شش خطی 29
فراز‌و‌نشیب‌های سازنده، گودال (k'an)

Pitfalls means danger, as of a precipice or pitfall; mastering pitfalls means getting through danger. As for the qualities of the hexagram, above is water , dangerous, and below is also water , dangerous; going from one danger to another, yet able to get through successfully in spite of danger, it is therefore called mastering pitfalls.

This hexagram represents the presence of white within black, restoring yang within yin; it follows on the previous hexagram nourishment. Nourishment means seeking fulfillment by emptiness, seeking the true yang that has fallen in a pit. In human beings, after heaven and earth interact, the one point of original yang runs to the palace of earth ; earth is filled in and becomes water , and heaven changes into fire . At this point yin traps the yang; the celestial root is obscured and the mind gets involved with things. Though near to reality by nature, people become estranged from it by habit—descending lower and lower by daily repetition of habit, they fall into a state of ignorant obstinacy and do not know how to stop.

However, if one practices evil one becomes evil; if one practices good one becomes good—it is simply a matter of how people habitually act. Practice of evil is a way into danger, practice of good is a way out of danger. Getting out of danger requires that one believe it is dangerous—belief rules the mind. If one can believe in the danger, then one will not be seduced by external things. Practicing good, one can then be good; as it is said, once you reform, it is the same as if you were originally thus. Therefore “in mastering pitfalls there is truthfulness; thus the mind develops.”

If there is truthfulness, then the mind develops; without truthfulness, the mind does not develop. The mind with truthfulness is the mind of Tao; when the mind of Tao becomes manifest, the human mentality does not arise—sane energy grows, aberrant energy recedes, and one can thus go in and out of yin and yang without being constrained by yin and yang.

But believing there is danger requires one to practice so as to get out of danger; believing but not practicing is like not believing. Once one can believe and can practice, without hypocrisy or deception, practicing truly, one improves daily with daily practice, rising from lowliness to loftiness, gradually learning a state of exalted illumination, developing one’s nature to the fullest extent and realizing one’s purpose in life, returning to the fundamental, without difficulty. Therefore the text says, “There is excellence in practice.” If one practices this one can rise; without practice one does not rise. Knowing this is only valuable when one puts it into practice.

Double water means water reaching from here to there. Above is water , below is water ; this is water traveling from here to there, from there to here, traveling, flowing throughout. This is the image of double water.

What superior people see in this is that the work of sages is twofold, involving both self-development and development of others. Self-development is the practice of virtue; development of others is teaching. If virtuous practice is inconsistent, it is hard to enter the universal Tao; if teaching is not learned, students will not understand.

Therefore they work on virtuous practice day by day and month by month, becoming familiar with the old and aware of the new, increasing their efforts as time goes on, aiming for profound attainment of self-realization. Then when it comes to teaching, they gradually develop guidance, making clear presentations and subtle indications, leading students further and further on until they penetrate thoroughly and are free from doubt.

The practice of virtue is the study of body and mind, nature and life. It is a very refined and subtle science, in which the slightest deviation can produce an enormous loss. It can be accomplished only by constancy and consistency, thoroughly investigating its principles, fulfilling nature and arriving at the meaning of life.

Teaching is a matter of receiving from forebears and educating successors. It is very urgent and necessary. If instruction is unclear, people will be misled as to the course they should pursue. One can develop others only if one learns how to teach, which involves searching out the profound and the recondite and clarifying that which is obscure.

The work of teaching is based on the practice of virtue; teaching means teaching the practice of virtue. Only if one is consistent and constant in the practice of virtue can one learn and practice teaching. If one cannot be consistent in the practice of virtue, then teaching will be baseless and unguided. When one is consistent in the practice of virtue and afterward learns how to teach, then what is consistent and constant in oneself is what is learned by others. This is like water traveling from here to there; it is all the same water, able to flow everywhere.