Go or Stay?

[sailor]

I am 58 years old and live in the USA. I have been seeking employment for over a year. My unemployment benefits are exhausted. I have one option to move to the Midwest from California and participate in a meditation program where I would be given a grant to cover basic living expenses as long as I participate. I enjoy long hours of meditation but I do not like the freezing cold Iowa winters or the hot humid summers. I currently live for free as a caretaker on a beautiful property in California. I get free housing, utilities and food and only need money to pay for car insurance and cell phone etc. Last week with great hesitantcy I decided to move to Iowa so I wouldn't deplete all my savings. If I go I would only have enough money to get there and no money to come back to California so I need to be sure. My three adult sons live here with me on the property in California and would give me money to live if I became desperate but I hate the idea of being on dependent on them. I have asked the IChing too many times what should I do, and am not surprised that I can't seem to get a clear answer since I didn't take to heart the original answer which now I can't exactly remember. All I can say is that I am getting hexagram 8 an uncanny majority of the time. But it makes no sense to me. Union with whom? Holding with my sons? Holding with the meditation program?

 

[grace heart]

8
Seeking Union
Belonging
Becoming One
Keywords:
Oneness, Association, Joining Forces,
Commonality, Common ground, Union, Similarity, Mutual
Interests, Common Cause, Mutual attraction, Membership,
Merging, Becoming one, Like and like, Group interests.

"...Those who have not seek those who have. Those in danger
seek security. Those who are troubled seek those who appear
serene. Those who are already secure in heart and mind do
not need to seek others. In the time of seeking union we are
therefore asked to define where it is we think we sit in this
hierarchy of seekers and providers.

The time of Holding Together does not mean gathering into
groups willy-nilly and clinging to each other at all costs.
Holding together is about Tao. It is about aligning our self
with our higher nature, abandoning the single-minded pursuit
of goals and the reckless pandering to our desires. It is a time
for reiterating the importance of modesty and openness - for
resisting the urge to follow everything that glitters in the
material world, and instead becoming one with the notion of
Inner Truth..."
(Michael Graeme)

Not an easy situation for sure. A veteran of challenging situations, I have learnt to still myself, ask, 'Where do I belong, at this point in my life?' Then follow every clue, no matter how small. And if all else fails, I'd give myself a deadline, make the decision and entrust the power of unknown to make my decision good.

I have a feeling that all will work out just fine for you.

Grace

 

[troubadour]

Sayler Hexagram 8 also enjoins you to cast again if you receive this Hexagram. Have you done that? Is there a theme to castings for the second reading?

My feeling is that 8 advises you to be close to your family. It is however just a feeling. But it is based on the fact that I am a son and would dearly love to have my mother near me.

Have you looked into your sons' wishes by either asking them or the Yi?

 

[sailor]

I want to click the "thanks" button but I don't see one under the "Post reply" button.

At any rate I feel deeply moved by the feedback from both Grace and Troubadour. I decided to read the hexagram 8 from Hillary Barret's translation. I was surprised to see things that I didn't see before using my other IChing translations. Hillary's translation of Hexagram 8 states: "In the time of the Army, the ends justify painful means and 'collateral damage'. But now that concentration of effort has created a new time, when choices are made not out of grim necessity, but out of a sense of what flows naturally and harmoniously."

It is funny to read that because I know that I am making this decision out of grim necessity rather than a sense of what flows. My mind is only on the fact that I have no money and no work and this is the only opportunity that is presenting itself.

Hillary's also says "It is not good to be like Fangfeng and try to balance indefinitely on the fence. ". That adds confusion to my mind right now because the answer I am trying to get from the IChing is "why am I sitting on a fence? Why can't I decide? "

I like it here in California but the cosmos is not directing me to any money or work so I am living like a poor desperate person before that has actually become the reality pinching every penny. Part of why I wanted to go to Iowa is because I have become very reclusive here. My sons keep telling me to go out and do things, to stop spending all day every day alone. But something is just not right with me and I don't want to meet new people or talk to the people I know. I made excuses not to go to my reunion and friends called from out of town and I just ignored them. That is partly why I thought going to Iowa to do the meditation program would rescue me from having to interact with others. There I can live in my own dream world until I die if I want to and get paid for doing it. But hexagram 8, according to Hillary, is all about relationships and forming new ones. So I am just tired of trying to make up my mind.

 

[grace heart]

Just a quickie: Scleranthus Bach Flower remedy for those who cannot make their mind up when it coms to choosing this or another (or another...). Cerato Bach flower remedy strengthens one's connection with their Higher Self, intuition, Yi, again helping the decision making process.... I have used it and it works. Think you can get this stuff easily in the USA these days.

Wishing you the best,

Grace

 

[troubadour]

Sayler I don't know if there is really anything wrong with you if you like your own company and avoid things like school reunions. To many that is the mark of a discerning mind. But I like the thought of you getting out into the wider world to make new friendships and try new experiences. Good luck!

 

[canislulu]

Sayler, have you tried asking simply two questions:
Go?
Stay?
It seems that might give you an idea of the landscape of the two different options.