Of What Value Is The Ritual?

[rosada]

I asked the I Ching, of what value is the ritual in consulting the I Ching?

I received 64.6 > 40.

64.6
There is drinking of wine
In genuine confidence. No blame.

Whatever ritual it took to bring us together
We trust that our connection is real. It doesn't matter what route we took to get to Here and Now.

But if one wet's his head
He loses it in truth.

But now that we are here,
If you do not trust your understanding
Your search is meaningless.
--
64.6 then changes to 40. Interesting, the very last line of the book direct's us to Deliverance. What is the final lesson the I Ching is directing us to here? In terms of ritual does this mean that ultimately we are Delivered from ritual if we can continue to connect without it?

 

[dobro p]

About 40 - I'd say that release of tension is the main idea of 40, and that forgiveness is only one example (of many) of that sort of release. I'd say that the release of tension after a storm, after an election, after a war, after an argument, after a visit to the dentist, after you finish your university degree program, and after you leave a job that you didn't belong in - all of these are examples of the release of tension that 40 is talking about. Forgiveness is another I'd add to the same list. So, to sort of answer your question: I'd say that the Yi is ending the book with the message: here's the end; release of tension!

 

[mudpie]

Because 40 was the Yi's reply to my question some thread back about consciousness surviving the death of the brain, I find this reading here synchronistically significant. After the end, deliverance. Just as when the brain dies, there is Deliverance, freedom from Form, so too is there a point where form/ritual can be transcended. So I agree with your take, Rosada .

To me, the Yi seems to say, yes, use ritual and that is good, but don't rely on it to the point that you forget the space of the formless . Ultimately it is within that field that we connect with wisdom:

“Out beyond the ideas of right-doing or wrong-doing there is a field- I'll meet you there." Rumi

 

[dobro p]

“Out beyond the ideas of right-doing or wrong-doing there is a field- I'll meet you there." Rumi

Just 'out beyond ideas', period. Release. Deliverance.

 

[willowfox]

Line 64.6 suggests that filling your mind with rituals only make you feel good and thus you lose sight of the simple truth, that you don't need any ritual when consulting the IC.

Hex 40 suggests that so called ritual is basically something that one does not need at all, so in not doing it you have greater freedom of action to get straight down and consult.

 

[Trojina]

I take 64.4 here as ritual is okay but if you go overboard with it you get lost, ie if the ritual becomes more important that the substance which is what happens in many religions etc




BTW Rosada you had 64.6 for that question you asked about your house sale. I'm wondering if a line shows up for several different questions the Yi is trying to tell you something beyond each question. If so you may wish to ask yourself if you are feeling really confident, excited and ready to go with something. If you do great but over confidence is a danger to you now, keep sober..... is my take

Thinking over it i guess people can get a bit carried away with rituals of different kinds, indeed thats the whole point of them to a degree isn't it...to take one out of the realm of the everyday into another space. So in regard to the question here Yis answer seems apt, don't get too carried away so that you lose your head. I see the 40 as the release a ritual might bring, release from the everyday as the attention goes to the spirit

 

[hilary]

Nice reading! It could be relevant that ritual exists to create a certain state of mind, and wine was actually, historically, part of ritual meals to achieve exactly that. So 'drinking wine' is a very direct answer to a question about ritual. It's there to increase presence and confidence and dissolve doubts, in much the same way that alcohol releases (40) inhibitions and makes the shared meal a more powerful occasion.

Thus far, truth and confidence (fu); no blame.

Of course if you get really pie-eyed, you forget who you are and why you're at the ritual meal at all. It's not wholly clear what the 'it' is that you lose; Wu Jing Nuan translates as 'a loss of reality', which seems about right. Ritual creates a space for a special awareness, marked out as separate from everyday reality. Which is a useful thing to do, in moderation.

 

[rosada]

I'm all in favor of a wine drinking ritual, Hilary..Or as a cartoon in the New Yorker noted recently, "Swollow every drop. The five o'clock cocktail is the most important drink of the day."

Thanks for your thoughts, Willowfox. By "Ritual" I was meaning everything from elaborately burning candles and consulting the oracle with the yarrow stalks to just clicking the computer or simply asking a question internally and seeing what hexagram comes to mind. Whatever it takes to set up a sense that one is doing a consultation. So I don't think 64.6 is saying no ritual is necessary, but that it is a step in the process. Perhaps because as Hilary suggests it induces a certain state of mind, or perhaps ritual causes the person to pay more respect to the answer?
I think how much self discipline a person needs to accept an answer easily come by. I mean, if you come to a cross roads and ask, "Right or left?" and flip a coin, do you have the faith to follow through on such an easily gotten answer? Whereas the more complicated rituals calm us down so we say, "Well I fasted for three days to get this reading so even if I don't like it or even understand it, I'm still going to trust it for a while." Then after we've had some experience and developed some faith in the process perhaps eventually we get to the point where we trust the answer immediately and perhaps ultimately get to the point where we need no I Ching, no ritual, we just trust period.

I love the rumi quote, Listener!

Thank you, dobro. Btw, I was still tweeking my original post when dobro first responded. In case you were wondering why he mentioned "forgiveness", I had originally noted that hex.40 talks about forgiveness. I was ruminating about whether this should indicate that our ultimate final lesson from IC is to forgive. Or perhaps as part of the ritual, at the end of a reading the one who gives advice ought to say something to the effect of, "Please forgive me if anything I have said is out of place"?

I think you are on to something, trojan. Thanks for noting the connection between this and my house selling issue. Curiously, since we finally put it out there that we are ready to sell and move on, family members from both sides are planning on making visits out here and there is talk of how this place should be kept in the family forever and ever etc.. Jeez, driving me crazy..

Thanks all for responding!