Hexagram 52The Immobilization (The Mountain)
Upper : Mountain (Gen) - ☶Lower : Mountain (Gen) - ☶
"The immobilization of his back, so that he no longer feels his body. He goes into his courtyard and does not see his people. Without blame."
The Mountain upon the Mountain. Absolute repose. To immobilize one's back is to halt the spinal column, the axis of action. When physical action and mental agitation cease entirely, the body seems to vanish (the state of profound meditation). The Self is so perfectly centered that it is no longer distracted by the external world ("he does not see his people"). This is the secret of true peace.
"The mountains stand side by side: the image of immobilization. Thus the noble man does not allow his thoughts to go beyond his situation."
Anxiety arises from thought projecting into the future. Peace arises from thought that stops exactly where the body is.
This is the practice of Active Imagination or seated meditation. The Ego, ordinarily frenetic, is put on pause. You must learn to stop the mental machinery. This is not laziness; it is the most difficult act there is: to do nothing. By immobilizing the surface noise, you allow the troubled waters of the psyche to settle, finally revealing the clarity of the depths (the Self).
This is Absolute Zero (0 Kelvin, -273.15 °C). In this theoretical state, entropy reaches its absolute minimum and all thermal agitation (the movement of atoms) ceases. Matter becomes perfectly "immobile." As one approaches this mountain of immobility, the laws of classical physics fade to give way to pure quantum phenomena (such as superconductivity).