I asked:
"I would like to find time for personal practice (mainly meditation but also some yoga exercise) waking up earlier in the morning but then I feel always sleepy, what do you suggest?"
answer 2.2

In my understanding there are many hints:
7 as related hex is a hint for self discipline.
2.2 "without repetition nothing cannot be turned to advantage" is a hint to use "energy habit", i.e. taking the habit for instance of doing even only 5 minutes of meditation but every day.
there is also the hint to not have quick expectations (earth energy, like the work of a gardener).
Since related hex (7) is also the energy operator my guess is that Yi stresses the message of discipline.
Any suggestions ?
thanks / hugs
Paolo

"I asked: "I would like to find time for personal practice (mainly meditation but also some yoga exercise) waking up earlier in the morning but then I feel always sleepy, what do you suggest?"

answer 2.2"

Basically, the Yi's saying that the idea you're considering is a very, very, VERY good idea. You'd be foolish not to go with this. Just do it. Right away.

But let me ask you a question. When you consulted the Yi and got 2.2, you checked your version of the Yi, right? Didn't you think it was super auspicious? I'm wondering why you even bothered posting here.

Regardless of the reasons to post or to meditate

I'd like to know what meditation means to you, how do you practice it and why do you do it ?

I'm pretty slack in when it comes to the practice and I've seen a couple of post about it here, it seems that if you find something in the IChing you can find something in meditation as well.

I think Yi is telling you, that you don't have to practise in order to get results. Of course it is not the same as doing nothing. The beginning of the sentence is: Straight, square, great. IF you are these things, there will always be harvest.

Repeating means acquiring a skill, but also having that skill. So another translation would be: without skills there will be harvest. Again: IF you are straight, square, great.
Hexagram 7 has to do with organizing your army, or with having a good army. If your army is ok, you will not need learning the skill of meditation, you probably have it. And if you don't, practising might not have any effect.

To me it souds very much, as if meditation is not something you learn, it is something you do. Maybe being sleepy is no obstacle. Just do it, sleepy or awake.

LiSe

I like that interpretation, LiSe. I think that meditation is anyway something that we don't need to learn, it is always already happening inside of us, it is part of our nature.
If you see it that way the emphasis is more on welcoming and discovering meditation and less on learning or acquiring something new. A method can be useful but we don't use it to "create" meditation, the purpose of the method is to help us to be more open to what is already there. This fits well with hexagram 2.

Perhaps line 2 indicates that focussing in the belly region, slighty below the navel, or on the breath in that area, could be helpful for you, Steve.
But if you do that in the morning when you are still in bed and sleepy you might doze off again. It is very relaxing ...
So maybe get out of bed first?

Another idea - I understand that you are into programming - is to write a computerprogram that hits you with a stick when you fall asleep. Zenmaster.exe

Zen Master Device

I did consider writing ZenMaster.exe but decided instead to rig up a mechanical device. The only problem was detecting sleep, but knowing it was going to happen I just put it on a timer. I wacks me on the back every 5 minutes, you should see my back.

But seriously, there are some issues with the practice of mediation. I recently stopped using a mantra and found myself simply dreaming in a state that can only be described as sleep, and I was a little concerned that that was all it was, not meditation at all.

I asked the IChing about that situation and it gave me Family -> Waiting. Not too sure about Waiting, and Family was ambiguous for a while until the theme of the hexagram started to come thru as Order, the relationships within the family and the breathe rising from the fire. Perhaps starting off sleepy or ending up that way isn’t a bad thing after all.

Thanks everybody,
Yes Dobro, I understood the answer and found it very auspicious, the only thing which puzzled me was the exact interpretation of line 2.2, I did not understand whether it was a hint to use repetition "habit energy" or not.

Now I lean towards LiSe interpretation, my interpretation of hex 7 is using strategy in order to win my lazyness..... (for example sometimes I have a cup of green tea before / after sitting, a little gratification..)

thanks again
hugs
Paolo

Ah, I see now that it was you, Paolo, who asked the question and not Steve. I must have been sleeping.
Or shall we say that I was in deep meditation?

2.2 – 7 is a cool answer to the meditation question. Doing nothing, nothing not done, and gathering all life forces as one would muster an army.

I’m certain this topic draws from many different perspectives, depending on an individual’s background and any prior training or practice they’ve had. “Trying” to meditate usually achieves the exact opposite of the meditative state. I think it depends upon the individual and the state of mind they’re starting from, as to the answer they’d receive about meditation. To some the rules are very clear, while to others it is as natural as drinking a glass of water or serving tea.

The difference between meditation and day dreaming or zoning out is mindfulness. That’s the trick to meditation: mindfulness while detached from arising thoughts, imaginings, sensations, visions, inner dialogue, etc. The Golden Flower and other disciplines show that it isn’t possible to completely stop the flow of arising thoughts, but that one can attain a position of observing them, as a stream flowing by, or other such imagery.

The easiest way to meditate is to sit and simply count breaths. If you lose count, simply start again from 1 - it isn't a competition to see how high you can count before spacing out. This gives the mind something to do, and slows down the stream of thought: awakening while in a state of not doing. Doing nothing – nothing undone.