Changes and 7.3.5>48

[aine]

Deep in the heart of winter, so close to winter solstice and the New Year, now seems to be the time for introspection and a sort of spiritual housekeeping. I took a walk this evening by the water and did soul searching about what I wanted for myself in the future and how I would have to change to achieve a particular goal in my life. This goal has to do with something in my life that I fail at, repeatedly, always. I’m sure I fail at this because I’m my own problem. I think I know what attitudes need to change, and I have a plan that i hope will help me change them. When I returned home I felt like I needed to ask Yi for advice. I'm beginning to trust Yi after getting some surprisingly insightful readings. I could just give up on this goal and for years that was exactly my attitude, but now I do and I really want to fix this.

I asked Yi what is happening right now and what I need to know. I definitely didn't want a prediction, I’m only asking about what I need to do through this process. Taking the risk of being told I’ll fail would be too painful.

The result was 7.3.5 to 48.

7.3 suggests that I do indeed have a battle going on. I interpret to mean that I need to stop letting myself from being led by unrealistic musings/expectations both good and bad. A big part of my plan is to stop worrying about outcomes, and to accept how things are. Truth is that no matter what the situation is, there are beautiful things all around. But it’s so hard to look at the beautiful things when there is that one ugly thing (the corpse, I guess).

7.5 I have no idea what to make of this line. I think it means to stay mindful and stick to a plan. When I get overly emotional I lose my ability to reason. I think this line may be a warning against giving in to that when difficulty arises. How do you keep your head when something upsetting happens? Deep breathing, remembering to count the beautiful things?
48 seems to suggest that I have the resources, will, strength to do this but it won’t be easy.
Let me know what you think.

 

[meng]

I think you've given your reading a good assessment. I would have reached basically the same interpretation. Let me expand a bit.

Sometimes we, especially when younger or going through a major life change, can see we may be faced with giving up the goal and moving on to something else, or reevaluating the ways and means to achieve a goal. Or, perhaps the goal may be transmuted into a more practical and achievable realization. That function is metaphorically achieved by the older brother. Let the young brother drive the cart of your personal casualties (personal issues and baggage), and set the elder brother to lead through the ideals and the realities, and choose the road to travel from here.

 

[aine]

Thank you Meng. I think its kind of cool that I might be starting to understand the iChing. I was wondering who older and younger brother might be. Is one reason and the other emotion? There ought to be a better pairing, like the ability to observe and the ability to act or something.



The one thing that I am unsure of is that when doing readings I get too invested in the outcome and only see what I want to see, which brings up a question. Is iChing better when it is done by one person for the benefit of the other (to increase objectivity), or is it better done for one's self. I imagine Yi is communicating with the caster, exactly what the caster needs to know. I think that would be harder or more easily misunderstood if there was an intermediary who has different feelings and perspectives on the question at hand.

 

[meng]

I was wondering who older and younger brother might be. Is one reason and the other emotion? There ought to be a better pairing, like the ability to observe and the ability to act or something.

That's the kind of thing the elder brother would think of, making the best use, matching task with talent. That's the way to lead an army. Not by hard cast rules alone, nor by passion alone, but by reason: taking all those other things into consideration and employing them as needed.

 

[meng]

The one thing that I am unsure of is that when doing readings I get too invested in the outcome and only see what I want to see, which brings up a question. Is iChing better when it is done by one person for the benefit of the other (to increase objectivity), or is it better done for one's self. I imagine Yi is communicating with the caster, exactly what the caster needs to know. I think that would be harder or more easily misunderstood if there was an intermediary who has different feelings and perspectives on the question at hand.

I think this is a good topic but I don't think you'll find a meaningful consensus on the answer. Yes, no, sometimes, maybe, lol.

It's so easy to mix ones own trip into an interpretation for another; no question about it. At the same time, that other person's story maybe be exactly what the one who asked needed to hear. It's always up to the one who asked to own their interpretation. It's never up to someone else to tell you what the reading means to you.

I've been at this a long time, and there are still times when I'll ask someone knowledgeable for their interpretation and input. In actuality, we do that every time we read an author's comments on a hexagram or change line.