ASK ROASTIE

BAD ADVICE. GOOD TIMING.

HEXAGRAM 52 OF 64 MOUNTAIN OVER MOUNTAIN

KEEPING STILL

艮 Gèn

stillness, meditation, the mountain, knowing when to stop, calm in the body

ROASTIE

Keeping Still. Mountain over Mountain, stillness so complete you forget you have a body, walking the courtyard and seeing no one. The book means chosen stillness. Yours is a couch. The oldest book on earth had sixty-four options and gave you the one with no plot. That's not peace, honey. That's a moat. Ya roasted!

THE JUDGMENT

He keeps his back still and forgets his body; walks the courtyard and does not see the people. No mistake.

THE LINES, BOTTOM TO TOP

  1. Line 1 Keeping the toes still before a step is taken; no mistake; lasting firmness profits.
  2. Line 2 Keeping the calves still; he cannot save the one he follows; his heart is unhappy.
  3. Line 3 Keeping the hips still and stiffening the spine; danger, and the heart smolders.
  4. Line 4 Keeping the trunk of the body at rest; no mistake comes of it.
  5. Line 5 Keeping the jaws still; words come in good order; regret disappears.
  6. Line 6 Stillness carried through to the end with generosity; good fortune.
THROW YOUR OWN ALL SIXTY-FOUR

Text: the I Ching, after James Legge's 1882 translation, public domain, trimmed into plain English. The take: a coffee bean, licensed in nothing.