The same question twice

[sliponshoe]

what happens if i ask the same question twice? ideally i'd be getting the same hexagrams. but i get different ones. which one applies? the former? or the latter? or does the i-ching refuse to answer the same question again?

 

[jte]

Got kids, Slip? =)

My advice, based on all the hearsay I've read (here on Clarity and elsewhere) plus several years of experience, is that you ask once and attempt to understand the answer as best you can.

It's "not right" to ask the same question twice - you're certainly not going to draw the same answer twice in a row with any frequency (randomness doesn't work that way).

IMHO, asking *meaningful followup* questions to clarify your understanding isn't wrong and in fact can be quite helpful once you're good at "understanding the I Ching". (However, followup questions, too, can be overdone. Avoid boxing yourself into a confused muddle with too many questions with answers you're not 100% clear on. I'm fairly sure that most folks who post on this board have been *there* a few times...)

I also think it's okay to ask the same question again if you've waited for a while, so that the external circumstances and/or you or your views or intentions have changed. How long that time is depends on the situation you're asking about - use your gut instinct to "tell you when".

I've had some interesting experiences with followup questions - for example, after getting a Hexagram with moving lines for an answer, getting the same Hex with no moving lines. ( That's the I Ching saying "pay attention to what I already told you, buddy", in my view.) Another time I received 1.3.4.6 (Hex 1 with lines 3, 4, and 6 changing). Focussing on line 6, I asked a follow up question to the effect of "is this really that big a deal? Do I have to *worry* about the line 6 change?) Answer was 1.3.4.

One thing to keep in mind, I think many answers (even within individual moving lines) have deliberate ambiguities. This, I think, helps the I Ching *guide* you, rather than telling you what to do. Resolving the ambiguity can be part of a learning process that the Yi takes you through.

Best of luck,

- Jeff



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[bradford_h]

The Hexagram 4 Judgment says:

The first consultation informs
The second and third show disrespect
Disrespect deserves no information

This can be taken as general advice. Ask only once, and then study the answer until it makes sense. If you want multiple answers, or to get a broader perspective, you have only to look the same response up in several different sources or translations, which you should be doing anyway.

 

[bruce]

With two you get egg roll.

I?ve asked the same identical question twice. In fact I did that just last week. The first answer wasn?t clear, and so I asked for a different way of explaining the picture to me, respectfully, which Yi did, and which I understood clearly. That also clarified the first answer for me.

Although as a general practice it is not recommended, there are times when ?in other words? can make a world more sense.

 

[bruce]

Oh, and I admit (would be a fool not to) that the deficiency was completely in my lack of understanding, and not in Yi's first explanation. That?s almost too obvious to state, but I thought it worth mentioning.

 

[luz]

Yes, I think it's good advice to ask once and then try to make sense of the answer. But the way I see the Yi, it is like talking to a friend and you can ask the same question as many times as you want and your friend will try to give you the answer in different words or will try to show you different aspects of the situation and will eventually, perphaps, throw up his hands and 'give up on you'. But he won't be mad at you, he won't stop communicating for more than a short time and he will understand why.. it is.. that you ask so much.. Dont be afraid to ask. Just don't expect to get the same exact answer twice..

 

[sliponshoe]

thanks for the info.