How to read the book of life...

[soshin]

<BLOCKQUOTE><HR SIZE=0><!-Quote-!><FONT SIZE=1>Quote:</FONT>

I did not mean to give the impression that I just 'flip open the book' for all questions, I do it mostly for inspirational reading, sort of like for a daily pep talk from the Yi. Although, I do believe that ALL the methods WORK, if that be YOUR INTENTION. Intention being the key word here. I once consulted the Yi in New Orleans0my hometown, and a city known for its cockroach population), by writing down the question and then watching a wall in my living room. All the roaches that ran to the left were yin, all that ran to the right were yang, if they ran up and then turned right, they were yang changing and if they ran down and turned left they were yin changing. Took about half an hour and I got one of the best, most accurate readings I've ever had.<!-/Quote-!><HR SIZE=0></BLOCKQUOTE>

This gem left a little underrated in an otherwise not so interesting discussion. It's from Frandoch and I thought I would give some impressions of my own to it.

In one of my trekking tours in Nepal in the early nineties I ran out of coins and was too much in a hurry to get stalks prepared (although there were a lot of greens around growing), so I measured the number of people going over a suspension bridge. If they were turning left after the bridge, it was a yin, if right, a yang, if it was a donkey then yin changing, if it was a dog, then yang changing.

As you can imagine, this reading was perfect, saving me from getting caught in a snowstorm on a high pass I intended to walk later on.

Years later I met a shaman of sorts of the local population in a high valley and with the help of my porter I conversated with him about the Yijing and this experience. He was totally overwhelmed by the fact that we western shamans only use yarrow stalks and coins normally and meant that he prefers to read the flight of the eagles (because they are high-flying creatures, seeing so much more of the world). He even knew the Yijing, saying it is something the tibetan shamans use.

Just my two rupees worth... ;-)

Namaste

Soshin

 

[lenardthefast]

Hi Soshin,

The quote in your post was actually one of my experiences, not Michael's.

Loved the way you handled the suspension bridge cast, lots of similarities to my experience. I have also used other animals in casting when I had no coins or stalks; several times using seagulls and several times hawks/ospreys. Predictions were always spot-on.

Namaste,

Leonard

 

[jte]

So your shamans actually believed it was the quality of the species that made a difference in the quality of the reading? No thoughts from them about synchronicity or the interconnectedness of events as providing a basis for why divination works? (Obviously they wouldn't specifically say synchronicity, but they might have their own word/concept for the essentially the same idea.)

- Jeff

 

[soshin]

Hi, Jeff!

No, that is a misunderstanding. The shaman of the Mustang Area in nortern Nepal was only amused by the idea that prediction should be possible with stalks or coins only. It was not that much the quality of the species, but he just happened to prefer to read from the flight of the eagles (bearded vulture) who are very common in that region if not the only birds there.

Of course the concept underlying his thoughts were that of synchronicity, although they have no word for that, they see interconnectedness as a given fact of life according to Buddhism.

Namaste,

Soshin

 

[hilary]

Stephen Karcher and I were set to meet in London last year, but missed each other for the first hour as we were waiting in different parts of the coach station. (I walked from end to end of it and had announcements sent throughout the building - and he was sitting patiently on a bench at the stop where I should have been arriving.) (Yes, there is something funny in this image of two practising diviners a few hundred yards apart and unable to find one another...)

I needed to work out whether he'd gone to Victoria rail rather than coach station - actually set out down the road to look there. Then paused and asked myself,

'If I were to divine on what to do now, what would I receive?'
'24' (Inner answer, instantaneous.)

I double checked with the colours of the passing cars, and did. We had a very interesting conversation, and he was spectacularly good-natured about his hour of stoic bench-sitting.