Hexagram Opposites

[anemos]

(And here's the Dalai Lama video clip.)

this video deserves a thread of its own ! Love it.

Maybe its personal biases ( i really admire him) and haven't study in depth his association with the scientific community but , imo , from the info i have till now, his effort to bring together science and religion/philosophy is his major contribution in this world. The bridges he tries to create , to me , is "walking the talk"

in the part you quoted, Hilary, I can see also the 7-13 pair. Have been pondering on h13 those days and what he says , one of the billions , is how it felt. Sometimes we are the h7 general and others just one of the zillions

Lovely thread !!! thanks Rosada for open it !!!!

 

[Lilly-La]

Concerning 22 Grace - 47 Oppression (Exhaustion)

I did watch a very interesting documentary on Nelson Mandela 2 days ago. Much of the movie was on his long time (27 years) in jail. It was said that one of Mandela´s strategys in jail was to slowly force his will upon the custodians. F. e. he did instruct his fellow prisoners to go a bit slower if the guards wanted them to go fast or even run...
His time in prison was kind of hopeless and over many years realy desperate situation which reminds me of Hex 47.
It is no secrete that he as well was pavonine in his early years - Hex 22 - as he was born into a royal family and always regarded himself to be somehow a bit superior, reflected by the way he dressed up.

However, kudos to this great, great man.

 

[knotxx]

make you dig down and in to find deep reserves.

yes in my own 'notes on opposites' I have '22 and 47: adorning the outside vs digging deep into yourself when you are trapped.' What's funny about those notes is that I am actually far more familiar with 47 in its heavy, woeful, slogging-around-my-own-bog form. So I quite liked trojan's heaviness vs lightness take and must remember that one too.

 

[hilary]

...slogging-around-my-own-bog...

Oh God, that is perfect for 47.

 

[anemos]

yes, Mandela's imprisonment is very 47. If i recall the card's Luis shared had as 47 image a prison.

To connect that with what dalai lama said , in hilary's post , Mandela in some textbook is used as a example of how identities are formed , iow some assert that there is not such a thing as core identity and what is assigned it depends on the environment an entity exists in. For some Mandela was a rebel against the establishment and at the same time for others was a freedom fighter.

I had this for 22 ( concealed , revealed in the unknown, in the unmanifest . I'm life itself) . now I can see 47 in that .
[FONT=arial, sans-serif] [/FONT]

 

[Lilly-La]

To me and with regard to this in depth documentary on Nelson Mandela the essence of his life translated into the I Ching could read as:

22 Grace - the cakes decoration / well educated good looking 'hero' / not true self
47 Oppression - years in jail forcing him to
21 Biting Through - biting thru the years in jail , biting thru himself, removing the "cakes deco" (hero image) and becoming
48 The Well - "A man who has virtues like a well of this sort is born to be a leader and savior of men, for he has the water of life."

Mandelas main focus after jail was uniting South-African black and white people, in which he did succeed at that time.

 

[sooo]

Oh God, that is perfect for 47.

Quote Originally Posted by knot
...slogging-around-my-own-bog...

Agree!

 

[rosada]

Slogging right along...

20. CONTEMPLATION - 34. THE POWER OF THE GREAT

Okay, playing around with this a bit..

20. Seeing and being seen.
The exquisite precise moment when one realizes that that which we SEE in others is a reflection of who we are ourselves.
IMAGE: The kings of old contemplated the people, recognized them as projections of themselves and gave them the guidance they would give themselves.

34. Doing and being done unto.
Recognizing that what we DO unto others we are doing unto ourselves.
IMAGE: The superior man did not tread upon paths that did not accord with established order - he would not do unto others what he would not have done unto him.

 

[hilary]

34 stands its ground. 20 steps back, out of the field of action, to see what shows up. 34 fills the space available, 20 steps out of the way.

 

[Trojina]

34 is ready to act
20 is not yet ready to act

 

[sooo]

34 is ready to act
20 is not yet ready to act

This so relevant to a present preponderance of change. I can't explain how you got there (once again), but you hit it on the button. Particularly line 2, changing to 55, which I just got before opening Clarity.

 

[sooo]

That's 34.2>55. And looking at it more, I can see how you got there.

 

[sooo]

34.2: if not yet ready to act, ready to hear the case objectively. Whimsey be gone; this is not the time for it. It's time to persevere, bear down on it, take it seriously. I can see how 20 would, and has, come first.

 

[rosada]

20. Talks the talk.
34. Walks the walk.

 

[rosada]

Hexagram 21 Biting Through - 48. The Well

BITING THROUGH has success.
(Because) It is favorable to have justice be administered,
The kings of former times made firm the laws through clearly defined penalties.

THE WELL.
(Because) The town may be changed,
But the well cannot be changed.
It neither decreases nor increases.
They come and go and draw from the well.
If one gets down almost to the water
And the rope does not go all the way,
Or the jug breaks, it brings misfortune.
(Therefore) The superior man encourages the people at their work,
And exhorts them to help one another.

Hmmm...well..21 talks about intentional criminals and firm recourse to the law and swift penalties.
48 talks about problems caused by neglect and nicely encouraging people to clean up their act.

 

[Trojina]

The law (21) is of human design and so is the well (48)

Both are to do with specifically human culture. Both are man made, neither simply occurs naturally. They are both kinds of artefacts.

The well gives to all who come unless the rope is too short or the pitcher broken
In 21 the law decides who has what, what is given ,what is withheld, what is truth, what isn't

Actually I'm not really seeing the complement there...other than legal processes are as much built and designed as a well is....and so ?

 

[sooo]

Wilhelm names the well and the cauldron as the only two man made object/hexagrams.

21 could also pertain to natural law, or nature's laws, which can me brutally severe to delicate as a mayfly landing upon a grassy pond, as realistic as being eaten by a hungry trout.

Something I find interesting about law in the wild, escape plays a major role in continuing on to see tomorrow's sunrise.

Human law is linear. Natural law has linear aspects, but is less predictable. Then there's arguably shamanic laws, which can be applied to 21. Those would be an alchemy of both natural and human laws.

 

[anemos]

hmm, never noticed before how those two hex have so much in common in regards to society and social life. 21 seems to stress on how to prevent disharmony while 48 how to increase harmony...

I like that 21 talks about the importance of clear laws and 48 we see how to clean and keep clean the well. I can see also in 21 more the ruler's side and in 48 the citizen's side.

 

[rosada]

I like that insight anemos! It's as if 21 is saying that at this point in the development of human awareness the only way to get people to behave and be respectful of the shared resources is to say, "Look, if you're the one who breaks the bucket you have to replace it or there's a fine and you go to jail." By 48 however, the way to deal with slackers is not to make more and more laws and penalties but to appeal to their conscience: "We all have to use the well, it can't be moved it can't be changed, so pleeeze if you find the rope too short or the bucket missing, wont you fix it? We're all in this together you know."

 

[Trojina]

Wilhelm names the well and the cauldron as the only two man made object/hexagrams.

21 could also pertain to natural law, or nature's laws, which can me brutally severe to delicate as a mayfly landing upon a grassy pond, as realistic as being eaten by a hungry trout.

Something I find interesting about law in the wild, escape plays a major role in continuing on to see tomorrow's sunrise.

Human law is linear. Natural law has linear aspects, but is less predictable. Then there's arguably shamanic laws, which can be applied to 21. Those would be an alchemy of both natural and human laws.

Well Wilhelm didn't know it all I think law as it's referred to in 21 is a human construct, not a man made object no, but a man made system involving learning and thought like philosophy. I think natural law as such really belongs more with hex 25...or throughout the Yi in it's entirety. I'd have to look at 21 more carefully to see if I can apply it in the ways you mention. Humans are part of nature, it is natural for humans to think and make laws so I don't think there's a great barrier between us and nature.


I see yes as Maria says both 21 and 48 are much linked to society though I don't think the purpose of the biting through in 21 is to prevent disharmony, it is rather to find truth.

Laws (21) are the foundations of societies (48) there can be no functioning societies without laws of some kind.

These complements though are really interesting to think about and surely can give an added dimension to interpretation.

 

[anemos]

Human conduct comes in mind looking at this-tricky- pair.

interesting thought you all share. Still not clear to me which is the "whole" those two create

 

[anemos]

it is rather to find truth.

when read that I thought that "truth" is conditioned to specific time and place ( society) and society is conditioned to the "well"... so... ( have no answer yet, lol)

 

[anemos]

The ideograph of Jing shows the image not of a well, but of the ancient
Jing land system, adopted in the time of the early Zhou dynasty. Two
horizontal lines and two vertical lines intersect each other with a dot in
the middle of the square, representing a well or bucket. The ideograph
jing is a picture of a piece of land divided into nine equal portions. Each
portion occupied 100 mu, equaling 16.47 acres. All the lands belonged to
the government or the lord. The central portion was planted exclusively
to benefit the government or the lord and contained the well. It was cultivated
by the joint labor of the eight families who used the other eight
portions of land. When a male reached a certain age he received a portion
of land from the government or the lord. When he grew old, he returned
the land. Every day, the eight families worked on the central portion first.
In their spare time, they worked on their own piece of land.
The well nourished all the people who lived on the lord's land. Later H on, four plots of Jing land made up a village. Because people in the village
took water from the well, the well became a marketplace and gained im- --
portance in the daily life of the people. For this reason, the true spirit of - -
Jing is to replenish people. The serfs worked on the lands all day long,
becoming exhausted; they went to the well to get replenished. The Commentary
on the Decision says, "The well supplies replenishment but is
never exhausted.

from Alfred Huang

 

[Lilly-La]

Dao and Biting Through (21)

From the perspective of Dao Biting Thru (21) can be read* as biting through [your own] anger and arrogance (anger leads to biting your teeth and muscles are hardened). Judge the judge in yourself. As well draw a line to other peoples judges. Take the way in the middle. If you bite on poisonous meat you deal with old anger/arrogance within yourself. Bite through this anger.

Judging and arrogance have a lot in common.

He who overcomes others is strong, but he who overcomes himself is mighty. (Laotse)

48.6 The Well: ... It has a spring and never runs dry. Therefore it is a great blessing to the whole land. The same is true of the really great man, whose inner wealth is inexhaustible;- he does not have to move because he does not seek [anymore]

Compare the appearance of a man biting through skin and the being well lined well. To become the perfect well you have to bite through.

*my humble opinion

Nelson Mendela Biting Through

 

[sooo]

Humans are part of nature

Upon this have I earnestly wondered.

Upon the rest, looks as though we disagree. Well, not all the rest, such as I can see natural law in 25 too, but that law isn't the object of the hexagram, as in 48 and 50. Clearly a literal Ding and Well are man-made objects. Biting isn't an object but an action, which could be executed by a human or a beetle, a shark or tiger, and the human legal aspect is also an action: a fine, jail time or some kind of restitution, a judgement. But I think that which is bitten through is usually an obstruction of some kind, and various textures of food are merely used to illustrate the metaphor of what is being bitten into or through.

 

[Trojina]

As far as I can see 21 is not just 'biting through' there are also words for litigation, in the Chinese that is.

Looking at Ritsema and Sabbadini (as well as I am able) I see the word YU 'legal proceedings, trial sentence, dispute etc'. So what I'm saying is that aspect isn't an add on it seems to me to be central to the meaning of 21

"Image of the situation

Gnawing and biting
Growing
Harvesting availing of litigation"

so it looks like the words for using divination 'YONG' and 'YU' for legal proceedings is there in the essential text/translation.

I stand to be corrected as am no scholar ....but that is what I thought.

As I said before no law is not an object, neither is any system of human thought like philosopy etc but it is man made.

I always saw 21 as essentially about using these kind of procedures, as if litigation though in practise it is not often actual litigation but the weighing up of things, scrutiny of them, in order to find the the truth of the matter of enquiry.

We may need a scholar to affirm or not whether litigation is an essential meaning in 21.....or if it just branches off the image of biting through.

 

[sooo]

Yes, I don't deny the humanly legal aspect of 21, it's pretty obvious that it constitutes a strong part of 21's intended meaning. I don't think a scholar is needed to figure that out. And I understand that laws are determined by human law makers. I just see these aspects as metaphors for decisions we make in every day life, to bite through the obstructions in our life, more than to literally, say, sue someone. I don't know how many times I've received 21, yet I've never sued anyone in my life, nor taken anyone to court, nor have been sued. I did have to appear in court for running a red light, but that cop was f.o.s., that light was amber. So while the law is clearly written, it's not as clear to determine a verdict, though I lost and had to pay a fine. But that is the law, and, yes, it certainly was not written by nature but by humans. So we can agree on that.

 

[anemos]

in both 21 and 48 the access to a certain resources is obstructed or we need some course of actions or means to reach it. The laws as well as the bucket seems to me they are the means. A shaman is also a medium between the spirits and people. I can see the "natural" or nature's laws as sooo said and the constructions in both hexes. in 48, for instance , the tendency to gather around sources of water or food and create communities can be observed in various species , including the human animals.

Human laws sometimes are in accord with nature's laws. I recall reading about the fasting traditions before Easter and how related was with the nature's products ( lambs, eggs, etc).

 

[Trojina]

I just see these aspects as metaphors for decisions we make in every day life, to bite through the obstructions in our life, more than to literally, say, sue someone

yes that's what I meant when I said 'as if' here

I always saw 21 as essentially about using these kind of procedures, as if litigation though in practise it is not often actual litigation but the weighing up of things, scrutiny of them, in order to find the the truth of the matter of enquiry.

I never had 21 re legal matters but plenty of times when there was a concealment around something. 21 means hard work anyway, things must be analysed, they can't just drift past like they don't matter hence our inner mental processes are somewhat like litigation.....a court case in our head.

Phew...Bruce do you think we should employ a translator, we never seem to understand what one another is saying .....I mean I struggled with the 47 poll ....."what does he mean...what does he mean.... ah he already said it..." To ascertain what you meant in the poll question I had to employ a 21 mind set to bite through to what was actually being said. It's hard work this forum posting malarkey

 

[Trojina]

Maria said

in both 21 and 48 the access to a certain resources is obstructed or we need some course of actions or means to reach it. The laws as well as the bucket seems to me they are the means.

Well put. I think it's likely Bruce and I can agree on that summary.....but then again....