I-Ching: ASKADVIVE.TXT ************************************************************************ ASKING ADVICE Some of you might be interested in this. Through my rambunctiousness I am in deep doodoo someplace else. So the following; I ask God/dess for guidelines on this. On complicated manners, I have found that God/dess speaks to me through the I Ching. So this is where I went this time. For those of you not familiar with the I_Ching a quick explanation: The I_Ching is a book from the Tao religion and it has 64 hexagram made up of six lines each. You may use different ways to select the hexagram. Once you choose the hexagram then you have the six line which can be either Yin or Yang. So not only do you have these lines but the lines can be fixed or moving from one state to the other. Moving lines are extremely important in what they say. Okay you have somewhat of a picture. This particular book is the one by R. L. Wing. The question I ask was;" What should I do about XXXXXXXX." (Prudence advices me not to put a name in there.) So I randomly selected a hexagram the way I normally do, and this is what I got. Number one hexagram moving to number 55 hexagram that mean that lines 2 - 5 - 6 were moving. I will not read the hexagram,as I have previously explaining, when you have moving lines the hexagram only sets the environment. The line are the important things in this case. So the number two ( 2 ) said this; "Take note of a person who is active in your field or interest, there conduct is above reproach and therefore has significant value. It would be advantageous for you to align myself with them." Okay I knew what that meant , so when on to line five ( 5 ) And here it said; "Whatever you choose to do is in line with the Cosmos(for those who do not know this about me, I believe the Cosmos to be the actual Body of God/dess). Your thinking is clearheaded. Because of this your influence is great and your milieu will look to you for strength." Okay, this sound good. Then I read the 6th line and this is what that one said.; "Your ambitions far exceed the possibilities of your ~creative powers.~ If you pursue this dream you will loose touch with reality and lose contact with your community. You will no longer know how to behave appropriately and will ultimately regret your actions." Well line 5 and line 6 sure seemed to contradict each other or muddied the advice. So whenever I get this kind of advice I ask for clarity. And this is what I did this time and ask what to do about line 5 and 6. This time I got hexagram 28 moving to hexagram 7. This means that 28 was the environment and the moving lines were. 3 - 4 - 5 this time. Well I first read line number three ( 3 ) and this is what that line said: "You are inclined to force your way forward when, in fact, there are obstacles that cannot be overcome in this way. (I'm sure some of you will agree with this) Even worst, you cannot accept advice from others because this is not what you wish to hear. Misfortune will inevitably follow." Well, while, I knew this was talking back to the original question, it did not seem to answer the seeming conflict between lines 5 and 6. Maybe the other moving lines would to this. So on to line four ( 4 ), which said; "You can now find within yourself the strength and vision to achieve a successful outcome in your endeavors. Do not rely upon people or things outside of your Self for guidance. Dependance now on external things leads to humiliation." Well that sure seem in agreement with line 5 of the previous hexagram and re-emphasized that line. But why was line 6 in there. So on to line 5 in this hexagram. This is what that line said; "In critical or significant times it is exhausting to cling to your ideals and ignore the realities of your environment. If you ignore your foundation in your reach upward, you will become unstable and accomplish nothing." So again unclear advice line 4 and 5 in this case. One seem to say one thing and the other say something else line 5 from the first and and line 4 from this one say one thing and line 5 from the first and line say what could be the opposite. So one more time ask for clarity, about line 4 and five in this case. And this is what I got, hexagram 37 moving to 42. But this time with only one moving line. And here is what that line said; úÿ Continued in the next message... "A moderate path to establishing order in the situation must be found. A balance should be struck between careless indulgence and severe discipline. When in doubt, however, it is far better to be overly severe than to allow the situation to become lost in the chaos of indulgence." I will not go into the environments and conclusion or each hexagram, but will name them and to a quick run through. The first one was Creative Power and that one said to align myself with those of similar interest (this echo) and the was told to trust myself, but watch out for my ambitions as I was overreaching. This seem unclear to me but the conclusion was if I listen to the advice hex 55 would be the result which is the Zenith. Which in a few words are potentials are fulfill. But I was not sure of some of the advice and so I get on and got 28 for an environment which is Critical Mass. This means that things are coming to a head. One line here had advice about this situation and was clear, but again conflicting advice on the other two. Plus here the result were Collective force. Which in this case means: those in authority must have confidence in me. That is if I follow the advice of the hexagrams on this. But like I've told you in this one there was also ambiguous advice. So on we go. Finally we get to the last hexes with 37 moving to 42. You might be interested in knowing that 37 is the environment of Groups, and here the advice was moderation and if I follow the advice I get 42 which is Benefit. I will benefit from all this. So, this is how I ask and get advice from God/dess, and how God speak to me. If some of you doubt all this is true, believe me when I say I would not make something like this up in the matter of God. Some of you might also enjoy how the I_Ching is used for other purposes than divination. Maha Labbe'