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Hex 05

malka

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I've searched the forum and don't see a solid exploration or sharing of this interesting hexagram known as 05 - Calculated Waiting, or Needing.

While I know that 05 combines heaven and water, the commentary and other material I've read seems to describe 05 similarly to 52- Keeping Still. And yet 52 is clearly different in that it's a doubled mountain.

It's clear to me the way that 52 is about meditating -- staying right here in the moment in a still way, and not going further nor backwards in our thoughts or actions. And yet 05 seems to discuss a similar action -- staying in the present, but with the added quality of anticipation or expectation?

It seems to me 05 implies there WILL be action or activity or other in the future, and that it's appropriate to anticipate the coming, to prepare for it, but also to just keep on living until. Yet there is also talk of eating and drinking -- it this about celebration? Or about the simplicity of moving along with our life that includes our own nourishing?

Something about 05 also seems to suggest a partnership with the universe. By keeping our own thoughts and actions to the present, by not submitting to anxiety, fear, doubt, etc we make it possible to things to develop in the cosmos. So it seems that in 05 the there is a great responsibility for playing a tole in determining the outcome to that which we wait to receive.

What have other's experienced? I welcome learning from all of you about this hexagram.

Blessings,
Malka
 

malka

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Chris, in another thread you described 05 has having a quality of "networking" while waiting. I'd be interested to learn more about this networking. When I think of networking, I think of meeting people, looking for others who can help, seeking people we can be helpful to ... is this how you describe networking also? It seems to imply alot of activity - as preparation? in development of an outcome? Do you see this networking to be in direct support of the expected outcome or is it general networking?
 

chrislofting

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Hi Malka,

The focus on waiting is that it is calculated - the waiting is for an opportunity to develop in a particular manner. The overall sense is opportunism in general and as such we practice opportunism in particular where we take advantage of the waiting to make connections, socialising etc that can establish links useful later on when one's 'path' opens up. There is the distinction of working LOCALLY as you wait for an opening to appear in the global dynamics, for the 'right moment' to come along.

The opposite of 05 is 35 - where the focus is on bringing something into the light as compared to presenting oneself as a light! ;-)

The overall differences in yin/yang are here emphasised as devotion to someone/something (yin) vs devotion to oneself (yang). Both 05 and 35 require energy to be expressed in the form of links, forming a good foundation upon which to rest and develop from.

The rotations of this 05/35 pair gives us 06/36. These reflect more on a need to, a demand to, compromise, be it through locally meeting something/someone halfway (06 - with containment comes singlemindedness) or on hiding one's light for 'better' times (36) as in being uncompromising in refusing to surrender one's light for the light of another (with guidance comes devotion - devotion to the light that guides you means being uncompromising in maintaining THAT light and so prepared to hide it for a more opportune time. But note there is also the meaning sourced externally in that your light is ignored by others, the 'powers that be', and as such 'covered' by them, not you. No matter how much you try to 'burn bright' you are ignored - IOW it is not 'your time')

The change focus means that the 'darkness' of now (36) will change later and so being locally uncompromising reflects being compromising at a general level - with the 'Universe' and its cycles. - and so more hanging around for the 'right' moment! ;-)

Networking, OVERALL, has an edge of compromising in that you cannot please all of the people all of the time but networking allows you to make enough links to 'average' out relationships and even give a slight 'edge', be it immediatetly (local focus) or in relation to the cycles of development and so over long time spans.

Hexagram 05 in the binary sequence pairs with hexagram 09. 05 waits for the 'big moment', 09 builds up small gains to make one noticed. BOTH reflect local activities that are aimed to benefit and so lead into the 'big time'. 05 is reactive, integrating, 09 is proactive, differentiating.

Hexagram 35 in the binary sequence pairs with hexagram 16 where the focus is on planning, use of foresight, expressed enthusiastically, positively, and so again a focus on issues of 'what is to come'.

Hexagram 06 in the binary sequence pairs with hexagram 47. 47 covers forced enclosure but also willing enclosure in that the symbol of enclosing a tree reflects the process forcing the tree to integrate with the context more, to send its roots 'deep'. Networking does this in that it ties you to the context, to a peer group, a culture etc etc and as such this reflects a form of compromise. 06 is proactive, differentiating, 47 is reactive, integrating. (the focus on 'forced enclosure' of 47 links to the legal issues that can come with 06 as we try to meet people half-way. There is a surrendering of freedom involved in the compromise and that compromise may be not 'harmoneous' other than solve some local problem that ties one down etc to a context we would prefer to escape/avoid)

Hexagram 36 in the binary sequence pairs with hexagram 22. 22 covers facading, focusing attention on the surface, the exterior and so 'hiding' the interior or more distracting focus away from the interior. 36 is reactive, integrating, 22 is proactive, differentiating. 36 puts the light 'inside', covers it up totally, whereas 22 uses the light outside in the form of a distraction, we shift the gaze of others from looking IN to looking UPON.

Thus we have a pool of PAIRS that cover these issues of opportunism, issues of compromise, uncompromise, in bring something into the light, be it yourself or another/others and the issues of the times, some times the dynamics of the universe means 'not now, later'.

Thus the pool is:

(05,09),(35,16) - (111010,111011),(000101,000100)
(36,22),(06,47) - (101000,101001),(010111,010110)

For more details on 05 we can process it recursively, from the bottom line up. This gives us an initial pairing of 05 with 48 - foundation setting, a theme associated with what we are trying to do, to set down roots etc etc. Apply the same process to 09 and the first pair is 09, 57 where 57 reflects cultivation to become influencial, which covers what 09 reflects through making small gains etc.

To flesh out the whole group we can apply the same process to all of the other hexagrams in the pool and so move from 8 hexagrams to 16 hexagrams etc etc!

How deep do you want to go? ;-)

Chris.
 

chrislofting

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Malka,

some additional points from what the trigrams represent:

The following *particular* associations map to the general IDM associations of contractive bounding with the trigram of water and expansive blending with the trigram of heaven.

Contractive bounding means a focus on distinctions of 'them' from 'us', a border that serves to protect the inside, keep out the outside. It reflects a PARTS focus.

Expansive blending means a focus on experiencing wholeness by flowing into, and so taking over, the context. This reflects the sense of REPLACEMENT of something by something considered to be 'better' - and so the link to the generic emotion of anger where anger/love(sex) share the same space, a focus on replacement rather than coexisting. (anger maps to heaven, sex to lake) The networking of 05 is purely for self-gain, where devotion-to-self dominates overall (heaven base).

In five-phase the trigram of water reflects what we could call consumption, aka *internal* distribution. The trigram of heaven reflects what we call competitive exchange. Thus in 05 we have consumption in a context of competitive exchange.

If we introduce the set of raw human emotions then we have rejection in a context of anger (see the IDM page http://pages.prodigy.net/lofting/emote.html). the anger maps to competitive exchange, the rejection is a consequence of the filtering that applies to consumption (in five phase the phase of EARTH which contains two trigrams, earth and mountain, is focused upon filtering and directly influences the five phase of WATER where the only trigram is that of water. Thus there is a sense of controlling what goes into our mouths, what is consummed, internally distributed. This means a focus on CONTROL. 05 can be read as "with perseverence comes control")

The socialising element in 05 reflects socialising with the like-minded, with the 'same', with 'us' as compared to 'them'. This reflects the protective nature of the networking, when your moment comes and you start to fly, if you 'fall' you fall onto a support group. Since the overall focus, the hidden element, is self-interest, so the networking is understood to be as such; it reflects the relationships across archetypes, where each archetype is self-replicating and uses alliances for some battle in the eternal war of light vs dark. After each battle both winners and losers can go to the pub for a drink, and in doing so make new alliances for the next battle! ( note that the raw emotion of anger can develop into the more refined notion of respect, of others and by others, warrior to warrior).

The major focus is the heaven context that forces an overall competitive focus on things, even friendships ;-)

When we map in the MBTI categories we have a base persona of an operator, a 'warrior'-like expression that is competitive (XSTP, artisans, negotiators, promoters, crafters, troubleshooters etc). WITHIN this base persona is operating a conservator type, a focus on protection (XSFJ - preserver, seller, protector, provider). Note that the overall pair of trigrams lake and heaven maps to the category of 'sensation seekers' - so you can see the 'party animal' nature here expressed in the context of the heaven trigram ;-) - this can be fun but also dangerous where the play can get rough and even deadly - the aim to the warrior is to sharpen one's skills in competitive exchange, to be 'top dog' etc etc. the next step 'down' is from a context of heaven to one of lake, where the fighter becomes a lover - but still focused on sharpening one's skills, on replacement without consideration of social responsibility since all responsibility is to self. (cooperative exchange is all show biz rather than war biz)

Chris.
 

chrislofting

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BTW -

In the persona typologies, the trigram of water shares space with that of wind to reflect the concept of 'security seekers' so 05 reflects security seeking in a context of sensation seeking - networking, planning, compromising and so something to fall on to if the combat gets too 'intense' ;-)

Chris.
 

malka

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Wow - so much here. I wish I were at the stage where I could better appreciate the depth of the hexagrams. I'm just not there yet. I understand from an intellectual place how the Yi contains patterns and relationships of all kinds and this is exciting to me. I also find that at this point, I'm needing most to grasp the basic understanding of each hexagram, and I'm doing so a little at a time ... one hexagram at a time.

It seems when I'm encountering a new hexagram, I go through the same stage: first I need to see examples, or concrete samples of scenarios where I'd recognize the meaning in real life. Then I start to be able to get the metaphor and so see the hexagram in other situations almost as an archetype. The ability to see the depth and influence of other hexagrams upon any single hexagram, I'm hopeful will come next. I'm still a newbie.

Waiting for an opportunity to reveal itself does make sense to me, and I see this as different from 52 for certain. Waiting for the "big moment" in distinction from the accumulation of 09 I also understand and this is helpful to me.

Wind and water = Security seeking??

Malka
 

frandoch

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I've had much experience with Hex 5 - too much LOL. To me it's all about the concept that the forces governing the situation are too powerful for the querent to have any effect - thus 'Calculated Waiting'.

But it's not easy!!! It requires the ability to wait without fear or anxiety (based on past experience), and without hope or anticipation (based on a projected future). It's a bit like non-doing - in this case non-waiting. If we can just experience the 'now' moment, knowing that this situation will pass, and that the time will come when we can have some influence, we will be following the advice given.

Line 1 (leading to 48). This suggests to me that we must immerse ourselves in the present moment, but warns us that we may be starting to worry about the future, about which we can do nothing until it becomes the present. It also suggests that the change is already occurring, even though we can't see it yet.

Michael F.
 

malka

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Michael, waiting without waiting? Wu Wei?

Okay, but then that is starting to sound like 52 to me again. In 05, isn't it waiting WITH anticipation? Isn't there an assurance of something great to come with 05? Something that WILL come in it's time? I think so.

But I do see the quality of wu wei here also. To keep thoughts to the present moment, and to avoid worry and anxiety, does prepare me to responding authentically to whatever arises in the moment it arises, and avoids the possibility that I'll respond inappropriately by coming from a place of anger or stress that isn't required in the situation.

I do wonder about the "danger" of line 1. What is danger? Is it automatically something bad or undesireable? Or just a situation that we may be unprepared to handle?

Malka
 
C

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I really like receiving 5 because it means I'm not idly waiting, and neither is it lonely waiting. Just the opposite of these, it means taking time out safely with no concern for pressing matters. There's no guilt trip associated with the break. Or if there is anxiety or guilt it is then up to me during 5 to let go of those things, sort of like a Devine permission slip to chill. It is non-doing only so far as doing that pertains to something I can do nothing about at the moment, and focusing instead on doing something just for the pleasure of it.
 

bradford_h

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Hi Candid-
"Not idly waiting" is an important point- 5 is about maximizing the meantime.
For instance, almost nobody sees the gag in line 6, the three uninvited guests entering the pit, the one that you could have been cleaning while waiting for something significant to happen, like guests. Being idle s not being ready.

b

Pit or hole, btw, has the same array of puns in Chinese as in English, emotional depression, dump, etc.
 
C

candid

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Hi Brad,

Nothing more embarrassing than uninvited guests arriving to a disheveled home. The pantry is bare, nothing to serve them. The beds are unmade, nowhere for them to rest.

I'm one of those who missed that gag. Thanks for pointing it out.

On your PS, it brings up something I've pondered trying to discuss here at some point, how much of Yi's influence is directed to nothing more than our temperament? It seems our moods play such a huge part in everything in our lives. Yet moods seem so frivolous and superficial. Evidently they're not. Any comment on this as far as early Chinese thought?

C
 

bradford_h

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Hi Candid-
I've often asked the question: to what extent were the shamans and diviners who wrote the Yi trying to fill the need for counselors and psychologists that existed as much then as now. Certainly the shamnas and diviners practicing today, even in third world countries, explicitly acknowledge this as Job One in the job description.
It's often said that Chinese philosophy began with the Ten Wings, and before that the Yi was just a diviners' manual. I think this betrays a lack of understanding of the role of shaman and diviner as counselor. I look at the Zhouyi not as a book of philosophy but as humankind's first book of Psychology, as a manual of and about the many hundreds of mental states we can either find ourselves in or adopt, and as a psychological tool kit for facing our Changes with the optimum attitude.
Ergo, I think you're on the right track here, but I don't think I'd limit it with a narrower word like moods. I'd say the Zhouyi attempts to scope the range of human psychological states, including moods, emotions, feelings, attitudes, temperaments, neuroses, fallacies, defense mechanisms, etc. So I look at the multiplicity of the texts in aggregate as a vocabulary of psychological states and, especially, our choices between them.
b
 
C

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Brad,

Very interesting. In light of this, the term 'thus the superior man' could read as 'thus the whole man' or 'balanced man' or 'well man' or 'sane man.'

C
 

malka

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Great dialogue. A term I borrow from Buddhism, "mind states" seems relevant here also.

I often experiecne Yi to be reminding me to watch the content of my mind which certainly plays a role in determining my mood, my temperment, my emotions, my reactivity, my receptivity, etc. Also, when my mind is clear, I'm present and most able to respond authentically to the moment, and most able to see the moment and my current situation for what it really is. Yi has been helping me to be increasingly clear in this way - and in many cases, to recognize what I already know but because of my mind state may be temporarily blocked from my view.

There was a discussion a while back about "the superior man." I think there was some agreement, or at least exploration, about this referring to a person who is clear and present in the moment and therefore most able to be with and respond to life situations authentically.

"Maximizing the meantime" in 05 sounds lovely. I also like the image of waiting as not being a lonely activity. There seems to be value, worth and purpose in the waiting of 05.

Thank you-
Malka
 

bradford_h

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Hi Candid-
The Jun in Jun Zi still means Noble and not really "Superior" in the usual sense, and translating Zi as an Esteemed Gentleman is still an artifact of Confucianism which had no place in the original Zhouyi. Zi was Youth, with all of its promise. So I still think Young Noble or Noble Young One is a truer translation to the original.
But with that said, I've always associated both nobility and "true" superiority with psychological health, wholeness and balance (no matter how unflattering that was to me personally). To me nobility implies not sweating the small stuff, not getting knocked around by ephemeral matters. But with this distance considered more as a matter of having a vantage or big picture than detachment or aloofness.

b
 

chrislofting

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The structure of the IC, in the context of the QUALITIES that each hexagram represents, is identical to the structure of general human emotions as it is identical to the structure of general persona typologies. IOW these specialisations all share the same space such that one can be used to flesh out, to be a source of analogy for, any or all of the others. We work here from the realm of the vague.

The IDM template identifies the core structure, the set of *generic* qualities which our consciousness then relabels as it associates those qualities with a particular situation. From those associations etc can come more 'refined' qualities, some even unique to a particular context, but tracable back to the generic qualities - without which we would not be able to communicate as precisely as we do.

A situation can develop into a discipline and with it comes its own language, the generic qualities of the species are relabelled to reflect the specific context under discussion and so differentiating that specialisation from all of the others.

Thus the relabelling gives us a particular but the underlying core qualities remain the same such that it is these qualities that allow us to make analogies, to form metaphors, where one specialisation can be interpreted THROUGH another. That is why the I Ching is seen in so much and so much seen in it - it's structure is very close in both properties and methods to how the brain processes data to a fine degree, thus the IC does not wander off into local abstractions too quickly and so it retains some core order and so is easy to grasp, is easy to feel IN GENERAL.

WITHIN specialisations, be they a discipline or an individual of the species, there will develop abstractions that force a sense of 'difference' such that the core order can be covered up, hidden, by arbitrary associations - 'free will' at work but at work LOCALLY. - without education each generation, each individual, would create their own language to communicate.

The dichotomy of the way of the inferior vs the way of the superior automatically presents one with a class structure and so an aristocratic perspective - IOW the focus, when using these terms, is very yang.

When we order the hexagrams of pure yangness we have:

11, 26, 05, 09, 34, 14, 43, 01

The agent of balance is 11 where the balance is in the form of harmonising.
The agent of exaggeration is 01. The BASE nature here is on degrees of competitive exchange.

The scale is from balanced to extreme but since it is derived recursively so the scale is also of PAIRS, QUARTETS etc that reflect the same qualities of balance/exaggerate. Thus we have the GLOBAL pairings of balance/exaggerate as:

11, 01
26, 43
05, 14
09, 34

as well as the LOCAL pairinfs of balance/exaggerate:

11, 26
05, 09
34, 14
43, 01

The term 'balance' reflects the focus on integrating, the term 'exaggerate' reflects the focus on differentiating.

Thus 11 focuses on balancing but in the form of harmonising IN GENERAL. 26 focuses on balancing through retaining a PARTICULAR perspective, a 'traditional' perspective to ensure the integration of the collective as a whole - IOW there is a differentiation, a condition imposed.

We can zoom-out further to reflect the pair of quartets as balance/exaggerate:

(11,26,05,09), (34,14,34,01)

IOW the octet has a focus from the balanced to the exaggerated woven all the way through - but that is a trait of the IC in general all stemming from the use of recursion to create the trigrams, hexagrams, dodecagrams. Thus this weaving applies to ALL octets that we use in the binary sequence such that for the realm of yinness we have:

02, 23, 08, 20, 16, 35, 45, 12

02 is interpretable as an exaggeration when compared to the seemingly balancing agent that is in 12 - BUT that agent is an agent of neutralising rather than harmonising and as such has a particular agenda, to neutralise the attacks of others upon one's beliefs etc. 02 is extreme in that it reflects 'pure' devotion to another and so reflects devotion as does 01 but where in 01 it is pure devotion to oneself. As such 02 is a extreme agent of balance! ;-)

The differences across the octets is in DEGREE such that the 02 octet is rooted in integrating whereas the 01 octet is rooted in differentiating. Inbetween those are six other octets reflecting the same patterns overall but general differences in degree of core expression of integrating vs differentiating.

All of these qualities are hard-coded into our species-nature and as such 'perculate' up from the unconscious to the conscious where they are labelled so as to be communicatable. Thus the hexagrams are hard-coded qualities that are GENERAL and more particular aspects are brought out by the context in which the hexagrams are placed.

ANY 'reflections' by the ancient sages etc will bring out these patterns and, if there is a lack of understanding about the cause-effect relationships so stories will be made - a function of our consciousness.

If you let the mind make 'intuitive' associations up will come the labels linked to emotions, to persona categories etc etc to generate an overall pattern made of qualities that can be labelled and used to describe reality. Thus each hexagram reflects a personality type and its structure reflects HOW to elicit that type, the attitudes to take to bring one's own expression of that type into being. IOW the discipline of Psychology, the identifying of traits, is reflected in the IC due to both sharing the core qualities of meaning used by the species.


Chris.
 
C

candid

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Brad,

A term such as Noble probably had more relevance during the time and place of Yi's origin than it ever would have in our time and place. I identify with your image of such a one, regardless of what it would be called.

Malka, I agree that 'mind states' is a relevant association, as its from the mind that even emotions follow. However, emotions do seem to have a life of their own at times, and for this reason I think wholeness is more inclusive, such as you?ve pointed out in your second paragraph.

C
 

bradford_h

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Hi Candid-
To me it's an easy jump away from Noble as a socioeconomic position, usually of unearned privelege, to being a set of character traits, this being the secnd major meaning of nobility - exalted ethical or mental character worthy of great respect. Same with "being a class act". To me it also implies noblesse oblige or noble obligation (as with Gua 23, passing it down). Even Thomas Jefferson writes to praise the "natural aristocracy," the de facto leaders of a culture or a cultural revolution.
I rather suspect the authors of the Zhouyi meant to refer to both at different levels of understanding, with the hope that the Young Noble in title would mature to become a young noble in character.
b
 

lenardthefast

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Hi Candid,

I have a translation around here in a box somewhere that substitutes "enlightened person" in the place of "superior man". I have always thought that the former was more politically correct,(both in terms of gender and connotation.

Namaste,
hex04.gif

Leonard
 
C

candid

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Brad,

Oh boy, now you've got me. Please explain: "it also implies noblesse oblige or noble obligation (as with Gua 23, passing it down)." This may be an aspect of 23 I've missed? I never pictured 23 as noble anything, and know nothing of ?passing it down.?

Hi Leonard, yes I've considered enlightened before, but its the mental/emotional health factor that I've been especially curious about lately.

Sorry if I'm sidetracking this thread.
 

bradford_h

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Hi Candid

23.X
The mountain depends on the earth
Decomposing
Superiors, accordingly, (are) generous to subordinates
To confirm (their) positions

The problems that most of 23's lines face come from being "Uppity", placng oneself above others without attending to one's base of support. A king, before anything else, is servant to his people. The mountain loses some of its height to get a broader, more stable base.
In 23.5 the household servants have been well treated, so the lord of the house gets to stay in his palace after the old regime is overthrown (the string o' fishes as karmic consequences).

b
 
C

candid

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Thanks, Brad. I see what you mean now. Similar to the 'to rule is to serve' in 17, and I see how it ties in with the Noble one.
 

chrislofting

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Candid, it is much much more.

The core qualities come out of our species-related, unconscious natures. They are:

A context of "contractive blending" - this means achieving wholeness through drawing IN, through integrating.
A text of "contractive bonding" - this means sharing space with something/someone - a bond reflects a representation of something rather than 'the thing' - a symbol of some form (as a marriage licence symbolises the formalisation of the intimacy of male/female; or the 'housekeeping' of the priest as he/she removes the chaff from the wheat; or the housekeeping of the universe as it goes to assert perfect order that is to us, death)

These are the generic qualities that join together to give you the qualities of 23 to which ANYTHING, ANYONE, ANY SITUATION that reflects these qualities will fit.

Thus, move into particulars and from a 'darkness', competitive, perspective the contractive blending is in the form of a black hole, total absolute darkness from which not even light can escape. In this context operates the last element of, the last symbol of, structure, and so the overall sense of the final collapse.

OTOH from a 'cooperative' perspective in the form of males & females rather than light & dark, the achievment of wholeness by drawing someone/thing 'in' reflects the sense of devotion to another/others where the integrating element allows for expression of self THROUGH someone/something else. In that context operates a sense of quality control, a sense of discernment, the focus on a quality 'forever', the 'true' faith, over all others where the focus is on pruning and the benefits from (and that includes dealing with others - as the priest 'prunes' to reveal the 'true' faith for the flock - and that not necessarily out of 'duty' but out of protection.)

ANYTHING that falls within the generic, species-level sets of qualities given above will 'fit' hex 23 - as we see in the two particular examples, one 'positive' one 'negative', and all of the possible examples derived from every person on this planet. The WORDS will vary, some will be short, some long prose, but the core qualities that determine the prose are those given above and they are rooted in neurology.

Thus if you focus on the general qualities so it is in exercise in coming up with what can 'fit' 23.

The 'Traditional' I Ching is as such, limited in its exposure of the full spectrum that is the IC. By understanding the core qualities so it can be expanded upon, meanings made 'clearer' as we use the Language of the Vague to GROUND our interpretations in our species-nature.

BTW - hex 17 is expansive bonding in a context of expansive binding. The tie is in the bonding quality in both 23 and 17 BUT the focus is opposite - in 17 one SEEKS a bond, something to believe in and so interacts with 'out there'. In 23 the bond has already been established 'in here' but is in need of 'polishing', housekeeping.

See my thread on this list of the "Species I Ching", or read the IDM material, to see the full template format.

Chris.
 
C

candid

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Chris, 17 has represented not only following but leading as well, just as 42 is not only receiving increase but also providing increase. At least this is what my own experience has demonstrated.
 

chrislofting

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Candid,

>
> Chris, 17 has represented not only following but leading as
> well, just as 42 is not only receiving increase but also
> providing increase. At least this is what my own experience
> has demonstrated.
>


The basic nature, the core quality of 17 is expansive bonding in a context of expansive binding. Expansive bonding relates to sharing space with another/others 'out there'. In its 'pure' form (58) we get into interactions with an audience and cooperative exchange - gets into issues of sex and replication, mirroring. It gets into issues of copying, to 'be like' X - which is a theme tied to the local IC focus on 'following' in that one can be the 'motivator' of the followers ;-) (the base trigram is a source of motivation and so not so much leading but 'uplifting' - it does not reflect the leadership style of 01 ;-))

The context in 17 is expansive binding. It means overall to share TIME with someone/something, the beginning of something. Thus we have at a really generic level a sense of 'copying', 'replicating', 'reflecting' and overall sharing of space, in a context of some time period, some sense of *beginning* and *ending* - and so the link in the IC to the concept of the 'new' as well as the 'sudden'.

ANY terms that map to these generics will map to 17. The common ground of 17 with 23 is the BONDING concept, to share space with another, as a representation, as the spouse of, supporter of etc etc. In mountain this sharing is done INTERNALLY and reflects the development of discernment. In lake this sharing is done EXTERNALLY and reflects (!) the development of intensity in expression, in passion and replication, in copying, being like etc as well as letting others see themselves in you. THAT position, the ability to manipulate an audience etc can reflect a sense of 'leading' but the control is in the relationship with the audience where if you do not please them they will destroy you.

42 is 'augmentation' but in the raw form is contractive binding in a context of expansive binding. Contractive binding reflects the integration of something over time (cultivation, becoming influencial). Expansive binding reflects the 'birth' of something, the 'new' (as 42 share space with 03) sharing over time but moving 'outwards'.

Thus in 42, the sense of augmentation reflects the change of levels (expansive binding base) within which operates making connections to grow.

ANY situation that fits the expansive binding context within which operates an expansive bonding text will fit 42.

e.g. using emotions the top is sex/love and the bottom is surprise. - that reflects following in the form of infatuation, the totality that is 'surprising' for the individual! ("I cant control it!....")

This seems to fit the concept of 'augmentation' but is also a loss in control! ;-)

SO there is an exercise for you, go through the Species I Ching and see how many scenarios you can cope up with that fit the generic qualities!

Chris.
 

dobro p

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"While I know that 05 combines heaven and water, the commentary and other material I've read seems to describe 05 similarly to 52- Keeping Still. And yet 52 is clearly different in that it's a doubled mountain."

Doubled mountains don't count. What counts is what the hexagram *means*. I won't explain what I mean by that for the moment, but here's the difference between 5 and 52 as I see it: 52 isn't waiting for anything. It's *doing* it right here and now. And what is it doing? Well, it's *stilling* things of course. By contrast, 5 isn't stilling things at all; it's finding ways to get on with life while what you're waiting for finds its way into the present.

"It's clear to me the way that 52 is about meditating -- staying right here in the moment in a still way, and not going further nor backwards in our thoughts or actions. And yet 05 seems to discuss a similar action -- staying in the present, but with the added quality of anticipation or expectation?"

Well, sort of. But I see it like this: 5 waits, and 52 meditates. 5 is about how to relate to the future; 52 is about how to relate to the stillness at the heart of the universe here and now, waiting for nothing.

"It seems to me 05 implies there WILL be action or activity or other in the future, and that it's appropriate to anticipate the coming, to prepare for it, but also to just keep on living until. Yet there is also talk of eating and drinking -- it this about celebration?"

Nope. It's just about one way to wait. It makes sense to eat and drink, to strengthen yourself while you're waiting. Makes way more sense than fretting and losing weight lol.

"Or about the simplicity of moving along with our life that includes our own nourishing?"

More or less, yeah. But not so much 'moving along with our own life' as 'waiting while our own life unfolds in its own time'.
 
C

candid

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Chris, here?s a little exercise for you. Observe how the oracle actually and affectively works for you personally AS an oracle over a few decades. Once you?ve observed it?s synchronicity and how it ACTALLY plays out in your life, see how it compares to your theories. ;)
 

malka

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Dobro, thanks for the comments on 05 and 52. This whole thread has been very helpful for me in grasping the meaning of these hexagrams, and I also feel good about leaving something juicy for others to search and learn from in the future.

Would you agree that 05 promises something great to come? There is something that is coming, right? It's just the future which comes in it's own time, it's something worth the expectation of waiting for also, right?

Candid you make a good point about connecting theories to observation. I guess this is one of the places where I struggle as I learn the first layer of each hexagram: to connect the theories and descriptions to observable real-life experience. Discussions like this one certainly does help with all that!

Blessings,
Malka
 

chrislofting

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Candid,

hmm lets see -- I have been involved with the IC since 1959 (vague intro, more from 1962 onwards) so thats ummm...40+ years, WAY beyond 'a few decades' so YOU have a long way to go grasshopper ;-)

Chris.
 

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