Moving to this new living situation. Hexagram 7 with active lines 4 and 5

[Daeluin]

I have already moved twice this year. So far each move has involved karma. My second move needed to be conducted rapidly, so there weren't a lot of options. My housemate had signed a year lease, and things were going well the past 3 months. Then he took a trip to California to visit old friends, and upon returning had decided to move back there. So I was given notice, with thankfully a degree of flexibility.

When I had started looking for this current home, I had asked a friend, who put me in touch with B, who was also looking for a place. We ended up finding separate places, but my current housemate is the person he had been living with. (They had both been given notice by their landlord who returned from abroad.)

In recent discussion with my current housemate, I was informed that B too had decided to leave his living situation, and so that person now needed a housemate. Upon reaching out to this person I discover that they are in my current boss's meditation group, and that one of my friends met them last year. In all of this I witness the universe (dao) juggling and feel the resonance of synchronistic navigation.

So tonight I go to visit this new home for the first time. It is in the mountains 30 minutes away from town, and my gas expenses will increase to $200/m, but fortunately this is offset by the lowered rent cost. The person I would be living with is a yoga teacher, meditator, on their self-care path in a big way. I feel comforted by this. Perhaps I can find deeper peace and room for cultivation here. I would have my own bathroom with a claw-foot tub. It is in a mountain valley that opens to the southeast, and the home faces the northeast, so I am hopeful for eastern light. There are 4 acres and mountain trails, a dog, and a cat.

I also have concerns and reservations. I am cautious about living with a Scorpio whom seems rather sensitive. I for a long time have had my own coping mechanisms and wonder if now I am to put them to rest and fully commit to my cultivation work and path of destiny. I worry that if I don't that I will trigger this person. I worry about being far away from everything. I worry about my $300 car breaking down and know I will need to fix it up or replace it.

At first I felt hopeful, and trusting in the flow of my dao. Then I felt anxious and afraid that I was being too hopeful and optimistic without reason.

So I reach out to the yi as I cast my intention in this direction.

878668

Water under Earth
Hexagram 7, The Army
Active lines 4 and 5.

Forest of Changes 7 - 47

The stars above are neatly arrayed in their mansions,
The five spirit palaces surround the pole star.
The court of Heaven is bright and firm,
The celestial emperor is at peace in its midst.

Spoiler

Forest of Changes 60 - 61
(Xiantian - Houtian conversion)

Many pearls and jade treasures,
Are found in the Yangtze river,
In the sea are many large fish.
The one who is nimble and quick can become rich.

Line 4 gives the image of the army retreating and camping. In this I see the need to keep to my place and do my inner work, not allowing space for running away to coping mechanisms.

Line 5 gives the image of leading the army, but necessitates that it be by a mature person, for if not, even by someone who is righteous, gives a bad outlook. Liu Yiming writes that this requires the ability to ply both firmness and flexibility together to accomplish affairs and not ruin them. In this I see potential to grow and nourish my internal development as I continue to do the work to reclaim my power and follow my course. My course necessitates community, which is why this idea of leadership makes sense. It is in awareness of the others around me that I am able to follow my path truly, for alone I am nothing.

And too in this I see the caution against righteousness, or leading through judgment. This is apt for me, as clearly I can be very mental. It can be important to discern clearly the depths of reality. But in leading others, what is right is in harmonizing with the flow that is capable of accomplishing affairs. This flow is ever changing and requires both firmness at times and flexibility at other times. If I follow only a mental path, it is too easy to be only firm. Qi gong and meditation are tools to soften my mind and open my heart so that I may wrap my firmness in flexibility.

Spoiler

LiuYiming also notes that this 5th line's accomplishing of affairs is the work of causing yin to retreat, suggesting that here perhaps what is being managed is not a change of yin to yang, but a withdrawal of the conditioning proclivity of yin. This is much the same with line 4, where there is a retreat and camping, staying in one's place - not going forth into conditioning and creation, not carving the block.

Spoiler

Also curious, in all but the first and last line, the first operation of the yarrow stalks gave a 9, which is a 25% chance each time.

Over all, it seems to be a positive omen, with clear messages for me about the type of progress that is potentially available if I work carefully and respectfully. As ever, such readings are not a blank check, but require proper work and navigation to see the potential become manifest.

 

[rosada]

What exactly was your question? If you were simply asking for an image of what you are considering I would interpret these lines as showing you as considering going beyond your familiar territory and taking a moment to pause and consider as to whether this is really right for you to do (7.4) and then the next line emphasizes that it is right to carefully ask questions and consider whether this plan is reasonable one or something an inexperienced idealistic kid might jump at? Then comes 47. Confined.
Together it reads to me as if the I Ching is underscoring your concerns as to whether this is idea is practical no matter how agreeable the roommate may be, specifically because you may find with the commute time and the cost of gas, living so far out of town makes you feel confined to the house.

 

[Daeluin]

Thank you for the reply, rosada! It was very timely, as I just returned from the interview.

What exactly was your question?

I do not always find it appropriate to shape a question. A question, to me shapes the query in a specific vector, and sometimes I find that leads to unintended blind spots. I find I get good results by describing a situation I am navigating, and this allows the most relevant information in regards to my query to be revealed for the overall situation.

going beyond your familiar territory and taking a moment to pause and consider as to whether this is really right for you to do (7.4)

I have lived in the city for some years now, and while familiar, I do not think it has been serving my cultivation path. My Sifu has said before that when he arrives in the city to teach, it feels unpleasant until he is in the school. He has also subtly advised us in this regard. The energy for cultivation is better in the mountains and country.

As ever, going beyond what is familiar can involve fears of the unknown, but that does not mean there would not be benefit in doing so.

Lately I have found my path unfolding in the direction of doing more inner work, so I find that this situation that has been flat out handed to me is resonant with the goals of cultivation.

The drive I made tonight was incredibly pleasant, and felt like a 30 minute meditation each way, and was beautiful. I do not mind the drive. The gas prices I think are fine.

In a sense, this is a retreat. And that resonates with line 4.

After meeting with my host, I discovered how overly accomodating they are. It became clear to me that this person easily puts others ahead of themselves, and the best way for me to harmonize and support them is to be very humble and work on softening my energy.

This may sound like I would be trying to bend over backwards for this person. Quite the contrary. When I am able to do my cultivation work regularly, this happens naturally and is what I need for myself. I've been told before that my voice becomes so soothing that I need to become a counselor.

The retreat is also a retreat of the ego. Yesterday I connected some dots related to an event that happened in my tai chi training that was very mysterious. I finally gained a sense of clarity around it, and realized what it is that I have the potential to put into practice. Today I reached out to my teacher to let him know I finally understand this piece, and wish to begin doing my work to return to school. So I am very much ready to - and have already begun what feels like a transition that is supported by the times.

the next line emphasizes that it is right to carefully ask questions and consider whether this plan is reasonable one or something an inexperienced idealistic kid might jump at?

I can see how you arrive at this, and indeed it captures the growth challenges I have faced up to in the healing of my childhood trauma.

Line 5's yin correlates to Line 2's yang. Line 2 is the leader of the army, and line 5 is where there may be power leaked into that which does not serve the army if it is allowed to do so untethered.

This is why it is advised to withdraw the change, much like the previous line's retreat. In withdrawing the active change, the resonance with line 2 is able to come through and allow this line to have great potential, for indeed it is a 5th line in resonance with the ruler of the hexagram.

The general of the army, after all, is not the one who takes action on the field. The more the general and his elite soldiers are in resonance, the more they may be skillfully applied in the work to be done - but they are not released to take action on their own or there would be consequences.

Liu Yiming writes (tl Cleary): Flexible receptivity in balance, one opens the mind and manages oneself, responding appropriately to whatever comes, causing external influences to dissolve of themselves. This is like when there are animals in the fields it is beneficial to catch them. However, reason convinces superior people, while law restrains petty people: It is necessary to have both firmness and flexibility to manage affairs successfully. If one is only flexible, without firmness, that can cause failure. A "mature person leading the army" means flexibility balanced by firmness can accomplish affairs; "if it is an immature person, there will be casualties" means being only flexible without firmness can ruin affairs. This means to cause yin to retreat requires firmness and flexibility to balance and equalize each other.

I find this to be very resonant with where I am on my path. I have met with some success in concentration of insight, and have unearthed many secrets. And yet that does not mean these things are able to be divulged for the sake of divulging them. Everything has it's correct time and place.

My host tonight is very much on the spiritual path, and their path is their own to allow to unfold, and I need to respect that path and practice non-interference. I can get excitable and enjoy geeking out over discussing spiritual poignancy, but such actions can be a lot to take in for people, and there are times and places for revelations, and times and places for sharing in simplicity.

So to me this is a message of learning to work from my heart, and listening to what my heart feels is appropriate to say. If something is not appropriate the spirit does not support its vocalization. This feels relevant to me and I feel it is something that my path has matured to the point of developing.

Then comes 47. Confined.

When yin is retreated from and not allowed to forge into conditioning, it does not change to yang.

The advice I find in each of these lines clearly states that withdrawal from the active change is developmental. I do not find that to mean I must withdraw from the housing situation, but instead I find it to mean that the housing situation offers me a place to cultivate the developmental aspects of withdrawal. Such is inline with the practice of the inner work.

You are welcome to insist that yin must change to yang, but I wonder how you reconcile with what the line statements advise be done, especially in the case of line 4. Line 5 is more flexible, and has allowance for working with the yin, so long as it is in balance with the leadership of line 2 and does not go astray.

Together it reads to me as if the I Ching is underscoring your concerns as to whether this is idea is practical no matter how agreeable the roommate may be, specifically because you may find with the commute time and the cost of gas, living so far out of town makes you feel confined.

As far as feeling confined goes, I spent the past 6 years living in 100 square feet. I have a 4th house Moon, so holing up at home is very comfortable to me, as long as it is beautiful and cozy. I had been worried about living far away from everything in a space that might not serve my sense of these things, but instead it was quite lovely and resonant, my fears unfounded.

Thank you very much for offering your interpretation of my reading. I respect your perspective, even if my own sees things in a different light. Blessings and gratitude.

 

[FoxChiron]

Hi there, I have experience with these two hexes and with being in the military as a person who doesn't fit in.

I say that it would be smart for you to take a step outside the situation and ask yourself how committed you are to whatever it is you are trying to do by moving to this place, and whether it would be worth it to you in the sense that you would do very difficult things in order to see it through without letting your emotions get the best of you, and without explaining yourself to anyone even though they may misunderstand your misfortune and think you are to blame.

Picture being dirty and walking along the rode because you worked all day and your car broke down, and then some stranger comes along and gives you a look like you're a homeless bum even though you are the opposite, and the very things which make them feel that way about you are the proof that you aren't.

Maybe that would be an important part of your development, or maybe you're wise enough already that you've already learned lessons like that and don't need a repeat.

I think this reading is telling you to think twice and wait a little to see if a way that flows more easily will reveal itself

 

[Daeluin]

So one of the things about this reading is that I don't ask yes or no questions of the yi. Even though I said:

At first I felt hopeful, and trusting in the flow of my dao. Then I felt anxious and afraid that I was being too hopeful and optimistic without reason.

When I did this:

So I reach out to the yi as I cast my intention in this direction.

I intentionally put myself into the situation, imagined myself living there, and wanted to get an answer about what it would be like. I did this with each division of the stalks. I was not asking about if it would be a good idea or not, I was feeling out what that direction looked like.

This is why when I interpret this answer, I interpret it as though these are the developments I can expect in this situation. When I examine this type of development for the phase I am on in my path, to me it does not seem negative at all, but is exactly in alignment with what my path is moving forward into.

Perhaps others here do not welcome the development of humility, but I do.

Perhaps others do not follow paths of unfolding synchronicity in their navigation, but I do. I see how things are unfolding quite unusually for me and this other person to live together, and I take it to be the universe informing me that my path is ready to develop in these ways if I am ready to meet with this part of my destiny. I could reject it, of course.

How usual do y'all think it is for me to have my friend recommend that in search of a living situation I reach out to this person B, who lives with person J, and then BOTH person B and person J end up backing out of their next housing commitments at the same time, independently, such that my home with person B is no longer available, but the home person J had is now open and available for me, and it just so happens that the person living here is in my Boss's meditation group and following the same sort of spiritual path that I am? Such are the workings of destiny.

I told my teacher of such developments once and his response was simply this is how it works.

The question is whether or not I am up to the task of doing my daily cultivation work and taking this thread of destiny further upon its course. Assuming of course that the person chooses me to live with them. We are still feeling things out.

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ask yourself how committed you are to whatever it is you are trying to do by moving to this place

I am committed to following the flows of destiny whatever they look like. I may still consult the yi for direction though, so I may understand what the curriculum is to be.

whether it would be worth it to you in the sense that you would do very difficult things in order to see it through without letting your emotions get the best of you

I guess you are getting this idea of difficult things from the experience you had.

For me the situation is overall very pleasing and beautiful, and the elements that are developmental are part of a path I have already walked and that I miss. Daily cultivation is so nice. It becomes highly validating, and balances yin and yang. Perhaps in walking a path of the daoist internal arts, I can better tap into the principles illuminated within the Taoist I-Ching (Clearly/Yiming).

without explaining yourself to anyone even though they may misunderstand your misfortune and think you are to blame

Any blame here from line 5, would be invitation for humility, which is developmental and welcome.

Picture being dirty and walking along the rode because you worked all day and your car broke down, and then some stranger comes along and gives you a look like you're a homeless bum even though you are the opposite, and the very things which make them feel that way about you are the proof that you aren't.

Growing up I was told of an uncle who became wealthy, retired, set up his money in a tax free state in the US, and toured Europe. As a vagabond. He would sleep in culverts, had all his belongings strapped to his bicycle. Police would sometimes wake him up in the middle of the night, but became understanding when he explained.

The dao de jing says "the sage dresses in rags, but holds jade within their heart". Jade is the stone of completion.

The power of humility (15) is that we voluntarily put ourselves lower than others. What is raised up is more easily targeted, and what is brought low is not, but instead is able to receive all that flows to it with gravity.

I also had a car once already that got 9 flat tires in 2 years. So I have plenty of experiences needing to navigate breakdowns. And I always resolved these situations on my own. I learned that lesson after a childhood with a parent who would often get stranded without being able navigate a way out on their own.

I've also been in positions where I've let my beard grow out enough that the tourists downtown would treat me as though I was homeless. It really reveals the people for whom the surface appearance is everything, and too those who have the ability to look beneath the surface.

In Journey to the West, the Bodhisattva dresses in rags, to see who treats them with respect and to disguise their power.

Maybe that would be an important part of your development, or maybe you're wise enough already that you've already learned lessons like that and don't need a repeat.

Yes, it is true. This was my childhood. My mother was always in the paper for environmental work. I was constantly bullied. We were a spectacle. I grew up with the responsibilities of an adult. I grew up always feeling different from everyone around me - from my name, to my clothes, to not having a father, to the home brought food I ate, to what people said about my mother, I was always set apart.

This affected my development quite a bit and required me to learn to own myself for who I was. And to make choices to live where people share the values that I do, and where creative expression that goes beyond the status quo is common.

I think this reading is telling you to think twice and wait a little to see if a way that flows more easily will reveal itself

As I explained in the opening of this post, it was not the intent of the reading to get a yes or a no, but to reveal what the development in this direction would look like. I am sorry that was not clearly stated in the post.

I know the yi can be used to reveal either or answers, but I prefer to tap into the types of changes I am navigating, in one direction, or another. Like looking in one direction, and then another, when choosing to cross a road. I mentioned my concerns living here, and the yi responded by showing me how I may shape myself to accomodate to the space and in this was revealed the potential for development.

It was less clear before I met the person I would be living with. That person is very very disciplined on their path. They have a timer set for the wifi to turn off at night, and sleep from 9:30 - 6. I get the sense that living the most harmoniously with such a person, I would also establish myself such discipline in my path, so we may both support each others paths. Some of that might be hard, but this is very much a path I am already on, and I have been looking for such an opportunity to grow. I am very empathetic, so I tend to be highly influenced by those I live with. And I sense this person is the same. To squander the invitation for potential growth here I feel would be a shame.

I am happy to ask a follow up question if y'all come up with one. Otherwise I am happy to update and share about how it goes, if I am indeed accepted by this person. The move in would be August 1st, unless something changes or another is chosen.

 

[Daeluin]

So I made another connection in relation to this reading.

There is an interesting astrological connection between me in this person that I remembered glimpsing when I glanced at their western astrological chart before the interview. I consider this information private, and won't allow myself to look again without their permission. I allowed myself the glimpse as I felt it important and the birth information was freely available.

What was revealed was the reason this person is so good at harmonizing with others, and that they do it at their own expense.

And that I have a very aligned connecting with the part of their chart that does this.

For me it involves resolving karma that I had with my mother, who would not work with me and refused to change. I mean this in the sense that she was unwilling to give anything in any challenge we navigated, and would not accept no as an answer. So the relationship developed entirely on her terms and I adapted.

Due to the nature of the connection, there may be some challenges, but it is also a very spiritual connection as it involves Neptune. When Neptune is involved, there is an ethereal element at play, that can be very spiritual, or very confusing.

To me this is why the path that is developmental requires spiritual discipline as well as exercising caution around what is shared and how it is shared. If things are too open, confusion becomes a strong potential. If I forge forward into changes, conflict becomes a strong potential - except in this case this person I suspect does not participate in conflict but internalizes it.

(It is possible that this lead to the autoimmune condition they have. Meanwhile my path keeps leading me to people who need healing.)

On the other hand, if things are measured and respectful, there is room for mutual growth and development. Where she is deferential, I am able to give solidity and support. Where there is mystery between us, I am able to enable her growth and provide an energy that nurtures her autonomy, by shining a light through that which is intangible.

But I feel strongly that it needs to be her choice. So I sent a chat letting her know what I found, to help aid clarity and perhaps see at least my perspective on the work ahead of us, so that she may choose without so much confusion.

To me this karmic revelation reveals why this path unfolded in such a destined way. We both need this work.

But we still both need to choose to do the work. I do choose to do the work. Even though there are restraints that are necessary for me, as shown by the reading, avoiding such a path because of them is no different than avoiding the lessons of karma. We shall see how she feels about it.

 

[Daeluin]

So in the end, she decided to go with another option. She was very cordial about it and didn't say much else, other than she might like to come in for a massage with me sometime.

The next day I ended up working with someone who is of of her best friends and lives a street away. This coworker of mine is one of the sweetest and gentlest people I know. And told me that the person I had interviewed with was too sensitive even to live with her.

In light of this, I end up agreeing with you all. That it would have been rather unlikely for me to avoid triggering this person's sensitivities to keep those lines from changing and experiencing 47.

I did another reading last night that also made it clear I was still finding my way toward according with the wrong people, and now I start to understand better how to navigate. Any situation might be developmental for me, but it really makes the most sense to focus on living situations that are likely to be inherently harmonious rather than ones that require me to keep my head down, at least not that much.