I ching

I Ching Hexagram 60
Jie (Limitation)

Action: Regulate

Hu Gua (hidden influence) 27 Nourishing Vision: Nurture

Zong Gua (underlying cause) 56 The Wanderer: Explore

Adaptation leads you to harmonize with the changes. Everything you will ever need can be found within.

From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action. – James Levin

Reading at a Glance: Following the hexagram of Dispersion which teaches us about not creating boundaries or barriers from others in our thinking, Jie or Limitation provides the opposite message. More often than not the idea of Limitation is the reason we make changes in life. In nature, limitations are the breeding ground that allow for the development of strengths and diversity. Both Dispersion and Limitation emphasize thought processes. In Dispersion we are coached not to create boundaries in our thinking when understanding the role we play in relationship to the world around us. In Limitation, we must honor the restrictions we inevitably face as guidelines or roadmaps that lead us to transform. The underlying cause of the Wanderer was a time to disconnect and wander into the unknown to explore how to move beyond limitations in thinking. Now the situation calls for clear communication, agreements and guidelines so that relationships can function optimally. Limitations can resemble an obstacle to forward progress but the obstacle is really an opportunity to change how we view obstacles. Seedlings encounter rocks in the soil but the rocks keep the soil at the root where it is needed. Rather than opening to what is inexhaustible we now must focus on containment. You may have to work with the idea of ‘no’ to discover how to make changes in your approach. You may need to clarify something prior to gaining the support you are seeking from others. The greatest lesson Limitation teaches us is that while we might fight against the flow in terms of disappointment, we would do far better to recognize the reason for the limitations we face and how they serve our well being. In fact it may just be your preconceived ideas that leads you to experience walls. Something runs out, an unwanted change is thrust upon you, someone says no or you suddenly have to make do with less. There is a reason for all of this and you must step back to see how the Limitation is actually corralling you in a more appropriate direction. The idea of Limitations can stop you in your tracks but stopping and establishing structures, goals, business plans, agreements or a well thought out plan of action is in order.

Limitations

are the

breeding ground

for

nature’s strength.

“Things cannot be forever separate. Therefore follows limitation.” The Abysmal Water over the Joyous Lake is an image of something inexhaustible being contained for use. Limitation portrays how you can access an inexhaustible source within and yet, are able to give each experience definition. There is a danger that these definitions can come to limit your ability to grow. Somewhere in the middle is a perspective that respects limitations as necessary for developing structure, definition and agreements. However, we must not assume we can classify an idea and put it away forever. Nature is about change and our path will always be about change.

The process of adaptation demonstrates how limitations force creatures to harmonize with a changing world. Opportunistic adaptation appears in the Yellow Jacket variety of wasps, which have come to resemble honeybees. Once their insect diet disappears in late summer, they often raid honeycombs to feed their appetite for sweets. Ravens too, have developed an opportunistic relationship with wolves. They will cry out to alert wolves to potential prey, so that they too, can eat.

Limitations activate the adaptive response, which transformed the scales of some dinosaurs into feathers. We tend to associate feathers with flight, although there are many birds that do not fly. While flight does aid survival, feathers developed as an evolved way of regulating body heat. Many reptiles still rely on shade and the warmth of the sun to adjust their temperature. The power of nature reveals how limitations drive the engine of evolution. Although you may grow frustrated with restrictions, limitations not only make you stronger, they also shape your forward growth.

“Once, a farmer of sheep lived beside a man who owned hunting dogs. Every night the dogs broke through the farmer’s fence and killed several of his sheep. The farmer complained to the neighbor on several occasions, although the situation never changed. In great frustration, he sought the advice of a judge who told the farmer that he could solve his problem, but only if the farmer promised to do what he suggested. The farmer agreed, but the judge told him to give the neighbor two of his best sheep! The farmer was outraged. Since he was a man of his word, he returned home and offered his neighbor two of his best sheep. The neighbor received this unexpected gift with suspicion. Knowing that the farmer was a man of his word, he thanked him and assumed that it was in return for his incessant complaining. The next morning, the farmer expected to find the usual broken fence and missing sheep, but all was well on his farm. Because the neighbor now had sheep to protect, he had built a fine enclosure for his hunting dogs.

When you adapt to another’s point of view, you will begin to see how harmony already exists in all discord. The imbalance needs to be addressed. To harmonize with the changes, a shift in perspective makes what appears difficult, easy. Do not approach limitations as barriers, but see them as a springboard for discovery and innovation.

Nature uses limitations as a creative treasure trove to explore endless variations. Accessing the power of nature, you can rise to meet each challenge with the same innovative vision of growth.

Although you may find yourself in an environment of limitations, recognize how you might develop a side of you that remains unexplored. Just as your environment develops new characteristics within you, your limitations will always be intrinsically tied to the development of your strengths.