Hexagram 42.1.5.6 > 2 : Can I trust Hexagram 2?

[nothing5]

This past month or so, I have taken strong notice of hexagram 2 which seems to always appear as the transformed. On the contrary, I have rarely received any 1s at all.

About a month ago, I had a powerful experience where it felt like I was being asked to submit and receive fully without resistance. In submitting, I could feel deep tension exit parts of my body. A kind of joining that took place in my internal experience.

However, I am not sure whether to trust this experience. Am I being too passive and submissive in letting go of control? Am I projecting aspects of myself outward, leaving myself powerless and weak? Or is receptivity and submission a way to reconnect with the power and strength that I may have projected outward?

I asked Yi if I could trust Hexagram 2 that has been appearing a lot. 42.1.5.6 > 2 is what I received.

42 (Increasing) seems pretty self-explanatory. Yes, there has been an increase in 2s and that it’s okay to trust where it’s guiding me.

Yet there’s 42.6, which warns of too much receiving. This seems to go against much of the experience that I just shared. Am I being warned not to take too passive a role (surrounding my healing and growth)? Am I trapped in an illusion?

I would really appreciate this community’s input on this. Thank you very much.

 

[diamant]

42.1.5.6 > 2

42.1 speaks of diligent work and 42.5 speaks of kindness. So far so good.

42.6 is not good. It's about a one-sided relation/relationship, with an unsavoury person. The situation benefits nobody, not even the unsavoury person.
Thus any benefit (42) in the situation empties out (2).

 

[my_key]

Hexagram 42.1.5.6 > 2 : Can I trust Hexagram 2?​

This reading starts with a comment on what is at the root of the question, moves on to looking how the transition moves from your inner to outer world and ends with a culmination of the situation.

So it could be saying something like this:

Whether you trust Hex 2 or not a major realisation is on the way. Right now you are looking for something to trust so maybe this is what you have been waiting for - it's not a mistake if you do trust . Sometimes if you question things too much or are not open to things, then you can provide resistance. When there is too much much one-sidedness in your approach that can lead to a set back for you. Perhaps you miss an opportunity that has been God sent.

...or it may be nothing like that for you.

Good Luck

 

[dfreed]

I have taken strong notice of hexagram 2 .... On the contrary, I have rarely received any 1s at all.

Your question is more than a bit odd, but it has me interested.

Above you describe getting Hex. 2 in many of your recent readings - as the resulting hexgram, correct? It reads like a statement of fact to me.

... a month ago, I had a powerful experience ... I was asked to submit and receive fully without resistance. In submitting, I could feel deep tension exit ... my body. A kind of joining that took place .... However, I am not sure whether to trust this experience. Am I being too passive and submissive in letting go of control?

Here you're describing a real-world experience, which doesn't seem related at all to any I Ching readings, nor to a particular hexagram (at least you haven't shared any with us). AND you had a positive experience, but for some reason, you're choosing to question it: "I know this worked out for me, but ....?"

I asked Yi ... could trust Hex. 2 that has been appearing a lot. 42.1.5.6 > 2 is what I received.

Here you make a really big leap - going from questioning your positive experience, to questioning one of the 64 hexagrams - in this case, Hex. 2. It's as if you're saying:

"I went to the store yesterday and bought some really nice, ripe cherries. I then came home and made a great cherry pie from them! But now I'm questioning - should I - can I? - 'trust' the cherry tree that's growing down the block for me, especially since I'm noticing it more and more of late?

And ... all this makes me wonder, is the core issue here some misunderstandings you have about what Hex. 2 means and what it does?

For me, it's as if you think Hexagram 2 only represents giving in, being weak and 'girlie', always playing second fiddle - and by getting Hex. 2 a lot (and never Hex. 1), you never get to be the top dog!

Or ... that Hexagram 2 is so weak and passive (in your view), that you don't even get it as the primary hexagram in your readings - but instead it (and you) only get to play second-string, as the 'received' hexagram!

Does any part of that ring true to you, or is this just how it appears to me?

*****

(Important Note to Nothing5: - I'm making a big leap and doing something unusual here - by 'reinterpreting' your question. So if I'm wrong or off the mark, please just igonore some or all of what I'm saying.)

For now, I'm going out on a limb and I'm going to assume your core issue / core question is: -- "what does (or what can) Hexagram 2 mean and represent for me - for you? And the Yi responds:

Hex. 42: is about "Gain", "Increase", "Enriching" (names for Hex. 42) ... it means that Earth has the ability to take raw material and make things that are useful, beautiful, and meaningful (and enriching) from this unformed 'rawness'.

Earth/Hex. 2 works with what it is given, and so it can create a wagon, or a boat, or even gourds which we can then use as life vests (and a myriad of other things!). This is why it says:

Hex. 42: (Earth is) Favorable when there is somewhere to go. Favorable for fording big rivers.

Line 42.1 reads: Favorable for use in great matters.

Even though some might think of Earth as passive or weak, it is actually capable of great things (and small ones too)! And it is useful and very important for you - and for all of us - to remember this!

E.g. if you ask Yi an important question, or ask about a big or difficult situation - and you get Hex. 2 as the response: this is exactly the response you need to get; Hex. 2 is quite capable of 'responding' to big, important, difficult situations, as are hexagrams 42, 1, 12, 43, etc ....

Line 42.5 reads: Sacrificing captives: graciously do not (put them to the) question. Sacrificing captives: we receive favor.

In his translation, Richard Rutt often uses the words/ phrase 'sacrificing captives' where others might say 'sincere success' - or something similar. There are historic reasons why 'sacrificing captives' is related to success, being reliable, being sincere; but for now ....

Here, Line 42.5 has multiple meanings:

* Often - and not just with Hex. 2 - the Yi asks us, 'what is it we need to give up - let go of - so we're not held captive anymore?' - e.g. perhaps that we need to 'give up' our notions that Earth is weak, or passive, or ...?

* We are also being asked to not question Earth / the Fertile Field, and in doing this - in accepting what (Earth) is - we receive her/his/its favor and blessings.

Line 42.6 reads: Not enriching him, ... (not) striking him. Stand firm. Do not perform a fixing rite.

Here you are being told that Hex. 2 - like all Yi's hexagrams, lines, trigrams, responses, etc. - have specific ways they work and don't work:

For you (and all of us), Earth / Hex. 2 may not be good at striking or harming others ('not' enriching them). And while you can - and should - 'stand firm' in what Earth does, what it means, and what it can achieve; you should not get stuck - nor fixated - on any one meaning: like always associating Earth with being weak and passive!

And by not being fixated on specific meanings for Earth Hex. 2 (because it has many meanings and associations), by not performing a 'fixing rite' - every time you use it, this frees you up to take each new situation, each new reading, each 'new' Hexgram 2 on its own terms. And you get to look at Hex. 2 - as you should with all readings and all hexagrams, lines, etc. - with fresh eyes!

*** And surprise, surprise ... I think all of this also works as the correct (and informative) answer to your question: can I trust Hex. 2?

I hope I didn't take too many liberties here, and I hope some of what I said is of use to you.

D

 

[dfreed]

Nothing5, an afterthought:

On the night of his enlightenment, the Buddha faced all the dark forces, thoughts, feelings that his own mind and the universe could muster.

After the Buddha successfully overcame this great army of greed, hatred, and delusion, Mara - the demonic celestial king of all these dark forces - posed one last question to the Buddha:

What gives you the right to be here?

And the Buddha responded by simply reaching down and touching the Earth. The Earth gave witness to the Buddha's (and our) right to exist.

And so you ask, can you trust Earth (Hex. 2)? I know what my answer would be.

 

[nothing5]

@diamant Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I am not sure there is an "unsavoury" person in this situation besides myself, since all of this is contained between myself and I. But that is not something that I was being clear about in my original post, so please excuse me. Perhaps I could be the unsavoury person in this situation, or it could be that the circumstances become unsavoury as time goes on. Something to think about for sure...

@my_key Very interesting interpretation. If a major realisation is on its way, then that may mean that Hexagram 2 is calling upon me to remain open and present to it, so that I may seize this opportunity as it comes. Maybe that's when action is required, instead of remaining passive all the way. Thank you for sharing.

@dfreed Wow, thank you for your deep analysis. I love how you broke down my interpretation of Hexagram 2. I had to think about what you just shared in order to provide a response that is in line with my experience. What I want to say is that I do seem to hold certain ideas about myself in certain situations (i.e. weak, passive). However, rationally, I do not hold Hexagram 2 in the same regard. I see it as no less important than its counterpart, Hexagram 1--the yin to the yang, the feminine to the masculine, the earth to the heavens. For me, the power in Hexagram 2 lies in its receptivity and openness. The only mistake that I seemed to have made was to conflate my experience of thorough receptivity with my distorted self-perception of being weak and passive. But I imagine that's where my feeling-sense/subconscious view of Hexagram 2 may have been corrupted, which you caught.

If I review my powerful experience with this new understanding that you've prompted within me, I can recognize that the power that I thought I projected outward had never left me to begin with. It was only by surrendering control (i.e. false power) and being fully open to receiving that I could get in touch with the source of true power. Now, this is just another interpretation, but it feels more true to me than the previous interpretations of my experience.

I especially love what you said about it having been a "fixing rite" for me, and then moving on to being able to look at every Hexagram 2 with fresh eyes. Yes, how can I receive each Hexagram 2 that appears in my readings with fresh eyes? By not attaching to previously held notions about what it means to be open and to receive--that each situation carries within it a new set of definitions!

I once had an experience of being so established in presence that I could not say who my biological mother was, even as I had an image of her in my mind. At the time, I asked my friend: "Who is my mother?" (I know, it sounds strange to even ask such a question at all!) In response, he looked at me and simply put his hand on the floor. How wise!

I can say now I have trust in Hexagram 2 and where it's guiding me. Thank you very much for sharing your insights!