Hexagram 57The Gentle (The Wind)
Upper : Wind (Xun) - ☴Lower : Wind (Xun) - ☴
"The gentle. Success through what is small. It is advantageous to have a destination. It is advantageous to see the great man."
The Wind doubled. The element of penetration. The wind does not shatter the rock in a single blow (as thunder might); it insinuates itself everywhere and eventually erodes the hardest mountains over the centuries. It is the art of influencing without constraint. A gentle yet relentlessly repeated action eventually overcomes any resistance. Do not seek frontal conflict: circumvent, infiltrate, repeat.
"The winds follow one another: the image of the gentle. Thus the noble man disseminates his commands and accomplishes his affairs."
For an idea to penetrate the minds of the masses (or the unconscious), one must not shout once, but whisper a hundred times.
The influence of the Unconscious on the Ego. Intuition (the voice of the Self) rarely shouts. It is like a gentle breeze, a subtle sensation, a recurring dream. If you are too rigid, you will not feel it. You must become 'gentle' and receptive to hear these inner whispers. Similarly, if you wish to change a bad habit, do not use violence against yourself: employ gentle and daily persuasion.
The Quantum Tunneling Effect. Classically, a particle cannot traverse a wall if it lacks sufficient energy to leap over it. In quantum mechanics, due to its wave-like nature (like the wind), the particle has a minuscule yet non-zero probability of 'penetrating' the barrier and appearing on the other side. Without any violence, it traverses the insurmountable simply by existing as a wave.