Hexagram 60 · Line 6
Limitation — 上九
Jie · Shang Jiu
The Line
Bitter limitation: perseverance brings misfortune. Remorse vanishes.
Interpretation
If one is too strict in limitation, people do not hold out. The more consistent one is in such strictness, the more evil it is; for a reverse reaction cannot be avoided in the long run. Thus too the tormented body takes revenge if one wants to proceed with too strict asceticism. But if this inconsiderate strictness is also not something that could be applied lastingly and regularly, there can yet be times when it is the only means to guard oneself from guilt and remorse. These are the situations in which inconsideration toward one's own person is the only means to rescue the soul, which otherwise would perish in half-heartedness and temptation.