Saturday, November 18, 2006

More I-Ching

I can't really think of much to blog about because I'm too busy worrying about what else I should be doing at every moment. So, to calm down, I am going to do some more I-Ching. Here is the reading for the question of "goals" I asked on November 3rd, while I was at work.



"The Receptive, which moves downward, stands above; the Creative, which moves upward, is below. Hence their influences meet and are in harmony, so that all living things bloom and prosper. This hexagram belongs to the first month (February-March), at which time the forces of nature prepare the new spring." ~ text from www.eclecticenergies.com

The hexigram's name is "Peace" and starting off, it is a comforting message to have regarding my goals. Harmony for blooming and prospering sounds great- especially since I have been battling to find time to be creative (a bad case of "Law and Order" addiction has not been helping). But blame for the TV aside, I think I am having "real issues deciding how to make money AND grow at the same time.

Now to throw my i-ching I use pennies. Heads are worth 2 and tails- 3. You start from the bottom line and throw six rounds of the 3 pennies. You can come up with a 6 (three heads), 7 (2 heads and a tail), 8 (2 tails and a head) or 9 (3 tails). Even numbers get a straight line and odds get the dotted line. If you're wondering why you need 4 numerical values to get either full lines or dotted, it has to do with 6's and 9's. When you get a 6 in one space (as opposed to an 8) you can also look at the character that has that space as the opposite character- for instance, my character 11- Peace, has a 6 in the third spot that can change the whole character to a 19. I guess it's supposed to signify that in that space there is tension that could cause the shift from character 11 to 19.

Do you hate math yet?
But this is why i-ching is great. Not only can you get one character worth of wisdom, but if you have 6's & 9's you get to explore entirely different options, and form links between the characters and their messages that can be molded into meaningful statements about your life.

So my 11 can turn to 19.
"No plain not followed by a slope.
No going not followed by a return.
He who remains persevering in danger
Is without blame.
Do not complain about this truth;
Enjoy the good fortune you still possess.

Everything on earth is subject to change. Prosperity is followed by decline: this is the eternal law on earth. Evil can indeed be held in check but not permanently abolished. It always returns. This conviction might induct melancholy, but it should not; it ought only to keep us from falling into illusion when good fortune comes to us. If we continue mindful of the danger, we remain persevering and make no mistakes. As long as a man's inner nature remains stronger and richer than anything offered by external fortune, as long as he remains inwardly superior to fate, fortune will not desert him.
"

"No plain not followed by a slope."
It'd make a great T-shirt.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Zorro's I Ching

This was Zorro's I Ching... Though, I think it applies more to us than him.
see here.

The Judgment

Keeping Still. Keeping his back still
So that he no longer feels his body.
He goes into his courtyard
And does not see his people.
No blame.


True quiet means keeping still when the time has come to keep still, and going forward when the time has come to go forward. In this way rest and movement are in agreement with the demands of the time, and thus there is light in life.

The hexagram signifies the end and the beginning of all movement. The back is named because in the back are located all the nerve fibres that mediate movement. If the movement of these spinal nerves is brought to a standstill, the ego, with its restlessness, disappears as it were. When a man has thus become calm, he may turn to the outside world. He no longer sees in it the struggle and tumult of individual beings, and therefore he has that true peace of mind which is needed for understanding the great laws of the universe and for acting in harmony with them. Whoever acts from these deep levels makes no mistakes.

The Image

Mountains standing close together:
The image of Keeping Still.
Thus the superior man
Does not permit his thoughts
To go beyond his situation.


The heart thinks constantly. This cannot be changed, but the movements of the heart - that is, a man's thoughts - should restrict themselves to the immediate situation. All thinking that goes beyond this only makes the heart sore.

Noblehearted keeping still.
Good fortune.


This marks the consummation of the effort to attain tranquillity. One is at rest, not merely in a small, circumscribed way in regard to matters of detail, but one has also a general resignation in regard to life as a whole, and this confers peace and good fortune in relation to every individual matter.

I stole all the above text from www.eclecticengergies.com, and I hope they don't mind. I think their site is nice because you can throw your own coins. It's very nice.