Pang Juan Surveys the Battle Line
Neutral
The poem
Original: 石藏无价玉和珍 / 只管他乡外客寻 / 宛如持灯更觅火 / 不如收拾枉劳心
The story
Sun Bin and Pang Juan studied under the same master, and Sun Bin learned more. Pang Juan, made a general of Wei, had his classmate's feet cut off out of envy. Sun Bin escaped by feigning madness, became strategist of Qi, tricked Pang Juan by reducing his cooking fires, and ambushed him at Maling, where he died under a storm of arrows.
What it means
The image is holding a lamp while hunting for fire. There is priceless jade inside the stone in your own hand, and you are searching for it in distant places; the more you search the more tired you become. The lot is about contentment and looking inward. What you want is already close by, or already in you, and you have simply not seen it. Pang Juan had real talent and spent it on envy, and it destroyed him. Gather yourself, keep still, be satisfied: what is in front of you is the real thing.
By area of life
Wealth
Gain is difficult and forcing it wastes effort. Since you are not actually short, avoid speculation; holding what you have is the gain.
Love
Do not look far afield. The person is most likely already in the circle you know. A small quarrel is nothing; sincerity will repair it.
Work
The work is at home, not abroad. Take the strengths you already possess and develop them where you are, and much is possible.
Health
Do not medicate when you are well or treat a minor complaint as a crisis. Settle the mind first; a settled mind keeps the body sound.
Travel
Your own region is enough. Crossing oceans adds expense and fatigue without adding anything you do not already have close at hand, so save yourself the trip.
Advice
Look at what is already in your hands before you go looking somewhere else.