The Keeping Still Mountain
Motion Come to Rest
Stop when it is time to stop and advance when it is time; stillness held past its hour turns rigid.
Gen, Keeping Still, Mountain, stands over itself. This is one of the eight hexagrams that double a single trigram, which is why the title names the element. In each half a firm line has come to rest above two yielding lines, movement arrested at its end, and Gen is the youngest son. The Judgement speaks of keeping the back still so that the body is no longer felt, and of going into the courtyard without seeing the people there, and it finds no blame in this. The commentary is plain about the purpose: when it is time to stop, then stop; when it is time to advance, then advance. The six lines run up the body from the toes to the jaws.
Light
Composure at the right moment: thoughts kept within the situation at hand, restlessness set aside, and the settled strength of a mountain that is under no obligation to move.
Shadow
Stillness imposed where action is due hardens into rigidity. The third line stiffens the hips until the heart suffocates, and withdrawal can pass into obstinacy and isolation.
