Clarity,
Office 17622,
PO Box 6945,
London.
W1A 6US
United Kingdom
Phone/ Voicemail:
+44 (0)20 3287 3053 (UK)
+1 (561) 459-4758 (US).
My understanding of what Bradford Hatcher is saying is quite different. It seems to me that 'the bait' here is the promise of wish fulfillment or even enlightenment, when in fact one of the Yi's main functions is to offer us practical, everyday advice:Hatcher refers to Yi’s willingness to address specific, immediate questions posed to it as ‘the bait’. In contrast to this, the ultimate motive of Yi might be termed ‘the long game’. What is this ‘long game’? It is, very simply, to inculcate, within the diviner, the wisdom-perspective of Yi itself.
First, I have a question: was 49.5 > 55 the reading your got, or was the line 49.5 just a part of the response you got? (... and of course the obvious question, if it was only a part, what was the actual reading?).... I humbly ventured the question “May I be so bold as to inquire who or what you are?” .... In answer, I was directed to the changing line 49.5 .....
My understanding of what Bradford Hatcher is saying is quite different. It seems to me that ‘the bait’ here is the promise of wish fulfillment or even enlightenment, when in fact one of the Yi’s main functions is to offer us practical, everyday advice…
So, perhaps the promise of enlightenment, or giving us a more universal or ‘long game’ perspective is ’the bait’ that draws us in…
…only for us to find that it’s still the day-to-day and our own habits and conditioning that we need to deal with - and this is what the Yi helps us navigate. But is this it’s only function? I don’t believe so, and perhaps this idea of a ‘long game’ is also part of it; that it also has the function of imparting (on the part of the Yi) or of us gaining (on our parts) a ‘wisdom perspective’. But I don’t ever feel the need to make any sort of enlightened-mundane / high-lower / heavenly-earthly separations or distinctions, or to think one is better, or more primary.
Though they are from different sources, I see the Yi a bit like I do Buddhism. On the one hand Buddhism is about wisdom, enlightenment and understanding emptiness! But on the other hand, the Buddha also taught about how to be in the world: right action, right speech, right livelihood and so forth. …So similarly, the Yi might not just be about some kind of ultimate enlightenment, but it is also instructions for ourselves and our community about how to get along and make our way in the world.
First, I have a question: was 49.5 > 55 the reading your got, or was the line 49.5 just a part of the response you got? (... and of course, the obvious question, if it was only a part, what was the actual reading?)
And .... I’ve seen a few times where people asked this question of the Yi - or a very similar one - but they all got different responses. It makes me wonder then, a) could these different responses be offering different facets of who or what the Yi is, b) is the question it’s answering more like ‘who or what are you, to me?, and c) even with this one response you got, people will have different ideas / understandings /take-aways of who or what the Yi is.
And again, this is only your opinion you're sharing here, as am I.That doesn’t seem correct .... (and) Again, this is a kind of inverted interpretation
This color analogy only goes so far, or ... it has many more permutations: someone may only want a robin's egg blue, and not a dark indigo to begin with, so how dark the color gets is not really important; this darkening of the color over time may only be important to the dyer and maybe not the end user; and you might have a beautiful shade of light grey that only gets less attractive or useful the darker it gets .... to name a few.The cloth takes on a tinge of color. We come back again, another ‘connection’, and slightly deeper hue taken on. The steps ... repeat, again and again, ... and eventually the cloth is vibrant with the color of the dyeing vat. Is the ‘higher’ separate from the ‘lower’ here? Of course not – they are one and the same. The only difference is one of maturation ....
I was - and still am - curious to know what the original response was to your query. I'm only asking you to share it, not that we need to further examine it here..... I don’t really want to get into those details ....
And again, this is only your opinion you’re sharing here, as am I.
This color analogy only goes so far, or ... it has many more permutations: someone may only want a robin’s egg blue, and not a dark indigo to begin with, so how dark the color gets is not really important; this darkening of the color over time may only be important to the dyer and maybe not the end user; and you might have a beautiful shade of light grey that only gets less attractive or useful the darker it gets .... to name a few.
But you may be right, that Bradford Hatcher could be talking about ‘fortune telling’ as the ‘bait’ and not what you call a ‘wisdom-perspective’ and which I was calling enlightenment. But whatever his intent, I believe the Yi serves us equally well in giving practical day-to-day advice, and advice about spiritual matters .... or whatever we want to call them: wisdom-perspective, enlightenment, the long game and so forth.
But whatever advice it’s giving - at whatever level - I don’t think it merely ‘imparts’ advice or wisdom like a genie granting wishes. It takes our involvement and persistence, and perhaps patience and a bit of our own wisdom thrown in - or at least that’s my perspective.
Clarity,
Office 17622,
PO Box 6945,
London.
W1A 6US
United Kingdom
Phone/ Voicemail:
+44 (0)20 3287 3053 (UK)
+1 (561) 459-4758 (US).