How do you rehabilitate from the mental prison of 56 (The Wanderer)

[sibelleqow]

Prisons ought to be places where people are lodged only temporarily, as guests are. They must not become dwelling places.

HEX 56THE IMAGE WILHELM

Forgive the lengthy intro but I just wanted to give you a little background to my question.

This hexagram has been 'my' I Ching point of reference for a while now. For reasons not necessary to go into here I have been a wanderer for eight years- no family, no close friends, had to move away to a new neighbourhood and basically rebuild my life from scratch. It has been the most rewarding time though. I had to reconnect with 'me' and learn to be still and find my place in the univeral flow but I was impatient about the process because although I was developing inwardly , my 'topside' life was in a loop. I felt compelled to develop detailed plans for community projects and social enterprises but they never seemed to go anywhere, garnered no response and the time spent on them meant my own financial circumstance took a dive, most times only scraping by.

Anyway recently my work has begun to get some interest and the planning I spent so long on has propelled me forward just not in the direction I had imagined - a bit like Lise Heyboyer's eel fisherman in hexagram 32

A young man decided to leave the world of society. He started to fish for eel as a living. Every day he fished for bait and prepared his lines, 1100 hooks. The first day he caught many eels, but after that - never again anything. He kept going on and on for 2 years, every day putting out his lines.
Now he is an artist, famous for his etchings of fishing boats and the harbor... His dedication did not change, and it brought him what belongs to him, even if it did not make any sense rationally.

Anyway despite the change for the better in my circumstances and renewed perspective on the journey I find myself stuck and anxious. I still live in the same house and sometimes I find it physically difficult to leave and work or play outside the four walls! I realise I still have the mind of a prisoner; my 'dwelling place' has become a literal prison for me! So I asked Yi

how does a prisoner rehabilitate from 56

and got 49 1,2 - 28.

I would appreciate any insight you could give - I guess I'm asking for support in understanding how to reconnect with the world in a meaningful way after such a long period of isolation

Many thanks in anticipation
Anne-Marie

 

[foxx777]

With the translation I am using, line 1 would be the "prison" you are in; line 2 would be the vehicle for change and transformation. H28 would likely be best interpreted by you, but all in all, I think you have to go slowly, but focus on change and renewal.

Could the roof-beam sagging in the text below be referring to your being too house-bound, as you have indicated?

Any way, very best wishes to you in your rehabilitation from "prison"!

49. Change

Line 1:

Fastened using the leather of a yellow ox.

Things are too fixed to change them.

Line 2:

When the day is over, change is arrived at.
Going brings good fortune.
Without fault.

It takes some time before the change is happening. Things go well by going forward with this, it is not a mistake.



Hexagram is changing to:

28. Too Much

Too much.
The roof-beam is sagging.
It is beneficial to have a goal to move to.
Progressing.

Something is too much for this situation. One better make a plan to do something about it, and make it more robust. There is progress.

 

[Trojina]

With the translation I am using, line 1 would be the "prison" you are in; line 2 would be the vehicle for change and transformation. H28 would likely be best interpreted by you, but all in all, I think you have to go slowly, but focus on change and renewal:

Whose translation /commentary is it.?

 

[foxx777]

Whose translation /commentary is it.?

Translation and commentary by Ewald Berkers.

 

[sibelleqow]

Hi Foxx77,

Thank you for responding to my post so quickly and so thoroughly. I really appreciate your help. I just wish I knew how to thank you using the post tag!

Your suggestion that line 1 was the prison was such an eyeopener as it sums up my current state of mind perfectly

Things are too fixed to change them. Ewald Berkers[/QUOTE ]

It just became so it clear that I just don't trust this to be a permanent change for the better and when I went to Lise Heyboyer's translation it became even more apparent that the route of my negativity is not based on anything concrete just feelings and taking too much notice of the naysayers (internal in my case)

There are always innumerable reasons why one thinks change is impossible. Evaluate them critically - very often they are other people's reasons and one has adopted them too easily. What is common is usually not creative.

Your idea of using Line 2 as a vehicle for change is also very apt, and seems to sum up the frustrating journey so far while talking about the need for me to manage the new changes. I think here Yi is saying to me 'You don't have to worry about how to rehabilitate - it will happen naturally as you grow accustomed in small ways to small changes.

When we have tried in every other way to bring about reforms, but without success, revolution becomes necessary. But such a thoroughgoing upheaval must be carefully prepared. There must be available a man who has the requisite abilities and who possesses public confidence. To such a man we may well turn. This brings good fortune and is not a mistake. The first thing to be considered is our inner attitude toward the new condition that will inevitably come. We have to go out to meet it, as it were. Only in this way can it be prepared for.

(Not sure who the fella is but that would be a VERY welcome change)

Perhaps I am thinking too much about what might happen instead of just focusing on what is happening - the good changes that are already here. I also think you are right about Hex 28 refering to my home - it is literaly sagging from the loft downwards under the weight of all the stuff needed for my new projects - Poor little house - there is no room to create and that is very frustrating as well.

Anyhoo thanks again for all your help. I feel so much better now!

Anne-Marie