Your current situation can be depicted as "Grace" transforming into "Break-through (Resoluteness)".
In front of you lies "Mountain" which transforms into "Lake". That means that stillness and obstruction are being transformed into joy, pleasure, and attraction. Behind you lies "Fire" which transforms into "Heaven". That means that brightness and warmth are being transformed into strength and creativity.
The Situation
22. Pi - Grace Above (in front): Kên - Keeping Still (Mountain) Below (behind): Li - The Clinging (Fire)
Comment by Richard Wilhelm:
This hexagram shows a fire that breaks out of the secret depths of the earth and, blazing up, illuminates and beautifies the mountain, the heavenly heights. Grace–beauty of form–is necessary in any union if it is to be well ordered and pleasing rather than disordered and chaotic.
The Judgement for the Current Situation
Grace has success. In small matters It is favorable to undertake something.
Comment by Richard Wilhelm:
Grace brings success. However, it is not the essential or fundamental thing; it is only the ornament and must therefore be used sparingly and only in little things. In the lower trigram of fire a yielding line comes between two strong lines and makes them beautiful, but the strong lines are the essential content and the weak line is the beautifying form. In the upper trigram of the mountain, the strong line takes the lead, so that here again the strong element must be regarded as the decisive factor. In nature we see in the sky the strong light of the sun; the life of the world depends on it. But this strong, essential thing is changed and given pleasing variety by the moon and the stars. In human affairs, aesthetic form comes into being when traditions exist that, strong and abiding like mountains, are made pleasing by a lucid beauty. By contemplating the forms existing in the heavens we come to understand time and its changing demands. Through contemplation of the forms existing in human society it becomes possible to shape the world.
The Image for the Current Situation
Fire at the foot of the mountain: The image of Grace. Thus does the superior man proceed When clearing up current affairs. But he dare not decide controversial issues in this way.
Comment by Richard Wilhelm:
The fire, whose light illuminates the mountain and makes it pleasing, does not shine far; in the same way, beautiful form suffices to brighten and to throw light upon matters of lesser moment, but important questions cannot be decided in this way. They require greater earnestness.
Interpretation of the Changing Line(s)
Line 2: Lends grace to the beard on his chin.
Comment by Richard Wilhelm:
The beard is not an independent thing; it moves only with the chin. The image therefore means that form is to be considered only as a result and attribute of content. The beard is a superfluous ornament. To devote care to it for its own sake, without regard for the inner content of which it is an ornament, would bespeak a certain vanity.
Line 4: Grace or simplicity? A white horse comes as if on wings. He is not a robber, He will woo at the right time.
Comment by Richard Wilhelm:
An individual is in a situation in which doubts arise as to which is better–to pursue the grace of external brilliance, or to return to simplicity. The doubt itself implies the answer. Confirmation comes from the outside; it comes like a white winged horse. The white color indicates simplicity. At first it may be disappointing to renounce the comforts that might have been obtained, yet one finds peace of mind in a true relationship with the friend who courts him. The winged horse is the symbol of the thoughts that transcend all limits of space and time.
Line 5: Grace in the hills and gardens. The roll of silk is meager and small. Humiliation, but in the end good fortune.
Comment by Richard Wilhelm:
A man withdraws from contact with people of the lowlands, who seek nothing but magnificence and luxury, into the solitude of the heights. There he finds an individual to look up to, whom he would like to have as a friend. But the gifts he has to offer are poor and few, so that he feels ashamed. However, it is not the material gifts that count, but sincerity of feeling, and so all goes well in the end.
Line 6: Simple grace. No blame.
Comment by Richard Wilhelm:
Here at the highest stage of development all ornament is discarded. Form no longer conceals content but brings out its value to the full. Perfect grace consists not in exterior ornamentation of the substance, but in the simple fitness of its form.
The Future
43. Kuai - Break-through (Resoluteness) Above (in front): Tui - The Joyous (Lake) Below (behind): Ch'ien - The Creative (Heaven)
Comment by Richard Wilhelm:
This hexagram signifies on the one hand a break-through after a long accumulation of tension, as a swollen river breaks through its dikes, or in the manner of a cloudburst. On the other hand, applied to human conditions, it refers to the time when inferior people gradually begin to disappear. Their influence is on the wane; as a result of resolute action, a change in conditions occurs, a break-through. The hexagram is linked with the third month [April-May].
The Judgement for the Future
Break-through. One must resolutely make the matter known At the court of the king. It must be announced truthfully. Danger. It is necessary to notify one's own city. It does not further to resort to arms. It furthers one to undertake something.
Comment by Richard Wilhelm:
Even if only one inferior man is occupying a ruling position in a city, he is able to oppress superior men. Even a single passion still lurking in the heart has power to obscure reason. Passion and reason cannot exist side by side–therefore fight without quarter is necessary if the good is to prevail. In a resolute struggle of the good against evil, there are, however, definite rules that must not be disregarded, if it is to succeed. First, resolution must be based on a union of strength and friendliness. Second, a compromise with evil is not possible; evil must under all circumstances be openly discredited. Nor must our own passions and shortcomings be glossed over. Third, the struggle must not be carried on directly by force. If evil is branded, it thinks of weapons, and if we do it the favor of fighting against it blow for blow, we lose in the end because thus we ourselves get entangled in hatred and passion. Therefore it is important to begin at home, to be on guard in our own persons against the faults we have branded. In this way, finding no opponent, the sharp edges of the weapons of evil becomes dulled. For the same reasons we should not combat our own faults directly. As long as we wrestle with them, they continue victorious. Finally, the best way to fight evil is to make energetic progress in the good.
The Image for the Future
The lake has risen up to heaven: The image of Break-through. Thus the superior man Dispenses riches downward And refrains from resting on his virtue.
Comment by Richard Wilhelm:
When the water of a lake has risen up to heaven, there is reason to fear a cloudburst. Taking this as a warning, the superior man forestalls a violent collapse. If a man were to pile up riches for himself alone, without considering others, he would certainly experience a collapse. If a man were to pile up riches for himself alone, without considering others, he would certainly experience a collapse. For all gathering is followed by dispersion. Therefore the superior man begins to distribute while he is accumulating. In the same way, in developing his character he takes care not to become hardened in obstinacy but to remain receptive to impressions by help of strict and continuous self-examination.