I Ching or Book of Changes

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One is at rest, not merely in a small, circumscribed way in regard to matters of detail, but one has also a general resignation in regard to life as a whole, and this confers peace and good fortune in relation to every individual matter. If a man were to pile up riches for himself alone, without considering others, he would certainly experience a collapse. However, since the worthy are honored, as in the case of the strong personality entrusted with leadership by the ruler, it is an advantage not to eat at home but rather to earn one’s bread by entering upon public office.

For it may cause the other person to come to his senses, so that the alliance that has been sought and so painfully missed is after all achieved.

As has been pointed out above in the comment on the Judgment, keeping the back at rest means forgetting the ego. There are three kinds of shock—the shock of heaven, which is thunder, the shock of fate, and, finally, the shock of the heart. Thus the well is the symbol of that social structure which, evolved by mankind in meeting its most primitive needs, is independent of all political forms. Hence too a ravine is used to symbolize danger; it is a situation in which a man is in the same pass as the water in a ravine, and, like the water, he can escape if he behaves correctly. These should be disinterested people, especially in times of increase, since the benefit is to spread from the leader to the people.

If the water in the lake gathers until it rises above the earth, there is danger of a break–through.This last is suggested by the fact that a strong line at the top, which is the ruler of the hexagram, is honored and tended as a sage. But if he will only see to it that he is possessed of something truly spiritual, the time is bound to come, sooner or later, when the difficulties will be resolved and all will go well.