Also known as Keeping Still, Mountain, Stillness, Bound.
The character 艮 is often linked to a person turning to look back, and later came to mean stopping or stillness. Hexagram 52 is about the mountain: being still in body and mind. It isn't laziness. It's the stillness that comes when you stop at the right moment and let restless thoughts settle.
The figure
Mountain over Mountain, the trigram doubled. A single strong line sits on top of two weak ones, twice over: movement that has come to rest. It is the reverse of hexagram 51.
The judgment
Hold still at the spine and the rest of you stops. Cross your own courtyard and meet nobody. Nothing here goes wrong.
When your back is still, you stop reacting to everything around you. You can walk through the busiest place without being pulled about by it. Not a mistake.
The image
Two mountains, one behind the other. Keep your thinking inside the ground you actually stand on.
Don't let your mind run beyond your place and your moment. Stay where you are.
The six lines
Counted from the bottom, the way the figure is built when you cast it.
- Line 1, at the bottom. Keep your toes still. Stopping before you start is no mistake. Steady on.
- Line 2. Keep your calves still. You can't stop the person you're following, and that isn't easy to accept.
- Line 3. Locking the hips rigid. Stillness forced on yourself is risky; it smothers the heart.
- Line 4. Keep your trunk still. You're learning to quiet yourself. Not a mistake.
- Line 5. Keep your jaw still. Words come in order, and regret fades.
- Line 6, at the top. Stillness from a generous heart. It goes well.
Reading it for a question
Hexagram 52 says stop. Rest, step back and let things settle before you act. Don't force calm, and don't rush in. Stillness now will show you the next step.