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85mem

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Hello, everyone!

I've been a long-time lurker on these boards and I absolutely love the wealth of information and insight everyone here has. I thought I'd go ahead and make my first post by asking something that's been on my mind for a while.

Has the advice from a reading ever gone against your instincts/intuition?
Did you ever regret following one or the other, according to how the situation played out?

:bows:
 
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85mem

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I was really hoping to get to know the community better. You seem like a helpful group of people.
Any comment, really, is welcome.
 

Sparhawk

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Has the advice from a reading ever gone against your instincts/intuition?
Did you ever regret following one or the other, according to how the situation played out?

:bows:

Hi there,

Welcome to Clarity. Intuition is a difficult animal to pet. The reason a person consults an oracle is to avoid leaving everything in the hands of intuition, and, sometimes, common sense. Sometimes a person lacks enough intuition to make a decision based solely on it. Sometimes, a person's intuition is saying something that doesn't rings true and doubt ensues. If you trust your intuition, why consult an oracle? If you can assess a situation and have a good track record of making decisions based on your common sense, why consult an oracle? The vast majority of people in the world walk about making life and death decisions without ever consulting an oracle... :D

Alas, oracles work in tandem with both your intuition and your common sense. Usually, they work as an arbiter when both seem to disagree. OTOH, oracles are as good and fallible as the person interpreting them, so, since there are no perfect human beings, chances for failure are moderate to high. The question is: what failed, the oracle, your intuition or your common sense? When a person is able to make those three work in harmony, that person is on the right track to, eventually, discard the oracle because the oracle would be within.

Failing all that, here is some comic relief about "gut feelings"... :rofl:

 

85mem

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Luis,

Thank you for the warm welcome! :)
Very wise words... this part stood out to me the most:

The question is: what failed, the oracle, your intuition or your common sense? When a person is able to make those three work in harmony, that person is on the right track to, eventually, discard the oracle because the oracle would be within.

Beautifully worded and so very true. I completely agree.

Thank you for your wonderful and thoughtful post.
Thanks for the giggles as well. lol
 

peter2610

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Hi 85mem,

85mem said:
Has the advice from a reading ever gone against your instincts/intuition?

As Luis points out, intuition is just one component used in interpretation, along with common sense, knowledge and experience, context etc If your question can be taken as 'Has the advice from a reading ever gone against your assessment of a situation?' - then my answer would be yes. Using the I Ching is rather like playing chess with a Grand Master whispering in your ear - it directs your moves in relation to future outcomes and developments that you might not yet see at the present time. It also incorporates a moral guidance system within many of its answers, hence there is often an element of moral responsibility to self and/or others that has to be considered.

Because of our personal limitations, the I Ching's advice might seem, in certain situations, to be counter productive but that is often because we cannot yet grasp the wider perspective. In this sense the I Ching's answers can sometimes appear to go against our evaluations, but the process is didactic; as we learn to assimilate its guidance we adjust our evaluations and broaden our perception - we 'grow' into a more complete understanding.

Peter
 

85mem

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Peter,

You've framed the question much better than I have.

If your question can be taken as 'Has the advice from a reading ever gone against your assessment of a situation?' - then my answer would be yes.

In your experience, if you don't mind that I ask, when you've found yourself in this particular situation - do you tend to follow the advice, regardless?
 

bamboo

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In your experience, if you don't mind that I ask, when you've found yourself in this particular situation - do you tend to follow the advice, regardless?

Yes, I always do. In my experience, the Yi is always wise to something I may be missing. Hence, I tend to always trust the Yi when it comes to big decisions. I do trust my own intuition too, very much, but the Yi seems to work in tandem with my intuition. IOW, what seems logical to me and often desirous, may not always be the best path/action to take. I consider the Yi to be a concrete form of my own intuition speaking to me...so if it opposes the path I logically want to pursue, I usually defer to the larger wisdom.

an example of Yi's wisdom which can be so accurate: On the day my tax return was due to arrive, I asked the Yi if everything was on schedule, ie would I get my tax return today as planned. The yi gave me a few readings, both of which implied there was a problem...51.4 and also 32.4.... I was upset and wanted to argue with the Yi. I had moved but I had changed my address with the IRS...I had even called the IRS back to make sure they had the right address and they assured me they did and that my return had been mailed. So why was Yi saying there was a problem??

well, it was late and not only late, but it had been mailed to my old address, forwarded, and even then delivered to the wrong house!!!!! In retrospect, the Yi's responses had been totally accurate. It was shocking that they had mailed it to the old address...and even more shocking that it had then been delivered to the wrong house...a real 32.4 situation...the relating hexagrams: 24 and 46 sort of revealed that it would work out okay in the end. ( the neighbor who received it luckily brought it over and taped it to my door)

so if I go to the trouble to ask the Yi, I never ignore the message. there is always a reason it says what it says, imo:bows:
 
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peter2610

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85mem said:
In your experience, if you don't mind that I ask, when you've found yourself in this particular situation - do you tend to follow the advice, regardless?

Usually it's a process of trying to figure out where the I Ching is coming from. As I mentioned above, if the I Ching's advice appears to go against our assessment of a situation it's usually because we're not seeing the wider picture or the flow of future developments. There can be certain situations where the I Ching's answer cannot give a detailed factual exposition of all the elements and future stages involved, so you are simply urged to go ahead in a particular direction regardless of any personal doubt or reluctance - this then becomes a matter of faith. Sometimes the I Ching's answer might be directed at our moral perception and we are urged to accept a view that we might feel uncomfortable with initially, - this then becomes a matter of spiritual growth.

Whatever our difficulty with the advice given in a particular answer, the important thing is, obviously, to seek a better understanding of the reasons behind that answer. If we still have difficulty in accepting an answer then we have to seek a better understanding of ourselves.

Peter
 

heylise

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so if I go to the trouble to ask the Yi, I never ignore the message. there is always a reason it says what it says, imo:bows:
I never think the message is 'wrong'. In my view intuition is something which goes deeper (or higher, whatever) than many other skills we use for making decisions, like logic and reasoning, common sense, wishes, fears and so on. Intuition often has a very faint voice, Yi makes that more audible.

I don't listen to Yi's answer with common sense, because that has huge flaws. Usually it is loaded with preconceptions. Einstein said, it was "everything anyone told you before the age of 17". Not sure if I quote him exactly right, but this is what it came down to.

There is something inside which knows better. I want to hear that voice and Yi helps. If I doubt the answer, intuition runs away. But I have to add that I don't ask Yi 'what to do', only for making situations clear. What to do is entirely up to me.
the oracle, your intuition or your common sense? When a person is able to make those three work in harmony, that person is on the right track to, eventually, discard the oracle because the oracle would be within.
That's the ideal, but alas seldom reality.
 

Sparhawk

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That's the ideal, but alas seldom reality.

Never claimed it was easy or that I was any closer to that lofty goal than anybody else... :D I think is feasible though.
 

85mem

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I see from your responses that it's very much about trusting and having faith in the Yi.

I know some mentioned this already and it's confirmed my thoughts on the matter, it really does have a lot to do with understanding ourselves, what surrounds us and also understanding where the Yi is coming from. In my experience, some readings won't even address the question at hand, but direct my attention to something else that's going on around me. I have to make sure I'm aware of what it might be pointing to instead.

And of course, sometimes I've misinterpreted a reading. :D I'm still fairly new at this.

The accuracy of the Yi is something that still surprises me to this day. I have to admit that the few times a reading hasn't felt on point, I've later realized it was speaking of something else that was indeed happening. But, man, does it take a fair amount of life-experience with the oracle to know what it's talking about all the time and, in some cases, on time.

... I don't ask Yi 'what to do', only for making situations clear. What to do is entirely up to me.

I like this. Very wise.

I have to say, heylise, I love your website. Your interpretation of the hexagrams and their lines are so full of heart. I consult it often. :)


To all who have replied so far, thank you. I appreciate each and every one of your comments.
 

peter2610

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85mem said:
In my experience, some readings won't even address the question at hand, but direct my attention to something else that's going on around me.

That's a very important point, and shows that you're certainly not a 'beginner' with the I Ching. Many problems with interpretation can arise, IMO, through failure to recognize answers like these and through trying to force a literal interpretation of the original question onto a 'substitute' answer - square pegs and round holes. Very often, but not always, answers like these can be addressing the mind-set we are using - over-enthusiasm, refusing to let a matter drop, doubting the universal process, abject hopelessness etc.

In this process how we reach the goal is just as important as the goal itself. Achieving the correct perspective will change the nature of the problem, and the question. It's how we grow.

If the meaning of a particular line-text has to be forced or wildly imagined, it usually means we've got the context wrong, we haven't fully understood where the i Ching is coming from. Get the context right and the line-texts usually fall into place like pieces in a jigsaw puzzle. The same process applies to so-called 'contradictory' line-texts.

Hope this helps.

Peter
 
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