Hexagram 7

[dharma]

I have been trying to make sense of some feelings that bubble up to the surface now and again, as a result of discussions I've entered into here at Clarity since my arrival. I'm still attempting to get clear on some of them.

It seems that certain things that are said or done (specifically here) have the power to churn my "waters", as it were. I can get to feeling strongly about responding to both positive and negative output. In that sense, it seems obvious that I need to do some inner work of my own to make certain that the Well stays in good repair.

However, I sometimes wonder if I'm not, perhaps, getting sidetracked.

The question that comes strongest to mind at this time is, "What exactly is my purpose here at Clarity?" This is afterall an I Ching site, and though my initial intention when I arrived here last summer, was for the purpose of learning I Ching, I often find myself involved in other ways I had not quite anticipated.

I am quite aware that the Universe often has it's own agenda, and since I make it a point of following my instinct in the direction it guides me, I presently find myself wondering what's going on (??) what is the Universe, in this instance, up to?

Again my question is, "What exactly is my purpose here at Clarity?" I cast and received hexagram 7. I have my own, still rather ignorant, understanding of this hexagram and having it come up perplexes me more than the question. Is the response telling me what I AM doing, what I SHOULD be doing or is it both??

I would really appreciate some experienced insight --there are many of you, and I know you're out there!!

Dharma

 

[candid]

Hi Dharma,

Using the triagram images to illustrate the picture, we have water below the surface of the earth. This is a hidden resource of strength and nourishment for the people here. I see this as the first reason you are here at Clarity. You have experience from both, real life and are also well read. Since your resources expand beyond that of (just) I Ching, you are able to provide relatable information and insight to the narrow field of I Ching. This is the diversity of water. It doesn?t discriminate what or who to nourish. Remaining true to its nature, it simply flows along the path of least resistance. Your purpose then, is to nourish.

Earth is above you. That is, you are here to nourish that which grows upon the earth. Nourishing people. The more you nourish people, the more you win their support. But earth also has seasons, and this means that you will have to wait for the proper seasons for your seeds to take root.

The attributes of the two trigrams are, danger inside and obedience outside. You are here as type of General *temple dragon*. Like it or not, that?s what it says. As such, the means in which you go about the realm, is critical to its success, which is inevitably tied directly to the welfare of the people.

You are not to discriminate with those given to your care, but by their willingness to reach out to you for nourishment. Those who choose to come to you, you will feed. Those who wish to contest you, or just believe something differently, you allow to go their own way. Water flows on.

Some who are gather together here, are teachers by nature. As I see it, we don?t have too many teachers, but not enough students. Surely, the resourses of the few who are called to teach, would be mighty in war, when called upon. It is by being generous to all who venture to this forum, that we will gather a force of people, by which an army can be formed. Then all the people benefit, students and teachers alike. That we learn from one another, is a delightful fringe benefit.

~Candid

 

[louise]

Hi Dharma, is it that you came here to learn about the I Ching and find yourself doing something completely different, ie answering questions about life, the universe and everything ? (I think I have been chucking questions at you thick and fast recently). It appears to me that you very much have a message you want to get across ? You want to get it across in quite a forceful dynamic way - almost as if your 'message' is bursting from you. Is it possible that hexagram 7 is just describing this decisive dynamic kind of expression. I've never been sure about 7, but think its about marshalling your resources, directing your energies - getting your armies marching. In your discussions, you are clear,precise and also somewhat militant(that is most definately not a criticism) Your thoughts are organised and have alot of energy - like a marching/conquering army.
Perhaps this forum is a means to marshal and discipline your own thoughts - my gut feeling, nothing to do with the I Ching - is that perhaps you are in some way preparing for an 'attack'to do with the expression of your beliefs..it may be that you want to, or already have organised your thoughts into some form of publication. Is it possible also that you feel under some kind of attack and are 'girding your loins' against an expected adversary ? Sincerely hope have not caused you any offence here - none was intended -as you pointed out once before, if you were not here there wouldn't be alot going on.

 

[dharma]

Candid, that was magical. Another piece of the I Ching puzzle has found it's place giving me a unique vantage point from where I can experience this Self that is ever evolving and forever capable of amazing me.

What an incredible talent you have! Have you even a clue what a treasure you contain? You are not only concise but your message manages to reach right IN on a personal level. With one hand you hold firmly to the heart of the hexagram while your other hand pulls in the question and together like this you grasp the heart of the situation in a very unique way.

Use your sleepless nights to benefit us all -- please! begin the process of going through each hexagram (if you aren't already) and just as you did with #7, put together a book --I guarantee it'll sell.


Louise, your insight most definitely arises from intuition and is amazingly lucid. Was it YOU asking recently about intuition?? Couldn't be, cause you seem to have a well-developed knack for it already! Terrific how you noticed my communications on this board as army-like and then relating #7 to this question. It may seem easy enough to you, natural in fact, but I and probably others didn't make that connection until you pointed it out.

I have been collecting and sorting through all my ideas over the past year in an attempt to compile them into a book --again, you noticed a methodical objective here at work. And my intensity...that is partly due to a mixture of my sincerely caring for all the people reading who will be affected by my words, and the responsibility I have towards developing a reputation that can reflect these Universal thoughts under the Highest Light that they deserve.


You have both held up two special mirrors from where I can see myself most clearly, and I sorely needed not only the clarity but the moral boost they provided. I am easily touched by life's softnesses and beauty and therefore easily affected by it's cold indifference, so I am so grateful for the care you both took in holding up your respective mirrors.

with love, thank you,
Dharma

P.S. Please go over to Alisa's page and do some readings there. I have some 'feelings' of my own concerning her 50/20 and I'm eager to know if my personal I Ching interpretation is even close.
http://www.onlineclarity.co.uk/cgi/discus/show.cgi?92/289

 

[hilary]

Hi Dharma,

Is there anything left to add? I?m reading this with great interest as Hexagram 7, unchanging, just happens to be my hexagram for the year, and I keep on finding new ideas about it. (One effect of this is that my first thought about your reading is ?help, she?s doing my job at the forum!?)

Here, anyway, are a few ideas for you.

There is a conspicuous link to #48. If your destiny is to be the Well that makes the waters accessible, then what you are doing here is a matter of accepting and channelling those waters. Perhaps the hard work of flood control? Hexagram 7 doesn?t seem to me to be so ?metaphysical? as #48 - more practical and psychological.

It can be read on more than one level: that you are taking a leading, teaching role here and bringing some order into the chaos, certainly (thanks

) But also perhaps as an inner process. Looking at the trigrams again, and the Daxiang/Image (the bit about the ?superior man?/ ?noble one?), it seems that to take full advantage of all those swirling underground waters, you need to embody both their flow and also the open acceptance of the earth that contains them.

Marshalling your ideas into a book would certainly be one manifestation of the army; so would dealing with conflicting demands on your time, with unexpected emotional responses, etc. All parts of you need to be accepted and welcomed before they can march together and achieve something. At a strange hour of last night it occurred to me that one aspect of the Army was the need for inner unison: hearing the multiplicity of ?little ?I?s? voicing their desires, and forging them into a Self with a single purpose. It tends to be hard work on the basis of necessity, rather than fun and based on natural harmony (#8).

I think Candid and Louise have said the rest, considerably better than I could have done. Supa, I?d be interested to hear what you have to say about the Complement? (13, People in Harmony - people fitting together in a co-operative enterprise some way outside the usual social bonds and rules?)

BTW, Dharma, I have a sneaking suspicion that you are hiding your understanding of the I Ching under a bushel. I'd certainly like to hear your personal interpretation (what other kinds are there??) of Alisa's reading.

Candid and Louise, let me know when you write your I Ching books (mine is a few decades in the future, I suspect). Can I have a commission for selling them?

 

[candid]

Nothing quite like an enthusiastic army! Dharma, I?m extremely pleased that you found the interpretation useful, and much more so that it brought you joy. Thank you very much for your generous feedback. A book? Nah, will leave that to the scholars, not one who dropped out of high school in 7th grade. *sorry Hilary, no commissions*

I thought Louise?s comments were really interesting. She does have natural intuition.

Hilary, I definitely see the link with #48. Very similar in ways. Wood reaches down to water. As roots to a ground pool, or as a bucket being lowered into a well. Actually, it?s the wooden pole used to lower the clay bucket into the well. One of the differences I?ve noted, is that The Well contains only small reference to danger and discipline, whereas, The Army has a strong leader, and requires discipline to maintain. This also implies that the will, plays a greater part in 7. The two dangers mentioned in 48, are, 1) That we may not go down deep enough to reach the water. 2) We may get careless and break the bowl. The danger is much more subtle and more inward than that within 7.

Dharma, I?ve wondered how it is, that you understand the relationship from one Tarot card to another, yet say that you have difficulty grasping the I Ching. I suspect you may be making it more complicated than it needs to be, for you to thoroughly relate to it and to enjoy it. You seem to relate to nature.. ummm naturally. Its simply one element of nature corresponding with another. One is on top and one is on the bottom. There are only two hexagrams which are man made objects, The Well and The Cauldron. But even these are made up of fire, wood and water. You might try narrowing the field of your focus, rather than expanding it. It works for me.

~Candid

 

[dharma]

Honestly, I had no idea that water had anything to do with this hexagram so I am quite impressed with how I unconsciously made that connection. If you look back to my original question I used these words "bubbling up" "waters" "churning" -perhaps you assumed I already had some prior knowledge that led me to using those words, but I really didn't. ..hmm..

I seem able to intuit an understanding when I cast but I don't know why at the time. I am still 'translating' what I already know about life and making the connection to the hexagrams. I guess I'm coming in at I Ching in a kind of backwards direction than maybe most do. There is so much history and background that I still need to learn - what my right brain simply KNOWS, my left brain is still learning.

Until such time as I've had enough practice and to see for myself that my intuitiveness about a reading is by itself accurate, I will not openly venture to read I Ching for others. In the meantime, in answer to Candid's question, it's not that I don't allow myself to enjoy I Ching, but that in allowing others to *give* of themselves to me is an opportunity to learn how to accept the gifts others have to give. An art that we all need to practice as well as anything else. It grounds me (another feature of hexagram 7, right?) and it's humbling.

This hexagram allows me to see that my time and effort here is really about learning the art of bringing all my 'metaphysical' ideas together into one solid format. My time here at Clarity then, is not wasted (I thought that perhaps I was getting sidetracked) but perhaps more a means to an end since often the questions presented here spark my creative juices.

Taking a leading role is certainly easy to see and easy enough to do. It's the inner process that I believe it speaks more to, because my true inner question is, "how I am to bring order to it all?" Indeed, there are the multitude of tasks to tackle, there are the multitude of selves within, that each want the attention they are due, and there are also the multitude outside that need/call-on me.

Fittingly and finally, this hexagram reminds me of one area of my astrological natal chart that has described me as the perfect four-star general. I've always understood this to be solely a reflection of my orderliness and my tendency to exactitude, but I can see now that another, truer level of the four-star general, is that of the juggling strategist.

Thank you, Hilary, as always,
Dharma

 

[hilary]

Yes, I certainly did assume that you knew all about the 'swirling subterranean waters' aspect of #7. You surely sounded as if you did. I am seriously impressed!

 

[candid]

Dharma, I never made the association until you mentioned it. Glad you did.

I guess this universe sorta fits together afterall!