General question. No changing lines. Related hexagram. How to proceed.

[ArsenicXXLobster505]

• some background and context for your reading - enough for people to understand what it's about.
  • Firstly, hello to everyone and to no one in particular. My name is Robert and I'm in Southwest USA. This is my first post here in this forum. I've been casually consulting the Yi Jing for a few years now. My favorite resource is Bradford Hatcher's Yi Jing 1+2. The only stalking I do is with Yarrow.
• the question you asked, word for word.
  • When consulting the Oracle I don't usually ask a specific question like I see often here on this forum. When I feel lost or overwhelmed I just cast a hexagram with the intention to see what the energetic substructure is governing my situation. But if pressed I'd say the question I ask is simple: "Where/when (in the timecycle) am I?" My intention is mostly to accord with Tao, and not to use Yi for divinatory or soothsaying purposes.
• the answer Yi gave. (Our favourite format is like this: '27.2.5 to 61'.)
  • I got 3: Rallying/Sprouting. As always, the response I got from the Oracle snatched my breath away. Gasping and stepping back from my situation and just taking stock of general trajectories I am definitely squarely occupying the space of Hex 3.
• your own feelings and thoughts about the answer.
  • Here's my question to the group: I didn't get any changing lines in my initial casting. Normally I pay close attention to the changing lines and the commentary on those lines. That's the area I typically focus on to start the mining process. Does anyone have any advice for me in how do I work with a reading where the hexagram I cast doesn't have any changing lines?
  • Also if I've run afoul of any of the posting guidelines I do apologize and also welcome any feedback on the presentation of future quandaries.

 

[rosada]

Go over to the Exploring Divination area and click on the “ List of Unchanging hexagrams” thread. It’s about three threads down from the top on the yellow background.

 

[ArsenicXXLobster505]

Hey rosada, thanks for getting back to me. I should've mentioned that I tried internet searches to see if there's anything online that would've answered my question before posting here. But I thank you for the nudge. And I'm sorry if I've cluttered the forum with a question that has already been answered. Cheers!

 

[rosada]

So were you able to find and read the thread in Exploring Divination concerning hexagram 3 unchanging?
Anyway, a few things I think of concerning unchanging hexagrams…

First I consider an unchanging hexagram to be like a photograph of the situation and it often means the situation is not likely to change soon. Like if you were asking about a person an unchanging hexagram could be describing their nature. It it what it is…

I look at the Image as being the key “lesson” Or advice on how to navigate the situation.

I get a lot out of putting the word “Because” before the Judgement and the word “Thus” before the Image. For example, taking Wilhelms translation of hex 3 uc I would say…

”BECAUSE..
Difficulty at the beginning ultimately results in supreme success, one will make progress if they persevere. Nothing should be undertaken [when you are clueless as to what you are doing]. Rather you will make progress by appointing helpers [who do know what they are doing].
THUS..
this is how the superior man is able to bring order out of confusion.”

That is, when confused, a person can creates order by ”appointing helpers.” - that is, someone who can do what he cannot.
Key advice from the I Ching: Network!

Hope this helps!
R

 

[ArsenicXXLobster505]

Hey what's up. Yea I did manage to locate it. Thank you for putting me up on that resource. I wasn't able to sift through the various contributions and come up with a plausible answer to my question. Maybe my question wasn't put forth in a succinct and easy to digest manner. Maybe I needed to get clear with myself about my intentions. But perusing the responses I was able to hone in on the real pith of my quest-ion with Hex 3 (no changing lines). I still just want to understand the energetic pattern that confronts me in my life. I'm using the I Ching to help uncover the dynamics of my situation. I'm rolling the words in my heart and pondering the image of the situation. I'm keeping it steady right brain / intuitive / creative / symbolic and I'm making the choice to put down the burden of the left brain confabulation and narrative.

Thank you for contributing the because / thus dichotomy to my tool belt. That helps me understand the voicing in the I Ching. And thank you for taking the time to give me your take. Basically where this reading is leading me is, like you mentioned, to tap into the resources at hand. People are resources. Groups are resources. Food, non-alcoholic beverages, and shelter are resources. Heck, the internet is a resource. Hitting up the vocational rehabilitation offices in town - that's using a resource. So thank you for your insight.

Some other observations in no apparent order: it's a dangerous situation that I'm in. Bradford Hatcher calls it something like the forces of chaos aligned against the life force. Nothing personal. Same as it ever was. The stakes are high right now. I need to stay in my lane and focus my attention only on the essential survival activities. The way forward is to eschew results and invest fully in habits. Hence the Oracle mentioning the role of "perseverance." It seems to be counseling me away from hatching plans and attempting to orchestrate any grand designs for my life. It's pulling me away from higher conscious activity and into lower energy centers with the call to action being simply "Survive, little dude!" And so I dwell in the next indicated action. Whatever comes up next gets my full attention. If it's not right in front of me in terms of priority, it gets happily chucked onto the I'll Get To It (Someday) List. I feel like I'm fully within my rights to keep sucking wind, to keep treading water, to keep my ahead above water, and to count my blessings for these gifts.

There's something about fully cognizing the difficulty inherent in one's given situation that, for me at least, really helps call forth the latent survival energies. To know, understand and accept that this situation is difficult and will be confusing at times, really takes the edge off the project at hand. If it feels difficult, well that's because it is difficult!

 

[rosada]

Hexagram 11 is a good one to meditate on for impressing the idea of staying in one’s own lane, btw.