59 – dispersion

Case Study

A user asks the I Ching about her business constellation which has served her well for a long time. Recently, however, she felt that it was time for a change as she wanted to focus on a different target group in the future. The I Ching answers with hexagram 59 – dispersion. The title, dispersion, confuses her: does it mean that she should liquidate her old business and then to start all over again in a new constellation?

Weiterlesen: 59 – dispersion

60 – limitation

Questions on Hexagram 60

  • The user’s question is: “What is there to say about the city / area where I live?” The user has lived in this place for a long time, but always with a feeling of alienation, discomfort, like a prisoner. He feels grateful – but at the same time burdened, bored.
    The answer of the I Ching is: 60 – limitation. Somehow he likes the modern interpretation Debris turns Humus. A similar phrase has been with him for a long time, a phrase that speaks of flowers that need a certain kind of soil/dung to grow.
  • The user’s question: “What is important now, in this existentially threatening situation?” The background, he explains, is that new projects are developing that give him justified hope. He feels that he should nurture hope and at the same time take the chaos (in the form of his living environment) more easily. There is a lot to sort out, and this mountain of work together with old fears almost paralyzes him. But at the same time he feels hope, a light that gives him courage and says: All is well.
  • A user asks how he should behave in the upcoming collaboration. He actually feels superior to his partner because of his greater experience and would like to set the pace. On the other hand, it is clear that his partner will manage and coordinate the entire project.
  • A user asks: “When will Max the dachshund return to his owner? Will he ever come back?”
  • One user writes: “I’ve started a new job and find myself increasingly overwhelmed by the demands of the position. At first I thought that the project would open up to me as I got used to it, but now I find myself more exhausted and drained every day. My question to the I Ching is: ‘How can I resolve this situation? What should I do?'”

The current interpretation can be found here: https://www.no2do.com/hexagramme_en/778878.htm

62 – preponderance of the small

Case Study

A user asks the I Ching the following question: “Does he call me because he still feels the same way as I do? Is he just calling out of kindness? Is he calling me because he misses me as much as I do? Does he still have feelings for me?” The I Ching’s answer is 62 – Preponderance of the Small.

Weiterlesen: 62 – preponderance of the small

63 – after completion

Questions on Hexagram 63

  • A user would like to quit his (breadwinning) job and devote himself entirely to a literary activity. His specific question: “What is my current situation?”
  • A user works as a educator and identifies strongly with the content of her classes. On the one hand she wants to share her experiences with her students. On the other hand, she wants to give her students room to make their own experiences. She asks: “How can I find a balance?”
  • A user asks “How am I doing with handling this emotionally difficult experience?”

You can find the current interpretation here: https://www.no2do.com/hexagramme_en/787878.htm

I Ching, the Book of Changes

The I Ching is a highly complex yet simple philosophical system which describes our world’s immanent change and declares change itself as the basic principle of the universe (cf. Govinda 1983). And the wisest thing for us to do is to subordinate  to this change, these changes, to adapt  to bring ourselves into harmony with the world around us.

So it is not at all about subjecting the world. We cannot. But what we can do is make changes where we can make them: in our own consciousness.

The hexagrams of the I Ching show us these possible developmental paths of our inner being. If one follows the interpretation model, the steps towards the solution can be discerned in the sequence of the individual trigrams and core characters.

Phase Element Fire

Fire is one of the five phases of the five-element doctrine (Wu Xing), which describes the laws of natural phenomena. This theory is applied in practice, for example in acupuncture.

Phase Element Fire | Functional Circuits | Pulse Quality

The Chinese character Li [Fire] actually means to leave, to separate, to be distant[. …] Etymologically the character’s radical shows a short-tailed bird next to it a bird-catcher: a hand holding a net (Wang, p. 68). The bird is caught in the meshes of a net. Popularly Li refers to a golden oriole. Lorenzen 1998, 4

Weiterlesen: Phase Element Fire

Phase Element Metal

Metal is one of the five phases of the five-element doctrine (Wu Xing), which describes the laws of natural phenomena. This theory is applied in practice, for example in acupuncture.

Phase Element Fire | Functional Circuits | Pulse Quality

Metal, as an element of Chinese nature philosophy, here is described as a quality that can flexibly adapt to a mold (ie, as molten metal) and then become hard and thus useful. Changeability and alteration between solid and liquid states corresponds to metal and accounts for its benefit. Lorenzen 1994,  21, 205-219

Weiterlesen: Phase Element Metal

Phase Element Earth

Earth is one of the five phases of the five-element doctrine (Wu Xing), which describes the laws of natural phenomena. This theory is applied in practice, for example in acupuncture.

Phase Element Earth | Functional Circuits | Pulse Quality

Earth, our center of safety and security, is the foundation for maturing our relationships with others. Only a sense of self, an accordance with ourselves, gives us the opportunity to relate and bond with others. It is the definition of the Self in relationship to and differentiation from the environment. It is a Self that draws its power from loyalty to mother earth, from a feeling of being safe, nurtured, accepted. From having a home to retreat to, no longer striving and acting, but absorbing strength and peace and security within oneself.

Weiterlesen: Phase Element Earth

Phase Element Water

Water is one of the five phases of the five-element doctrine (Wu Xing), which describes the laws of natural phenomena. This theory is applied in practice, for example in acupuncture.

Phase Element Water | Functional Circuits | Pulse Quality

Well, in man the phase element water corresponds to plant seeds in nature, which rest in the soil during winter until new growth in spring, preserving the year’s essence, the most valuable of any previous existence. It’s like our own collective existence which we owe to our roots, our basis for new growth. As long as we still have a connection to our past, as long as we are aware of our roots, we can draw life power from them.

Weiterlesen: Phase Element Water

Phase Element Wood

Wood is one of the five phases of the five-element doctrine (Wu Xing), which describes the laws of natural phenomena. This theory is applied in practice, for example in acupuncture.

Phase Element Fire | Functional Circuits | Pulse Quality

Wood means to be deeply rooted in the earth, just like a tree, and to strive towards the sky, fire, absolute Yang.
The wood phase within a person guarantees a free and powerful flow of energy. It lets a person turn outward, open to the outside world through his/her eyes, to behold and grasp the environment, and finally engage in it with the help of muscles and tendons. Lorenzen 1994, 216-217

Weiterlesen: Phase Element Wood

Wang Bi: The Images Stem from the Ideas

The images stem from the ideas. The words make the images clear. In order to fully express the ideas, there is nothing better than words. The words are a result of the images. This is why you can see the images by looking at the words. The images are dominated by the ideas. This is why you can see the ideas by examining the images. The ideas are fully captured by the images and the images made clear by the words. Therefore, the words are intended to explain the images; once you have captured the images, you can forget the words. The images are intended to explore the ideas; once you have captured the ideas, you can forget the images.

Weiterlesen: Wang Bi: The Images Stem from the Ideas

Lama Anagarika Govinda: The Inner Structure of the I-Ching

The most striking feature of the Book of Changes is that it is not looking for the unchangeable and eternal, ie not for something that corresponds to man’s desire to maintain his identity in a constantly changing and transitory world, but that change itself is declared basic principle of the universe. The Chinese did not fall victim to the wish-born thought

Weiterlesen: Lama Anagarika Govinda: The Inner Structure of the I-Ching

Shen

What is Shen? You cannot perceive Shen through your ears. You must have excellent eyesight and an open and tender heart, so that Shen, spirit, communicates through your consciousness. Spirit cannot communicate through the mouth, but through the heart. To capture Shen, you must look very closely, and suddenly you will come to what there is to capture. But just as quickly you will again loose this kind of knowledge. Shen communicates with man just like the wind that suddenly clears all clouds. And that is why in this case we speak of Shen. Huangdi Neijing Suwen, Chap. 36

Weiterlesen: Shen

Yi

The classics say that Qi follows Yi and manifests itself as a result. Everything that is, has previously existed as an intention (Yi). In this context Wu Wei signifies to be with intention or to have intention. However, Wu Wei does not mean to do nothing at all.

Intention should not be mistaken for will.

Weiterlesen: Yi

Daoism and Confucianism in TCM

Besides some aspects such as demon or ancestral medicine, the roots of Chinese medicine practiced today developed approximately around 500 to 200 after the turn of the eras. After Zhou Dynasty the social and political structure of China collapsed. During the Warring States Period statesmen and philosophers were concerned with the question how to acquire happiness and well-being for both state and individual. Kongzi [Confucius] and Lao Zi,

Weiterlesen: Daoism and Confucianism in TCM

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Translations: by the author