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Repeating the same question/s at different times in your life? What are the rules?

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QD4555

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Hello, What are the rules when it comes to repeating the same question/s about the same person- at different periods of time in the relationship?My initial understanding of the I Ching was that you will not receive an accurate reading if you ask the same question about the same situation/ individual. Does this hold true as time passes? What if an individual were in a relationship for over 30 years? Could they only inquire a specific question about their partner one time in those 30 years?What are the Rules? Please if any one can offer help/ insights and resources on this matter, it would be greatly appreciated.
 

rosada

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Well there are no rules exactly. It's more about what works. The I Ching itself says in hexagram 4 that if we ask a question more than once the I Ching will not give an answer, and furthermore that perseverance furthers. Thus, if you ask a question and you don't understand the answer you get, one should persevere working with it until you do understand it.
If you do ask the same question again, assume the second answer refines the response you got from the first question but it will not negate it. Thus, if you ask, "How will it be for me if I take this job?" and receive 36. Darkening of the light, the IC is saying the job isn't all that great for you. But let's say you feel you really need the money so you ask again, "How will it be for me if I take this job?" and this time you get Hexagram 14 Possession in great measure which could lead you to believe the I Ching is saying this will be a wonderful job. It's not. Although the readings seem to contradict each other, it's more like the second answer clarifies the first. Like the reality works out that the job proves to not be all that great - as hex 36 warned - but it does pay the bills, hex 14. So in this case hex 14 doesn't mean the job is as fabulous as one might have expected if they had gotten 14 as the first answer, it's still a lousy job as hex 36 said.
So you might say the rule is that the first answer may be clarified, but not negated by the second one.
Of course, circumstances change and when the circumstance significantly changes then a second question can give a fresh answer. If you were 17 and asked, "How would it be for me to go to college and get a teaching credential?" and the I Ching advised you, "Hexagram 1.5 - 14. Go for it!" that doesn't mean it will always be the right thing for you to do. If you decide not to go and it's not for another ten years that you once again consider college then so much would have changed in your life that it is appropriate to now ask the question again because now it's a new situation.
So you here you might say the rule is that if the situation has significantly changed then it is appropriate to ask your question again.
 
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QD4555

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Thank you so much for the reply! It is very helpful. the individual who taught me the I Ching many years ago, declared that once you ask- that answer always remains the same no matter what. So for example, if I asked "What is the best way for me to handle X right now? "- He told me that, that answer will always hold true in relation the individual I have asked of. After years of using the I Ching, this did not seem to make sense, as seasons change, so does life, people, and circumstances.

Have you had experience with asking the same question in regards to a specific situation/person?

Thank you!
 

angelatlantis14

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Hi QD,

I guess EVERYONE has experience with asking the same question more than once :)
Even when we know it may not make sense...
I think there are various reasons to do it:

1) I genuinely don't understand the answer. That happens, although whenever I take a really serious, respectful approach towards the answer, it mostly makes sense after looking into it for a while
2) I do understand the answer (or think I do), but do not like it! There was an example in Reading Circle where a querent received 12 UC for a question about the outlook for the next year - fully understandable to try and get a different answer. However, they then did monthly readings and guess what - the 12 kept reappearing. So sometimes the answer is not so encouraging, but may be still true...

Like Rosada said, there are no really hard and fast rules about when and how often to ask, you'll have to trust your inner intuition about when too much is too much.

best wishes

maui
 

li chien

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The idea that any divination is an absolute is an interesting one. I wonder if by interacting with any potential that in our observation and just by putting our consciousness towards any waveform has the potential to also alter the outcome... a bit like in quantum mechanics and that poor old Shrodinger's cat. The concept that observation of any wave form has the capacity to alter its equation over time.

I also wonder if our relationship with Yi is also further developed by the framework we use to interact with it. If that changes and we change our perception of outcome can also change.

If we ask only with sincerity and respect and not in fearfulness and allow the change in us to develop into varying phases of understanding that when is the time to ask anything and our limits in any understanding then that also becomes our maturing as more conscious souls.

I love the concept in horary astrology that it is the question meeting the answer in time and space and that we only need to trust in our meeting these things at the appropriate time to be nourished by them. But the notion that outcome is absolutely changeless is one that leaves me wondering about anything being in truth absolute while ever asking in any one time and space and that this can always change at any time.

There is no hubris in observing any of this ultimately because all these are questions rather than answers. One of the great heartwarming comforts of approaching things from the centre is that it keeps us safely away from the limits of the extremes. In the end perhaps all and any of these are all entangled positions anyway. The great unknown.
 
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diamanda

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"What is the best way for me to handle X right now? "- He told me that, that answer will always hold true in relation the individual I have asked of. After years of using the I Ching, this did not seem to make sense, as seasons change, so does life, people, and circumstances.

I agree with your observation. Especially since your question included "right now".
It's always helpful to include a time-frame in your question.

and just by putting our consciousness towards any waveform has the potential to also alter the outcome... a bit like in quantum mechanics and that poor old Shrodinger's cat. The concept that observation of any wave form has the capacity to alter its equation over time.

It depends on what we're trying to influence.
If we're trying to influence the behaviours of others, yes I believe that's possible - sometimes.
If we're trying to alter concrete events/characters, then no. The "this-is-fine" dog is a good example.
 

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li chien

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It possibly just comes back to what we see as the purpose of divination. If you believe that divining is essentially about finding answers then the notion that there are correct and immutable outcomes and that the way we frame and interpret questions and answers can possibly be perfect then it makes sense then that asking a second time is just pointless double dipping.

If you see the purpose of divination as a way of developing understanding rather than getting answers then the opportunity to realise that even just developing a sense of when it is right to ask a second time and faith that in that answer there is something to further your understanding beyond the previous answer... and even if it is just that asking the second time can sometimes teach us to relax about an innate insecurity with the not knowing. Being comfortable with the greater unknown is an essentially important step in our journey. If we are riders on the back of the dragon we don't need to have the answers of where it is going, just being comfortable with the notion of hopping on and letting go is a defining shift in our purpose.

In terms of anything being truly concrete it is important for us to realise also that everything that is concrete was once fluid and that in the end things naturally give way and dissolve back into the fluid.

The rock water cycle is an unending terrestrial reflection of the greater cosmological life cycle.

So a question for us might be can the centre of all things ultimately be infinitely fluid and the extremes of all things just temporary concrete boundaries leading us ceaselessly back to the living truth in the centre. The fluidity of all things at the centre is perhaps the one changeless truth. I often wonder if the only immutable thing could be the early heaven cycle. Once anything is called into existence the outcomes are then open and fluid. I remember my astrology teacher telling us that what separates us from the gods is that we get to interact with our fates. The gods are fixed. If we change from our interacting with expectatation by looking forward to an answer then all things have at the moment of energetic interchange the potential to trigger further change. By engaging in shifting our attention through time we then become part of redefining the future.
 

Olga Super Star

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Have you had experience with asking the same question in regards to a specific situation/person?
!

Yes I have!
For the school I am doing I first had 'tears of blood' so I didn't enrol, then the following year an astonishing creative dragon flying came up! :):)

I see if I can link the reading, although I may have posted it in Reading Circle and you may not be able to read it.

Come join the Reading Circle!! :bounce:
 
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Freedda

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... the individual who taught me the I Ching many years ago, declared that once you ask- that answer always remains the same no matter what.
That makes no sense. Change is constant and a given. There's a reason it's titled the book of changes. You and X, and your relationship are not written in stone are they? Besides that, your original question was "how to handle X right now." Not six months or six years into the future, but NOW.

You can also change your question and still get accurate and helpful responses. For example, there's no reason you couldn't ask: "what is the best way for me to approach my relationship with X," or "how could I improve my attitude towards X," or more generally, "tell me about my relationship with X as it is right now."

One suggestion here is not to do this too often or re-cast the question just because you don't like or don't understand the answer - instead dig a bit deeper to glean some understand. I just don't like treating Yi as if its the "Magic 8 Ball."

Regards, David.
 

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