ChiDragon

乾 is a classical character for Heaven in the Yi Jing. It is the Yangest of the eight trigrams. Thus three solid lines were used to represent its most strongest Yang attribute. It doesn't matter how may lines were used, it will be all solid lines. 天(Heaven) _______ _______ _______

Before I go into the symbol, just for your curiosity, I will jump the gun a little bit. A broken line represents indentation. .sunken already like a pot hole. A solid line represents elevation. risen already like a mountain.

At this point in time, we are talking about the two lines, only, and what does each line represent. Again, some of us had introduced to Yi Jing and taken for granted without really knowing the basics. I am trying to bring everybody back to day one. Anyway, It is too soon to talk about receptive before we draw the symbols for the eight trigrams. For the purpose of the lines drown, the broken line is representing something soft. However, "Receptive" applies to Earth when we get to it. It is too soon to go into that now. Btw, soft is the original meaning, thank you for pointing that out. In using the meaning of "flaccid", it was just a language barrier on my part; I thought I was using a better word for soft. Yes, I would say that "flaccid" still fits into the Yin attribute. You see it is hard to just use a language translation dictionary without knowing the application of the words. As a matter of fact, I have many encounters arguing with those members who knew some Chinese about the meaning of the characters. They had fell into the same trap as I have with the English words.

Basically, observed from Nature, anything that is active, elevated rise, and strong are considered to be in the Yang attribute. Anything that is still, indented, and soft flaccid are considered to be in the Yin attribute. The will be more added to the Yin-Yang attributes related to other things as the humans are getting more sophisticated in their lives. For now and simplicity, it is suffice to draw the symbols.

Let's wait until we get to the Marsh symbol. That is why is very important to understand the basic symbols, first, before we going into the heart of the Yi Jing.

Before we jump the gun, we should investigate each symbol of the trigrams to see why they were drawn that way....!!!

Tao engenders One One engenders Two Two engender Three Three engender all things That is where Lao Zi got the idea from, the Yi Jing.

The symbols for Yin and Yang are represented by two lines, a sold line for Yang and a broken line for Yin. ________ 陽(Yang) ___ ___ 陰(Yin) The combination of these two lines can represent the things in the Universe. The Chinese philosophies are evolved around these two symbols. The symbols were used to draw the configuration of the Universe and the geography of China within the Yi Jing.

The Early Version BA Gua, 先天八卦.

陰陽 Yin Yang: The Yi Jing(易經) begins with these two attributes. Ref: Yin-Yang

Chapter 51 10. Tao engenders it, 11. Te rears it. 12. Grow it and nourish it, 13. Let it grow to maturity, 14. Foster it and protect it. 15. Produce it but not possessing it. 16. Flourishing it but not being vainglorious. 17. Raise it but not controlling it, 18.It was called the abyssal virtue.

Chapter 85 sounds like a replica of Chapters One and 25.

Nature gave us the energy to spare. When it is too full, get them released once awhile, like rest of the males but not too often. Celibacy Retention is a canon for the Buddhist monks.

I'm still trying.....

Well, in Tai Ji is a different story, you will have to stand on one leg most of the time but still doesn't need memory. Your legs will remember it as long as you are standing with one leg at a time.

Well, as soon you bend your knees, there is nothing needed to remember. It becomes natural.

What kind of Chi Kung was that? Why is the UMB was not mentioned....???

The frog in a well can only view the sky through the narrow mouth of the well and see nothing else. However, this site is like an ocean which gives one a much broader vision than the well. One just need to keep the eyes open to see what one doesn't want to see.

Wen you look up, you'll see Heaven. When you look down, you'll see Earth. When you look toward the east in the morning, you'll see the Sun(Fire). When you look toward the west in the evening, you'll see the Moon(Water). These four observable sources, Heaven, Earth, Sun and Moon are hang in the Universe for us to behold. The ones in red have the Yang(陽) attribute, and the ones in blue have the Yin(陰) attribute. They complement each other rather than speaking to each other.

Perhaps, that is why you are unsure of yourself. Sigh!

The eight observable sources of the Universe: 1. 乾: Heaven 2. 坤: Earth 3. 離: Fire 4. 坎: Water 5. 艮: Mountain 6. 澤: Marsh 7. 風: Wind 8. 雷: Thunder

Perhaps, this might be something that the OP didn't mention.

Go read the Yi Jing(易經). Water is water. The "lake" should be stated as "marsh" which is where the mud and water combined. The water in on top of the soil. The lake is the water inside the soil. These eight trigrams are the sources of the Universe which are most observable with the naked eyes by human. If one look the Pre-heaven Ba Gua, one will see the opposite pairs are complementary to each other.

The Taoists and Buddhists do Dazuo or Zazen performing Chi Kung which may be equivalent to some of the rest time at night. It's effect is even more refreshing than taken more hours sleeping at night. Western doctors said, taken a 15 minutes nap during the day is equivalent to 2 hours sleep at night.

Your description is very nebulous....!!!