THE IMAGE of two trigrams: below a Mountain, above the Heaven. If you seek silence and solitude, leave the city. In the mountains, under a dark starry sky, you will find what you need. A small hut where you can retreat for a while from the noise and bustle.
noun
1. The act of pulling back or withdrawing, as from something dangerous, or unpleasant.
2. The act of reversing direction and receding from a forward position.
3. A peaceful, quiet place affording privacy or security.
THE IMAGE of the entire hexagram: a hollow, a sheltered space. A place to retreat to. An open space with a solid roof. It can only be a cave.
The hermits of the past had a fondness for the mountains and, whenever possible, they would take up residence in a cave there. This offered protection from the elements, just enough to not be completely cut off from them. In this way, they lived close to the cold, the wind, snow and heat, and at night they gazed into a mirror of infinite depth, a pitch-black starry sky.
In Gansu, in north-western China, stands a solitary mountain, Majishan, the ‘wheat stack mountain’. The construction of caves began at the start of our era. Majishan is part of a chain of Buddhist cave complexes along the ancient Silk Roads. The most famous of these are the Mogao Caves, near Dunhuang.
A cave in the mountains where you can retreat and disconnect from the hustle and bustle of society. Another ideal place to keep prying eyes at bay is a mountain retreat in the form of an island.
It is advisable not to let too many people know how peaceful it is on your island or mountain. Before you know it, you will have masses of unwanted visitors.
When building a house, empty space is the starting point. For protection and demarcation, you build walls around that emptiness and construct a roof over it. Doors and windows are recesses in this structure.
The matrix where the cave dwelling will appear is solid, completely devoid of emptiness. The living space, as well as windows and doors, must be carved out.
Thirty spokes share the wheel’s hub;
It is the center hole that makes it useful.
Shape clay into a vessel;
It is the space within that makes it useful.
Cut doors and windows for a room;
It is the holes which make it useful.
Therefore benefit comes from what is there;
gUsefulness from what is not there.
Tao Te Ching - translation of Gia Fufeng
The traditional mnemonic device for remembering the Gèn trigram is an inverted bowl, fu wan, 覆碗. ☶ looks like a mountain with an open space, a cave, a shelter, a house, a beehive.
So take a broad view of the concept of a mountain. Not every country has mountains and caves, but there are always places to be found that lie off the beaten track, that you have to make an effort to reach, and where you find a simplicity that does not lure you away from yourself.
How fortunate. When the coronavirus pandemic hit and life in the city became more and more restricted, we had a place of refuge. A small wooden house in a forest on the banks of the Overijsselse Vecht river. An off-grid house, as it is called, which we had been able to buy a few years earlier. In the middle, a wood-burning stove for cooking and warming your hands and back on cold days. A hundred-metre-deep well. A few solar panels on the roof, just enough for the water pump, phone charger and a single light in the evening.
Retreating and withdrawal come in all shapes and sizes. You can withdraw from the hectic for a moment by taking an afternoon nap, a good night’s sleep, or a weekend without your phone. And at the other end of the spectrum: retiring after a long career. ‘Repose’ and ‘retire’. Somewhere in between lies the ‘retreat’, a sheltered place for the necessary breaks, to recharge for what is to come.
When the hexagram of chapter 33 is reversed, that of chapter 34 appears: Great Strength. To attain that great strength, you move in the opposite direction. This is called ‘investing in the opposite’. To jump, you must first bend your knees. Profit becomes possible by first accepting loss. Great strength lies in retreating.
To be continued …