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Yes or no?

If you ask a 'yes'/'no' question and receive #59, what does it mean?

  • "Yes."

    Votes: 2 11.1%
  • "No."

    Votes: 7 38.9%
  • I have no idea!

    Votes: 4 22.2%
  • maybe

    Votes: 2 11.1%
  • meaningless/imaginary

    Votes: 3 16.7%

  • Total voters
    18

kenresting

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I've read different sources that say you shouldn't ask the Yi a yes or no question. Although, in some instances asking a yes or no question would be preferable. Does anyone have any experience with this?

:bows:
 

RindaR

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I asked Yi: "Tell me about asking yes or no questions." The response was 18.2.3.6>2.

I take this to mean that when we come to Yi to ask a question, it's because we've lost our sense of what is right to do next. To borrow from Jesed's explanation today, we can't see how to be in harmony with our Tao. (Work on what is spoiled.)

Lines 2 and 3 suggest that we are looking for answers to questions that have their roots in errors of being too aggressive or too passive or a combination thereof.

Line 6 suggests to me that Yi has higher goals than serving us. I'm wondering if perhaps it/they are saying their service is to the Tao. At any rate it would seem that a directive/commanding approach is one that is not native to Yi. It/they do not seem to me tell us to do anything, but rather help us see patterns in our environment and possible consequences of behavior/s we may be considering.

The final hexagram is 2, the receptive.

" The Receptive brings about sublime success,
Furthering through the perseverance of a mare.
If the superior man undertakes something and tries to lead,
He goes astray;
But if he follows, he finds guidance.
It is favorable to find friends in the west and south,
To forego friends in the east and north.
Quiet perseverance brings good fortune."

Perhaps Yi is giving us an image of itself/themselves as receptive. It meets us wherever we happen to be in our journey, and I think embodies the essence of quiet perseverence after all these centuries, eh?

...just a few thoughts...

next?

Rinda
 
B

bruce_g

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No. Absolutely under no condition should you ever ask a yes/no question. It is against our religion and company policy.

Just kidding.

I think if your mind can receive more than a yes/no answer, then it’s ok to ask a yes/no question. Ask with an opened mind (hex 2) and you’ll find what needs fixin (18).
 

jte

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"It/they do not seem to me tell us to do anything, but rather help us see patterns in our environment and possible consequences of behavior/s we may be considering."

Yes, *but* that will depend on the specific question/answer/circumstances. I'm not disagreeing with you, but rather pointing out that what you say, while wise, isn't always the case.

My 2 cents... Next... ;-)

- Jeff
 

ewald

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A yes or no question can in fact be two questions or one.

I've sometimes asked single yes or no questions and received 59.0 Dispersion, which I took as a "No," or 11.0 Passing Through, which I took as a "Yes." If you get a clear answer of one line that has "Misfortune," this is obviously a "No," and with "Good fortune" a "Yes."

But often, if you ask a yes or no question as a single question, you don't get much of a clear answer. In that case, it may help to split the question into two questions, "What if I do," and "What if I don't." By comparing the two answers, and see which you like best, you get your "Yes" or "No."
 

hilary

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Thank you, Bruce, for that clear statement of company policy.

Ewald makes a good practical point. The question isn't whether you 'should' ask yes/no questions (btw, has anyone ever asked Yi "Should I ask questions like this?" ;) ). It's the quality of the conversation you're setting up. Will Yi be able to tell you all you need to hear? And will you be able to understand a 'yes' or 'no' from the answers?

Also by 'seeing which you like best,' your 'yes' or 'no' comes from you. That can't be bad.

I'm going to experiment with adding a poll to this thread, just for fun.
*Edit* - and there it is! Please vote!
 
L

lightofreason

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kenresting said:
I've read different sources that say you shouldn't ask the Yi a yes or no question. Although, in some instances asking a yes or no question would be preferable. Does anyone have any experience with this?

:bows:

The realm of YES/NO is the realm of yin/yang, NOT yin/yang recursed which is the realm of hexagrams. In other words the yes/no is stretched out into a dimension of values of yesness/noness.

ALL hexagrams apply to ANY moment where various methods will sort the hexagrams into a sequence reflecting best-fit to worst-fit ordering. As such the IC covers a focus on probabilities and in so doing reflects the dynamics of our brains (the Schrodinger wave equation of physics is a specialist application of this general methodology of probabilities thinking)

At this level of hexagrams we are working with analogies to situations. Thus asking "does my boyfriend/girlfriend love me?" and focused on hexagrams the answer is more "well... its like this..." and a narrative can be created from the derived hexagram!

Move back to yin/yang and it is more no/yes -- but there are no details! ;-)

The poll question is thus misleading in that it does not have the choice of 'meaningless' nor 'imaginary'
 

frank_r

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I also like polls for fun, and I agree with you Chris that's impossible to do a real poll. But nevertheless I did.

I asked myself the question : shall I do the poll?, and when I get 59 what should be the answer then. I would read that answer the Yi gave me with 59 as a no. But because I already did, a pushed no because sometimes I can't resist to give my opinion.
 
B

bruce_g

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Agrees that the 59 answer depends on the circumstances surrounding the question, but in a general sense, I'm giving it a "no".
 

hilary

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Oddly enough, so do I. But keep those votes coming in!
 

Sparhawk

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I will not vote until a "maybe" is put in there as an option... :)
 

hilary

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Poll duly modified to please all the people all the time. ;)
 

Sparhawk

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There you go... I voted... Now, that "imaginary..." was very appealing... :) And we forgot "perhaps", which not always is a synonym for "maybe"... :D
 
J

jesed

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Agree with Luis and Bruce

My answer is: always depending of the matter and the question (with text analysis); always depending on the matter and the date (with mathematical method)

Example of the first method:

QUESTION: Is good idea to try to disperse the misundertandings? yes or no?
ANSWER 59.0

:)

Best wishes
 

cesca

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My vote would be for 'it depends'. Surely there is no such thing as a yes/no question entirely free from context. If my yes/no question were 'Should I give away all my worldly possessions and become a monk?', then I would take Hexagram 59 as a resounding 'yes'. If my question was along the lines of 'Should I invest in this property?', then I would take it as a 'no'.
 

kenresting

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lightofreason said:
Move back to yin/yang and it is more no/yes -- but there are no details! ;-)

How about tossing a coin, heads or tails? Would anyone advocate this? (But those lack of details might drive one insane.) The great thing about the Yi is the confirmation of the situation within the lines.

Hmmm, would h62 be a yes or a no?
 
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autumn

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Yes and no questions are interesting. I've noticed a pattern with yes/no questions in i-ching. Many times I will ask a question and receive an unchanging hexagram that looks like a 'yes' to the answer, but it turns out to be a 'no'. I think the reason why is because it's unchanging.

Here's an example. A few months ago my career was sabotaged by someone who just makes it a habit to sabotage other people's careers. She's done it to other people, too. One of the ways it was done was by preventing me from taking valuable training. About a month ago, a person way above her wanted to give several people including me the opportunity to take the training again. I got excited, and asked "will I get to take this training?". The answer was 16 unchanging. As a yes/no answer, my first interpretation of 16 here would have been yes. In reality, the answer was no. She convinced everyone around her that we couldn't afford it.

This has happened with other answers that I can't verify in reality yet, but there has been a pattern of getting an unchanging hexagram that fits the context in a "yes" way, but because it's unchanging, it ends up being no.

Has this ever happened to anyone else?
 

autumn

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Afterthought-
Maybe what these answers mean is that 'the desire to do it is there, but it will not be manifest in reality'.

?
 
J

jesed

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Hi autumn

16 unchanging, I take it as: "watch out... this could be a blind enthusiasm. You need more than your enthusiasm, be sure you have others help before act"

Best wishes
 

Trojina

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autumn said:
Afterthought-
Maybe what these answers mean is that 'the desire to do it is there, but it will not be manifest in reality'.

?

Agreed, very often i find that is what unchanging hexagrams signify, though not always.

Re 16, Lise I think writes that 16 can also signify deception and trickery.
 

dobro p

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autumn -

"I got excited, and asked "will I get to take this training?". The answer was 16 unchanging. As a yes/no answer, my first interpretation of 16 here would have been yes."

I'd've read it as: "You and the situation you're in are presently in a state of enthusiastic preparation for taking the training." Which doesn't necessarily mean you'll actually take the training now; it just means you're getting ready for it. Maybe you have to be thwarted by the spoiler in your company first, something like that. But you're getting ready, for sure. (The implication being that in the fullness of time you'll be in a better position to take the training.)

But you might have got a clearer picture of the situation if you'd asked something like: "What do I need to know about taking this training now?" (Using an open question instead of a yes/no question.) The Yi might have come up with Hex 12 in response to that question, for instance.

It's not that it's wrong to use a yes/no question, it's just that when you use the Yi, it's much easier for most people most of the time to get understandable, pertinent responses when the question's open instead of yes/no.
 

hilary

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Yes. What he said.

Another point - if we really wanted to hear just 'yes' or 'no', why wouldn't we just toss one coin? If that feels insufficient, I think it's probably because the question we really have in mind isn't the 'yes'/'no' one. IAnd if you want to understand the answer, it definitely helps if the question you ask is the one you actually mean...
 

cesca

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hilary said:
Yes. What he said.

Another point - if we really wanted to hear just 'yes' or 'no', why wouldn't we just toss one coin? If that feels insufficient, I think it's probably because the question we really have in mind isn't the 'yes'/'no' one. IAnd if you want to understand the answer, it definitely helps if the question you ask is the one you actually mean...

I knew someone who made several major life decisions by tossing a coin. He found it better to commit to a direction -- ANY direction -- than to be stuck at the crossroads pondering. Worked for him.
 

autumn

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In this particular case, yes/no was all I really wanted to know, and because the classes are offered on a yearly basis, it was- "will I get to begin to take the training at the beginning of our fiscal year"- yes, or no.

But, I'm a lot more interested in what getting the unchanging hexagrams means in other cases of "yes/no". I think from Dobro is saying, it sounds like "the potential is there, nothing is acting on that potential right now".
 

kenresting

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I think jesed and dobro got it right.

Enthusiasm - Take opportunities as they arise but make sure you do not appear over-confident or immodest.

It appears that your saboteur does not like your confidence.

Upon further contemplation it does not appear that your question was truly confined to yes or no. There are too many factors to consider. It's more of a maybe. Maybe you'll take it at a future time. (If the opportunity presents itself and no one including yourself sabotages you.) Maybe you'll have to pay for the training yourself. (If the opportunity presents itself and no one including yourself sabotages you.) Maybe you'll get the training at a new job. (If the opportunity presents itself and no one including yourself sabotages you.) Does this make any sense?

A true yes or no question would be "Did hilary herself sock me on the arm?".

I'm very upset with you hilary. :D
 

Sparhawk

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A true yes or no question would be "Did hilary herself sock me on the arm?".

Hey!! I vouch for Hilary and I know she doesn't "sock" anybody (she can "box your ears" though...) That goes to show that yes/no answers don't work... :D

L
 

kenresting

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autumn said:
In this particular case, yes/no was all I really wanted to know, and because the classes are offered on a yearly basis, it was- "will I get to begin to take the training at the beginning of our fiscal year"- yes, or no.

But, I'm a lot more interested in what getting the unchanging hexagrams means in other cases of "yes/no". I think from Dobro is saying, it sounds like "the potential is there, nothing is acting on that potential right now".

True, usually the Yi answers the question we really want to know. But sometimes it feels as if the Yi answers you in the way it wants to answer you. :eek: At least that has been my experience.

I recently asked a yes or no question and received h62.
 
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autumn

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kenresting said:
It appears that your saboteur does not like your confidence.
That's not at all what's going on, in fact, I make her look good. But thanks for the commentary.

kenresting said:
There are too many factors to consider.
No, actually, it was pretty straightforward. I understand the details of my life quite well. I was trying to offer an insight into what the answer might mean here.
 

autumn

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jesed said:
Hi autumn

16 unchanging, I take it as: "watch out... this could be a blind enthusiasm. You need more than your enthusiasm, be sure you have others help before act"

Best wishes

trojan said:
Re 16, Lise I think writes that 16 can also signify deception and trickery..

Ah, I did not see those answers. I should have read all replies more carefully. :blush: That makes a lot of sense.
 

heylise

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Been thinking about yes and no. I usually feel it as totally useless, asking that. But I think I got it a bit more clear to myself now. If I'd want a yes or no, then I think throwing a coin would be perfect. After all, we get great answers from Yi, so why should one single coin not yield a good answer too?

I still think asking yes or no to Yi is useless. As if you'd go to Google-Earth if you want to know the nearest bakery. Usually Yi's answer to a yes-no question looks to me no more clear than what Google-earth does for a bakery. Better step into the street and ask someone, or look in the yellow pages. Or throw a coin, go right or left?

LiSe
 

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