Your current situation can be depicted as "Keeping Still, Mountain" transforming into "Youthful Folly".
In front of you lies "Mountain", representing stillness and obstruction. Behind you lies "Mountain" which transforms into "Water". That means that stillness and obstruction are being transformed into danger and the unknown.
The Situation
52. Kên - Keeping Still, Mountain Above (in front): Kên - Keeping Still (Mountain) Below (behind): Kên - Keeping Still (Mountain)
Comment by Richard Wilhelm:
The image of this hexagram is the mountain, the youngest son of heaven and earth. The male principle is at the top, because it strives upward by nature; the female principle is below, since the direction of its movement is downward. Thus there is rest because the movement has come to its normal end. In its application to man, the hexagram turns upon the problem of achieving a quiet heart. It is very difficult to bring quiet to the heart. While Buddhism strives for rest through an ebbing away of all movement in nirvana, the Book of Changes holds that rest is merely a state of polarity that always posits movement as its complement. Possibly the words of the text embody directions for the practice of yoga.
The Judgement for the Current Situation
Keeping Still. Keeping his back still So that he no longer feels his body. He goes into the courtyard And does not see his people. No blame.
Comment by Richard Wilhelm:
True quiet means keeping still when the time has come to keep still, and going forward when the time has come to go forward. In this way rest and movement are in agreement with the demands of the time, and thus there is light in life. The hexagram signifies the end and the beginning of all movement. The back is named because in the back are located all the nerve fibers that mediate movement. If the movement of these spinal nerves is brought to a standstill, the ego, with its restlessness, disappears as it were. When a man has thus become calm, he may turn to the outside world. He no longer sees in it the struggle and tumult of individual beings, and therefore he has that true peace of mind which is needed for understanding the great laws of the universe and for acting in harmony with them. Whoever acts from these deep levels makes no mistakes.
The Image for the Current Situation
Mountains standing close together: The image of Keeping Still. Thus the superior man Does not permit his thoughts To go beyond his situation.
Comment by Richard Wilhelm:
The heart thinks constantly. This cannot be changed, but the movements of the heart–that is, a man's thoughts–should restrict themselves to the immediate situation. All thinking that goes beyond this only makes the heart sore.
Interpretation of the Changing Line(s)
Line 2: Keeping his calves still. He cannot rescue him whom he follows. His heart is not glad.
Comment by Richard Wilhelm:
The leg cannot move independently; it depends on the movement of the body. If a leg is suddenly stopped while the whole body is in vigorous motion, the continuing body movement will make one fall. The same is true of a man who serves a master stronger than himself. He is swept along, and even though he may himself halt on the path of wrongdoing, he can no longer check the other in his powerful movement. Where the master presses forward, the servant, no matter how good his intentions, cannot save him.
Line 3: Keeping his hips still. Making his sacrum stiff. Dangerous. The heart suffocates.
Comment by Richard Wilhelm:
This refers to enforced quiet. The restless heart is to be subdued by forcible means. But fire when it is smothered changes into acrid smoke that suffocates as it spreads. Therefore, in exercises in meditation and concentration, one ought not to try to force results. Rather, calmness must develop naturally out of a state of inner composure. If one tries to induce calmness by means of artificial rigidity, meditation will lead to very unwholesome results.
The Future
4. Mêng - Youthful Folly Above (in front): Kên - Keeping Still (Mountain) Below (behind): K'an - The Abysmal (Water)
Comment by Richard Wilhelm:
In this hexagram we are reminded of youth and folly in two different ways. The image of the upper trigram, Kên, is the mountain, that of the lower, K'an, is water; the spring rising at the foot of the mountain is the image of inexperienced youth. Keeping still is the attribute of the upper trigram; that of the lower is the abyss, danger. Stopping in perplexity on the brink of a dangerous abyss is a symbol of the folly of youth. However, the two trigrams also show the way of overcoming the follies of youth. Water is something that of necessity flows on. When the spring gushes forth, it does not know at first where it will go. But its steady flow fills up the deep place blocking its progress, and success is attained.
The Judgement for the Future
Youthful Folly has success. It is not I who seek the young fool; The young fool seeks me. At the first oracle I inform him. If he asks two or three times, it is importunity. If he importunes, I give him no information. Perseverance furthers.
Comment by Richard Wilhelm:
In the time of youth, folly is not an evil. One may succeed in spite of it, provided one finds an experienced teacher and has the right attitude toward him. This means, first of all, that the youth himself must be conscious of his lack of experience and must seek out the teacher. Without this modesty and this interest there is no guarantee that he has the necessary receptivity, which should express itself in respectful acceptance of the teacher. This is the reason why the teacher must wait to be sought out instead of offering himself. Only thus can the instruction take place at the right time and in the right way. A teacher's answer to the question of a pupil ought to be clear and definite like that expected from an oracle; thereupon it ought to be accepted as a key for resolution of doubts and a basis for decision. If mistrustful or unintelligent questioning is kept up, it serves only to annoy the teacher. He does well to ignore it in silence, just as the oracle gives one answer only and refuses to be tempted by questions implying doubt. Given addition a perseverance that never slackens until the points are mastered one by one, real success is sure to follow. Thus the hexagram counsels the teacher as well as the pupil.
The Image for the Future
A spring wells up at the foot of the mountain: The image of Youth. Thus the superior man fosters his character By thoroughness in all that he does.
Comment by Richard Wilhelm:
A spring succeeds in flowing on and escapes stagnation by filling up all the hollow places in its path. In the same way character is developed by thoroughness that skips nothing but, like water, gradually and steadily fills up all gaps and so flows onward.
52. Kên - Keeping Still, Mountain
4. Mêng - Youthful Folly