I ching

Tui (Joy)

I Ching Hexagram 58
Tui (Joy)

Action: Encourage

Hu Gua (hidden influence) 37 Family: Support

Zong Gua (underlying cause) 52 Keeping Still: Meditate

Take aim at your heart and release your passion.

If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it;
every arrow that flies, feels the attraction of the earth. – Longfellow

Reading at a Glance: The type of Joy that follows the hexagram of Penetration shows a sense of arrival. However, more often than not it was an inner opening rather than the effort or movement to change outer events that has led to your current Joy. Often we feel the opposite of Joy in the form of unhappiness and see it as something negative. Unhappiness is the hunger pain for change so how can it be bad? The saying, “if you never fail, you will always succeed” means that if failure is taken in stride as a prerequisite to success it isn’t really failure. This accepting outlook leads to joyousness on the journey. The hidden influence of Family shows how we find purpose and meaning by offering encouragement to others. The underlying cause of Keeping Still showed the focus on the Self. Now we must understand our relationship to what unfolds and our interactions with others to facilitate Joy. This is an excellent hexagram for artistic ventures and relationships. Where the hexagram of Innocence teaches about being at the threshold of experience without judgment and Grace shows how we experience life’s benevolence, Joy is the outcome when we apply both to each and every experience. “Content in your circumstances and genuine in kindness, you are the expression of the love that renews all things.” A change in attitude shows us that while we can do little to change the events that unfold around us, a change in perspective can magically change everything. Be Joyous in thought and action and celebrate others. Since life is your mirror it will reflect joyousness back to you.

Unhappiness

is the hunger pain

for change.

Joy -

is its constant companion.

“Once you have penetrated something, you rejoice.” When experience is no longer separated by ‘in here’ and ‘out there,’ you can be “active everywhere, but are not carried away; in your knowledge of grace, you are free of care. Content in your circumstances and genuine in kindness, you are the expression of the love that renews all things.” Just as "spring never fails in its task," life will never let you down.

Joyous of heart and content in thought, “you can determine good fortune and misfortune on earth, and bring to perfection everything you see.” Good fortune is merely a pathway where nothing needs to be ‘undone.’

Being content in knowing how life is leading you will allow you to discover more and suffer less. This is the sublimity of how nature brings perfection to the earth. The master said: “If you would have a thing laid aside, you must first set it up.” You are given the opportunity to block this joy or receive it, because it resides perpetually in your heart. Only you can set it free.

To lay aside your barriers, you must first ‘set them up’ or come to understand how you block your ability to be joyful. Cultivating a sense of joy that you carry wherever you go can become a way of living. Although you must sometimes aim high, knowing that failure will always pull a little on your accomplishments.

One who meets all experience as a growth opportunity, never fails and always succeeds. “Life is the refuge for the myriad creatures. It is that by which the good man protects; it is that by which, the bad is protected. Even if a man is not good, why should he be abandoned?” In the image of someone speaking and making things equal, Tui shows how life excels on bestowing because it is always productive.

Accessing the transformative power of nature that resides within you, contentment or discontentment is simply the measure of your joy in following. “Rid the self of expectations to find the accidental environment where joy is manifesting.”

Unchanging:

Self sufficiency leads to isolation = encouragement is infectious. We sometimes become so self sufficient that we cut ourselves off from the joy of sharing our experiences with others. People who give us gifts get pleasure from doing so and we deny them that pleasure if we are not able to receive. In the same way, we can experience more joy in life by giving to others without any thought of what we get in return. If you are gentle and accepting of others, recognizing their divine suchness, you can celebrate all of life. If you are feeling judged, it is because you are probably judging others. Joy in its unchanging form can be a message of encouragement to see beyond the obvious where joy might exist. At the same time, you may be hoping for something that is not really right for you and might understand this later. You might be called to encourage others even when they are not able to ask for your support. Someone around you may need encouragement. Like the sun, rise each day activating your subtle power of expansion to set off a chain reaction of abundance. Be the light of joy for others in their times of darkness.

Line 1:

Contented joyousness = good fortune. Changes to (47) Oppression/Exhaustion. You may feel like you are confined or oppressed but you may be learning about the quiet joy of contentment. You may need to see beyond good and bad with your normal judgment to see that everything is perfect. This is a great learning opportunity that the sages call tranquility in disturbance. If you can step back and not engage you will find that your inner being can fortify itself. Sometimes silence is the perfect answer that can teach you about contented joyousness.

Line 2:

Sincere joyousness, good fortune = remorse disappears. Changes to (17) Following. There is no greater pathway to joy than to understand your own sincerity. We follow others and often become lost. Life tests our sincerity so that we discover what we really want and what is right for us. However, after a misunderstanding, you may need to trust in following another’s initiative even when the way seems foreign. Joy experienced by trusting or discovering sincerity of the heart is true joyousness.

Line 3:

Coming joyousness = misfortune. Changes to (43) Determination. If you place your ability to know joyousness on outer circumstances, when it is not forthcoming, you lose your joy. It is better not to force or manipulate events for a desired outcome but to allow life to unfold on its own terms. The breakthrough associated with Determination can show either pushing too hard to force events or the breakthrough in thinking that returns you to acceptance of the moment. In that place, joyousness can remain perpetual. It is more important to identify Joy in the here and now rather than working so hard toward a future in hopes that you discover Joy one day. True Joy springs from within and is a change in outlook.

Line 4:

Joyousness that is weighed is not at peace = after ridding yourself of this mistake, you have joy. Changes to (60) Limitation. When you live too much in the mind, analyzing every response of lack of response, you lose your joyousness. Judgment and measuring give and take behavior never leads to joy, only a sense of compensation. To give unconditionally or to accept unconditionally leads to joy. Once you recognize this limiting behavior joyousness returns to all you do.

Line 5:

Sincerity toward what is disintegrating = dangerous. Changes to (54) Propriety. You may be placing your faith and trust in something or someone who finds no value in what you offer. The danger is the suffering, hurt feelings and a lack of joy you experience. Propriety or subordination shows that you are in a lesser position. However, if you can remove the threat of danger and acknowledge the difference between reality and illusion, you can avoid interacting with negative people or elements that can only bring you down. This line shows the fine line between perpetual inner joy and fantasy. When it is time for something to disintegrate for renewal, you must be open to the change.

Line 6:

Seductive joyousness = leads one astray. Changes to (10) Treading. When joyousness reaches this upmost place, situations can trend toward Dispersion in the following hexagram. Treading shows a person focusing on their footsteps and the path to discover more meaning in life. However, this outward searching can be overdone and we can wander away from being centered in joy. Too much looking around to reinforce our sense of worth or self esteem leads to vanity and instant gratification. You may need to balance a sense of discovering meaning in unfolding events with the power of being sincere in joy. We are only seduced when we have lost self love, self respect or our connection to our internal compass.

*This page provides insight on the following combinations: Hexagram 58 unchanging Hexagram 58.1 Hexagram 58.1.2 Hexagram 58.1.2.3 Hexagram 58.1.2.3.4 Hexagram 58.1.2.3.4.5 Hexagram 58.1.2.3.4.5.6 Hexagram 58.2 Hexagram 58.2.3 Hexagram 58.2.3.4 Hexagram 58.2.3.4.5 Hexagram 58.2.3.4.5.6 Hexagram 58.3 Hexagram 58.3.4 Hexagram 58.3.4.5 Hexagram 58.3.4.5.6 Hexagram 58.4 Hexagram 58.4.5 Hexagram 58.4.5.6 Hexagram 58.5 Hexagram 58.5.6 Hexagram 58.6