I always tend to look at multiple lines by seeing them as a sequence inside the question I am asking - as further below a moving line is (say for example 3 lines are moving) as earlier in the unfolding process and as higher up, as later. I asked the book about this approach and got 38.2 to 21. Well, only one line changing. However, there is the master in the narrow lane, apparently King Wen, is supposed to help me to remove the misunderstanding. There is also a hint that the meeting is coincidental and that I should not be embarrased to meet my master. I guess it means that there is not a straightforward answer to the question of multiple lines changing. Even one line changing can already be confusing enough, as it is in this case. I guess I have to accept this. This brings me to the resulting hexagram, 21, something between my teeth I need to bite through, but how? I fear that I have to accept that there is not this wonderful sequential order I would like to be in the book of change. Multiple lines remain a problem even the book can't come up with a straight forward answer, I guess.

seethis said:

I always tend to look at multiple lines by seeing them as a sequence inside the question I am asking - as further below a moving line is (say for example 3 lines are moving) as earlier in the unfolding process and as higher up, as later.

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Isn't the path of multiple lines changing the path on which you meet your lord?

What does multiple lines changing mean?
38.2 > 21

☲ ☲
☱ ☳

Hexagram pictures: Home Inverted, Cangue

Overall judgment: In compelling us to move from thesis to antithesis (Opposition), multiple lines changing may seem a burden (Cangue).

38J
Opposition. In small matters, good fortune.

Changing lines define the details of the querent's situation.

38I
Above, fire; below, the lake:
The image of Opposition.
Thus amid all fellowship
The superior man retains his individuality.

Nevertheless, the central issue (ti) does not change.

38.2
Nine in the second place means:
One meets his lord in a narrow street.
No blame.

The person steps aside for his lord to pass. The I Ching diviner defers to the multiple line texts.

21J
Biting Through has success.
It is favorable to let justice be administered.

And applies their judgments.

Thanks for the reply. I had to look up what a cangue is (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cangue) and was a little shocked. Hope this isn't me in that device! I am never sure who the lord actually is I am supposed to meet in that narrow lane - I guess it is some kind of truth slightly ahead of my own personal development, something I am aiming for but can't get there in a straight move. This is embarrassing but not terrible. Perhaps multiple lines are aspects of one of the same situation. Of course opposition - things change into opposites rather than in a straight way. This is certainly a fundamental way the IGing believes the world of turns for us humans. In 38 things are quite out of sink but good news is on the horizon since the issue can be resolved by biting through a single line and unite (21) - presumably getting closer to the meaning of multiple lines.
I can't get rid of the feeling that it is a bit of a pointless exercise to ask the IGing theoretical questions. The real question behind the question of multiple lines might have been more: "what is my relationship to the IGING at my current state of mind?" In the context of this question I can make much more sense of 38.2 > 21. I can link it to my general situation and can get something out of it!
Hey, I had multiple lines today, and they made perfect sense. Both referred to a situation in which I try to deal with a difficult relationship question and both gave an aspect of one and the same thing. Much better, dealing with multiple lines when it comes to real life situations! Unfortunately, the resulting hexagram was much less meaningful than the two moving lines - I guess I need to think about that and see whether I can learn something new about this particular resulting line!

I read through some of the stuff on multiple lines by Hilery, prior to starting this threat. I was disappointed that I couldn't respond to it since it was from 2002/03 and the threat was closed. I feel that theorising too much about the IGING is a bit of a waste of time. Why would anyone who looks for answers in real life situations (most people only go to the IGING if they can't work things out for themselves, which is mostly in a situation of conflicting uncertainties in their personal lifes) want to go through complicated processess described their as the various options of dealing with multiple lines.

seethis said:

I had to look up what a cangue is (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cangue) and was a little shocked. Hope this isn't me in that device!

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Yes, that's the device. It is in line 21.6:

Nine at the top means:
His neck is fastened in the wooden cangue,
So that his ears disappear.
Misfortune.

A cangue was actually a minor punishment. In terms of personal development, we all have cangue-like baggage to deal with. In terms of theory, many diviners find multiple moving lines burdensome and seek ways to avoid them.

I don't see a conflict between personal development questions and theoretical questions. And as for theory being a waste of time, if we have no theory we lack intellectual clarity and cannot explain what we do.

I think it is useful to view the interaction with the oracle as a kind of conversation. The flow of talk goes back and forth, and then may go to an earlier topic and review, etc. The key is that all people involved are listening as well as talking. If there is a preconceived notion of any part of the conversation then that blocks the listening and therefore blocks the free flow of conversation.

When you have a preconceived idea of how to read your hex and changing lines, then you are not free to intuitively interpret the reading as it applies at the time (the time of the "meeting in the narrow lane") and in the given circumstances. This is a loss, or a punishment for you, but it is self-inflicted. Think of the IChing as an older, wiser, friend.

I enjoy this philosophical approach to the IChing.

I don't really have a problem with multiple lines. I was more interested to see whether the IGING itself suggests a way of dealing with it. The answer I got was possibly that I need to also look at the principle of opposition as one of the basic principles of the IG when mulitiple lines appear. For example to also look at how trigrams change within a given hexagram. However, there is of course the unavoidable problem of wishful thinking. Also, the IGING is free (no costs for a psychotherapist involved) and therefore everything comes back to me, meaning it reflects back to me possibly better than any psychotherapist could.
With regard to theory v. practical, I don't have a problem with theory either (have rather done too much theorising in my life) - therefore want a practical solution for multiple lines, one which is based on experience rather than abstract considerations. I had 4 moving lines yesterday and realised that the resulting hexagram was somehow the better option to look at when finding a way forward. I heard this before and also I can't explain why, it seems to make sense. Perhaps because information overload and confusion is not what one wants when looking for guidance.