 Clarity's I Ching Newsletter: Issue 68 "You must live in the present, launch yourself on every wave, find your eternity in each moment." Thoreau |
™Letter from the Editor— Dear Subscriber,
You remember how I asked everyone for insight into past lives in the last issue? Well, this brought quite a response - something over 3,000 words of it, in fact. So I've devoted this issue to the subject. It's too much for an email, so there are just extracts here, and the complete letters are over on the website. And I've also used the 'reading' slot to look further into that 'Biting Through' reading I mentioned last time, and omitted the 'DIY corner' to make space.
If you're not interested in past lives, my apologies for what will probably be a fairly boring issue for you! But we will be back to the 'normal' wide range of topics next time, so please don't unsubscribe just yet! ;)
One other thing -
People regularly ask me if I know of anyone who can do a face-to-face I Ching reading for them in their local area. Since I'm tired of saying 'sorry, can't help', I decided to put together a listing of people offering I Ching readings locally - free or paid - around the world. If you'd like to be on the list, please send me your address and contact details, prices if any, and some comments on your availability, what people should expect from a reading with you, etc. When the list is long enough, I'll distribute it as a pdf.
warm wishes and thanks,
Hilary
P.S.
I had an interesting time searching for a good quotation to head up this issue. I love that one from Thoreau, but had to squeeze this in too, from James Thurber:
"The past is an old armchair in the attic, the present an ominous ticking sound, and the future is anybody's guess."
"Hi Hilary, This is regarding Lynett’s question on finding a connection between past life and present situations. I have tried this angle (unsuccessfully) several times! IChing seems to point squarely at ‘deeds’ as if to say that it's individual responsibility. Though one does find indirect mention of ‘destiny’ too... when it advises not to worry. I agree with your interpretation – that objective introspection will help in an awareness leading to a kind of a realization. This could be of your self as a person, your intuitive powers or a better understanding of the situation. You are also right in saying that this is not something everybody can handle. For me it was a shock when I first experienced it. There are those who believe there is something called ‘past life therapy’ that actually helps in resolving a particular crisis. It provides a link between the past, where the roots of this situation could lie, and the present circumstances. I recommend Dr Brian Weiss’s website (brianweiss.com) or his books: Many lives many masters, Through time into healing, Only love is real, Messages from the masters, and his latest, One soul many lives. I hope I have been of some help. And am available for any further clarification. Regards
"There are quite a few ways of exploring this need to understand about previous lives and I don't see why the I Ching should not be just one more tool to help us. Any divinatory method should be able to access this information, if the reader or practitioner is a competent one. We all know that there are people out there who are (in the kindest description) deluded and (in the most straightforward and downright) charlatans. Only experience and common sense will sort the goats from the sheep!
Once found, someone who can (with whatever tool, be it Tarot, I Ching, hypnosis... whatever) guide one through the process of finding out if you have been here before and if so what were you before, would be invaluable.
But let us be certain.....there is very little real scientific, no nonsense, no mumbo jumbo common sense evidence that there is such a thing!
It is a matter of belief! Just as religions are. Just as ghosts are.
The first and foremost question that comes to mind is, 'Why does this person want to know if, when and what, they were in the past?' I think we need to examine the make-up of the human psyche in general to understand why we feel the need to explore this territory.
We all feel the need to understand about where (and if we go anywhere) we go after death, where we were before we were here. If we did not give it even a passing thought we would not be human. We find it comforting to think that those loved ones who have gone before are not totally lost to us forever. It is a natural human activity to (like the pearl in the oyster) wrap the spiky truth of this life in the soft and gentle wrapping of the fact of survival after death, however we do it. It is very hard and frightening to think that this is all there is - no reward..nothing better and once you have been it is very scary to think that you will one day cease to be, forever.
Some people cannot cope with this and will turn to visions of heaven (in whatever form) as a prop.
Others will assure themselves that one can do it again... and again... and again in the hope of getting it right at least once.
As you know I have both a degree in the science of the mind and am psychic, whatever that might mean, and I have done a lot of thinking, reading and exploring of my own, on subjects such as this, over many years. I have *memories* that I cannot reconcile with this life. Some of them are so powerful that they can induce panic with rapid heartbeat, real fear and an aftermath of floods of tears if I let them. I do not know what they are. Those of the persuasion would say that they are past life experiences.
Truly, really, I have never come across an account in history of someone experiencing this phenomenon (unlike the Loch Ness Monster, for example, which is mentioned in a 9th century document and thence ever after). No one, as far as I know has documented this type of experience before the 20th century. Perhaps someone can show me an accredited document that does... going back to the dawn of time. I have never found it. And I would be pleased to note it.
No 9th century monk that I know about ever said he was the reincarnation of King Arthur... no 17th century barmaid ever lost her head as Queen Anne Boleyn.....! But, as I said, I stand to be corrected.
Read the books and you will find no end of case histories of people (mostly women..mm interesting that) being regressed under hypnosis.
A most interesting was the case of a plain Idaho housewife in the 70's who claimed to have been the wife of the Governor of Britain at the time of the Boudiccan revolt. How could this woman know anything about these times? Until it was discovered that she spent a lot of time reading fiction in her youth. She had talked about the major characters of the time, The Governor and his staff... all the names were right, all the facts were right. Then when she started to talk about the slaves, alarm bells rang. No names had survived in documents of the time. But they did appear in a work of fiction about this period of British History published in the 50's and this young girl had read it and trotted it out as truth.
Plenty of later 20th century ordinary folk claim to be the re- embodied spirit of Merlin the Magician!
Let's face it...if this is true, there can only be one!! I have, in my life, met three! And a couple of Cleopatras to boot!
And why are we always "something special"? Why are we rarely a filthy illiterate peasant of the 14th century who died at the age of 30 of the plague? Romantic isn't in it. We would much rather be a buxom barmaid of 19th century London (about which the average person in the street knows more, owing to the many T.V. programmes dramatising Dickens or Austen or Elliot) than a meagre and underfed, piece property of the age of Feudalism.
So why have we this need?
Beats me!
Maybe it is the failure of the Church (and by this I mean any) to meet the needs of modern people and whatever we think... it is a fact that congregations are dwindling.
Perhaps it is the unending march of science that seeks to take over where religion left off. Except that science can't explain everything
- yet.
Maybe one day someone will come up with an explanation for the phenomenon of Past Lives. Maybe then we will have some no nonsense evidence and we will be able to sleep soundly in our beds knowing that the "memories" or dreams we have are merely replays of this life in some form.
Or then maybe we will know who we were and why we were that peasant in the 14th century.
And then there was that case of the girl from the middle of America who spoke perfect middle English (the English of Chaucer) under hypnosis and claimed to be the reincarnation of some young English peasant who sang 'Summer is Icumen in' when it was newly written. It was found that she had been to school in England in her youth and had had access to the books where this piece had been written down.
The only trouble was...she did not read music in this life and she sang it note perfect.
How it would have been sung in the 14th century!
Hmm, food for thought......
Sue"
"Be careful about past lives...
Years ago I went to a cemetery to consult with a medium about my life and where I came from. She was right on, she indicated that I was a reborn Christian Brother who taught children but had deep sexual problems. She did not mean to imply molestation but that I was sexually anorexic in past life and that I secretly battled with homosexuality. It took me a good 30 years later to really understand what all that meant. Be prepared to get an answer, but that you might need to let it cook for a very long time to absorb the answer."
'Anon'
"Well, all I know and have come to accept on this comes from the Bhagavad Gita, which I see as the definitive word of God. To which higher source can we possibly go, regardless of what religion or philosophy one follows?
Krishna tells Arjuna on the battlefield of Kuruksetra, not to worry about the war he is about to engage in. He explains, that as it appears the enemy is killed, the soul within the body never dies. It is eternal. Like the changing of clothes on a body every day, similarly at death, we transmigrate by our previous karma and thoughts to the next body.
Krishna explains that the soul is eternal and never did not exist, nor will ever cease to exist. It is indestructible by any means.
Then he explains to Arjuna, that only Krishna himself can remember all his past lives. Generally not normal people do, though sometimes they may slip into previous life experiences while they are in dreams. A man at one of Sydneys Universities has conducted research on two and a half thousand Australian people who have experienced things in dreams like speaking foreign languages and the like to which they have no knowledge in their waking life.
Simply put, only Krishna knows, and who really needs to know anyway. Fire ahead, ask the I Ching, but I think it will be stretched to say if you were an elephant, an king, an ant, or whatever. It's brilliant for solving problems, deep problems and the like, but for asking, "What was I in my previous life"? I'd rather study the Bhagavad Gita and just simply not worry about it.
All the best from
Nandalal"
"Hello there ~
Interesting question.
The answer is a resounding YES! However, I've found that the Ching seems to answer the question behind the question. It's thrown me for a loop time and time again until I realized that it was addressing the real core issue that evoked my question in the first place.
The term 'past lives' is a little misleading because we carry the experiences of other incarnations within us just as the experiences we've had as children are an integral part of who we are now. AND, we're still very much alive in the discarnate phases of our Soul's journey! So 'past incarnations' might be a little more accurate.
Having said that, as a counseling astrologer, I've found that probing patterns carried over from other incarnations essential to understanding the present chapter of our Soul's journey. The patterns of behavior influencing our present incarnation are what's relevant, not who we might have been before. If you get an accurate read, you'll notice the same patterns of behavior re-enacting themselves in this incarnation in a varied form. Until our first Saturn return at around the age of 29 we're rebooting our Soul's history to create continuity between this incarnation and our former incarnations. It's around the age of 30 that we begin to emerge into adulthood and fully embrace our present incarnational goals.
Question: "What is the nature of patterns of behavior carried over from previous incarnations into my present one?" (or something like that)
It's my hunch that, according to the answer you get, that you'll want to ask another question for further insight into evolving these patterns of behavior.
Blessings ~
Eric Starwalker"
"Greetings Hilary,
Past Life? Yes and no. Lynett's question is so deceptively simple, not so easy to explain. Allow me to offer the following insights.
First of all, your reading is right on the money. It is responding to you, the Querent. The Yi has the the uncanny ability to 'sense' what your inner feeling/belief are regarding past lives and has responded accordingly. Depending on interpretation, 21-2 may be viewed as a mixed message. It isn't. It speaks directly to you through the moving lines 1,4,6.
We know that the hexagram is read bottom to top, that the hexagram represents the 'field of action'. we are also aware that the hexagram can be divided into three sections: lower two representing Earth, the middle: the realm of Man, and the top - Heaven. If viewed from the bottom and top trigram it becomes Earth and Heaven respectively. The 1st line represents what is moving in and the top 6, what is moving out.
The key is the 4th, within the realm of man. Please keep this in mind as I segue into what the Yi itself says on this matter.
In the Ta Chuan/ The Great Treatise, Chap. IV. (Wilhelm edition), the Yi goes into the deeper implications of itself and the nature of Tao/The Source, and Spirit. It states; "Going back to the beginning of things and pursuing them to the end, we come to know the lessons of birth and of death. The union of seed and power produces all things: the escape of the soul brings about change. Through this we come to know the conditions of outgoing and returning spirits".
Pop culture describes this from the perspective of Obi Wan Kenobi's description of 'The Force' in Star Wars.
The Yi can definitely access past lives. Its concern is whether or not you should! If the Yi allows you to do so, it has acknowledged that you have attained mastery of Self in this lifetime. Those who use the Yi over time understand that they become integrated with the Yi. The paradox here is when one becomes integrated with the Yi, the desire to seek out the past no longer exists!
On the other hand, many of us are having a difficult time navigating this present time. That is why we consult the Yi. It is best to work on the issues of the present as opposed to running around in the past!
Confucius, who was ascribed as being the author of the Yi Commentaries reportedly said on his deathbed that his only regret was not having 50 more years to study the Yi!
So, Hexagram 21, in relation to this question, is full of warnings. The 1st line (earth-moving in) is a warning not to continue. Line 6 is the result of not heeding the warnings (heaven - moving out). Line 4 indicates the character that the Querent must possess to be successful (realm of man - the middle). This line is the key line that Hexagram 2 addresses and is receptive to, and it states so both in the Judgment and Image.
What Time is it on Saturn?
Regarding past lives. We must begin with the understanding of what we are; the gross manifestation (matter) of subtle energy (Spirit). In other words, we are Spiritual Beings having a human experience.
To measure our experience on the Earth plane we invented 'Time'. This system is arbitrary as evidenced by the implementation of daylight savings time during WW2. We make 'time' adjustments twice a year.
We in the West view time from a linear (horizontal) perspective while in the East it is seen as cyclical (circle). The Yi, on the surface, operates from the latter. In reality, it is firmly planted in the timeless Now where past, present, and future exist simultaneously. Consider the concept of 'vertical reality (As above, so too below).
The Yi addresses three types of time/change; Sequential time/change
Cyclical, and Non-Change.
An example of sequential change would be the time you had a bad day and you were were harsh in word or action to someone who then released it on someone else and so forth and so on. From a real time perspective it is the realm of parallel universes. Cyclical change is observed in the changing of the day, seasons, and your own life cycles. The birthing of the Cosmos reflects real time. Finally Non-change, the background/reference point to which all change is measured. Paradoxically, it is the Unchanging Change where change is the only constant. It is the realm of The Source.
As Spirit, time and space does not exist. We are part and parcel of The Source and as such, we possess the ability to co-create. The life you are presently experiencing is the life you have chosen to create.
Consider the following analogy: You are a filmmaker and you have a choice of genre (most people choose drama. I recommend comedy) that you can produce.
You hold the DVD of your entire life in the palm of your hand (Birth -past/present/future - Death). To view it sequentially you need to invent time. The DVD player required play it would be the Earth plane. You being the Director, in your infinite wisdom, have put on your life DVD 'alternate' endings. To access this feature the editor that you have chosen is the Yi.
As a Master producer and director you have also created an infinite number of DVD's. Why? Because experience is infinite. It is tempting to 'peek' at our other/past lives (DVD's) while viewing the present one. We do get 'previews' so to speak in the form of 'deja-vu', precognition, lucid dreaming, etc.
In using the Yi, one is in possession of an incredibly wise and profound friend. 'Nuff said!
Blessings,
Wyatt"
"I found the question quite thought provoking and do believe that I-Ching can assist one in the desire to access past lives but only when one has attained the ability not to judge or be fearful and have full realization that the life one is living is a manifestation of prior lifetimes. The more one gets to know oneself, the closer one gets to having the ability to access past lives in a movie-like format. I believe this to be true because what is the difference between going back or going forward, both lead you back to NOW.
Sincerely,
Jackie Parker"
"Hi Hilary,
I had some thoughts on that karma reading you did. I think 21:22 is an obvious place for these kinds of questions, and it is notable that the inquirer did NOT get 21.5, where the Ancestors are literally biting through the flesh to contact descendants at the sacred meal/initiation. It has always seemed to me that Change points people at dealing with angry ghosts and all in and through their "this life" experience - that is to me what the karmic nodes are all about. We contact the dead or the past lives directly only through the Ancestors, who are "purified" or realized aspects (the Japanese have a lot on this one). The Change Operators in this reading point at 21 as an inner inspiration, but 48 as the realization: realizing our common humanity. The lines to me would say something about the traps for this person in trying to do the "past life" work. So, the nuclear 39>64 might say, just back off from the heroic struggle and let it all come and go. That is what might lead to Fall and 35, the crop and the real recognitions.
best wishes,
Stephen Karcher"
™Reading: Consulting Yi about past lives ˜ For the last issue, I asked Yi what might happen if people consulted it about past lives. (This wasn't a question specifically for Lynett, or even specifically for me - just an exploration of the question as a whole.) And Yi answered with Hexagram 21, Biting Through, changing at lines 1, 4 and 6 to Hexagram 2, the Receptive.
At the time I included just a couple of paragraphs of 'first impressions' about the reading - but the reading is owed more than that, without a doubt. So since there were no readers' requests for readings this time, I've worked on this one instead - nothing like comprehensively, but in a bit more depth than before. To gather my 'impressions' of it last time around, I looked at the hexagram names and how they fitted together, my own feeling for the hexagrams as a whole, and of course the moving lines. To build on this, I've looked at the hexagram texts in more detail, and at the complete 'foursomes' of related moving lines.
Consulting Yi about past lives would mean Biting Through to the Field - to the raw stuff we're made of, or the space where all our potential can be realised. As the relating hexagram, this is what past life investigation through the oracle would be aiming for - its aspiration, and at a deep level what it is really about.
This feels like a bigger truth than latching onto any one past identity. Earth, the Receptive, is not about ideas or reasons why, but about the power to make things happen: not the seed, but the nourishment for its growth. Maybe this puts the whole quest for knowledge of past lives into perspective: perhaps it's about exploring potential and enlarging the sense of self, rather than getting to a specific name or story.
'Earth. The mare is gentle and easily guided, and she covers the ground 'without limit'. Past life exploration should broaden definitions of self, give the feeling that there are fewer boundaries. The noble one has a goal and purpose in life, but no preconceived ideas about how to get there. Perhaps all your 'lives' work together to the same end.
To 'go before' literally means being a pioneer, breaking new ground. It sounds like entering into life as if you were your own first incarnation. Quietly 'following', building on the work done before, brings better guidance and less confusion. (Of course, these lines could also be about the importance of accepting guidance when seeking out knowledge of past lives: the two meanings can co-exist.)
There's a balance to be attained between finding and losing partners - achieving more by working with others, and individual accountability and responsibility. This brings to mind Wyatt's point about 'past' lives being part of a single whole, like tracks on a disc: it makes just as much sense, I think, to think of all your own lives as simultaneous - and so Yi could be talking about settling down peacefully in partnership with a greater community of (small 's') selves.
Or such, at all events, would be the ideal to aspire to. But with Hexagram 21 in the foreground, it will not come easily. Biting Through is hard, determined work in the search for truth.
'Biting through, creating success. When I wrote about this hexagram back in Issue 39, I said it was about getting through obstacles, 'especially through illusions of separation' - and the title character refers specifically to yarrow-stalk divination, always a sterling way of cutting through illusion.
As Stephen Karcher reminded me, Hexagram 21 is especially associated with the ritual meal that gets through the obstacles between the ancestors and the living - that is, it cuts through the illusion of separation from the past. While past lives aren't part of ancient Chinese belief that I know of, the connection is still there. Biting through the obstacles restores a functioning whole - like cutting through an insulator, completing a circuit. This is about asking Yi to help us break through whatever separates us from the bigger 'partnership of selves'.
Biting Through works towards Beauty, Hexagram 22: first you uncover the essence, then you can express it, whole and unvarnished. So Yi would make past life work into work towards a more whole self-image. Once again, this is obviously not just about getting hold of some famous name or biographical details to 'wear' like a badge. Hexagram 21 means devouring the information, taking it in and making it a living, functioning part of yourself.
Looking at those moving lines, 1, 4 and 6...
Line 1 (with 35,1, 36,6 and 22,6):
The tradition says that the first and sixth lines are suffering punishment, not applying it. Apparently, investigation into past lives often does begin in a search to make sense of present trauma. Yi's first step is to refuse to allow these explorations to be used for escapism:
'Shoes locked in the stocks, feet disappear. The oracle will lock you down by the ankles and keep you from running off after fantasies. Wherever you are now is where you are meant to be - 'not a mistake'. More than that: this is where you find your opportunity. (This line 'bites through' to 35, Prospering: the hexagram of maximum opportunity, your chance to shine.) Perhaps because this is where you feel the full extent of what you don't have or the potentials you haven't realised. Perhaps the truth of who you are comes out more strongly not when you soar and transcend, but when you are all too earth-bound? And perhaps this identity is a very simple one, without name, and beautiful in its ability to take on the colours of the moment?
Line 4 (with 27,4, 27,3 and 22,3)
'Biting through dried, bony meat, This line shows what could be achieved through past lives divination. With just the first and sixth lines, the message would be just 'stick to reality and stop hiding from it'; but here there is the chance to 'gain a bronze arrow'.
This is biting through to Nourishment (hexagram 27) - completing the circuit. It's an extremely strong, purposeful line. Hexagram 27 is the structure that supports nourishment, and the space for metamorphosis. Any line that connects to it suggests an opening to change your 'shape', finding a new position in the cycle of life, perhaps finding a new source of nourishment.
The intense, passionate tiger of 27,4 is making his presence felt here, bones cracking between his jaws. This is about getting more engaged in life here and now, not drifting off into denial. But the search goes right through the usual structure of things to the marrow of existence, and reaches the prize of the arrowhead.
What you have to 'eat' in your present experience is because of this arrow - and what you have next will come from how you use it. This is what you need to hold onto as you immerse yourself completely in the here and now.
Line 6 (with 51,1, 52,1, and 22,1)
'Why wear a cangue that covers your ears? The cangue is a yoke-like punishment device - and people seem to choose to wear it, as this line implies, when there is too much that they don't want to hear. Biting through to Shock, Hexagram 51 - the very foundations are shaken, and the world is suddenly not at all what it was supposed to be. Sue suggests that belief in reincarnation can be a way not to hear that we die; Anon said that the discovery could be hard to take. It seems to me that in either of these ways, focusing divination on past lives could be used as a cangue.
The related lines suggest a better way to process the information: first by distancing yourself from it, taking it less personally, before you start looking forward again - and steadying yourself, from the ground up. And then getting your feet (once again) firmly back on the ground, discovering the practical application of what you know, step by step. No comfortable rides to enlightenment are on offer here.
One last past lives link, from Beliefnet. This is a basic summary from the point of view of evidence or the lack of it, but there are links to a variety of articles and websites round the subject.
We're spoilt for choice at the I Ching Community, again, but here are a few you really should see:
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