This hexagram presents danger ahead and strength behind — a configuration that counsels neither retreat nor advance, but waiting. Not passive endurance, but alert readiness: the mind clear, resources gathered, attention focused on what approaches.
The waiting described here is not empty time but active preparation. Like clouds that accumulate moisture before releasing rain, this period serves a purpose that only becomes apparent later. What feels like delay is actually the natural rhythm by which substantial things come into being.
Success depends on maintaining inner certainty while external conditions remain unclear. This requires a particular kind of confidence — not in any specific outcome, but in the underlying order that governs all outcomes. Those who can sustain this quality of attention will find that what seemed like obstacles were actually the means by which necessary changes occurred.
The Image
Clouds rise up to heaven. The superior man eats and drinks, is joyous and of good cheer.
Clouds do not strain toward heaven — they rise naturally when conditions are right. This image suggests that certain forms of waiting are themselves productive, like the quiet processes by which the earth prepares for rain.
The superior person does not treat periods of waiting as periods of deprivation. Instead of growing anxious or forcing premature action, he maintains the conditions within himself that will be needed when the time for action arrives. This is not distraction but a form of spiritual discipline.
