what does it mean, empty city?

[maiajay]

Hi,
I haven't posted in quite some time, but I reference the wisdom on the board regularly and appreciate it. Today I decided to finally ask for some opinions and experiences of 46.3
Whenever I receive it I feel unsure as to whether the Yi is saying something like, "there is nothing there for you," or if it is saying, "there is nothing to this line of questioning" as in whatever you are worried about will not be an issue. I have read many translations of the line and though more seem to point toward the latter, I received the line once when I was asking about travelling to a place that had strong ties to my past(a trip that I was feeling VERY apprehensive) and I really felt like the Yi was saying kind of, yes, you are going (I had multiple reasons I why I felt like I needed to make this journey) but that really there was nothing much there for me anymore. One could argue that it was saying, it will be a smooth trip, not to worry, but I though some of my fears may not have been realized, some of them were and I found the trip quite difficult.
So, wondering how others view or relate to this line. Thanks in advance for the replies.
Peace,
Maya

P.S. There is one other interpretation I have contemplated when I have received this line in certain situations and that is, what if the Yi is saying you are pushing upward but what you are pushing toward is not there yet nor not yet ready. It can feel a bit like a cautioning in that context.

 

[willowfox]

It really depends upon what your question was?

Basically, it says that what ever you are planning to do will go very successfully as nothing will block your progress.

 

[maiajay]

Thanks Willowfox,
I had asked about yet another trip, something like, "what do i need to know about going"...But when I got the response it compelled write this group about confusion I have around the line in whenever I get it...in part due to the story of my trip mentioned in my original post, where it kind of felt like I was going to an "empty city."
Thanks, again, for the reply.
Maya

 

[Trojina]

i don't think this line promises success at all, nor failure but rather theres no obstacles to going to this place/doing this thing, its just once you get there you might find there wasn't alot of point in going as its an 'empty city'... a bit of a waste of energy. Am repeating self as I've posted about this line before. Have you checked out hte hexagram index, there will probably be alot on it there.

Anyway in short if i had this in response to any proposed action I'd check out if the place i was going was actually open , i've had it means events etc are cancelled...yes its easy to get there but so what lol and that I was aware i may not receive what i expect simply because its not there or available in that place. Its easy access cos theres noone there, theres noone there cos theres nothing there.....futile

so with regard to your trip, theres nothing to stop you taking the trip but will there be any point is the question.

 

[rosada]

I may be lost but I'm making great time

I think here we have a line where having a clear understanding of the trigrams can be very helpful. The upper trigram, Kun, is a totally receptive, wide open space that offers no resistance to anything anyone wants to say or do - BUT - being open space there is nothing there. I think of someone reading a story, you race to get to the ending but oops, the author hasn't written it yet. So in the one sense this hexagram is positive in that there are no obstacles yet Wilhelm specifically states, "no promise of good fortune...but it is wise not to yield to..misgivings, because they only inhibit one's power. Instead, the point is to profit by the propitiousness of the time."
In the sequence of the hexagrams, I think of 45 The Gathering Together as this great group meeting where everyone is encouraged and inspired to Love Thy Neighbor and in 46.1.2.3 some individual really believes this is what everyone's agreed to and rushes forward to share and be loving only to discover that, uh, no one else is actually into doing it. However, eventually comes 46.4 and talk of being received into the inner circle. So maybe 46.3 is saying you may be a bit ahead of your time and that eventually with 46.4 you do connect.

Particularly for you in response to your question about your trip and how it really was not all that successful and had many difficulties, I'm thinking 46.3 is indicating that you may have been ahead of the group in your desire to connect on a higher level - perhaps the "happy ending" hasn't been written yet.

I got this line once when I was worried about being late. When I arrived I was late, but so was everyone else. I was the first one there so I arrived at an "empty city"!

 

[maiajay]

Hi Rosada and Trojan,
Thank you for the replies. Rosada, your words made me wonder if this line could also be a way of the Yi saying that the answer is not yet available--as you said, the end is not yet written. I would also say that the theory that you offered about others not having the desire or ability to connect on a "higher level." as you put it, was accurate in that case, and perhaps also part of the reason the Yi would say "there is not much there for you." (And yet, in other readings felt I still got still got encouragement to go).
In the case of the current trip in question...I suppose somewhere between "there is nothing really of value there for you" (which doesn't really seem all that likely as these are close, supportive family members I'd be visiting, that, true are not really able to meet me in many ways...and "it will be easy, breezy," and "the end is not yet written" --is my answer.
Peace,
Maya

P.S. I chuckeld at the story about your being late, Rosada.