Thoughts on 13.2 versus 13.6.

[rosada]

Hey, I just noticed how hexagram 13.2 Fellowship with Men in The Wild talks about meeting at the ancestral temple = shame because at a time when it is appropriate to connect with people outside one's usual comfort zone ("wild" people), to only associate with one's own personal family (and ancestors) would be shameful, and then how the journey progresses to 13.6 which talks about meeting with people at the outskirts temple. Would that be a temple where people of all religions might come to connect with higher consciousness?

 

[dfreed]

Thoughts on 13.2 versus 13.6. -- Would that be a temple where people of all religions might come to connect with higher consciousness?

I imagine this could be the case. Of course context - the question or query - is central to what these lines 'mean' in any given reading, but more broadly speaking:

Stephen Field's translation is:
13.2: Assemble beings (men) at Zong. There will be regret.
13.6: Assemble beings (men) in the suburbs. There will be no problems.

One meaning / definition for 'Zong' is an ancestral temple. So these lines are saying - or may be suggesting - 'outside the lines' thinking. Here we're told to not look at 'old ways' of dealing with problems / situations (e.g. turning to the ancestors for answers); but instead we should step outside the city walls, and seek out and consider other ideas, which are not based on our usual or habitual ways of being, seeing, and thinking.

Or, another way to look at these:

With Line 13.2 Hex. 13's lower trigram Flame gives us trigram Heaven: this is telling us to step out of the safety of our 'shell' (Li, Flame being associated with tortoises and crabs), and instead consider our situation in more open, or Creative (Qian) ways.

With 13.6: Hex. 13's upper trigram Heaven gives us trigram Lake: here we don't need to focused or be 'heaven-like', or 'yang-like' - as a ruler or leader might. Instead we should be like Lake: joyful, communicative, and consider 'magic' (that we find all around us), or the shaman's way of seeing.

This latter idea reminds me of the ancient Hebrews (my ancestors): there were city-dwelling 'temple' rabbis, who lived within walls, and who likewise abided by religious rules, and strict rituals and observances; and there were those rabbis- who - like Daoist hermits - lived in the wilds and were more concerned with joy, and songs and psalms, and learning what god (or the gods) had to tell them via Qabalah, and what they observed in nature - what the stars, planets, rivers, and the myriad beings were telling them.

This idea plays itself out across cultures and time: the Confucianists versus Taoists; or the religious Taoists versus the 'inner alchemy' Taoists; the Druids versus the Christians; the strict Muslim Imams versus the Sufis and Whirling Dervishes ....

Best, D

 

[my_key]

Hey, I just noticed how hexagram 13.2 Fellowship with Men in The Wild talks about meeting at the ancestral temple = shame because at a time when it is appropriate to connect with people outside one's usual comfort zone ("wild" people), to only associate with one's own personal family (and ancestors) would be shameful, and then how the journey progresses to 13.6 which talks about meeting with people at the outskirts temple. Would that be a temple where people of all religions might come to connect with higher consciousness?

Line 2 rests at the centre of our inner world - our inner temple, if you like. This is the place of entry to our ancestral lineage and connection with the 'sins of the fathers'. Whether you look at 13.2 in the translation in Karcher, Legge or Wilhelm (and probably others) they all allude to the unrest that has been passed down the lineage> They also point to a rebalancing and healing / harmonising of the old wounds of our kindred that we still carry.

Line 6 carries a charge of the inner work having been completed and culminating in some sort of break through. The breakthrough takes the situation beyond sorrow but still calls for further actions. This work has been carried out at the altars in the waste-lands. The places not often visited and frequented by every type of people: people of no fixed abode or religion. A place beyond religion.

So for me I can see this temple on the outskirts as a place where connection to a higher consciousness can be made. Especially as after 13.6 comes Hex 14 Great Being / Great Possessions / Great Harvest etc etc.

As Einstein said ' A problem cannot be solved by the same level of consciousness that created it'.

Good Luck

 

[rosada]

Think you so much for these back stories!
Further thoughts - the image for 13 talks about sorting clans and then line 13.6 leads to 14.1 "No intercourse with what is harmful". So it maybe the necessary lesson at 13 is to learn to differentiate between people so one can recognize who would be harmful and not associate with them - and thus unchanging would be a warning, "You're getting involved with people who might turn out to be quite different from those you are familiar with - choose wisely!"
Other thoughts about 13 - interesting how both 5.5 and 13.5 describe escaping difficulties and strangers becoming friends. Hmm..

 

[my_key]

With 13 unchanging, as with any unchanging hexagram, I place more importance on the Image.

Thus the superior man organises the clans
And makes distinctions between things - Wilhelm

Clans in my neck of the woods (Scotland - 10 hours drive up north) are small groups of interrelated families that come together for mutual benefit particularly in times of war or hardship. Here in 13 the image guidance advocates to find ways to see what make things different and to contrast and compare them. I don't think that this just applies to people but could include any type of situational or even energetic connection. The more you can be like the 'superior person' the more this will lead towards fellowship and away from chaos. However, although we may grow in awareness we do need to persevere and cross the great stream. There is no quick fix to forming the new alliance.

While what comes out may still be a 'bad fit' in some respect, if the right distinctions have been made there will be a better fit than if the distinctions had not been made at all. Alternatively, if no attempt has been made to see the differences or to compare and contrast then the organisation has been totally lacking and it is unrealistic to expect a favourable outcome. When all the ducks are pointing in completely different directions all you can expect is chaos.

The nuclear of 13 is 44 Coupling which is drawing us towards being open to new allegences that come our way through our, hard fought and won, increased level of awareness. However we are faced, in this, with the challenge of actually beeing able to realise / manifest the new mandates that are bubbling up from the depths of our lineage. While we may see the distinctions we still have to allow these to penetrate into the situation and to percolate through into our being in order to complete the ring of the Fellowship.

13.5 - where the ducks begin working together to all face in the same direction.

Good Luck