evening reading

[billy]

Here's something I've been doing recently:

Last thing at night, I cast a hexagram with the question "What did I miss?" firmly in my mind. This lets me reflect on the days events using something other than my limited point of view. I find it an unbelievably useful way to use the I Ching. I firmly believe that, over time, this practice will change the way I think about things.

 

[Trojina]

Here's something I've been doing recently:

Last thing at night, I cast a hexagram with the question "What did I miss?" firmly in my mind. This lets me reflect on the days events using something other than my limited point of view. I find it an unbelievably useful way to use the I Ching. I firmly believe that, over time, this practice will change the way I think about things.

Interesting...but it carries the assumption that you always missed something doesn't it ? Maybe you didn't. Maybe you just lived your life the best you could that day...and didn't actually miss anything. If you always ask 'what did I miss' you could be reinforcing a kind of ontological insecurity...that you are always somehow 'wrong' and need correcting, reinforcing a belief that somehow each and every single day you need 'correcting' for what you missed. I think its a good idea in a way but I'm not sure that persistenlty taking up a kind of attitude of penitence at the end of each day is helpful to the psyche


I'm really not sure if 'ontological' is quite the right word there.....but I feel it fits



one could ask "what did I learn today' or ' what was the most important thing for me today' which I guess is another way of asking if you missed anything.

Again though one is tying Yis hands if some days learning wasn't a a part of the day...or there was no most important thing. I'm wary of questions with assumptions based on our beliefs about the world, though they are pretty impossible to avoid. I'm also very wary of spiritual self evaluation. Its like asking God "did i do well ,was I a good boy today" etc and I think it can lead to self absorbtion and the mistaken belief we can get a score each day from 'the powers that be' about how well or not we are doing.

 

[billy]

Right-ho, lots to think about here, I now realize.

Maybe "What did I miss" is not quite the right question. It's not so much about what I missed, but much more about changing mental habits. Mental (or physical) habits feel normal because you are used to them, especially as you get older. In fact they become so normal that you no longer even know you have them. So I guess I'm using the I Ching to challenge the habits of thought / outlook / assumption that I have (and that I don't realise I have), and I'm using this as a path to a greater awareness.

This idea came to me from my Alexander Technique lessons, which is about changing poor physical habits that lead to poor functioning. That's a very brief description. The Almight Google (modern day God?!) will reveal much more if you're interested.

So, this is my parallel for my mind, rather than my body. It's about changing habits. I'm not at all assuming all my habits are bad, as that would be stupidly unhealthy, as you point out.

 

[Trojina]

I've done plenty of Alexander classes so know what you mean yes.

Maybe you'd share some examples of your evening readings ? It would be interesting to see what you pick up from them

 

[Trojina]

someone pointed this guy out to me

hes channeling stuff about self judgement

thought I'd slot it in


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxbvoeWN3bQ&feature=related

I just found it quite arresting to watch though I know many are wary of channeling...quite rightly but still.....

 

[bamboo]

It's a very interesting question because I tend to think we miss LOTS everyday, unless we are maintaining an exquisite conscious awareness at all times instead of walking around asleep to the greater realities.

It's a great question, but my question is what can you do, or what will you do, with the information? It could be disheartening if you get a 14 and think maybe you missed the opportunity of a lifetime......or if you got a 24.6, that would really be disheartening! On the other hand maybe you narrowly escaped a disaster, in which case it could be cause for gratitude.

maybe together with a morning question of "what awaits me with all the awareness I can bring to this today?" can awaken one to what is in flux.

But maybe the question can be termed a bit more hopefully.......Like " what did I overlook today, that could benefit me if I pay attention." The lesson behind the question seems to me to be one of : Stay Awake. Show Up. Watch. Starting the day with that kind of attitude always seems to lead to pretty amazing things.

 

[chingching]

what did my higher self see? what did the collective conscious experience today? what came through my unconscious/subconscious? If you have not formed a relationship to these types of perceptions then yi can act like a telephone line so you can have a phone call with your subconscious etc.

you could even do it for each chakra if you had the time.

When people ask about world events, effectively they are tapping into the collective through yi. possibilities possibilities...

 

[heylise]

What I like about your question is, that it is short and clear. Certainly to yourself. Even though it might not be phrased perfectly.

I am going to try this too. Never thought of it, I always asked "before", hardly ever after. I think I could learn a lot more from after than from before. After all real life also works like that.

 

[billy]

Heylise, it only makes sense to me to use the Yi for anything at all from the perspective of "after". I don't believe the Yi, or anything else, predicts the future. We learn from the past and the present in order to skillfully create our future (ideally). That's what I use the Yi for: to make me more aware of then and now, so that I (not anybody or anything else) can be more empowered to create a better future.

I'm glad you're going to give it a go.

 

[sooo]

I don't believe the Yi, or anything else, predicts the future.

I KNEW you were going to say that! (just kidding)

But really, do you believe in premonitions, such as thinking of someone you haven't heard from in a long time, who calls you an hour or so later? Or focus on a word you rarely hear or use, and then hear it a second later on the radio or TV? If so, don't you think an oracle could also sync up with your timeline a step (large or small) ahead of your conscious mind?

 

[heylise]

Heylise, it only makes sense to me to use the Yi for anything at all from the perspective of "after". I don't believe the Yi, or anything else, predicts the future. We learn from the past and the present in order to skillfully create our future (ideally). That's what I use the Yi for: to make me more aware of then and now, so that I (not anybody or anything else) can be more empowered to create a better future.

I'm glad you're going to give it a go.

I usually cast the Yi to get some view on a situation before I make a mess of it because I have no view on it. Very often it is useful to see things from another perspective.

 

[anemos]

sometime is not easy to discern to which "time" the reading refers to. I have noticed many times that while I asked about now, and the reading somehow manifest and one can say its time "expires". But... then something occurs, that fits like a glove to a future incident. My feeling is that sometimes a Yi reading prepares us for an event coming.

 

[billy]

. . . do you believe in premonitions . . .

Nope! But if you do, that's fine. Each to their own. It keeps life interesting . . .

 

[sooo]

Nope! But if you do, that's fine. Each to their own. It keeps life interesting . . .

So, you only use the oracle to divine the past. That's interesting. I could have had a V8 But due to the high sodium content in a V8, it's better that I didn't. I discerned that in the present, which has now passed. I wonder what answer Yi would have given me for that. I imagine 63 - too late, baby, you're already across that river. And maybe 27.

But of course you are correct, to each their own.