Question for Hilary, et al

[jillc]

Hello again Hilary

In an answer to a recent post of mine, you replied in part, "when someone is quite determined that giving up is not an option, the I Ching may recognize that determination in its answer; who knows."

If true, that would seem to imply that its responses could be influenced by what one *wants* to hear, not what one *needs* to hear -- psychokinesis, in effect. As welcome as good news always is, turning to the I Ching for guidance is not the same as seeking out a best pal for loving but unobjective support.

Would you (and others) care to comment further on this, please?

Thanks!

[candid]

Hi Jillc and welcome.

Perhaps Hilary?s point was that the power of our will is an important element which drives our question, and therefore the Ching?s answer would also be likewise directed. It isn?t the same as pandering to our wishes, but more like working with what ?it? has to work with.

Another consideration is that Yi is always in the moment, whereas we tend to see things in a past-present-future view of the world. So, the moment in which someone asks their question, Yi responds according to all that is during that moment in time. The potentiality contained within that moment doesn?t eliminate the possibility of a successful outcome. Neither does it guarantee it. Its still pretty much what we make of it. Its not called The Book of Changes for no reason.

Every hexagram offers a positive course of action. If we follow that council, we will be furthered in some way or another, though perhaps not to the completed end which we had anticipated. Overcoming adversity isn?t always a matter of abandoning our goal, and sometimes there?s no other way for us to learn but to trod our determined path.

If you can move forward from the experience with an increased sense of wellness and understanding, it was as successful as promised.

Where translations are concerned, there are some which are (for my use anyway) too superficial. Its important that the one you use resonates internally within your being. My choice is often frowned upon by some others. That really doesn?t matter because its me that Yi is talking to. The same applies for yourself. If however, it fails to penetrate into your mind and heart, it won?t really satisfy your deepest thirst for understanding and therefore can not properly influence your course.

Hope this helps.

~Candid

[hilary]

Nicely put, Candid. And Jill, sorry I didn't put that so well. I didn't mean telekinesis or anything - just that the I Ching answers the whole question (the whole person?) including the unspoken part - ie not just 'What can I do now?' but 'What can I do now? (and I am not going to give up)'

Perhaps. The second hexagram sometimes exposes that unspoken part; the lines will show how well it fits with the rest of reality. And the whole answer sometimes explodes every assumption behind the question. Who am I to say what Yi might do next?

[jillc]

Thank you both.

You have both, in slightly different words, pointed out an essential fallacy in my home-made interpretations of the hexagrams I receive: the answer is a "big-picture" view, whereas my focus tends to be on desiring a specific, narrow (unrealistic?) outcome of a complex situation.

Oh, well. As you both say, the broader context is there for the taking -- if one is wise enough to seek and heed it. I shall have to work harder on that!

Candid, I am most interested in your comment about translations. As a rank beginner, I am exploring many. I have relied heavily on Alfred Huang on the theory that a scholar born into the Chinese tradition may have an intuitive and cultural edge that a Westerner -- including Wilhelm --cannot. (I have also looked at Hua Ching Ni's interpretation, but that did not "resonate" with me.)

However, this weekend I checked out from the library one of Karcher's books and find it much less ambiguous and to my mind more directly responsive, with perhaps even a unique twist, to questions I have asked in the past. I have been supplementing Huang with a couple of others -- no doubt unorthodox, to purists or scholars -- but they have been helpful in amplifying or clarifying Huang's poetic/symbolic language. Since I feel on shaky ground when trying to "interpret" (a very grand term for what I do!), perhaps the more concrete interpretations speak better to my needs. I'm not so much questing for spiritual enlightenment (though no doubt it would do me good) as seeking practical, real-world guidance. I think I Ching embraces both, if only one can learn to view its advice objectively.

(Objective? What's that?)

[candid]

Jillc ? I?m reminded of a day, early in my exploration into the phenomenal world of ?The Changes,? and how with great exuberance I entered into a Chinese shop near where I lived. Here was an opportunity to gain traditional insight into the Chinese mindset. After exchanging pleasantries with the store?s proprietor, I began enthusiastically sharing my new interest in I-Ching with this gracious woman. She blinked as though not having a clue as to what I was rambling on about, and pointed to her calendar next to her - a Roman Catholic image of Mary! (Couldn?t it have at least been an image of her Eastern counterpart, Kuan Yin?!) Oh well.

Traditional Yi Jing reflects a hierarchic system, which by today?s standards equates to being horribly chauvinistic. Even I have to sometimes cringe at the implications of the Wilhelm translation. Times change, and with it, its demands, and so I make the mental adjustments in order to grasp the true and applicable lessons contained within Wilhelm. If one is able to get past that and view Yin and Yang within the framework of our own interior makeup, the whole matter becomes a non-issue.

Something I will highly recommend to you, even if the Wilhelm version doesn?t speak clearly to you, is the foreword written by Carl Jung. http://www.iging.com/intro/foreword.htm In it, Jung shares his own personal beginnings with the I Ching. His approach to Yi was as though ?it? were just another person to learn about and understand. The results are humorous (as Yi can sometimes be) and awakening to read.

You no doubt have heard the Bible scripture: seek ye first the kingdom of heaven, and all these things (specifics) shall be added unto you. In order to find ones way on a map, its best to begin with the bigger picture, then narrow our field of vision to the city and street of our destination.

I admire your receptivity.

~Candid

[jillc]

Thank you, Candid. I admire your breadth!

Thank you for the Jung reference. I think it was my interest in Jung and synchronicity and collective unconscious, etc, that steered me toward the I Ching in the first place, although I had not read his foreword before. His "conversation" with and near anthropomorphization of the I Ching was fascinating and made sense -- and was far more audacious than I'd ever presume to be!

While I'm not intimately familiar with Wilhelm, I seem instinctively to gravitate toward more contemporary interpretations. Perhaps it's like a child learning to walk.