Hello,
I've been reading the exchanges here for about a year and do appreciate all the wisdom that is shared. That being said, I am very new to the IChing - but see it very much as a process of "plugging" into the universe - as a way of deepening my understanding of what is around me.
A bit of background - I'm in my 50s - work from home - work I enjoy in social research - have 2 wonderful children (a reason why working from home is a privilege) a marriage that has lasted 25 years and I've recently gone back to uni to start work on a Phd (in my spare time!). All sounds good, right? but an area that has eluded me all these years is some kind of financial ease or comfort - we are constantly juggling our money - trying to make ends meet & as we realise that we are getting older, also see that little has been set aside for age/illness etc. So we have maintained our integrity & interest in work but sacrificed financial comfort.
I asked what I needed to do to get to a situation of ease and comfort and got 50 changing to 38. This is where my lack of knowledge comes in - the Cauldron seems to speak of change - an important time in my life yet 38 seems to speak to limited, small changes in the context of opposition.
I would appreciate any input or suggestions. I do not use the IChing very often - I seem to do better by using it sparingly & letting it "sink"in over a period of time. Maybe I'm not "plugging" in very well but I'm having trouble understanding what I should be hearing.
Thank you again.
Lus

Remember to look at the moving lines. Often when you are asking about what action to take, your answer lies there. I believe your readng has lines 1 and 3 changing. I think Lises interpretation says a lot:

50.1 If things don't work, then don't be afraid to turn them upside down or inside out. Don't spare tradition, holiness or knowledge without result. Even gods have a duty, don't accept one who only makes unhappy

50.3 Before one can start to accomplish something big, there has to be order in one?s life. From out a mess, neglect, faults or lack of oversight, only a disaster can ensue. First of all, look around you and mend what has to be mended. Examine your intuition, your plans, your tools, the cooperation you can expect and the quality of your helpers

Line 1 I think is saying you will need to shake things up a bit, do things differently, things you never thought before about doing.

Line 3 I think is saying look at where you are and how you got there and then have a plan for where you want to be. Mend what needs to be mended perhaps refers to your spending habits. A perfect example is my parents. They have always had large, expensive houses because they like to entertain and have people visit. But a lot of their financial future was in stocks, in which they lost a considerable amount after 9/11. They recently sold their home for twice what they paid for it and plan to move to a smaller home with little or no mortgage and use the rest of the money to take care of them in the years to come. It also talks of cooperation, which probably refers to your family and you working together. One tool or resource might be that Phd you were talking about. Maybe in the future it would help you get a better position or make more money in your current one.

38 in your case may reflect the situation or just be saying that this will not be easy and some of the changes you make may meet with some oppisition.

Hope that helps, and good luck

You drew 50.1 and 50.3 as highlight lines. 50.1 talks about overturning the process to clear out an obstruction, and 50.3 talks about the transformation process being blocked. So somewhere in your situation, there's something obstructing or blocking the flow of material abundance in your life. The fact that this heads toward Hex 38, which talks about polarized forces, is so fitting.

But... lol... the trick here is for you to identify the obstruction and blockage. My guess is that if it was that obvious, you could have spotted it without the help of the oracle. But can you see anything obvious that's hindering the inflow of wealth in your life?

Okay, here's round two. 50.1 also talks about going a different route, taking an alternative approach than the one you've been using. And 50.3 talks about how there's actually something available for you in the situation even though the process is blocked somehow from delivering it to you. And it also talks about a sudden release of accumulated energy in the end that releases tension and remorse. That sounds reassuring.

Ding;Kui--Firmly established, but no longer alive, in its death lies the promise of many new things, but until it falls nothing else can come to be. Pulled by a vast array of glimmering prospects, pushed by the stale odor of what exists, to hesitate or doubt when it comes time to jump will result in falling into the chasm that divides here from there.

Ding--establishing the new, wood under fire, the new being nourished by the falling remnants of the old. The past does not shape or guide the future with a whip, the past is not worthy of judgement, the past merely provides the light with which one can see to where it is they are heading. Warm, consistent nourishment, the decay of old things provides the energy to raise new things into being.

Ding;Da You--A forest floor covered with a thick carpet of decay, a forest that is being subtly choked at its roots, a forest that is ready to be cleaned with fire--in this way what is dead comes to serve as the nourishment of what is new. In this place the new is established by first making a decision to completely abolish the old. Strong conviction is needed in order to abolish the old, even stronger will and greater effort is required in order to establish something new. There is an unstated warning here, that comes out boldly later in this path--that being that the decision to walk this path should not be one made in a rash or careless way, as hard as it will be for one on this path to overcome their own fondness for what is already established, so it will be even harder for them to accept what is to take its place unless they can come to fully seperate themselves from what is now. If one begins to travel down this path and finds it is too difficult to finish, they may easily become lost in the emptiness that stands between what was and what is to be.

Ding;Wei Ji--In this place what is old proves to be very stubborn. One who clings too tightly to what is familiar is one who will have great difficulty in overcoming the knot that binds them to what is old. Much like a deep rooted tree that has lost all of its limbs, it is dead, but it does not fall easily--yet until it falls nothing new can grow in its place.

Da You;Kui--When ones means match ones desires, when ones virtue fits ones position and when ones abilities properly support ones actions progress comes surely and easily.

Wei Ji;Kui--Much like Da You;Kui--one cannot be too careful or cautious when undertaking a large task. To overlook ones shortcomings or loose sight of ones abilities is to fail at the start. When going through a great change, one in which you must initiate and sustain yourself, it is of utmost importance to retain a high measure of confidence, this is best done by becoming familiar with your own limitations as well as looking at what the situation will demand. It is also important to see the distinction between confident, deliberate action and blind impulsive action--on the surface the two are very much alike, but they typically lead to drastically different outcomes. The image of Wei Ji is one of a river crossing, a very dangerous and difficult task, not suprising is it then that any path involving this place is one where the I Ching will expound upon caution. In Wei Ji;Kui the river is being crossed by a fox, the fox is worried about getting its tail wet and so it becomes distracted and unsure of itself. It is better for the fox to realize a wet tail is unnacceptable before it goes into the river, in this way the fox can look for another place to cross the river instead of risking being drowned.

Hi Lus,

I think there's some good interpretations here already. But I have to tell you, my initial reaction to your reading was a good belly chuckle. I think the Yi is yanking your chain a bit here. I mean, ease and comfort aren't exactly the ideals one typically associates with the lessons and objectives derived from this book.

I think Yi's saying (line 1) to dump out your preconceptions and (line 3) rearrange your priorities, if you plan on following the principles of this teaching (in Yijing). They are in direct opposition to one another. Then you will experience good fortune in the end. But not necessarily ease and comfort.

Thank you! You have all been brilliant & much food for thought. I will hold these interpretations and let them weave through me....they have been very, very useful...

And Candid, you may be right - I am a bit ashamed to worry about such mundane things when I know that I have been blessed in many ways and there are so many other more important things. (I won't even get into my musings about my "purpose in life" - but one of the surprises of getting older - things are no less clear!)

PS I just wanted to add how this has illustrated the power of the I Ching for me. Must learn more.

Thank you.

Lus, well then I'll be ashamed right alongside of you, because I'd also welcome some ease and comfort in my life!

Hi all,


I hope the addition of a few more ideas from a
newcomer won't seem out of place. It does take
some time to become accustomed to the way in
which the Yi answers questions. Often the
answer is puzzling precisely because we want to
apply it to the question we had in mind. After
some reflection it may become clearer that the
answer refers to some other area of our life.
In this case the answer came in the form of
hexagram 50, the Vessel. The image of the
vessel is a metaphor that represents the mind.
Just as the ritual vessel holds the offerings
for the worship of heaven, so does the mind
hold an offering of one's thoughts.
This comparison between the contents (food) of a
ceremonial vessel and the contents of the mind
comes straight from Daoist teachings.
A further comparison is made between the food
that provides nourishment and that which
nourishes the mind. The ancient commentary
states that the shengren (sage) nourishes the
worthy. This is the knowledge that is imparted
to those that are able to comprehend the
teachings.
It is in the text of this chapter that the
Yi can provide the questioner with an
image indicating one's state of mind. Lines 1
through 4 represent situations of difficulty
while at the 5th and 6th lines a level of
achievement has been reached. In this case two
changing lines were received, 1 and 3. The 3rd
line is the one to focus on. The image here is
of a vessel without handles (literally ears in
the chinese) which because of the lack of
handles cannot be moved. The text states that
the fat of the pheasant is not eaten. This
would perhaps be the richest part of the food
in the vessel. However the situation is not
altogether negative. The text states that rain
all around lessens regret. This image of rain
probably has the association of renewal as you
would expect in an agricultural society that
depended on rain for the growing of crops.
Finally there is the indication that after all
there is a positive outcome. The resulting
hexagram 38 is another aspect of your
situation. It is not exactly a future outcome
as has been stated by some authors.It provides
additonal information that may resonate more or
less depending on your circumstances.
At some point probably everyone consulting the
Yi will receive hexagram 50 and this can be a
little confusing if we are not prepared for it.
Hope this has been of some benefit.


Alan

Alan, thank you the image is interesting. I have certainly been pondering the interpretations and while the intitial question dealt with financial comfort and ease the musings have taken me somewhat beyond. To add to the musings, I did ask a second question about what it was that I needed to change to get to the state of comfort and ease & got Hex 55 - abundance - no changing lines. (I smile as I write this, somehow there is something humourous about this answer.) From what I have read about 55, it's complex - opportunity, abundance around me & up to me to reap the rewards - or this is the best it will ever be....

Feng-abundance, thunder above, fire below, the notion of a great comming together as when thunder and lightning meet and release a great force--in I Ching this notion of abundance is one that is tempered with the reality of what it inevitably leads to--when things grow in abundance and come to reach excessive, they then begin to dwindle, decline and vanish--when one comes into an abundance of any type one should make the most of it while it lasts, for even as one may be fortunate enough as to be able to prolong an abundance, it is not possible to do so indefinately.

In overall flow of the I ching, Feng leads to Lu--Traveling--it is said then, in some circles, that when times of abundance fade and when good things begin to vanish, people then go in search of something new.

In many ways this particular gua fits into your original one, when things are repeated in the I Ching they are never done so verbatum, and mostly done so as a means of underscoring a point or darkening a shade of thought.