Waiting- page 137
Hexagram #39 (Sit Tight)
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Below is a reading from my book THE OTHER ROAD AHEAD followed by a comment inspired by the selection.👇
It can be very disconcerting, even frightening when we are stymied or stuck in a place where we must stop what we are doing and wait. Sometimes I have planned ahead for a particular event only to have other events conspire against me in a way that causes me to stop dead in my tracks.
Then comes the “wait” period. A feeling of panic can come over me wondering what to do. Then a period of questioning takes over, what did I do wrong to cause this obstruction? is it my fault? and other self indictments and vague feelings of guilt followed by anxiety. These are likely irrational reactions resident to my psychic make up which none-the-less begin to fill out the backstory to my feelings about waiting.
This cluster of thoughts can give rise to the urge to “do something” to remedy the situation leading to rash decisions and even more uncomfortable situations. I think this is not a healthy approach to being given a cosmic “time-out” by beneficial Aeons that might be lurking nearby.
The selection about waiting puts me in mind of the I Ching Hexagram #39, Impasse. It is about obstructions and difficulties arising as part of the onset of waiting.
“Thus the attention to place becomes a calculation of circumstances -- differentiating those that are promising from those that are likely to fail.”1
So we are not to be like a cat anticipating the slightest movement made by a mouse signaling the attack. Rather this is a “calculation of circumstances” where we are evaluating our options to understand our part in the approaching plan.
Instead of waiting just to organize for future actions the I Ching commentary favors, “The respective differences between these two words, ‘going’ and ‘coming’, are the differences between analysis and synthesis. To ‘go’ is to disperse, to create differences; to ‘come’ is to return to (the) center, to reunite…remaining stationary in place of coming, which is not quite the same idea, though it nicely stresses the idea of waiting… .2 This becomes an introspective process.
The impasse indicates a period of waiting until a person has done sufficient self examination to satisfy the cycle of contemplation. In this way waiting is not a punishment rather it is a time of reflection on the pathway ahead.
So waiting is a beneficial meditation to avoid situations we did not anticipate.
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What an outstanding commentary. So many events, life experiences, that we "think" or "want" to control are totally driven by circumstances. We work so hard on decision making, not realizing that our only influence is waiting for the pieces to arrange themselves. In some measure this is following the line of least resistance, something mentioned in the Tao Te Ching. All comes to (s)he who waits. Well doing David, thanks.