Questions related to life purpose and sense of self

[unearth the light]

Hello everybody. I am very new to the i Ching and have tried a couple of readings on myself. Today I asked the question, "What is my life purpose?" and I got Hexagram No. 3 - Sprouting with relating hexagram No. 24 - Returning.

I read the depictions on this site and others and came to the conclusion that the i Ching was telling me that I still have work to do before I figure out what my life purpose is, i.e. "hold on to my secure sense of self." It is too early for goals and I first need to develop my principles and sense of self.

I then read hexagram no. 24 and thought that i Ching was telling me to return to fundamentals and get back to what I know to be right.

Well, I agree with the i Ching in that I do not have a secure sense of self and I really need to work on that part of myself before I go figuring out what my life purpose is. But, the next question that I posed to the i Ching was "What are the principles and fundamentals that I have to get back to?" I posed the question in this way because I thought what i Ching was telling me was that I knew the answer of who I was at one point, so I have to "return" to that. Thus, I was asking it essentially what I have to return to.

Well, I got confused because I was answered with hexagram no. 6 - conflict with relating hexagram no. 1. I read several interpretations of hexagram no. 6 and could not make sense of what i Ching was telling me.

Hexagram no. 6 seems to say that now is not the time to go towards winning a conflict. Winning a conflict is not the answer but rather the middle way, or compromise/mediation is the way that will bring fortune. It also seems to say to go ask a wise man for help.

But i'm not sure what conflict has to do with my principles. Is it saying that my principles are conflicted? If so, how am I to compromise my principles? Aren't principles those that are unwavering?

I began thinking more and thought that perhaps the "conflict" that i Ching might be pointing to is the current conflict I have with my significant other. We seem to be at an impasse regarding certain core issues, and ending the relationship is probably the easiest resolution to the conflict. Is i Ching telling me to mediate this conflict? To stay in the relationship? But what does this have to do with figuring out my principles and fundamentals so that I can develop that secure sense of self that i Ching wants me to do first before I discover my life purpose?

Does anyone understand my confusion? Can someone point me in the right direction? Thanks so much.

 

[chingching]

hex 3 is about confusion and chaos, the little seedling rummaging through the darkness of the soil. Can be like being thrown into deep water if you panic and manically move about you'll fight against the natural movement towards the surface, its not for you to have a direction to go, or aim at a particular direction, you have to feel your way to the surface. Instead of directed action in hex 3 via the image you are advised to "weave the warp" so from chaos, not knowing where you are or what you are doing, instead of acting or setting forth you select, discern, bring together in order to create a path and then you can walk down it.

line 5, sprouting your juice.. well good thing you didn't ask a relationship question. Here the advice is clear and in line with the image, only set small tasks or small visions, you are at the very beginning and what is truly possible is not yet visible so if you set out with big leaps you prob will not only leap over important steps but prob off in the wrong direction and over a cliff. The juice is what is being creatively made, its a product or result, but still its not time to use all of it up... or, as in hilary's translation, to make something solid and fixed out of it. Its still a time for flexibility.

24 isn't just returning to what is known, its coming back to your roots, the basis of who you are. Over last year I received it a lot in regards to question of my career path of which is now completely changed, but not yet fixed but definitely closer to who I am.

Then you can look at 24 as relating hex here as a turning point, hilary wrote a blog post on this, and line 5 is surely that, the juice shows that the time for coming (no pun intended) or becoming is almost here, but just not yet, its transitioning.

See I think you didn't see the whole reading with the first reading and the second reading just represents you own inner conflict that's charged with extra umph.

remember 3's judgement is eminent expansion, that means new parts of yourself opening up and becoming. Its just that in a place of 3 a bit of confusion is inherent, but I think its really a time to get excited about.

Once your life path is firmly set you have benefits such as accomplishment but you've travelled well past the point in time where lots of possibilities are open to you, a 3 > 24 time is a time of possibilities you don't always get to be in this space, use it wisely and when you are in a time with no more choices you wont worry, because you'll be walking your right path.

I'll just add, because you said you are new, that 24 is the pass opening up again after being closed in all winter, its the return of the sun and seasons of activity, it represents how when the pass is closed its not a time for travelling about etc. and that's where the idea of returning to self resides, but it also marks the turning point, when the pass opens again as mentioned. Under the earth is thunder, inspiration energy activity and it has an avenue, looking at the hexagram you can see its as though the path opens up before the lowest yang line, open and ready for it to walk along it.

Those mare my impressions and experience with these two but I think if the wilhelm translation isn't giving you enough of a picture you really would like reading bradford's which is articulate and poetic and LiSe's which is soulful... not to mention all the contributors of clarity, just go to the archives I'm pretty sure there would be a few threads on 3.5 > 24.

this is a good one and describes 3.5 much more succinctly, aslo look at ex div's memorising thread on 3.5
http://www.onlineclarity.co.uk/friends/showpost.php?p=71071&postcount=5