily resist
its natural tendency to flow downhill. But,
it will never lose its potential to move,
and will do so, when and if it can.

The text seems to relate to human activities.

The text always relates to human activities.

Then, natural forces are used to express
human activities.

Human activities express natural forces.

Does that suggest we should accept that
some situations require us to halt?

Require?

In the sense that we cannot move forward.

Retreat is always an option.

But if we are moving in a direction
we believe in, why would we consider
retreat?

Yes.

An Inner Will to Reach High or Low

Spirit shares His I Ching understanding.

Hexagram 33 – Withdrawal.
Heaven above; Mountain below.

Withdrawal does not necessarily mean retreat.

What other purpose would it have?

Possibly, many more than one.

Such as?

Situational responses require reflection
and reflection requires time out to
consider appropriate responses.

Withdrawal follows Constancy and
constant can refer to constant movement,
such as tides express. Their constancy
is a measurable high followed by a
measurable low.

Nautical charts reliably forecast,
or predict, the highest point tides
will reach, at any particular time,
anywhere in the world.

Then, tides withdraw when they have
reached a predetermined high?

Yes, and the high itself is constant
in that it reaches incrementally
higher until the high tide in a set,
and then withdraws its highest point
in a constant rhythm until its high
is as low as natural forces have
determined it will go.

It sounds so orderly.

It is.

But, how does that relate to
human life?

In what way?

What natural forces can help direct
our highest reach?

The same as help us reach our lowest.

And that is?

An inner will to reach high or low.

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