I have no idea where I am going with this.

[gene]

have know idea where I am going with this thread, but thought I would start out with hexagrams 3 & 4, because here is where the real changes begin, and, or at least where yin and yang really start to interact with one another. Hexagram 3 begins with the hopeful outlook of spring. It is here where all things take shape. It is the astonishing growth of all that is green and verdant, and indeed with all that has life. The April showers bring the May flowers, and out of the ground springs life. So the I Ching starts on a very hopeful note. Hexagram 4, being the inverse, in a sense shows the depths of winter and of darkness. Here things are unformed, below is kan, water, it is the primordial void, without form and without shape. Above is Ken, the mountain, and all things keep still. There is no growth, no maturity, no learning, until an event takes place and folly leads to necessary lessons of growth. In another sense, hexagram 3 is the bright outlook of daytime, when all things grow and prosper, hexagram four is the night time, where the flowers fold up awaiting once again the light of day. So, in three and four we have the eternal cycles created by the intermingling of the pure yang and pure yin in hexagram 1 & 2.

In hexagram 63 and 64 to a certain extent, is the opposite situation, hexagram 63 referring to the autumn time where the leaves are falling, and things are losing their place in the natural order. It is the time of decay, but hexagram 64, the final hexagram shows us the hopeful outlook of spring, and as we move upward in the lines of the hexagram we find the situation improves, and thus in the book of changes, we have the eternal cycle from beginning to end, and as the book opens with hope and promise for a brighter tomorrow, so it ends.

Gene

 

[gene]

I have already written this in the marrying maiden thread, but I find it fascinating, and fits very well into this thread too.


If we take hexagram 64, and count backwards 11, we come to 54, the marrying maiden. (I know it seems like it should be 53, but count them.) If we take the 11th hexagram from the beginning. We come up with "Peace." Now look at the fifth line in each of these hexagrams. The first sentence is the same in both lines. It says, "The sovereign yi gave his daughter in marriage." In hexagram 11 though, it seems to be much more auspicious. This is because of the meaning of the hexagrams as a whole. However, there is a warning in both hexagrams. Both hexagrams have a member of royalty marrying a commoner. In hexagram 11 this happens to make the nation stronger and more prosperous. In a way this happens in 54 too. But in 54 the emphasis is more on the attitude of the bride who has to accept her humbling circumstances. In 11 there is a combining of modest union of high and low which brings great blessings. In 11 we have as a nuclear hexagram, number 54, the marrying maiden, hence there is a great relationship between these two hexagrams. In both these hexagrams we have an inauspicious line at the top. This is true in 11 because the time of peace and prosperity cannot last forever. This is true in 54 at least partially because in a sense, the marriage is a sham marriage. Both parties are just going through the motions. I actually stumbled on this relationship between 11 going forward and 11 going backward just by accident just today. When I get time, I am going to see how other hexagrams stack up this way. But as I think about it, I will probably come up with more similarities and dissimilarities between these two hexagrams.

Gene

 

[gene]

Five minutes ago I would never have dreamed that I would come up with anything out of the I Ching like I just did. As I look more and more at nuclear hexagrams, I come up with more and more possibilities. It was my intention to compare hexagram 13 with the 13th hexagram from the last, also to use Steven Karcher's method of comparing an odd number hexagram with its corresponding even. In his method line one of 13 would correspond with line 6 of 14 etc. Etc. Etc. I never got that far either. I got stuck on line two of hexagram 13. Here is a line that is central and correct and has a positive correlation with line 5 in the upper hexagram. So I thought the fortune should be good. Instead, it says humiliation. I thought why would this be, makes no sense. So I looked at the trigrams, primary and nuclear. This just blew me away. I don't think this line normally means what I came up with here, but if the police received this hexagram, they might have a different viewpoint. The upper trigram is heaven, which is the father. The lower is li, which is the middle daughter. The hexagram revolves around fellowship and interaction with our fellow man and woman. So once again, I said, what is wrong with this picture. Then I looked at the third section in the Wilhelm Baynes version and it all made sense. The nuclear hexagram is 44, coupling, which has among other things some very strong sexual ennuendos. The upper nuclear trigram is the creative, which can be very powerful and forceful. I bet you all long ago already guessed where I am going with this. The lower nuclear trigram is sun, which means penetration. If it didn't make sense, does it now? And the middle line is a yin line, which can be perceived as the middle daughters sexual organs. The second line being in the center of the body. Now, the commentary in the third section of Wilhelm Baynes says this, "Clan, means faction, fellowship on the basis of similarity of kind." (Family members being of the same kind?) "...these are relationships of an intimate character. But since the meaning of the hexagram is open relationships, (as opposed to those behind close doors?) The fellowship represented by this line is too limited and therefore humiliating." Line three goes on by saying, he hides weapons in the thicket... This is too much for me. I can't believe the possibilities that open up when we study in depth the hexagram and the trigram. I hate to bring this up, but I think it shows there is so much hidden in the book it is far beyond my scope or possibly anyone's scope to understand it all. And once again. I don't think this is the normal meaning of this line, just in certain contexts.

Gene

 

[gene]

After the division of the wu chi, or the great all, or the cosmos, or universe, or G-d, whatever you want to call it, comes the beginning of the spiritual/physical, light/dark, heaven/earth, space/time temporal order. As such, we receive hexagram 3. The first line tells us of hesitation. At the beginning it is only natural to hesitate, because we have no precedent for taking action in the proper way. Everything is new and we are inexperienced. So we hesitate. But we hesitate due to a hindrance. An inner hindrance. It is our mind that makes us hesitate. For now, with the intermingling of yin and yang, we have to a certain extent, conscious thought. And conscious thought by its nature thinks of a "plan" Here the innocence of pure yin and pure yang has been lost and Adam and Eve have fallen from paradise. First the earth was without form and void. For the two great forces had not yet intermingled, and nothing existed. Now we have existence and that existence by its very nature has awareness. And so we become aware of the space time continuum. "For G-d does surely know that as soon as you eat of the tree of good and evil (yin and yang) your eyes will be opened." When our eyes are first opened, we see as "through a glass darkly," but by nature we struggle upward. Though we hesitate, and though we feel hindered, we must nevertheless, sooner or later take action, for, "what you do not know, the doing will quickly teach you." And as a beginner, we struggle to find our way, and only loose our way in the forest. For we have no guide. (line 3). Cain, in being exiled, said to G-d, "whosoever finds me shall surely slay me." He had to learn by experience, and the experience can slay us. Later, we go to hexagram 4, when we can only do so much, and therein receive teaching and guidance. Often, in dealing with new experiences we hesitate, because we are not sure the right way to act, and we do not want to be "slain" by unseen demons. Or make a fool of ourselves by making mistakes. Nevertheless, the blade of grass continues pushing up through the ground. Life will not be denied. It demands that we experience it, whether harshly or warmly.

Gene

 

[gene]

And in the process of combining yin and yang a new phenomenon appears. In line 2 the horse and wagon part. In other words the unity between spirit and matter disappears, also between space/time, light/dark, male/female, and the world of duality is perceived. Conscious and subconscious minds go their separate ways. We are cut off from our initial source. As such fears crop up. We are now on our own and do not know the way. We have separated ourselves from universal circuits. Adam says to G-d, "I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was AFRAID." "Hesitation and hindrance." Cain says, "Whosoever findeth me shall slay me." As such Cain becomes an allegory for the ego that develops when we lose touch with the universal life force. Fears, anxieties, angers, hurts, pains rule our life. And the only way we can overcome the fears in our life, and deal with the ego, is to til the garden of our soul. We must eradicate the weeds (negative thought forms, attitudes, and emotions,) that have developed over the years. We make our bread by the sweat of our brow. (Opening up the third eye at the junction of the eyebrows.) So Abel (AB is father, and EL is G-D) becomes an allegory of the universal life force that is inherent in all things, and Cain becomes a symbol for the ego, that "slays" universal consciousness, and makes us think we are separate, and we have to fight and contend, possibly even lie cheat and steal in order to have the things we want. Seth becomes an allegory for the restored Abel. Cain, by being exiled and dealing with the harsh physical realities in the land of Nod, learns his lessons, and comes back to the fold, as does the prodigal son in the gospel story.

Gene

 

[gene]

As a sidenote, I doubt that many people realize, maybe I'm wrong, but the Aramaic term, Barabbas means son of the father. Traditionally, it was considered his name also was Jesus. So who was really let free by Pilate at the time of the crucificion? Was it Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews? Or Jesus Barabbas, son of the father? And the church tells us the book is to be taken literally.

Gene