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Any ideas about Splitting Apart?

learner

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I always get confused when I receive the sixth changing line in Hexagram 23, Splitting Apart.
I really do not know weather it says that the situation has spent the bad times and it is going to improve, turning into something better, or the situation itself has come to an end and it is time to go to something completely new. Please, any insight into the subject?

Nine at the top means:
There is a large fruit still uneaten.

The superior man receives a carriage.
The house of the inferior man is split apart.
 

tashiiij

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Hi Learner,

the landslide hexagram! just got it this morning, changing lines one and six.

i too have experienced bewilderment over the top 6. so i will just go ahead and post a few musings i had over tea this morning.

move on, or stay and lose your house. i used to be bewildered because the line seemed to provide a a type of litmus test, ie, if one has done the work of 'a superior man', one will have transport to another situation. if not, one loses one's roof.

(in my particular situation, a sense that what destiny brings will bear witness to my stance in this, as i happen to be in conflict with a very superior person.)

that was the sense i got from wilhelm's translation.

reading other translations, i get a more proactive sense to the line; get ready to move on, and provide your own transport, rather than wait for the ride.
shades.gif


i guess if one is smart, one sees the collapse coming and gets out, carrying the seed with you for the next situation.


justthoughtsfromthissideofaprivateidaho.

tashij
 

chrislofting

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hexagram 23 comes in two flavours:

(1) as an archetypal image in the realm of dark vs light it reflects total collapse of structure but at least the ability to see that. 23 pairs with 02 in the binary sequence and the archetypal nature of 02 is absolute darkness, like a black hole where trying to use a light to see in the dark will fail, there is no reflection!

(2) as a typal image in the realm of female vs male it reflects 'pruning', the cutting back of weeds etc to reveal the 'true' faith. The pairing with hexagram 02 reflects the overall focus on devotion to someone/something. In 02 the devotion is unconditional, total, absolute and emphasises integration. In 23 we move to devotion expressed through differentiation where the 'high priest' cuts away the 'crap' that can accumulate to reveal the 'truth'.

The focus on a bed etc reflects the bed as a symbol of what we rest upon - our beliefs.

In the binary sequence hexagram 23 is opposite hexagram 43. As hex 23 reflects pruning so hex 43 reflects seeding, spreading the word far and wide.

The foundations of 43 are on singlemindedness rather than dual mindedness.

In the traditional sequence 23 pairs with 24. 24 reflects returning to the one 'true' path - you can see this focus on 'return' in both hexagrams where in 23 it is through pruning and so being WITHIN the belief, in 24 it is returning TO the belief.

In the traditional sequence 23 opposes 42 - both reflect forms of 'refinement' but as 23 strips away so 42 adds-to (augmentation).

Chris.
 

chrislofting

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BTW

archetypal = competitive
typal = cooperative

Thus yin/yang interpretations come in at least to flavours - the 'battle' between light and dark vs the cooperation of male and female.

You can zoom-in on the typal and see 'archetypes' but that action itself 'cuts' the links so that there is no 'archetypal' male or female as such, close but not exact. To be exact in archetypes reflects reproduction is asexual or androgynous - self-referencing.

As such each archetype is 'pure' and so 'uncorrupted' by relationships that entangle things - the focus on alliences in archetypes is on self-interest rather than others-interest, a focus on battles in a never-ending war of 'light vs dark'.

Most I Ching interpretations reflect more the male/female interactions with a touch of 'darkness/light' every now and then!

A good exercise is to go through each hexagram and identify the two interpretations - ie light/dark and male/female.

Chris.
 

chrislofting

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another observation of 23, and all hexagrams in general, their qualities will differ given context. Thus just as 23 can reflect the 'high priest/priestess' clearing away the 'crap' so we can lower the intensity to just say 'hexagram 23 is about housekeeping'.

..and so with hex 43, with its focus on robustly 'spreading the word' - we can reduce the intensity to just say 'hexagram 43 is about being pushy'.

Chris.
 

tashiiij

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thanks chris. believe it or not, actually starting to understand what you are saying. ummm, errr, uhhh, dawn!, on this side of the atlantic.

tashij
 

pam

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I threw 23 line 5 once many years ago (and many times since, but this one time sticks out) turning into 20. I had asked about a job I was applying for and thought I would get. Since it was a contract, I figured, sure, splitting apart, contemplation, I know it won't last and there is nothing much to think about. But what actually happened was that I met someone I was profoundly affected by - a man I fell in love with who, I believe, loved me. But being married, this caused a great deal of traumatic self examination, and did indeed cause a lot of tension between my husband and myself. But what I did eventually (after two years) was to leave the company rather than take the permanent job offered to me. I had "contemplated splitting apart" for two years (since my marriage was a total wreck when I first took the position due to my husband being in love with someone else) but we did not split apart. We are still together five years later.

I guess what you need to do is think of the whole picture rather than just the line. I don't concentrate on lines anymore. I try to find the relationship between the two hexagrams and what they are trying to put across to me. I have been consulting the I Ching for over 35 years now and I still make errors, but if you don't understand - ask another question. There is no penalty for trying to clarify an answer by guessing a variation of the question. It almost always helps. If line 5 & 6 change, the large fruit is still to come, because 23 turns into 8, holding together. If it is the only line that changes, it usually seems to be saying you will be receptive to someone else splitting away from you (if you asked about your own feelings). You might not be particularly opposed to this. You may even be ok with it. Take it with the following hex and try to see what the context is. And splitting apart may only be a day - not necessarily forever.

Peace,

Pam
 
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yellowblue

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Chris--

I again have to say that you have an incredible way of interpretation, at least from my ability to understand.

In the thread in my post Help!! No cry out... BTW what a "coincidence"... you do seem to cover it all and it oddly (perception wise) does relate to everything in the given situation... : )

Thanks,
Deb
 

chrislofting

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Deb,

Thanks for the comments but note that the method of interpretation is learnable in that it stems from the analysis of how we as a species derive meaning.

The really basic elements are given in the post I sent in for Dharma re "the species I Ching". For hex 23 the elements are in the form of a quality best described by analysis of the parts, in the I Ching in the form of the trigrams.

the base trigram reflects a context of 'contractive blending' - that is a very generic feeling of deriving wholeness by pulling something 'in', wholeness through integration etc. (and that means being sucked-in like a black hole as well as being welcomed in as a devotee does to their 'guru'. faith, etc)

In 23 the top trigram reflects a context of 'contractive bonding' - that is a very generic feeling of an invarient relationship, of sharing space with another/others - the contraction reflects the focus is internal and the invarience reflects the 'eternal' nature of the bond. (from a mathematics perspective it is something like irrational numbers, a summing of elements of the harmonic series into a relationship)

The combination of these parts is the overall quality that hexagram 23 represents. That quality can then be interpreted both in a competitive form as well as a cooperative form.

The sharing of space reflects someone and their faith or 'weeds with flowers' or form and process etc etc all in a context of contractive wholeness.

From a cooperative perspective the sharing of space WITHIN a context of devotion is described by analogy to pruning, weeding, housekeeping, an so making something 'shine' out by stripping off the 'crap' - something is differentiated to make the point of the 'true' faith.

In the negative perspective the sharing of space reflects form and process, structure, etc within a context of total darkness where the last elements of structure can be detected - something not possible in hex 02 where even light is sucked-in and so cannot be used to reflect the contents of darkness.

The set of generic feelings given in "the species I Ching" is common to all members of our species. The fitting of these universals to a context then gives these generics some 'colour'.

The pairing concepts and a lot of other patterns stems from recognising that the system we use in our brain to derive meaning, and so write those meanings down in such texts as the I Ching, is based on recursion of dichotomies. Understand the properties and methods of recursion and you can refine interpretations of I Ching dynamics etc.

Thus focusing on the generic feelings allows you to refine the descriptions of hexagrams, trigrams, etc etc and move into the areas of hexagram sequences, and five-phase patterns etc etc all from a 'science' perspective in that my IDM work looks at how we *as a species* could create such a tool as the I Ching, its continued value over thousands of years reflects its excellent representation of our species nature.

As such I have had a lot of practice with this as I sort out the generic properties of meaning derivation. The work done so far allows for you or anyone else to use in interpretations of 'reality' in general and the I Ching in particular - thus we bring the IC into the 21st century AD ;-)

Chris.
 

learner

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Dear Tashiiij and Chris,

Thank you so much for your meaningful interpretation of the challenging Hexagram 23 top line. Somehow I feel that Hex 23 is scary, because the obvious image of disintegration and failure, but mostly ? I must confess - because I received this hexagram in dreadful moments of my life and the collapse did happen indeed!
But I totally agree Tashiiij, if I use my wit it is possible to get away with that, before having the roof on my head!
Actually, by reading your interpretation, I tend to believe that the core of this top line is to move ahead. It seems pretty much to me a hopeless situation.
Chris, I couldn?t get the picture of the context male/female within Hex 23, I?m afraid, especially in the sixth changing line. If you could take the trouble to clarify it to me I would appreciate very much.

Thanks
Learner
 

chrislofting

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Hi learner,

the line 6 comment in a cooperative format reflects a focus on discernment, a property of the mountain trigram in the top position of a hexagram. An interpretation of the line is:

"Some things are allowed to remain for they will redevelop in the future. The superior go on their way. The inferior suffer as always."

The focus is on the process of pruning does not remove everything in that some elements are allowed to remain as they will foster the redevelopment. To know what those elements are requires discernment, a developed sense of quality. The 'superior' know this, the 'inferior' do not - the inferior, lacking a sense of quality, do not know the differences between weeds and flowers and as such will remove flowers and leave weeds! ;-)

thus the superior 'do their thing' and go on with life, the inferior 'do their thing' and dont get results, there is no improvement, no benefit from their 'pruning'. - IOW to prune you need to know what you are doing.

Chris.
 

chrislofting

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I dont think I covered cooperation too well above - recognise that to prune something requires good knowledge of what is being pruned, not just its current state but its future state, the act of pruning is an act of aiding and so a focus on a cooperative rather than competitive perspective and that cooperation is knowledgable - quality control at work.

The traditional top line comment maps to the 'sage' line of the hexagram, you should 'know your stuff' re pruning. Thus an interpretation where that line being unstable (as in changing) implies a potential lack in understanding and so the warnings of the comment -know your stuff or suffer.

The top line change into 02 from a cooperative perspective reflects a change to integration and so no differentiation, but it is the differentiation that is required.

Hope this helps in fleshing out the cooperative aspects of 23. ;-)

Chris.
 

learner

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Hi Chris,
Thanks for your patience with a learner! It does help a lot. It seems clearer to me right now.
I suppose I have to mull over for a while on the subject in order to sort out the ?flowers and weeds? in that situation.

All the best,
Learner
 
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yellowblue

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Chris--

I love your messages...they have such directed energy, very focused in helping clarify...

The way that I can respond initially (I THINK this is what you mean) is that everything is based on one's association to different points, parts, levels (dimension or point of reference). This would include the innate and environmental influences. It is based on the whole of an individual associating to the points of level, or parts, with parts being the difracted portions of the whole at the blending levels (association) between each point. The positives and negative, rational and non-rational meet in the blendings (the illusive point where the night and day become one {and the natural course would be the cycle, to continue on and become day and night}). So operating on what is given: environment at present and innateness and what is variable: environment changing, our course is plotted according to the dots (what is out there and our perception). We make a map by knowing and exploring. The known course and exploration (expansion) of the unknown in the known.

Regarding 23 this is the gamut, the beliefs and stripping away of beliefs to augment the truth/light at the particular juncture.

Regarding 2 not having the abiity to reflect, I don't understand. except a vague notion is that it stands alone and doesn't combine with 1 which is the catalyst, and hence it cannot conceive. It being the extreme end of an axis is barren without the seed (of blending), and is either complete light or complete darkeness, maybe blind devotion??? So 23 is actually a combination of 1 & 2 ???

You're making me think so much and learn so much...thanks!!!

Deb
 

chrislofting

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Hi Deb,

In the analysis of our being there is a prime distinction to be made between our species-nature and our consciousness-nature. The former is integrated with reality and works holistically and so not at a conscious level - when you walk you just 'do it' once you have learnt. Our consciousness allows us to zoom-in on PARTS and so refine the WHOLE - we can refine our walk etc.

The linking of parts to reflect a whole gets into holographic concepts where each 'dot' is linked to all others, the more dots so the more 'clear' the image. Thus the focus on a hexagram, its pairings in different sequences etc etc etc bring out the image - we can spend eons focused upon one hexagram or we can recognise the 'linking of the dots' and go wide, derive data on one hexagram through analysis of relationships to all of the others.

The I Ching is a WHOLE and the moment you 'cut' the whole you move into the realm of PARTS. The method of recursion brings out all of the parts but the method also ensures that the whole is reflected in each part. Recognising that, and mapping the methods in analysis, aids in fleshing-out details of parts but also of the whole (and that work is still going on).

You wrote:

"Regarding 2 not having the abiity to reflect, I don't
understand. except a vague notion is that it stands alone
and doesn't combine with 1 which is the catalyst, and hence
it cannot conceive. It being the extreme end of an axis is
barren without the seed (of blending), and is either
complete light or complete darkeness, maybe blind
devotion??? So 23 is actually a combination of 1 & 2 ???"

At the level of competitive processes, hexagram 02 is total darkness that draws you in - you cannot use light here in that you use to light shine it on something that reflects. There is no reflection in total darkness, light itself is 'sucked in' and so cannot be reflected back to your eyes. As such there is nothing to
'see'.

All you can depend upon is touch, to feel. (we see this in Science with the tunnelling scanning-electron microscope that does not 'see' it 'feels' and converts the feel to images on a computer screen for us to 'see')

your association to issues of blind devotion etc is correct in that the devotion is total and so what one is devoted to can make no wrong. ANy perceived wrong by a devotee is interpreted as a lack of faith! ;-)

When we map-in human emotions to this there is basic focus on fear and the need to 'dissapear'. This is achieved through using the context and so blending IN rather than sticking OUT.

Thus at the cooperative level of analysis the focus is on using the context to assert identity as well as protect (protection in numbers etc, a group focus but also a lack in 'dot' precision, precision is at the level of the field, qualitative rather than quantitative)

Move into the realm of persona mappings and the devotee element is seen as recruiting the context, as in guru or religion etc to aid in asserting identity etc. (as well as hiding it). All of the yin-based symbols reflect an overall focus on integration in general. At the level of the particular (top line of hexagrams) so we have a mix of integrating/differentiating, shown in the total devotion of 02 (integrate) vs the need to differentiate the 'true' faith by removing 'weeds' as we see in hex 23.

As to 1 and 2, there is a focus on alchemy in the I Ching and the basic elements are yin/yang. When 'perfectly' mixed they form into a whole, t'ai chi, such that you cannot detect yin/yang since detection of yin/yang is a detection of parts and so reflecting a distortion, a lack in integration, in balance, an exaggeration.

Our consciousness seems to have developed from the realm of yin/yang, through which we refine the whole BUT in doing so our consciousness also manifests a whole, the unique individual as compared to one being a part of a whole that is the species.

This 'confusion' of species-nature and consciousness-nature leads to paradox etc., if you dont recognise the differences.

See the page on taoism, I ching, and alchemy etc - http://www.ozemail.com.au/~ddiamond/tao.html - it is 'old' but I think still useful in getting across the roots of hexagrams, alchemy concepts etc and part/whole relationships.

Note how with the development of consciousness so the 'unpure' forms in alchemy, i.e. the hexagrams, take-on a sense of wholeness rather than being seen for what they are - parts.

Chris.
 

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