Clarity,
Office 17622,
PO Box 6945,
London.
W1A 6US
United Kingdom
Phone/ Voicemail:
+44 (0)20 3287 3053 (UK)
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Am I using the I Ching all wrong? Would you stop if you got this response?
Hi, all! This is my first thread, and it's gonna be longer than I expected.
26.1 - Danger at hand, it furthers one to desist.
26.5 - The tusk of a gelded boar. Good fortune
I do have a lot of things I need guidance on and no consultants around I can trust to understand my experiences or motivations. But if I were to trust the oracle's responses, I would stop seeking them.
Unless, of course, I was misunderstanding this response.
Hexagram 57 doesn't to me have an impact on decision making. It seems more like a feeling of comfort: something to enjoy, but not something to pursue or evade.
Does that mean that I shouldn't cling to it, and that I should find a safer way to build confidence in my decisions?
I suppose the motivations I have to consult the oracle fall between getting to know myself, making career decisions, and musings. If any of them were wasteful or dangerous, I would expect musings and career decisions. Musings because they aren't focused on growth, and career decisions because they effect other people. I suppose it also could be dangerous to ask questions about myself and my past if I find something I can't cope with.It's a good question, if I have it right you're slightly anxious you aren't using Yi the right way and weighing up how much other help you need outside of Yi?
Yi has limits in terms of the help it can offer and so I don't think anyone can solely rely on it alone. Although there will be times in life when one relies on it alone it's always important to consider what other help you need. For example I recently had counselling and there is absolutely no way I'd have come to the realisations I came to by using Yi alone. Often people seek medical help when they need a Dr, one has to recognise the limits of trying to understand all things through this ancient oracle.
Very interesting what you said about 57 and decisions and I think you're right. Not everyone talks to Yi in order to make decisions. People talk to Yi to reflect upon things or get another perspective. Yi is often sold as an aid to decision making and I don't think that's true, it's not really that mechanical it's a relationship not a 'tool' as some people call it. 57 is gradually allowing things to soak in gently, it wouldn't be to do with hard decision making. I think it's false to see Yi primarily as an aid to decision making because in the end it is only us that make the decision itself but Yi helps us to explore how we feel about things to do with the decision.
To your actual question.
'Am I using the I Ching all wrong?' 26.1.5>57
I think the 26 here might be Yi itself. It is after all a stored body of wisdom, a great resource. It's a bit like asking a library or an archive or a very wise learned person if you're using it all wrong. I think Yi is more alive than than a library but it is a resource.
Line 1 says
'There is danger.
Harvest in bringing it to an end.'
Momentum in the wrong direction? How might that apply? Do you ever feel you hurt yourself or torment yourself through Yi answers? It is possible but only you would know what that is.
Line 5 says
'Gelded pig's tusks.
Good fortune.'
Here a potential source of harm is disarmed. There's force here but it's under control.
I like 57 as the relating hexagram suggesting you are getting to know Yi gradually but are you trying to almost give yourself therapy or analyse yourself through Yi? The danger here would be as the interpreter if you try to analyse yourself you'll see the answers in the light of all your hangups. What you need is another person to reflect back to you otherwise you might tie yourself up a bit.
You said you were trying to analyse past events 'what if I hadn't' and I can see the danger there of self blame and anxiety.
I don't think you need to stop using Yi but be aware if you're trying to get insight into past relationships or behaviours you could make yourself feel worse when you interpret in the light of your pre-existing self judgements. Line 5 says the harm is taken out. Maybe you just need to make sure you aren't hurting yourself in any way.
The context of their life, their feelings, their preoccupations. It doesn't always involve decision making but understanding, a change of perspective or reflection. A change of perspective, Yi helping one see things another way can help very much and doesn't have to involve decision making.But if some people don't use the I ching for decision making, in what context can they use the insights they gain?
What did you mean by this? That doesn't sound right, I'm probably misunderstanding.But if I were to trust the oracle's responses, I would stop seeking them.
Thanks for your thoughtful response. What I meant is that I interpreted this specific response as telling me to back off when I read that I should desist.What did you mean by this? That doesn't sound right, I'm probably misunderstanding.
Speaking from personal experience, there will be times when you think you can't trust it, or even (!) that it's lying to you. But anything like that is probably a sign that Yi is:
You do get more used to things like this with experience.
- telling you something new that surprises you
- telling you something that doesn't fit with what you already know, and therefore...
- ...you should just keep the reading in mind as you watch what happens in the situation
- letting you know you've misunderstood a previous reading, and that's why the new one makes no sense
- changing the subject in some way, although be careful not to jump to that conclusion too fast
- addressing the topic you asked about, but not the literal question. For instance if you ask why something is happening, Yi might instead describe what you can do about it. Sometimes you have to sort of expand the scope.
- etcetera
I thought this meant you'd stop seeking consultants if you trusted the oracle's responses which is in part why I answered as I did.I do have a lot of things I need guidance on and no consultants around I can trust to understand my experiences or motivations. But if I were to trust the oracle's responses, I would stop seeking them.
Oh.I thought this meant you'd stop seeking consultants if you trusted the oracle's responses which is in part why I answered as I did.
I think that's the first time I wrote something with six or seven possible practical interpretations. It's more my vague writing style than your comprehension, I'm sure.Well I thought it meant that as soon as you trust the oracle, you'd stop divining. 4th graders have better reading comprehension.
Clarity,
Office 17622,
PO Box 6945,
London.
W1A 6US
United Kingdom
Phone/ Voicemail:
+44 (0)20 3287 3053 (UK)
+1 (561) 459-4758 (US).