24.1 versus 44.1

[seethis]

I read in exploring divination section about 24.1 and wrote a response but realised it was from 2007. I therefore copy my response here since it seems to be an ongoing issue worthwhile to explore. It is also a good example why to look at pairs of hexagrams when trying to understand lines (I saw someone pointing to Karcher in this respect). I decided to avoid gender references and use "individual" instead of man or woman. Well here is what I have to say:

The short distance in 24.1 is, in a way, the reverse of the #44.1 where one is adviced to stop and control to get drawn into the destructive towards a desired object (a small pig can grow large, etc kind of stuff). The opposite of this pair, is to actively control the addictive behaviour returning, but with a much better chance to succeed. However, both are dealing with the same kind of thing, management of desire but from different ends. In a way 24.1 is the "strong" (?grounded) individual who controls those temptations in a souverain manner at the very early point while 44.1 shows a "weak" (?ungrounded) individual struggling with independence. I guess to translate this into action advise every asking individual needs to bear this basically in mind, also acknowledging that it is about process and development and not events in an otherwise static universe.

 

[heylise]

The other thread may be old, but posting in it renews it, and it shows next to this one now.

I do that very often, comparing a hexagram or a line with its opposite. Or rather complementary. When I cannot really understand it, seeing what it is not, or what the other side of this coin is, makes it a lot more clear to me.

I agree a lot with your views on 24.1 vv 44.1. Very good!

There is another one in 44 which I am figuring out right now. Got it in a reading. 44.3-6.3. Funny combination, the buttocks without skin and ancient virtue. To me it seemed they were both about some kind of moving or acting too slowly or with difficulty. They are the opposites of 24.3 to 36. Superficial, the easy solution, or just in time, only-just.

 

[seethis]

Yes, it is interesting. In 44.3 one the individual seem to get whipped with a cane as punishement for "weakness" in face of temptation, but should be given another chance to obstain from corrupt behaviour in the future. In 24.3 we are told that the offending individual should not worry too much about repeating the same mistake over and over again, and should continue trying to getting it right, hopefully sooner or later. While the resulting hexagram from returning is #36, which hints to a situation where one should not worry too much and just accept that "evil" is part of life and should remain cheerful in the face of darkness, hexagram 6 is about conflict and how to resolve conflict which seems to be appropriate concidering that the weak individual only learns from punishement.

 

[heylise]

I have been looking a lot more at 44.3 and 36.3

I see 44.3 a bit differently now. There is a story, or rather one of the myths which make China's culture, about Yu the Great who conquered the flood at the expense of his own health. In that story it says that he had no skin left on his buttocks and could hardly walk.
Hex.44 is about seducing and being seduced. That can be by temptation or some other dark influence but just as well by a great idea, a mission, a calling. Conquering the flood was Yu's mission.
Hilary says in her I Ching:
44.3 "... Yu the Great was charged by Heaven with the task of conquering the floods, and his thighs wasted away with the decades of hard labour. You are ‘coupled’ to a demanding task, responsibility or situation. The demands threaten to undermine you..."
A task you have been called to can be too big, but still you feel you have to fulfill it. So go ahead, everything might go wrong, but it is the only option. Conquering the flood, or finding your True Love, or drowning in the love which ruins you. There are things you "have" to do in order to live the life you feel is yours.

Changes to 6.3 Hilary: "You feed yourself on power that comes from the past – maybe strong personal values, or deep instinctual strengths, or the qualities of ancient heroes. This is potent nourishment: the only question is how or where it might find a place in your life now."
Don’t expect that you can bring them to tangible reality, but incorporate them in everything you do and think. This way you bring everything you do to a royal plane.

Opposite:
24.3 The return is frequent, repeated, or urgent. Every time again you return to where you belong. Life – or your monkey mind - takes you hither and thither, but your inner core will always direct you back to your own truth. It brings danger to follow your truth, but it is the only right way. If you are true to yourself, or aim to be, you will always go up and down that road.

Changes to 36.3 Hiding brightness. At the hunt in the South catching the great head. Not permitting a determination about affliction (hardship).
Hilary: "Wounded and in darkness, you decide to do more than just hide away; you set out on an active, determined hunt for what oppresses the light. And you have success! You grasp the source of the problem and the key to its solution.
However, this is not the same as already having a completed solution. You have an insight of enduring value; ..."
Constancy, or determination, is zhen: the answer of the gods to the oracle and your obligation to follow what they advise. But this time they cannot show a clear road to you, you will have to decide every moment anew what the best course of action is and they will not tell you if the affliction will heal or the hardships will end. The only thing you can do is catching the main cause and hope for the best. And that is something which life brings with it: you have to catch that evil head over and over again. Hardship will not end once and for all, it is something you have to conquer all your life.

But it was all about opposites (or rather complementaries)...
44.3 and 6.3: follow your star, however difficult it will be. Don't ask for result, just go on and on. Life is about doing it, not about what will show in the end.
24.3 and 36.3 stick to your truth, your inner core. Then you will go the road which is meant to be yours. You will stray off, but you will always come back and go on.