Stepping Back Without Hatred

Reading it step by step

The last page was about veiling your light. This one is about stepping back. Dun (Retreat) has the Mountain below and Heaven above: a mountain under the sky. However high the mountain, it never touches heaven; heaven always stays at a distance. The character for Dun has a piglet in it, a little pig running off: retreating, slipping away.

First: read the trend, not the count. Dun has only two yin lines at the bottom and four yang lines above, so yang seems to be in the majority. But the two yin lines are joined and climbing step by step. In the calendar, Dun is the sixth month: still hot, yet autumn is already rising from below. So see it early. The bottom line is “the tail of the retreat,” the last to leave, and it is in danger. The higher you go, the better it gets: line four is a good retreat, line five a fine retreat, and the top line a carefree retreat where “nothing is unfavourable.” Leave early, and leave at ease.

Second: “by withdrawing, the way stays open.” The Judgment says retreat brings success. The old explanation: the body withdraws so that the Way can go on. If you cling on when the tide has turned, you may lose even what you were trying to protect. An old rice-planting verse puts it well: green seedlings in hand, you fill the paddy, look down and see the sky in the water, and find that stepping back was moving forward all along. Rice planters work walking backwards. Every step back leaves another row of seedlings in the field.

You may need to leave a job, quit a group chat, or put distance between yourself and someone. You don't have to post a long denunciation on your way out, and you don't have to keep up appearances either. Hand over your work properly, say what you need to say politely and clearly, and turn around. Hatred would only tie you to the place you're trying to leave.

A step back keeps the road open for you.