want to get insights on a reading

[dorjechodzin]

Hello,

I recently became a supervisor in a work situation that involved my coming in brand new to an educational community. I have been there for a year and a half and things are getting better and better - in terms of my mastering the new position and getting to know everybody - I am learning, growing and we are all doing well. That said, when I took over this job there was a person who very much thought she should have been given the position I inherited. I came in to this community brand new and she was a founding member. I could say more...the problem is that sometimes she is difficult to work with...she is very emotional and sometimes is just mentally and professionally unreliable. I can live with this because she works well with her students and can be quite "brilliant" at times. That said, I sometimes have to turn to the I Ching to give me insights into dealing with her.

I recently asked what my attitude towards her should be and I received Hexagram 22 with a changing line in the first place - transforming to Hexagram 52. I'm wondering if anyone might help me think about this a bit more.....

thanks,
B:bows:

[doingnotdoing]

I guess I'd read this first as a possible warning about allowing her emotional outbursts to affect your overall approach to your position. Given the little you have shared about the situation, it does seem that she could be an important ally for you, but I think the changing line is suggesting that you're better off establishing yourself without her direct support in terms of the big picture.

I think Hex 52 might be speaking to the question of what attitude you should take with her more directly. 52 is about keeping still and remaining mindfull. It may be difficult for you to see her in innocence when she becomes volatile, and I see 52 is reminding you to keep your cool and try to keep your own heart quiet at these times .

It's difficult to do, but as Wilhelm says in the text, if you can find deep quiet and peace of mind yourself, you will no longer see your interaction with her as a struggle, and will instead see the proper course of action at the given moment.

I think it's important for you to understand her likely feelings here, in that she must have some disappointment about not receiving the position you're in, and some associated jealousy towards you. It's not really unusual, and if you can see her innocence, and see that she's occasionally "acting out" from her upset, you'll find the right words and actions as they are needed.

Just my thoughts . . .

[galah]

Hex 22 Grace

In human affairs, aesthetic form comes into being when traditions exist that, strong and abiding like mountains, are made pleasing by a lucid beauty.

Line 1

Nine at the beginning means:
He lends grace to his toes, leaves the carriage, and walks.

I think she wishes she was the new supervisor but because of her hotheadedness and unreliability that is why she isn't.

Use you abilities of being strong but fair to deal with her.

Hex 52 Keeping Still

Remain calm and steady in this situation.

Try not to let her get to you with her attitude. Remain strong and steady and not take it personal.

[rosada]

I see 22.1 as cautioning you to be very down to earth. You will gain respect not because of your title but because you know how to do your job.
52 advises, "The superior man does not permit his thoughts to go beyond his situation." Focus on your job and don't get involved with her beyond what is required.

[dobro]

Hex 22's about improving the situation by beautifying it. 22.1 talks about doing the legwork in the situation yourself instead of letting yourself be carried along by it. So in answer to your question about what your attitude to her should be, the Yi seems to be suggesting that you 'beautify' the relationship by doing the legwork - YOU make the moves, YOU be the proactive one, YOU make the effort to move the relationship forward. In other words, hold up your end, and let the rest take care of itself.

[willowfox]

I recently asked what my attitude towards her should be and I received Hexagram 22.1 > Hexagram 52.

First, do not ignore her, be friendly and cheerful towards her, help her out when you can or able, show her what to do when she is going wrong, you need to teach her without actually teaching her, don't let her feel neglected. So, be warm toward her and certainly don't let her get you down.

[rosada]

Since there seems to be a wide spectrum of interpretations here I thought I'd spell out how I came to my conclusions.

First, consider the sequence. Hexagram 22 follows hexagram 21. Biting Through.
Hexagram 21's Image advises: "the kings of former times made firm the laws through clearly defined penalties".
This suggests that prior to your taking on this situation you had experience and training that caused you to be well equipt to handle the demands of your position. Likewise, given that this lady has been apart of this company from the beginning and she was passed over for the assignment it sounds like itis very clear that you are the one with the expertise here to do the job.

Now the hexagram 22 is Grace and discribes a lovely scene but the advice of the Image warns, "Thus does the superior man proceed when clearing up current affairs, but he dare not decide controversial issues in this way." This says {I think!} your job skills are just fine for solving normal work issues, but you cannot rely on them when trying to fathom this loose cannon's behavior.
22.1, being the first line and therefore discribing the situation BEFORE getting into the main drama of the hexagram, cautions one to be very grounded and not get caught up in the possibly unreal peculiar situations this woman creates. It's as if at 22.1 you're no longer in 21, the world where there are clearly defined rules and procedures, but you are not yet in the world of 22, where everything is kinda misty AND I see 52 as cautioning you not to get pulled into it:

KEEPING STILL . Keeping his back still
So that he no longer feels his body.
He goes into his courtyard
And DOES NOT SEE HIS PEOPLE.
No blame.

"Does not see his people. No blame." Sounds to me like you do not need to go overboard to befriend this woman. They didn't give her the job for a reason. Probably because she is difficult. You are not required to be a therapist. You just do your job as the required and know that if her behavior becomes too bizarre you are not to blame.

Oh, also, Wilhelm says the first line of 22.1 says "leaves the carriage, and walks." means the person has no relationship with line 2, the ruler and therefore "it is not fitting for this line to ride. On the other hand, as a yang line, it possesses sufficient inner strength to be reconciled to the fate thus imposed." This sounds like it's saying you have no relation to this woman who THINKS she should be the ruler - and therefore may not give you respect? - but that you have the inner strength not to be bothered by this.

Anyway, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with anybody else's readings or suggestions. I'm just trying to solve this like a puzzel and trying to figure out how exactly the question and the hexagrams match.

[guiandrade]

THE IMAGE

The image of GRACE.
Thus does the superior man proceed
When clearing up current affairs.
But he dare not decide controversial issues in this way.

I think, slowly does it, avoid direct confrontations with her. Your image must always be of someone who's trying to do the right thing for both her and yourself.
The job's yours but she's been there since the beginning and knows the ropes and all dark corners, even the nicest of people can be a bit nasty when cornered, that's survival instinct.

Besides it's so much better not to be nasty and thus be able to feel light in your heart.

THE LINES
He lends grace to his toes, leaves the carriage, and walks.

That probably means she will only acknowledge you as a superior when she sees with her own eyes that you're managing to be on top of things and that's the reason why you're there, but how not to confront her In the process...

KEEPING STILL. Keeping his back still

So that he no longer feels his body.
He goes into his courtyard
And does not see his people.

True quiet means keeping still when the time has come to keep still, and going forward when the time has come to go forward

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.

I'd say you must isolate your mind from her influence and focus on doing a good job.
Don't allow yourself to drift away from your center.

When you're in full control of yourself, then and only then you will be able to take the right decisions and be "kind yet firm" enough to see them through.


Small firm steps are way better than a long clumsy one.


If you can manage to hold the fort for a while and irradiate only good results she will end up having to join you or leave you alone, she might even turn out to be your best ally in the near future.

It might take some time though, so be patient.

Avoid doing anything fulled by your ego.


Now a possible change of scenarios.

THE IMAGE

Mountains standing close together:

The image of KEEPING STILL.

Thus the superior man
Does not permit his thoughts

To go beyond his situation.

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.

I think this again means that you should stay at your center, just do your job a day at a time and well within your limitations.
Also, don't hold your breath if it's to affect your well being. Keeping an eye on the horizon hoping to see this lady changing is unwise as it may either never happen or take too long and that would only strain and depress you.

While this sounds more like the real world than the rest of the things I wrote above I have to say I've witnessed many situations where people one would never expect to be able to get well together became best friends at work after years of frightful clashes and mutual sabotage.

So I'd suggest you wait and see, in any case, be firm but never cease being kind and fair. For "GRACE" is the umbrella that will protect you in any outcome.

Hope it helps.

Kind regards,

Gui.

[sparhawk]

Hey, I thought I was the only "Andrade" here...!! :)

[dobro]

Yeah, be careful. The new Andrade writes and lot and uses bold fonts. Try to keep up, Luis.

[sparhawk]

Yeah, be careful. The new Andrade writes and lot and uses bold fonts. Try to keep up, Luis.

I'm proud of the new Andrade! It shows superb editing and page design skils, not to mention a good command of the 'lingua franca,' unlike, erm..., some around here... :p

Sorry, Gui, if you've been lurking around before posting you should know whom are the chain-pullers around here... :D

Seriously though, my name is Luis Andrade. In the States but from Montevideo, Uruguay.

[dobro]

And the adjective for Uruguay (just in case you need it) is Uruguayan, and anything in the Uruguayan style is know as Uruguayanesque. Luis' musings on the Yi are quintessentially Uruguayanesque. I know this to be true, because Luis is the only Uruguayan thing I know of.

[sparhawk]

LOL! Uruguayanesque in the purest form, yes. :rofl:

[rosada]

An Uruguayanescapade?

[dobro]

And if that escapade is so embarrassing (as so many Uruguayan escapades are) that it's been removed from your memory, it's called an Uruguayanescapadectomy.

[rosada]

I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy.

[dorjechodzin]

Thanks to everyone for this great feedback!!

B

[sparhawk]

What was the question?? :D

[dobro]

What was the question?? :D


The question was: What do you call a person (in the past they were called shamans) who will help you forget embarrassing escapades you've had in Montevideo?

The answer is: an Uruguayanescapadectomotologist.

They make a lot of money, apparently.

[sparhawk]

I wouldn't know, I'm usually the patient...

[dobro]

I wouldn't know, I'm usually the patient...

Ah, so you admit you go to shamans. It's about time you came out of the closet...

[sparhawk]

Uh? Doesn't everyone?? :D

[dobro]

So I went to the shaman the other day. I was sitting in the waiting room, flipping through a Newsweek magazine, trying to ignore the screams coming from inside his consultation room. A couple of minutes later, a man emerged, pale and shaken, but smiling weakly. He didn't seem to notice me, and sort of drifted out of the office in a daze.

"The nagual will see you now," the receptionist said to me, rather pleasantly, as if screaming and pale clients were the norm.

I mustered my courage and went into the office. It was sparsely furnished - just two chairs - nestled neatly in amongst the giant tropical plants. An owl on a perch in the corner eyed me hungrily as I entered, and two rather large iguanas scuttled along a wall and behind the jaguar sleeping under the window.

"Can I help you?" asked the enigmatic, gently smiling man sitting in one of the chairs.

"Perhaps. I hope so," I answered diffidently. "I have a problem that I haven't been able to deal with. You see, I..." and here I paused, both out of a certain embarrassment and also out of the fear that he wouldn't be equal to the task of dealing with such a difficult problem.

"Yes?" he said, encouragingly, but also I thought, with a certain hunger in his eyes.

"Well, what it comes down to is. I've been involved in... in... Uruguayan escapades."

His eyes widened, and smile of pleasure formed on his thin lips. "Ah," he said gently. "The Montevidean madness has claimed another unwary traveller." He smiled even more broadly, almost beaming at me like a bishop, not so much with blessing as with a certain eagerness born of the certain knowledge that a cure was required.

"You can help me?" I managed to get out. I knew the answer was yes, but I felt the need to keep things moving, or else I would panic and flee.

"Of course," he said, glancing away briefly and studying the jaguar, and then adding, almost nonchalantly, "It will require nothing more than a few herbs ingested throughout the remainder of your lifetime, a course of intensive meditation and retreat which I will supervise personally, an indepth study of the Chinese Classic known to the vulgar and uneducated as the I Ching, and also..." and here he paused, as if not quite sure how to phrase what he wanted to say in a delicate enough fashion, "...and also, a visit to a certain Senor Andrade who, you understand, will facilitate the cure in a fashion which must at this time remain less than fully described." And he looked at me with the same smile as before, but this time it seemed tinged with a trace of sadness.

And that is when I realized that the drugs, the meditation, the I Ching study would be as nothing compared to my fateful meeting with the inimitable, the famed, the dreaded Senor Andrade...

[trojan]

:rofl:

[lightangel]

that's really nice, you should be a writer :cool:

[dobro]

Should be? Lightangel, I assure you that I am, in every sense of the word, a writer. :)

More seriously, as a writer of this kind of stuff I couldn't do anything that Terry Pratchett hasn't already done better. It would be fun, though.

[sparhawk]

"...and also, a visit to a certain Senor Andrade who, you understand, will facilitate the cure in a fashion which must at this time remain less than fully described." And he looked at me with the same smile as before, but this time it seemed tinged with a trace of sadness.

And that is when I realized that the drugs, the meditation, the I Ching study would be as nothing compared to my fateful meeting with the inimitable, the famed, the dreaded Senor Andrade...

Oh, my... That was pretty good, amigo Dobro! :bows:

What you didn't noticed is that the jaguar was his shape-shifter wife and the sadness was for not being able to join you in the quest for señor Andrade... :D

[dorjechodzin]

Thank you everyone for your helpful comments.
Dorje Chodzin