䷩42 · Increase
Wind and thunder reinforcing each other — the dynamic increase; what is above gives down to what is below.
The Hexagram
Hexagram 42, *Yì*, is the inverse of *Sǔn* — what is above gives *down* to enrich what is below. The classical name is *Increase*. The hexagram counsels: *it furthers one to undertake something; it furthers one to cross the great water*. The lesson: a season of expansion is here. Resources flow from above to below — the leader gives to the team, the parent gives to the child, the universe gives to the practitioner. The wise behaviour: *use the increase for great undertakings*, not for small comforts.
When you pull this hexagram
A season of increase is on you. Resources, support, opportunities are flowing toward you. The hexagram counsels: deploy them for something great. The increase is for the great water.
The changing lines
Line 5 is *if in truth you have a kind heart, ask not — supreme good fortune; truly, kindness will be recognised as your virtue* — the kindness that asks no recognition is itself recognised.
In love
A season of giving in the relationship — receive it without smallness, give it without calculation. The increase grows by passing through.
In work
Resources are arriving. Use them for the large undertaking — the launch, the team expansion, the bold investment.
The gift
*Increase used for great undertakings.* The recognition that resources arriving in a season of *Yì* are meant for the great water, not for small comfort.
The shadow
Hoarding the increase. Using it for small comforts when it was meant for the great undertaking. The increase that is not deployed evaporates.
3 questions to sit with
- What increase has arrived in my life right now — that I have been treating as small windfall rather than as season of great undertaking?
- What is the great water this increase is meant for?
- Where am I using arriving resources for small comfort instead of for the work they were sent to fund?
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