Gen · Keeping Still

The meaning

What the name means Gen is stopping, the mountain: staying where you should stay.

The picture A mountain on a mountain, layer on layer, firm and unmoving.

The sense of the whole The whole hexagram is about stillness and stopping. Move when it is time to move and stop when it is time to stop. A heart that has settled and is not blown about by what is outside can see the road.

In plain words: what this hexagram says

Stop when it is time to stop. Let your heart settle and do not be led by what is in front of you; bring your attention back.

The upper trigram is Mountain and the lower is Mountain: Mountain above, Mountain below. When you read it, first picture the two together as a scene, then set it against the original below. The plain words speak only of stance and do not foretell.

The judgement

艮其背，不獲其身；行其庭，不見其人，無咎。

The image

兼山，艮；君子以思不出其位。

The six lines

From the bottom up, the first line is the lowest. When you cast this hexagram and a line is changing, read the matching one. The original is classical Chinese.

1. 初六艮其趾，無咎，利永貞。
2. 六二艮其腓，不拯其隨，其心不快。
3. 九三艮其限，列其夤，厲薰心。
4. 六四艮其身，無咎。
5. 六五艮其輔，言有序，悔亡。
6. 上九敦艮，吉。

To learn how to read a hexagram, see "How to read a hexagram"; for changing lines, see "Changing lines and the resulting hexagram".