34,6 Aaaarrgghh

[trojan]

On the face of it the meaning of this line is quite clear isn't it - you can't make any headway, theres no use you trying to force a direction, you'd be like a ram stuck in a hedge - okay - but what are you supposed to do then, just sit back and wait, try to see things from another angle, change perspective ? Again that sounds pretty straight forward yet I can't see for myself really what kind of behaviour or attitude change its counselling. I've had it several times when I feel I really must make some kind of big effort or change to get my life to move along. Feeling quite determined and positive i ask Yi about my direction etc - in quite broad terms - hmm only to be told I had better just quit trying to make headway at all. Would you say this counsels passivity and patience or does one need to work at changing perspective ?

BTW I've been stuck, very patiently in a groove for some time now so was suprised to still get 34,6.

A tad exasperated I asked a question along the lines of 'well if I can't do anything what can I do' (I know what I meant and I find the Yi usually knows what I mean even in badly worded questions) and got 21,3. I take this as I need to sort out some old and annoying issues, dealing with some frustration in the process. So I think I will have to go through a period of frustration - and the first answer indicates that too.

I'm wondering how people here work with 34,6, how they take the advice there ?

Line 6
[Pushing one's point of view up against that of the group gets one stuck. As a result one get's bogged down. Stop all action].

[martin]

I think 34.6 doesn't necessarily mean that you have to sit back and do nothing. But is does indicate a tendency to try to go faster than it goes.
If you jump from a high cliff into a lake the water will hit you hard, like a wall. Yet water is in itself not like a wall, it is soft and gives way. The wall-effect is created by your speed.
It's the same with the ram and the hedge. You could say that the ram runs faster than the hedge can give way. And then it gets entangled.
Another analogy, if you drive too fast through a city you will often have to stop for a red light. But if you drive slower (but not too slow) most lights that you encounter will be green. Because it's made that way, well, at least here in this country, I think.

So, I guess it's all a matter of slowing down, till you are in sync with the 'speed of the tao'. Or maybe I should say the beat of the tao?

There's a thorny tree/shrub which grows abundantly here, appropriately called Catclaw Acacia, and it has the nickname "wait-a-minute bush". The reason for the nickname becomes quickly obvious if one should come into the slightest contact with it. Any movement you make only digs the needle sharp claws deeper into your clothes or skin, and other wily branches attach with each movement. The only way to extricate yourself from it is to stand very still, relax, and patiently and carefully remove one claw at a time. Fighting against it is the worst thing you can possibly do.

[topal]

Originally Posted by trojan

I'm wondering how people here work with 34,6, how they take the advice there ?

I've got this A LOT in the last few months and the following 21 as the transitional.

I really sympathize. 52 often makes an appearance after a while too if you just can't calm all that electrical creativity that want's to push through to a resolution. It's like you can think you're being patient but inside is turmoil. To really allow things to become fluid again a little bit of faith and digging down into the real issues preventing progress might be the key. Is there any unresolved "stuff" related to something/one that needs to be addressed? Something you've missed and which is causing a block perhaps?

But there seems to be great potential with this hex too in that it's a matter of understanding better your personality and the energy that must be redirected in a more disciplined way. I know when I'm battering my head against the wall and being obstinate but I didn't fully realise how subtle that could be until recently. Even when I thought i had damn well waited long enough!

Maybe you could try to free things up a bit by doing something completely different, something out-of-the-box? By that I mean an activity that is at a tangent to the main problem. Sometimes this can have positive effects in ways we hadn't imagined.

Topal

[trojan]

Thanks to all. The speed issue which Martin and Bruce talk about is something that definately applies yet i hadn't thought of it before with this line - i feel rushed even if I have plenty of time, I've really noticed that lately. I've intuited slowing down on a deep level is something that would be good for me but didn't link it with 34,6. It ties in well with Topals response - speed invites habitual response which keeps the same patterns operating.

[trojan]

Originally Posted by topal

But there seems to be great potential with this hex too in that it's a matter of understanding better your personality and the energy that must be redirected in a more disciplined way. I know when I'm battering my head against the wall and being obstinate but I didn't fully realise how subtle that could be until recently. Even when I thought i had damn well waited long enough!

Topal

Yes I think you get very near with this. Reading these responses i realise part of the problem is my understanding of what that thorny hedge is. I've tended to see it as outward circumstances, yet now it dawns on me it could well be what I'm doing with my own energy. The thorny hedge being something I'm spinning around myself like a restrictive web - maybe a tangle of habitual thought patterns/responses and so on.

The 21,3 could refer to dealing with that.

Thanks I'm glad I posted here about it.

[trojan]

Originally Posted by martin

Another analogy, if you drive too fast through a city you will often have to stop for a red light. But if you drive slower (but not too slow) most lights that you encounter will be green. Because it's made that way, well, at least here in this country, I think.

I didn't know that BTW

Originally Posted by trojan

Yes I think you get very near with this. Reading these responses i realise part of the problem is my understanding of what that thorny hedge is. I've tended to see it as outward circumstances, yet now it dawns on me it could well be what I'm doing with my own energy. The thorny hedge being something I'm spinning around myself like a restrictive web - maybe a tangle of habitual thought patterns/responses and so on.

Every time I tangle (literally) with those Catclaw Acacias I think of 34.6. The other day I was outback, pruning a huge one which grows against the fence. There's a sense of panic that sets in when one branch hooks into your arm, and every move you make only hooks it deeper, and hooks you to more thin branches. First thing is to just stop, then relax everything. Then one by one, each thorn hook is pulled out, and finally to slowly and deliberately step out of it.

There's another incident which brings both 3 and 34.6 to mind. I use baitcasting fishing reels, and sometimes the spool over-spins the line, resulting in a backlash or "bird's nest". The worst thing to do is start yanking on the line, as that only digs the knots deeper into the spool. The only way to clear it is to find the top loop, gently tugging it free, then the next loop, and so on. It requires calmness and patience. Aggression just makes an irreconcilable mess of it.

[sparhawk]

Bruce, I like the metaphor of the Catclaw Acacia. Trojan, here is my funny take on this line...


Click it

L