Practical ways of #50

[pedro]

hey kids, its me again

I'd like to ask about practical ways of fulfilling the Ting in ones life. The Ting deals with being in tune with both men and god, but it is all a bit vague, ya know, boiling and cooking inside, all that stuff.

I know about the meaning of #50, there's a very useful comparative file with lots of translations at midaughter's, but I would like to ask for your experience in dealing with and becoming the ting, from readings you might have gotten, ways you chose to work for it, whatever

One thing that is surely very tingey is practicing zazen everyday.

Any other clues?

This hexagram is my most important goal at the moment. I went through a lot of #59 (Im better, though not quite ripe yet), then a lot of #42 (still working on that, I find it is sort of a practical way to do the same as in #59), and now a lot of #50
Ive also been getting line 6 a lot (cool

), which auspicious as it is, doesnt show me the way, but almost states that I have it all already (which I know I dont, so perhaps instead it is pointing where I should aim at becoming)

 

[lindsay]

Dear Pedro,

Years ago I decided I would try to cook a gourmet meal for my girlfriend. I resorted to following a complicated recipe in one of my girlfriend?s professional (she was a cook) French cookbooks. The recipe went into enormous detail about every phase of preparing and combining the ingredients, describing how things should look, feel, smell, and taste, until the very end. The last sentence was: ?Cook till done.? No oven temperature settings, no indication of time, no advice about determining doneness ? just ?Cook till done.?

I think the idea was something like this: if you can?t figure out when a dish is properly cooked, then you have no business trying to make it. Needless to say, my dish was a disaster.

Anyway, all this makes me think of Hex 50. ?Cook till done? seems to be pretty much what the Yi is telling us. These days I tend to equate this with advice to practice.

Practice meditation. Practice strenuous exercise. Practice cooking. Practice playing a musical instrument. Practice drawing and painting. Practice gardening. Practice woodworking. Do some chores. Give a speech. Memorize some poetry. Correct your posture. Paint the fence. Iron your clothes. Volunteer for something difficult. Walk a mile or two. Solve math problems in your mind. Work up a sweat. Mow the lawn. Stretch your resources. Brush your teeth. Chop wood. Carry water.

Practice, practice, practice. Cook till done. When it?s done, you?ll know it.

That?s part of what Hex 50 is about, I think.

Lindsay

 

[pedro]

Dear Lindsay, I find your message very inspiring (and mouth watering

)
Yes I know that the basis of 50 is to do good, be good to men, be good to yourself, be good to god. Thats why I think 59 is a prerequisite, to deflate the ego, then 42 an intermediate step, to do whats good and refrain whats bad, putting your egoless nature to the service of others (what I meant back in the 1st message was 42 is a human relations side of 59), so we can finally arrive at 50 with pure hearts, which of course will bring the favours of both men and god.
But your cook till done image is pretty much representative of it all!
And thanks for your practical advice, Im getting tired just by reading it (specially the choping wood bit), but thats more or less what I already do, I really like strenuous exercise to clean my mind, and I work out regularly. Its amazing how a sweating mind can see so much clearer. And its basically me who does all the cooking at home, so I think I may be on the right track
Thanks again for your advice, and you must let me taste some of your cooking one of these days (that is, if you already sorted out the done point

)

 

[bfireman]

Lindsay-

Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeettttttt!!!! Well said.

I like the sound of "cook til done, and have some fun!"

Peace - Brian

 

[heylise]

The Ding is a symbol of the state (not only of the state of things, if they are 'done' or not yet) but of the empire. The emperor had nine Ding, made with bronze from the nine regions.
So 50 talks about having or making your empire in order. It follows 49, where you have made this empire (or at least renewed it).

So the nobel one corrects the situation to solidify fate.

LiSe

 

[davidl]

Hi Pedro,
Coming from a background where food was the centre of family and religious gatherings, the ting always reminds me of occasions outside of my day to day activities, where people gather to forget their worries and both give thanks and partake of the 'nectar' of life.

I lived with Krishnas for a while and all food was first offered to the diety before consumption. This act changed my relationship to the food and linked the diety with my most basic material needs.

I also often get this hex. relating to business questions.
It somehow says to me 'throw back the little ones, and pan fry the big ones!