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Cycles of nature and events

gene

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It is so interesting how all the hexagrams are paired up in the I Ching. I talked recently about #1 and #2, about #11 and #12, and now a little bit about #23 and #24. In number 23 line four we see that a large fruit is still uneaten. Preferably, it will not be eaten, because within the fruit are the seeds of the future, and whether it is that we plant them or we destroy them determines that future. The Wilhelm Baynes version has an interesting account on this. It says that only when evil has finally decimated the good does it meet its own end, because it has nothing left to feed on but itself. Here we have universal cycles displayed once again. For it is only when evil has totally destroyed all that is good, that it has nothing left to destroy but itself. After #23 is spent, then we have the return of the good. #24. When governments become so corrupt that they destroy the spirit of the people, then it seems there is always a turn for the better. It seems that evil cannot stop itself. It has no way to discipline itself and say, this far, and no farther. When it has totally destroyed the good, it has totally destroyed its own foundations. Therefore, it says in the commentary, "The superior man receives a carriage, the inferior man's house crashes down." Evil seems to be indiscriminate in who it turns on. Those who have helped their cause the most are often flushed after their usefulness has expired. And when the enemy is decimated, who is there left to prey upon, but its own people? I think all of this is obvious to my fellow I Chinger's and maybe it need not be said, but I do want to say, I think there is a deeper principle in all of this, and it is yin, yang itself. For when yin has fully determined and fulfilled its yinness, then it becomes yang, and when yang has come to fruition, it becomes yin, thereby creating the eternal cycles we see in nature and all around us, and the endless cycles, some longer and some shorter, what I would call a sine wave in human and natural affairs.

Gene
 

gene

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Whoops, I meant line 6, a fruit remains.

Gene
 

hilary

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Pairs are fascinating... I don't think anyone who works (or plays) with Yi for long can fail to notice some, but trying to understand every pair as a single landscape of meaning is something else again...

Any other pairs that seem to work as a cycle?

A preliminary suggestion: 37-38. To oversimplify horribly:

First we are 'inside', understanding ourselves in terms of our relationships; then we have the need to 'turn away' and be 'outside', to see differently from the group. Then, I think, we have to find ways to expand the home to encompass the alien and ghostly visions of 38. You could see this as a cycle of growth for an individual's knowledge, or as alternating impulses in a relationship.

I can't think of many more that feel as much like self-contained cycles as like a steady progression through to the next pair.
 

gene

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Hilary

One thing I might say about my perspective of 37:38, is that the misunderstandings that we have are more likely to occur with those we are most familiar with, not that they can't happen other times, but when we are with each other day in and day out, and constantly trying to communicate, the more attempts at communication, the more inevitable misunderstandings are. The cycle is, we grow familiar with each other, and learn to like, or at least admire each other, then eventually misunderstandings come about. I received number 38 recently, on a reading I can't discuss here, but 38 at least gives us some hope as to how to extricate ourselves from the misunderstanding. Won't always work, but I like that first line, where, if we don't chase after the person they return of themselves.

I see a similar concept in 55:56. Maybe it is just my way of looking at things, or maybe my meaning is so obvious everyone wanders why I bother, I don't know which it is, but anyway, in 55 the ruler so screens himself off from others, that eventually he becomes a stranger to even those that are close to him. He is like a stranger and wanderer even in his own circle. This can happen to a ruler, or to anyone, who becomes overly arrogant, who closes themselves off, who will not listen to the wisdom of others, who violates the trust of all who are in his charge etc. In #57 he becomes gentle and humbles himself, and this brings joy (#58) to him and those who are around him.

Number 13 and 14 too have an interesting affinity, for it is when we have fellowship with men, that we bring riches upon ourselves, for we have so delighted our fellow man that they willingly work with us to bring the highest good to each other. This I don't see as a cycle per se, but the two hexagrams work together nicely.

Back to 37 and 38 just momentarily. It seems that the biggest arguments families have is first and foremost about money, (which is why relationships work best when the male has plenty of it), and secondly about misunderstandings. We all have a different concept of what the social rules are, and how to apply them. We all have unwritten rules in our own subconscious that we live by, and don't realize others may not see things the same way. So many marriages, I think, not that I am an expert, could be saved if the two people could just figure out what the other person really means when they say, "blah blah, blah." It may not mean what the other thinks it means.

49 and 50, I think relate very well to cycles, so do 63 and 64. In a way, so do 53 and 54, 31 and 32. I will think about others. To me the I Ching in one way or another, is just full of cycles, but not always relating to the pairs.

Gene
 

pedro

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The single most important thing I have learned from the Yi is that everything goes by cycles. I mean, this is certainly obvious to acknowledge, in a rational way, but not so obvious to really make it a cornerstone of one's view of life. Thats where the Yi has really shaped my mind.
For instance, not so long ago I would understand those gloomy times when the Yi just seems to give you bad omens, as a bad karma moment, and possbly that would make me depressed or despairing. Now I understand that after the rotten fruit falls on the ground the new tree blossoms. When we are on the down side of the wave, better times are bound to appear at the turn of a corner. Likewise, when everything works fine, a period of decline is surely coming. Thats why 41 is the begining of the increase and 42 the begining of the decline, something that at first sounded paradoxical. That is also the message of 55, dont get sad when things are right, just because you know they cant stay that way. That is simply life. Similarly, the rotten fruit at the peak of decline in 23:6 is a promise of a rebirth, not a statement of "abandon all hope". By realising this, the "superior man" does not let bad times put him down, neither lets good time fool him into thinking life is certain. Evil rising gives birth to good in the end. Good rising eventually turns itself to evil. If we understand the cyclic nature of life, we rest assured that nothing is permanent, and there is no need to worry too much neither about bad nor about good times.
That for me is the single most important message the Yi transmits
 

pedro

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Regarding pairs and cycles, I just posted another thread where I mention the 41/42 pair as a cycle to attain 50. I take it it goes to 50 because of the dings in all theses hexagrams, and also because it seems right to me. The pair 59/60 may also represent a cycle, the cycle of getting free of the ego, embarking on the middle path, and fulfilling our destiny.
I have more trouble in understanding 49/50, for instance. Im sure there is a variety of arguments one could use to pair this two together, but my notion of 49 doesnt relate much to 50. I would put 49 between 47 and 48 much more easily. Then 49 would free the tree in 47, allowing the well to give its clear water, but then again, I have serious doubts about much of king wen's sequence. Even if the pairing of hexagrams is a natural thing, and not so much of king wen's fabrication, the order in which these pairs appear seems too arbitrary to be taken as a dogma. I see the progression of hexagrams much more as an evolution by line movement. There are many comments on this on specific hexagrams, for instance in 12, the sky above gives a line to earth and becomes 42, and in 11 the sky below gives a line up and it becomes 41. Similar comments explain 63/64, etc. These type of line movement interests me a lot (any one knows where this is discussed?), and I think the "real" sequence must be determined like this. In that way, I would see the Yi starting at 2 and ending at 1, or perhaps starting at 12 (full stop) and ending at 11 (maximum possible interaction between the two principles)
 

gene

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Pedro

The cycles you mention, as you say, are in many ways the cornerstone of the I Ching. I hope to get into this subject much more in the future. But everything follows this so called "sine wave." The moon circles around the earth, but its path around the sun follows a sine wave. The same is true of the earth around the star that our sun circles. It is the whole concept of yin changing to yang, and yang changing to yin. "Cycles within cycles."

Gene
 

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