Hi everyone, my name is Jason. I'm a first year student of Chinese medicine and I started exploring the Yi just before I started my program a few months ago. I was at a lecture about fengshui and the speaker gave a brief intro to the bagua and the trigrams, and I'm not sure what happened, but I think it was love at first sight. Perhaps the delicious symmetry of Fuxi's arrangement simply tickled my OCD bone, but whatever the reason I had to know more.

That brought me to this wonderful site which gave me everything I needed to hit the ground running with my own readings. Those were absolutely marvelous first encounters with the book of changes and I've been hooked ever since. I figured that I should start talking to this community if I want to go further.

I have this feeling that my side study of the Yi will pay off big once I'm out there sticking pins in people. I had this flash a few weeks ago suggesting that diagnosis in Chinese medicine utilizes the same mind one requires for divination. You have to empty out and let the universe do all the talking, holding yourself back from grasping at what you think the answers are.

I asked my teachers and they all suggested that the link was more or less valid. But I thought I'd ask Change too and see what that came up with. Here's what I got:

"How is diagnosis like divination?"

Primary: 13 - Tong Ren (Unity)
Relating: 42 - Yi (Increase)

I take this to mean that the similarities between the two are great, and that they share a common goal. Both are ways of navigating the wilderness of the unknown, the ripe not-yet, and being able to hear the message of the universe, whether it comes in the form of a response from the Yi or the meaning behind a patient's symptoms and patterns. They both bring clarity into one's interior and allow for bold and decisive action without - in divination, the power to take advantage of the situation and make a move with confidence and in diagnosis, an effective treatment.

The 3rd and 4th moving lines speak to me about the integration of the diagnostic mind and the divinatory mind. The 3rd says it will take me a while to sort it out, perhaps 3 years (which might mean the 4th and last year of my program) and that perhaps I should be as attentive to differences as similarities, for the sake of my learning and for the sake of avoiding any potential pitfalls. The 4th line is moving through that point and coming to a homey, defensible position of integration, where I have spent my time becoming clear about diagnosis, and becoming clear about divination, each separately.

The result is overflowing blessings. I feel doubly encouraged by both hexagrams responding "advantageous to ford a great stream."

I'd like to hear what other folks think of this response so I can sharpen my interpretations. I look forward to chatting with you all in the future.

Jason

(If any of you hang out on twitter, I'm @allpraxis.)

Hi Yirocketeer,

Just for info, there is an Yijng book specifically related to Chinese medicine:

"The Medical I Ching, oracle of the healer within" by Miki Shima, OMD. pub The Blue Poppy Press. 1992.
Aparrently he's used the I Ching alongside acupuncture and Chinese medicine for over 40 years. I haven't had time to read my copy as yet.

Good luck, Bob:bows:

Thanks for the tip!

A member called 'frank r' is very knowlegable about this kind of thing but i think he mainly posts in Exploring Divination. I'm not presuming to say he will answer your questions but his posts may be of interest to you if you have a look at them. I think his latest post is among those on the thread on hexagram 62 in the memorising threads in Exploring Divination.