Hexagram 19: Lin

Earth over Lake · 地泽临 · Tendency: Auspicious

Structure

• Number: 19 (King Wen sequence)
• Symbol: ䷒
• Upper trigram: Kun (Earth)
• Lower trigram: Dui (Lake)
• Lines: yang yang yin yin yin yin (bottom to top)

The statement

元亨，利贞。至于八月有凶。

——《周易》

What this hexagram indicates

Opportunities are approaching. You have room to take initiative in handling, managing, or advancing matters. It's suitable to communicate, arrange resources, and take care of subordinates or weaker parties in relationships. Note that the momentum won't keep rising forever, so don't delay key decisions just because things are smooth now.

A Buddhist reading

Lin (Approach) arrives once decay has been cleared and one can draw near to people and to the teaching again; inwardly, says Ouyi Zhixu, it is the point where meditative illness has been cured and delusion is being cut away. He warns that a rising tide is most dangerous when nobody thinks of turning back, since whatever waxes will wane. Only someone whose practice matches the original nature can ride that rhythm instead of being carried off by it. Clearing away faults calls for the strength of wisdom, entering the principle for the strength of stillness. The final line lands on knowing there is no dharma outside the mind, and seeking none there.

After Ouyi Zhixu (1599-1655), whose Chan commentary on the Changes reads each hexagram as a stage of practice.

The statement is quoted from the Book of Changes, which is in the public domain. The English reading on this page was prepared for this library.

Related hexagrams

• Previous: Hexagram 18: Gu
• Next / Inverted: Hexagram 20: Guanthe whole figure turned upside down
• Opposite: Hexagram 33: Dunevery line changed to its opposite
• Nuclear: Hexagram 24: Fulines two to four below, three to five above

Related

• Liu Yao Divination ChartLiu Yao casts a hexagram about one specific matter and reads its structure. Unlike BaZi or Zi Wei, which describe a person, Liu Yao describes how a situation stands at a particular moment. This page walks through the full process from casting to attribution.
• Mei Hua Yi Shu CalculatorMei Hua Yi Shu is traditionally attributed to Shao Yong. What sets it apart is how freely it casts: a time, a spoken number, a direction or something noticed in passing will all serve. It attaches no stems and no relatives, reading the trigrams directly. This page covers casting through to the subject and object.