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Two Hidden Patterns in the I Ching

TaoYinYang

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I recently discovered that every line of every hexagram has a causing line within every opposite causing hexagram. We will look at that first. I also found that every line has an opposite line within each hexagram when a single line changes to another. We will look at that second. It helps tremendously to know the hexagrams and lines somatically and to study them as a mind mirror. This is how you can get inside the meanings of the hexagrams and their lines.
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1. Causing Lines
…………….
Every hexagram has a causing hexagram. This is its pure opposite. So the opposite of the hexagram Grace is the hexagram Oppression. Opposite means trading each yin line into a yang line and each yang line into a yin line. Grace’s bottom trigram is fire, so its opposite is water, hence the bottom trigram of Oppression. The top trigram of Grace is mountain and its opposite is lake, hence the top trigram of Oppression. Oppression causes Grace and Grace causes Oppression. A clear dialectic.
In the first line of Grace we have this seed of augury:
Nine at the beginning means:
He lends grace to his toes, leaves the carriage, and walks.
A beginner in subordinate place must take upon himself the labor of advancing. There might be an opportunity of surreptitiously easing the way-symbolized by the carriage-but a self-contained man scorns help gained in a dubious fashion. He thinks it more graceful to go on foot than to drive in a carriage under false pretenses.
This is a yang line and in its causing hexagram of Oppression it is a yin line.
The causing line in Oppression reads as follows:
Six at the beginning means:
One sits oppressed under a bare tree
And strays into a gloomy valley.
For three years one sees nothing.
When adversity befalls a man, it is important above all things for him to be strong and to overcome the trouble inwardly. If he is weak, the trouble overwhelms him. Instead of proceeding on his way, he remains sitting under a bare tree and falls ever more deeply into gloom and melancholy. This makes the situation only more and more hopeless. Such an attitude comes from an inner delusion that he must by all means overcome.
Both these lines cause each other. As do line 2 of Grace to line 2 of Oppression and vice versa and onwards through lines 3, 4, 5, 6.
The diy nobility of Graces line is caused by internal gloom. A transformation occurs. And if you cast line 1 of Oppression the depressive state is caused by the grace of a diy nobility.
This will make the most sense in your own readings of the I Ching applied to your own hexagrams and changing lines.
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2. Opposite Lines
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When a single line changes in a hexagram, the line it changes to in the next hexagram is its fundamental opposite.
As the Cauldrons top yang line changes to Duration, the top yin line of Duration is its opposite. And vice versa. The bottom yin line of the Cauldron changes to Posession in Great Measure and Possession’s bottom yang line is the fundamental opposite of the Cauldrons bottom yin line. And vice versa.
Lets look at the Cauldrons top yang line:
Nine at the top means:
The ting has rings of jade.
Great good fortune.
Nothing that would not act to further.
In the preceding line the carrying rings are described as golden, to denote their strength; here they are said to be of jade. Jade is notable for its combination of hartdness with soft luster. This counsel, in relation to the man who is open to it, works greatly to his advantage. Here the counsel is described in relation to the sage who imparts it. In imparting it, he will be mild and pure, like precious jade. Thus the work finds favor in the eyes of the Deity, who dispenses great good fortune, and becomes pleasing to men, wherefore all goes well.
Now lets look at Duration’s top yin line:
Six at the top means:
Restlessness as an enduring condition brings misfortune.
There are people who live in a state of perpetual hurry without ever attaining inner composure. Restlessness not only prevents all thoroughness but actually becomes a danger if it is dominant in places of authority.
The lasting sage wisdom of the Cauldron is the opposite condition to the highly placed authority of restlessness within Duration. One is meaningful and one is trifling but both are highly placed. They are exactly yin and yang opposites. This pattern applies universally to all other lines in the I Ching as well.
 

dfreed

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It would help me to understand this if you gave us the hexagram numbers, along with their titles.
 

dfreed

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I have tried out your ideas, but I don't find that they are consistent. Here are a few examples - all the text is from Richard Rutt's translation of the Zhouyi:

1. Causing Lines
…………….
Every hexagram has a causing hexagram. This is its pure opposite.
Here I looked at:
Line 2.4 (from Hex. 2 'Earth'): Tying sacks of grain. No misfortune. No honor. (and it's supposed pure opposite 'causing line):

Line 1.4 (from Hex. 1 'Active'): Sometimes it leaps above the tides. No misfortune.

I don't see any 'cause and effect' between these two lines; neither that 2.4 'caused' 1.4 nor that 1.4 'caused' 2.4. There are some similar elements: both involve actions (but different ones) - tying grain sacks and leaping above tides, and they both contain 'no misfortune'; but nowhere do I see or sense a causal, or cause-and-effect relationship between the two.

2. Opposite Lines
*******
When a single line changes in a hexagram, the line it changes to in the next hexagram is its fundamental opposite.
Again:
Line 2.4 (from Hex. 2 'Earth'): Tying sacks of grain. No misfortune. No honor. (and it's supposed 'fundamental opposite'):

Line 16.4 (From Hex 16 'Elephant'): Wary elephant.. There will be great gain. No doubt. Why not loan coweries?

Here the elements are not similar at all: 2.4 has someone tying sacks of grain; in 16.4, a wary elephant is asked to consider if she might want to loan money (cowery shells being a form of wealth / currency in ancient China). But I don't see these being fundamental opposites in any way.

Also, this idea that you call 'Opposite Lines' has been consider by others, but not as 'opposites'. Some people refer to looking at these as "steps of change" - where you look at the individual 'changing to' lines as an interpretive tool.

Bradford Hatcher named these 'Fan Yao' or Reverse Line, or Line-Coming-Back Pairs. 'These pairs will often share vocabulary elements, cross-references, subjects, or grammatical tone, voice and mood .... This is not part of the Yi’s response, but it may hold clues to the Changing Line’s meaning.'

So, some people look to the Fan Yao lines for what they might tell them about the Yi's changing line response. The operative words here being about and may. But they are not opposites; at least I didn't find that to be the case in the examples I looked at.

Regards, D
 

TaoYinYang

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I use Wilhelm primarily in these applications.

At least with the causing lines I would recommend looking at them in an actual reading and then seeing if it makes sense!!

For me with the Wilhelm book these two patterns intuitively click for me! The I Ching can be very subjective though. Thanks for trying it out.
 

dfreed

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I would recommend looking at them in an actual reading and then seeing if it makes sense!!
I did this, and I found some helpful ideas about what my line means and how I might approach it ... but I'm not finding causation nor opposition (as in, a causing line or opposition line): I asked about the Buddhist concept of 'Right Action' and got Hex. 34, with multiple lines moving. For one line:

34.5 - Losing sheep in Yi. No troubles.

The 'cause/effect line is Line 20.5 - Observing our victims. For a prince: no misfortune.

And the 'opposite' (fan yao) line is Line 43.5 - A wild goat tripping, bucking, skipping in a the middle way.

In each case I see clues, tips, etc. about the meaning of Line 34.5 and how I might interpret or understand 'losing sheep in Yi'. But in neither case do I find any opposite or opposition, nor do I see any cause/effect relationship. So, perhaps you're ideas may apply in some instances and for some lines, but I don't find anything consistent here.

Regards, D
 
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hilary

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I've been digging into these and other related lines in the context of line pathways - now the subject of a short course in Change Circle (shameless plug). What I found was different from TaoYinYang's ideas, but I completely agree that this is best explored via readings. In the course, I recommend applying a 'hindsight test': choose a few readings you now understand reasonably well, look up some of these related lines, and ask yourself what you would have learned from them at the time. Would they have helped? How? What could they have shown you?

You can take this approach with any interpretive approach that's new to you. After a few readings, you'll have a good idea of whether you're going to find it helpful; after a couple of dozen, you can devise your own theory. It's all good fun...
 

Thomas6

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䷀ ䷁ 1-6 seen to been sequential, but others not like that. Actually, they have a Hidden Patterns. Place the uppermost line below the lowermost line.

䷅->䷺ line4 changed. next step,​

䷤->䷕ line5 changed. next step,​

䷥->䷵ line6 changed. next step,​

䷄->䷯ line1 changed. next step,​

䷱->䷷ line2 changed. next step,​

䷰->䷐ line3 changed.finish.​

 

hilary

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Hi Thomas,

How or when would you use this series of changes in a reading?
 

Thomas6

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When I got a Hexagram like ䷰->䷐, it can be considered as the result of a specific matter.
Change it to ䷅->䷺. ䷅->䷺ can be considered as the beginning of the matter. So,

䷅->䷺ First of all,​

䷤->䷕ Secondly,​

䷥->䷵ Next,​

䷄->䷯ Next,​

䷱->䷷ Next,​

䷰->䷐ The End.​

 

Thomas6

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Result is ䷰->䷐:​

line 6: young Yin(8)
line 5: young Yang(7)
line 4: young Yang(7)
line 3: old Yang(9)
line 2: young Yin(8)
line 1: young Yang(7)

Place line 6 below the line 1. ䷅->䷺:​

line 6: young Yang(7)
line 5: young Yang(7)
line 4: old Yang(9)
line 3: young Yin(8)
line 2: young Yang(7)
line 1: young Yin(8)
 

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