STEP BY STEP

Ascend
Eminent expansion
Benefit seeing the great man
Do not worry
To set things right in the South: auspicious

The great image says:
Earth center gives birth to wood: ascending
The noble one, with devoted character, accumulates small things to become tall and big

Man wants to go one step ahead of what he is. It gives satisfaction, self-confidence, and a purpose in life. It makes life exciting and full of promises.
   Don�t do it for others eyes. That may be rewarding too, but only temporary.
   Ascending is an act of growing. What is done by acquiring is something else, and by acquiring it is not one�s self that ascends. Acquiring cannot create stairs to Heaven, but ascending can. And the number of steps does not matter. Every step is important - especially the first one.
   Do not live past or future, but live the moment, developing itself step by step, like a plant, growing around obstacles. Its goal is not somewhere up there, but in itself, an inherent plan. It is one with what it becomes.

9 at 2: Being true, then harvest: offer a Yue-sacrifice. Without fault.
For ascending one cannot rely on anybody but oneself, one�s own experience and wisdom and faith. The start is always now, every moment gone by is a lost moment. But every chance to start gone by is not a lost chance: to start does not depend on chances. Throw in everything you have, how little it may be. If it is completely you, it is enough.

6 at 4: The king benefits of a sacrifice to Mount Qi. Auspicious. Without fault.
The mind starts something long before any action is taken. Without this preparation actions will be weak and without direction. The mind steers the actions, the intention creates the outcome.

Above 6: Shadowy ascent. Harvest: unceasing determination.
In spiritual matters nobody can tell you what to do. You have to find your own path, without example, so you need eyes that can see in the dark, a nose that can follow faint scents, feet that can move in slippery terrain and a mind that can imagine the unthinkable. And utter stamina. 

Hexagram 56

ITINERANT TROOPS

Itinerant
Small expansion
A determination about wandering is auspicious

The great image says:
High on the mountain there is fire: Itinerant
The noble one is clear minded and cautious in imposing punishment and does not protract lawsuits

In every country, even far away from home, one finds the same universal rules. Human rules can differ fundamentally, but the voice of the gods is everywhere the same.
  Who hears these voices can speak all languages on earth, he will find safety and a home wherever he is. God and Allah and Manitou and Buddha all come from the same source, only the names are different. So speak and behave from out this source, and accept the human rules as being part of this particular landscape. Adapt to them with extra care, to make up for being unfamiliar with them.
  In every unknown and new situation, behave like being in a strange country.