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strawdogs

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Hello all,

I was wondering if you all could share your experiences with the "how to" part of writing a question before you consult the Yi. Recently, I've bee nreading the new Ritsma book and I found a suggestion in there about consulting the Yi with a "...show me an image of..." question. Interesting.

But I find myself kind of struggling lately with how to actually form a question. Are there different forms of questions for different situations? I've struggled with this apsect of my own exploration with Yi over the past several months, and I don't really feel my questions are as strong as they could be.

Any pointers, suggestions, and examples will be most appreciated.

Sincerely,

strawdogs
 

kevin

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Well I will start off by putting a stick in the hornets nest.

Everything we do in the material realm is about relationships? albeit sometimes with inanimate objects.

I find the trick is to start with trying to form a dynamic map of the situation.

'Show me an image' is a good starting point to get the overview of what is happening.

You can then build your dynamic map by asking supplementary questions:

How do I relate to this situation?

What is my best course of action here? ? But be careful the Yi often has different ideas as to what is good for us ;)

What do I bring to the relationship? and What does ?the other? bring to the relationship?... are both useful. They start adding vectors or actions to the map.

Turning it on its head helps too: ?What does this relationship want of me??

Or

Where is the relationship headed?

Another good question is ?What do I need to learn here? As most often when we learn the lesson of the time everything flows well anyway.

The trick is to get outside of what is happening and seeing it from above as it were. What is happening? What are the influences?? Who is contributing what where and how?

Enormously detailed dynamic maps can be built up like this?

Then plot your course and navigate the sea of change? storm or no.

Travel well ? hope this is helpful.

--Kevin
 

cguleff

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Strawdogs,

Great question!

I like to first identify the subject that concerns me, for example, my job. Then I'll phrase a question like this: "What's going on with my job? What should I know? Any advice?" I like to use this format, especially for my personal readings, because it gives me access to relevant information outside the focus of my preconceived notions or emotional desires. I find that this approach allows the changing lines to speak for themselves, rather than having to figure out how they apply to a more structured question.

If I want a general reading for the day, week, month, or year, I'll ask something like: "Where am I at? Where am I going? What's going on?" I generally do one of these on my birthday and one around New Year's Day.

Hope this helps!

Thanx,
Chris
 

frederick

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Strawdogs:-

Ralph Blum derived The Book of Runes using the Yi, and he suggests taking an issue with oracles:

"An appropriate issue is anything that relates to timeliness and right action.
"... A question might be 'Should I end the relationship?' To state it as an issue, you would say, 'The issue is my relationship now.' Instead of asking 'Should I accept this new job?' you might say, 'The issue is work.' This small distiction is crucial. If you ask a question and the Oracle provides an answer, then you role is a passive one. However, if you present an issue, and the Oracle comments on that issue, this allows you to extract your own answer and to determine for yourself what is right action.
"If you don't have a specific action in mind, and still feel the need to consult... simply ask: What do I need to know for my life today? The Oracle's reply will always be instructive."

Images, issues.
Just paths to ask for a way to actively particapate within a situation.

Freddy
 

lightofdarkness

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if you are having difficulties in forming a precise question then you can derive information about the context that is 'pushing' your buttons through the use of generic questions. The result is then analysable to extract finer details about the context from which you can make more confident choices of what to do - fit in to the context, assert your own context (e.g. overlay the current), or just walk away. See:

http://members.iimetro.com.au/~lofting/myweb/lofting/icplusProact.html

Chris.
 

hilary

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Strawdogs, thank you for starting this thread with such a good question!

There's one common theme among these excellent answers - no-one suggests asking questions like 'What should I do?'

I find I have more and more of a problem with that kind of 'should' question, maybe because only the individual can really define their own personal 'should's. On occasion I think people can use these 'should' questions as a way to dodge the need to clarify what outcome they want to create or who they want to become.

A fertile, open, inviting-the-universe-to-play question:
"What to look out for?"
I find that can put me on the alert for synchronicities, opportunities to learn, places to help... I suppose 'what to wake up to?' would be another way of putting it.
 

frederick

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Hilary, Yes...

Something to strike up some personal awareness of the obscure.
A peek into the shade, if you will.
Open abstractions, reveal unseen options.

And then there's always confirmations of what one already knows, if you're willing to risk the rod...
 

kevin

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Afterthought

I should say that building such a complex picture is seldom necessary...

All of these questions work well and a supplementary question here and there usually yields enough to see what needs to be seen.

--Kevin
 
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bruce

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There is a distinction I try to make in questions, as to: A) what something looks like B) what mindset or action furthers. This is because the same question-field can yield two entirely different answers, depending on A or B. For example, the situation may look like 12, and the furthering potential may be 11.

I think this is where a lot of confusion arises, especially among newer users. Those who have become familiar with Yi and have developed an easy dialogue, don?t suffer as much confusion because the relating hexagram is often A) what it looks like, and the primary hexagram becomes what furthers. Still, for my own readings I find it beneficial to distinguish clearly what I?m searching for with either A or B, before I cast. It makes interpreting that much clearer. I also encourage those I cast and read for to form their questions likewise.
 

kevin

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Hi Bruce

Much in agreement ? ?Confused question in - confused advice received.?

Though it has been said here many times:

The Yi tends to answer the question we hold in our heart / mind, not the one we wrote on the paper before loosing concentration.

I find that taking time to feel my way through all of the aspects relating to the issue and trying to become as clear about them as possible, really helps.

After a period of contemplation like this the question I need to ask often becomes very clear and the resulting answer is that much more focussed too.

--Kevin
 
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bruce

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Hi Kevin,

Well said.

I think the key to hearing an answer is to be alert and open. A question can also be put to Yi the same way, without lots of details. But at times when we're not especially alert, details help to narrow and focus everything down to bite size pieces. But even then, a certain degree of openness and flexibility is imperative.

I asked a "fun" question of Yi yesterday, and received 6 as an answer. First I looked at whether my question was in conflict with the Yi, but found nothing there. Then I looked for some clever arrangement of hidden metaphor to unlock my playful question. Found nothing there either. But an hour later, 6 made perfect sense, and had nothing at all to do with my question. So, not only the question most prominent in our mind or heart gets answered always. Have to be alert as to the question, even when it's one we had no idea that we would ask. lol
 

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