Hexagram 17The Following (The Pursuit)
Upper : Lake (Dui) - ☱Lower : Thunder (Zhen) - ☳
"The following brings sublime success. Perseverance is advantageous. Without blame."
The element Thunder (movement) submerges beneath the Lake (joy, repose). Rather than forcing movement, movement adapts to joy and follows it. This is total fluidity. To know how to follow the current of life, to adapt to events, to be guided by circumstances and others without losing one's inner joy. It is not submission, but a joyful adaptation.
"In the middle of the lake is the thunder: the image of the following. Thus the noble man, when evening comes, returns home to rest and renew himself."
To follow nature is also to know when to stop as the day wanes. To align with circadian and cosmic rhythms.
The Ego joyfully capitulates to the Self. You understand that you do not need to direct everything. This letting go is active and joyful (the Lake). You accept to follow your intuition, your dreams, and the mysterious current of the Unconscious (which is far vaster than your small mind). By following what energizes you (the buried thunder), you find your path effortlessly.
It is the principle of least action. In physics, a particle always follows the path that minimizes action (the energy expended over time). It follows the geodesic curve of space-time without struggle. The Following invites you to cease struggling against the geometry of your own destiny and to take the most fluid path of evolution.