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What to do with a "negative" answer to a "positive" question.

humblebumble

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I never know what to make of answers like this, and there have been many. After recently receiving 10.6 I asked, "What have I done well?" This is a not related to a particular event but a general question as I am closing one chapter and opening another. 62.1.4.6>22.

Is there a method for interpreting an inauspicious answer when asking for positive feedback? One possible answer I see with this reading is handling times of 62 with 22 Grace or poise or saving face. So maybe I didn't do too much well but I did it while maintaining a certain outward appearance? Not the feel good response I was hoping to apply 10.6 but looking to get something from it.
 
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dfreed

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Is there a method for interpreting an inauspicious answer when asking for positive feedback?
I suggest you look at the 'pinned' thread: Positive and Negative hexagrams, by Bradford Hatcher ...


... he says, in part:
It's my thesis that as long as someone is locked into thinking of any Gua as inherently positive or negative they will NEVER understand the Yijing. The Yi itself tries to explain this in a number of places - Gua 12 is an opportunity to be rid of inferior influences, Gua 41 is a chance to learn the skills of economy and thrift that will make you truly rich when the times turn around, Gua 39 is a chance to look sideways from linear thinking and goal-seeking behavior, Gua 05 learns to live in the moment and maximize the meantime. And so on.
Crowley put it this way: Imagine listening to a Beethoven concerto with the presupposition that C is a bad note and F is a good one. You would clearly miss the music.

I would extend this to the line statements, the trigrams, or any other 'parts' of a reading you use in interpretation.

Sometimes being told you should not do something is a positive message. Often the Yi suggests correct, or corrective action, but you have to state the negative in order to give context to the positive - and to fully understand the situation: telling someone that how they are seeing or acting in a situation - or that the situation itself - is not 'positive' does not preclude the Yi also telling (or suggesting) a positive course of action, or a more positive or truthful way of seeing the situation.

For example - though not about your case - if someone asked about stealing something (which they feel justified in doing), the Yi isn't required to offer up a positive response about their actions, when they may in fact be negative or harmful. In this case, I can see the Yi's response as both describing their negative actions, and also offering a way to fix, or correct. or respond to what they have done (or are considering doing).

And finally, I think the notion of transformation - of turning (negative) horse crap into (positive) manure - is an important idea to consider.

Also, ... you said, "After recently receiving 10.6 I asked something like, "What have I done well?" I do not of course know what you asked about where you got 10.6. And so I'm not sure what would prompt you to ask more about 10.6, when it seems very positive to me:

10.6 - 'studying the footsteps, examining the omens / if these come full circle, supreme good fortune'. (Bradford Hatcher)

D
 
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redoleander

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I wonder if your sensitivity to timing and action has been excellent. Your lines are so much about the courage to either act or not act, to face something something challenging rather than run away. Perhaps in very tempting, triggering, or somewhat restricted situations you’ve not taken the easy option or low-hanging fruit. I think your interpretation of handling things with grace makes sense. Lemons into lemonade? Sort of like taking a compositionally beautiful and emotionally stirring photograph of an “ugly” scene. Ugly things are beautiful too, through the right lens. Not sure if that resonates but it’s one possibility.
 
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humblebumble

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I wonder if your sensitivity to timing and action has been excellent. Your lines are so much about the courage to either act or not act, to face something something challenging rather than run away. Perhaps in very tempting, triggering, or somewhat restricted situations you’ve not taken the easy option or low-hanging fruit. I think your interpretation of handling things with grace makes sense. Lemons into lemonade? Sort of like taking a compositionally beautiful and emotionally stirring photography of an “ugly” scene. Ugly things are beautiful too, through the right lens. Not sure if that resonates but it’s one possibility.
I like your ideas. I may make a list of ways I've made lemonade from lemons as an exercise that would apply to my 10.6 reading.
 

mandarin_23

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62 is about being right and correct in challenging circumstances. If your question was: "what have I done well", the answer might be that you avoided the problems described in the lines 62.1 and 62.6, that you didn't go too far and kept a low profile, that you kept the middle path, which is graceful and appropriate.

And on the other hand: Maybe this is a very special reading experience to ask for confirmation - what have I done well - or critics - what have I done wrong? There is humour in the Yi!

And generally, negativity or positivity in lines are not a verdict. If you think about positive and negative, you get Yang and Yin. There is also a space in life for what we call "negativity", which might say that sometimes it is not a very good idea to act, sometimes it is better not to talk, and sometimes we don't understand or know everything. And this is not necessarily a bad thing.
 

Trojina

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I never know what to make of answers like this, and there have been many. After recently receiving 10.6 I asked, "What have I done well?" This is a not related to a particular event but a general question as I am closing one chapter and opening another. 62.1.4.6>22.

If I got 10.6 as an answer to 'what have I done well' I'd smirk...Yi's answering tongue in cheek like

'hey you're here aren't you - if you got this far without being eaten you done good'

That's 10.6 for you...but lets get Yi's words

'Observing the footsteps, blessings from the ancestors.
They come full circle: good fortune from the source.'

You've been treading the tail of tiger, it's been a bit scary but when you look behind you you see your footprints leading up to where you are now. Blessing.

Also this line can be very much saying 'you got away with it'.
Is there a method for interpreting an inauspicious answer when asking for positive feedback?


In general I don't think 'positive' questions' are so great in that they can sort of force Yi's arm like some people ask 'what is the gift of xyz' and then struggle when Yi says there isn't one. But anyway your question is your personal choice, it's important to ask what you feel like asking. But the idea of asking for 'positive feedback' is quite a modern one and Yi is quite blunt, it won't give you something 'positive' if it's not what it wants to say, if it's not helpful or true.

Oh I got the wrong end of the stick you didn't get 10.6 for 'what am I doing well?' you got 62.1.4.6>22 for what are you doing well? (I will leave the 10.6 stuff there anyway)

Well I would imagine you are presenting yourself in some way whereby Yi is asking you to be very careful about how you do that perhaps? 62, painstaking detail here over appearances. But also 22 can be about the narrative/story/appearances we tell ourselves about things.


Without knowing the situation it's hard to know how to apply this. It's possible the 22 is reflecting your question since you are asking Yi for an evaluation, as if you were presenting yourself to Yi and saying 'what do you think of me?'.....and Yi is saying 'Be very careful little bird, stay low close to the ground and make sure you meet and carry this message you have to take out into the world. It's a massive sky and you are a tiny bird and if you meet trouble you better encounter it and deal with it in a very level headed way. If not you could really overreach yourself'. It almost could look like you've gone too far in making an appearance/persona for yourself that you can't keep up with. Like presenting yourself always in your best light with friends or colleagues and not being able in the end to keep it up. It could be saying allow yourself to be more real about what you feel capable of, don't think you have to always very capable if you don't feel it. Line 4 especially, if you are having trouble take very grounded measures to deal with it. You don't want to be saying 'hey I'm fine I can deal with it' if you can't. That does kind of tie into your own interpretation which was
So maybe I didn't do too much well but I did it while maintaining a certain outward appearance?

Yi won't fit into your guideline for keeping it positive if it has something to say and I think it's saying it quite urgently with this reading that you mustn't keep on trying to put on a brave/good face if you aren't feeling it as it could cause you to fall eventually.


As I have no clue what's behind the question that's just a jumble of ideas the cast made me think of.

To your general question

Is there a method for interpreting an inauspicious answer when asking for positive feedback?

No, I think you have to take the answer as it is. You can't twist it into something nice to hear when it isn't. I don't think it's a critical answer, it's not that you did anything wrong you just need to take better care of presenting how things are for you perhaps.

There's no method for making Yi speak a certain way
 

dfreed

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I asked, "What have I done well?" ... a general question as I am closing one chapter and opening another. 62.1.4.6>22.

Lines 62.1 and 62.6 talk about a 'flying bird' and 'not meeting, [but] passing' and both mention disaster; whereas line 62.4 says - in part, 'not pass, meeting ... [and you] need to keep alert'. (Based on Rutt's translation.)

To me this isn't about specific instances when you 'done good' or 'done bad'. Instead I think it's describing instances where you met situations directly (not passing), and you addressed them with attention (being alert).

Hex. 62 says (in part): 'right for small matters, not right for large .... [and] a flying bird leaves a sound'.

I think this is more good advice for continued well-being (and doing well): to take things in bits - small matters (the phrase 'one day at a time' comes to mind); and I see 'flying bird leaves a sound' as a reminder of karma, or how our words and actions (and perhaps our intentions) - leaves traces, even if they aren't ones we know or see in the moment.

Best, D
 

humblebumble

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If I got 10.6 as an answer to 'what have I done well' I'd smirk...Yi's answering tongue in cheek like

'hey you're here aren't you - if you got this far without being eaten you done good'

That's 10.6 for you...but lets get Yi's words

'Observing the footsteps, blessings from the ancestors.
They come full circle: good fortune from the source.'

You've been treading the tail of tiger, it's been a bit scary but when you look behind you you see your footprints leading up to where you are now. Blessing.

Also this line can be very much saying 'you got away with it'.



In general I don't think 'positive' questions' are so great in that they can sort of force Yi's arm like some people ask 'what is the gift of xyz' and then struggle when Yi says there isn't one. But anyway your question is your personal choice, it's important to ask what you feel like asking. But the idea of asking for 'positive feedback' is quite a modern one and Yi is quite blunt, it won't give you something 'positive' if it's not what it wants to say, if it's not helpful or true.

Oh I got the wrong end of the stick you didn't get 10.6 for 'what am I doing well?' you got 62.1.4.6>22 for what are you doing well? (I will leave the 10.6 stuff there anyway)

Well I would imagine you are presenting yourself in some way whereby Yi is asking you to be very careful about how you do that perhaps? 62, painstaking detail here over appearances. But also 22 can be about the narrative/story/appearances we tell ourselves about things.


Without knowing the situation it's hard to know how to apply this. It's possible the 22 is reflecting your question since you are asking Yi for an evaluation, as if you were presenting yourself to Yi and saying 'what do you think of me?'.....and Yi is saying 'Be very careful little bird, stay low close to the ground and make sure you meet and carry this message you have to take out into the world. It's a massive sky and you are a tiny bird and if you meet trouble you better encounter it and deal with it in a very level headed way. If not you could really overreach yourself'. It almost could look like you've gone too far in making an appearance/persona for yourself that you can't keep up with. Like presenting yourself always in your best light with friends or colleagues and not being able in the end to keep it up. It could be saying allow yourself to be more real about what you feel capable of, don't think you have to always very capable if you don't feel it. Line 4 especially, if you are having trouble take very grounded measures to deal with it. You don't want to be saying 'hey I'm fine I can deal with it' if you can't. That does kind of tie into your own interpretation which was


Yi won't fit into your guideline for keeping it positive if it has something to say and I think it's saying it quite urgently with this reading that you mustn't keep on trying to put on a brave/good face if you aren't feeling it as it could cause you to fall eventually.


As I have no clue what's behind the question that's just a jumble of ideas the cast made me think of.

To your general question



No, I think you have to take the answer as it is. You can't twist it into something nice to hear when it isn't. I don't think it's a critical answer, it's not that you did anything wrong you just need to take better care of presenting how things are for you perhaps.

There's no method for making Yi speak a certain way

Thank you for covering this in so much detail. I want to provide some context in case that is useful. I am currently at a major crossroads in my life and asked a question about what I should be putting my attention on related to that. That's when I was given 10.6. I took that to mean I should evaluate everything that led me to this point and "weigh the favorable signs" (W/B). This led me to ask what I've done well. I thought it might add some dimension to applying 10.6. Now I am not sure if I should have asked more generally how did I do. Supposing the response was, well you are overreaching and not living up to the persona you've been reaching for, well I don't know how to apply that to 10.6.

I will come back to this thread once I've had a few hours to take in some of the comments and see what comes up.
 

my_key

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I never know what to make of answers like this, and there have been many. After recently receiving 10.6 I asked, "What have I done well?" This is a not related to a particular event but a general question as I am closing one chapter and opening another. 62.1.4.6>22.
62 meaning 'it moves through being excessively small'
22 meaning ' you begin without a face'

nuclear 28 meaning 'shaking things up and pushing them over'

Understanding what you have done well has to be set within the context of where you started from. A blank sheet of paper that you decorated, embellished and filled with a new you (22). Your achievements have resulted from a culmination of many small victories, some so small that you may not even recognise them as such, however they all add up and have brought about a huge transformation in you (62).

The deep winds of change were generated by a crisis in your life (28) and you accepted the challenge courageously to engage with an open heart and with honest reflection to embrace the deep inner work necessary to leave the sadnesses in your world behind. It is this work that you have done well.

...or it may mean nothing like this for you.

Great Job.
 
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humblebumble

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Coming back not with a ton of clarity yet but certainly appreciation. I've kept this tab open for several days to re-read posts and imagine the images. I've been thinking that the complicated multiline picture is the whole "chapter" I am asking about. I never like getting 62 and especially 62.6. I can see how successes and failures are intermingled here. I am thinking this is a reading needs more time than usual to incubate.
 

Liselle

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This is just my impression, but I wonder if the 62 reading was an indirect answer. You asked the 2nd question in response to a phrase in W/B's commentary about your first reading, and Yi might mean you got ahead of youself (and ahead of Yi) by doing that (62). An author's commentary is quite 22-ish in the sense that it's their idea of what a line means, their presentation. It can be misleading to take one phrase from it to build a new line of questioning.
 

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