Trump bringing back conscription

[mholden1969]

Evening,

In light of Trump winning, part of me is curious about how things will unfold and the other part of me fears what he's going to do to destroy the environment and the amount of energy he'll put in the Military.
He talked of "bringing back the draft" during his campaign and he seems to want to start war with ISIS as soon as he gets into office.

Unfortunately, I am of drafting age in the US (18-25) and I am the last person you want to put on the front lines.

I asked the iChing,
"Will I be drafted?"
-Received 50.6-32

I am not sure if this is saying "Everything's fine, don't worry" or if it's basically an affirmative.

I notice a lot of times when I am worried about something, and ask a question to the iChing, it seems to give a "positive/leaning towards" answer to something that I would really rather not be the case.

 

[juaneros]

Hi there. Hope all is good first of all. I think there is no need to be fearful at this moment in time. Why have fear of something that might not even happen? Yes, there is a big change happening across the world not only here, good or bad, well perspectives differ. But well, I don't think the IC has given an affirmative answer, rather it likes to give advice. One thought is for you to have a mind (sixth line represents the mind) made of jade, which is hard with soft luster/mild and pure (Wilhelm/Baynes). Be brave, be positive, it's all up to you transform this fear. Anyhow, good luck there.

 

[maggie may]

"Will I be drafted?"
-Received 50.6

I am pretty new to this forum. I often struggle with the questions asked. In this case it is a 'yes / no' question. It has me wanting to answer only with the one word "no." But that is not how the I Ching answers. There are no 'yes / no' answers. It becomes especially challenging to interpret when it is a 'yes / no' question about some future event. It is one thing to ask "should I do this or that?" And though you still don't get 'yes or no', you could get a feel for what that direction might feel like or what you should do. But even then it is a tricky thing, in my estimation. It gets even trickier in asking about a 'yes / no' question about whether a thing will happen for you in a future situation that is unsure. So, you are asking a 'yes / no' question about a future prediction of an event that may or may not happen and what would happen to you if it did happen. I felt confused just writing that. In my humble opinion it is not a helpful way to use the I Ching.

I personally don't care for using the I Ching for predictions. The name of the book is change or flexibility in change after all. The whole point of learning the way of the tao is to be fluid to change and to work with the tao. The idea is that there is not a fixed future, only patterns, possibilities, and probabbilities, but it could change. Right now there is no draft. There is nothing you personally can do to avoid something that does not yet exist. As Juaneros said, it becomes a reading about dealing with your fear of a situation.

Having said all of that, H50 is the image of complete transformation. We could take that to mean of your attitudes and fears or of the situation you described or your own personal situation or all of these. Things are cooking in the pot. Wind below is gradual and fire above is clinging and clarity. Applied to your fears it could mean that through looking at the details, research and investigation you come to a clarity about things that are important to you. Line 6 is about looking over the situation in regards to the question, your fears about draft and Trump, and deciding what is important or useful in the next phase. At the top of fire thoughts and feelings come together in some clarity about it all. Line 6 is the place of the sage, one who is in it but not of it. Taken as advice as to how to approach Trump and the possibility of a draft, it is a good suggestion.

The way of the wise or superior person is to respond and act in the present. A sage would not be concerned about events that are not happening now. The I Ching is more than a book to answer questions. It is a guide to a way to move through and approach life. That is why I try to stick to questions about my own personal situation: How does my situation look? What caused it? What attitude will be helpful? What can I do? How can I do it? How can I understand this or someone else? These are the kinds of questions I find most helpful to ask and to answer.

Best wishes,
Maggie

 

[diamanda]

In my experience, when only line 50.6 changes then the situation is far removed from change or anything 'brewing'. Things will go on as they are (32) so don't worry!

 

[mirian]

There are no 'yes / no' answers. It becomes especially challenging to interpret when it is a 'yes / no' question about some future event. It gets even trickier in asking about a 'yes / no' question about whether a thing will happen for you in a future situation that is unsure.

Hi maggie,

I have stopped asking yes/no questions altogether and I think my readings have become much more accurate and meaningful. So I agree with your interpretation that the Yi is not saying "yes or no" to mholden about whether or not being drafted in the future.

Differently from you, I do use the Yi for predictions sometimes. At the beginning of this week I did a complete reading without any yes/no questions that predicted that Trump would be the next American president. I even told my husband the day before the results were announced (but he didn't believe me and was shocked by the headlines the following day ).

 

[Granma]

Your country s is already "supposedly" at "war" with "ISIS" under the current Obama administration.
From state of the Union address 2016: Obama ( ISIS, ISIL, daesh are same thing)
"For more than a year, America has led a coalition of more than 60 countries to cut off ISIL's financing, disrupt their plots, stop the flow of terrorist fighters, and stamp out their vicious ideology," he said. "With nearly 10,000 air strikes, we are taking out their leadership, their oil, their training camps, and their weapons. We are training, arming, and supporting forces who are steadily reclaiming territory in Iraq and Syria."

Obama also called on Congress to authorize the use of military force against ISIS. "

 

[mholden1969]

Yes, asking yes/no questions may not be the best approach for the iChing.
I used to only ask those kind of questions when I first started using it, but now I am varying more.
Hopefully, this is at least leaning more towards "no", but at least I will try to not worry about the future.

Regardless, I am glad to have a better understanding of 50.6-32: I take it that it is throwing the question back to the querent, saying "what is the noble thing to do in this situation?"
Does it represent a synthesis of thought, like a new idea?

 

[Granma]

I looked on tuck changs website for 50.6
He says the country makes use of virtuous and able people but with generosity and receptivity.
So are you going to be drafted I would say no because people are volunteerily enlisting in the armed forces and the rest of the people are being treated generously and receptive - ly i.e. They are allowed a different point of view on whether their services are required by their country in that way.
Also 32 many people here say it can mean things stay as they are.

 

[Granma]

One of your concerns was that trump would be more militaristic and build more weapons, but I wonder if you are aware of what is going on already?
"President Obama has discreetly brokered and authorized the sale of more arms to foreign governments than any other US president since World War II."

 

[Granma]

Your other concern was that trump would have us at war with ISIS.
Since the Obama administration is at present bombing 6 different countries----
Trump saying to pull back from bombing at least one of them plus his other statement that he doesn't want the US to meddle in other countries would imply less war. The US has been a belligerent military force and frankly a bully on the world scene for a long time and Obama and Hillary Clinton have certainly acted t that way these past 8 years.

"But more importantly, let Russia fight ISIS, if they want to fight them, in Syria," Trump said. "We can fight them in Iraq," Trump added."

"Let ISIS and Syria fight. And let Russia, they're in Syria already, let them fight ISIS," Trump said. "Let Russia take care of ISIS."

 

[bradford]

Good way to bring back the burning of draft cards. I did that.

 

[TheOtherLiss]

This thread is a few years old. We've got a new president (Biden), a new war to fight on the world stage (covid), and the future European economy is currently stuck 30 feet into the bottom of the Suez canal. Did I mention that the US Navy's 5th fleet helps protect that?

Don't worry about conscription. The US military comprises of only 0.52% of its total population, but it's still the 3rd largest in the world. Most of it consists of desk jobs anyway. Why does everyone think "soldiers" when infantry only makes up a small percentage?

The US military is not a bully. The US military literally keeps your Amazon packages on time, it keeps your phones working, your cable TV hooked up, your text messages sending, prevents your bank accounts from being robbed by hackers ... oh, and did I mention that it's the largest funder of research on breast cancer, brain injuries, autism, Parkinson's, diabetes, and dozens of other ailments, in the world?

Yeah. What a crappy group of millions of human beings. Lol.

Why is it that people on a site devoted to Taoist principles forget that the darkness gives a space for light and vice versa? Or even that every Tao isn't yours, but is just as important to tge whole?

Seriously

 

[moss elk]

Why is it that people on a site devoted to Taoist principles forget that the darkness gives a space for light and vice versa? Or even that every Tao isn't yours, but is just as important to tge whole?

What website are you referring to?

 

[TheOtherLiss]

What website are you referring to?

I'm so sorry moss elk, I just saw this, nearly a year later! I only use my phone, and unfortunately don't have a habit of checking messages unless they hit my email, which this didn't for some reason.

I was referring to this glorious site, and the book it's based on.

 

[redoleander]

This is an interesting perspective on 50.6. It seems to fit with other experiences I’ve had of this line. Surrender because it simply will not exist on the physical plane. I’m sure that’s not the only possibility for the line but the answer here was definitely no, with a blessing it seems.

And, no, the U.S. military is not just some benign entity. Ask the millions of people around the world fighting for freedom from U.S. occupation, the millions currently starving in Afghanistan, those with lifelong illness from aftereffects of war (in Iraq, Vietnam, Japan), those in Japan now with COVID because U.S. military at the Okinawa base refused to follow COVID protocols and have caused outbreaks. Or consider the fact that U.S. military is the largest climate polluter on earth during a time of climate crisis. Understanding dark and light is not the same as being an imperialist. The military funds things in tiny, tiny percentages of its budget because it’s given most of our country’s money while people starve and are houseless and die of COVID. U.S. military is also full of rampant sexual assault and many ex-military murder and abuse their partners here. Almost all mass shooters in the U.S. are ex-military. On and on. Supporting the oppressor is not benign or enlightened.

 

[moss elk]

I was referring to this glorious site, and the book it's based on.

Oh, I see.

This isn't a Taoist site.
And Yi predates Taoism by centuries.

So, that means you should not take all Taoist writings as automatically relevant to Yi study.
Yes many Taoists study Yi.
(But so do some Muslim, Christians, Buddhist, Hindi, atheists, & wacky pagans of all sorts)

So, Unlearn that?

 

[Trojina]

I'm so sorry moss elk, I just saw this, nearly a year later! I only use my phone, and unfortunately don't have a habit of checking messages unless they hit my email, which this didn't for some reason.

I was referring to this glorious site, and the book it's based on.

Perhaps you don't check your private messages either? There is a recent one from moderators, please check it out.