Keeping Still (Mountain)

艮其趾，无咎，利永貞。

Keep the toes still. No fault. Lasting constancy is beneficial.

Line 1 stops movement at the toes, before a step begins, and favors lasting constancy. Its change makes Fire below Mountain, Hexagram 22. The comparison places an unstarted movement beside a figure concerned with visible form.

艮其腓，不拯其隨，其心不快。

Still the calves. Unable to rescue the one being followed, the heart is not glad.

Line 2 stills the calves but cannot help the one it follows, leaving the heart unhappy. Changing it makes Wind below Mountain, Hexagram 18. The relation invites comparison between frustrated following and the work of addressing what has decayed.

艮其限，列其夤，厲薰心。

Keeping the waist still, the muscles along the spine are torn apart. Danger sears the heart.

Stillness forced at the waist becomes painful division: the back is torn and danger reaches the heart. Changing Line 3 makes Earth below Mountain, Hexagram 23. Its stripping-away image can be compared with this bodily loss of connection.

艮其身，无咎。

Still the torso. No fault.

Line 4 keeps the torso still and gives a verdict of no fault. Its change makes Fire above Mountain, Hexagram 56. Bodily restraint and the traveler’s unsettled position are distinct situations to consider together.

艮其輔，言有序，悔亡。

Still the jaws. Words have order. Regret disappears.

Stillness at the jaws gives speech order in Line 5. Changing it makes Wind above Mountain, Hexagram 53. Ordered words and gradual development share a concern with sequence; the connection is a comparison between the two texts.

敦艮，吉。

Deeply grounded stillness. Favorable.

Line 6 gives stillness a deep, settled ending. Its change makes Hexagram 15, replacing the upper mountain with earth and placing the remaining firmness below a receptive surface.