Pre&Post-Natal method I Ching predictions

[Harmonious Emptiness]

Hello Taobum lookers!

 

I have recently started teaching myself the art of I Ching prediction via the original prenatal-postnatal methods as taught in Seeking the Spirit of the Book of Change: 8 Days to Mastering a Shamanic Yijing (I Ching) Prediction System by Zhongxian Wu.

 

(Excellent book, btw. Anyone with deep interest in I Ching, WuXing, or even Gong Fu Tea should definitely order it, especially if you have 8 open days to commit to reading it.)

 

The system takes into account many factors of 5 element relations to the trigrams in order to provide more relevance to answering important questions.

 

 

In order for me to become more familiar with these relations, it would help immensely it I had some real questions to try to provide answers to.

 

 

If anyone has a perplexing question that they are willing to submit, let me know your question and simply provide me a 3 digit number. And of course, whenever asking the Yijing for an answer, be sure to calmly meditate on the question. When you feel comfortable that you have the right 3 digits write them down on a piece of paper. I will divide this number by 8 and take the remainder to determine which trigram to consider.

 

Questions may be, for example: Where do I find love? When should I start or finish -- ? How do I heal -- ? Where should I move? Where will I find work?

 

 

If anyone else has learned this method and would like to collaborate with me, I am open to this idea .

 

Any other questions, comments, or helpful advice more than welcome !

[Jetsun]

Ok i'll give it a go, my question is "will I ever recover?" , the first three numbers which came up were 226

 

If that question is a bit boring I have another which isn't as much of a priority but it is: "should I pursue Buddhist or Fourth Way teachings as my main path?" numbers 759

 

[Harmonious Emptiness]

Ok i'll give it a go, my question is "will I ever recover?" , the first three numbers which came up were 226

 

If that question is a bit boring I have another which isn't as much of a priority but it is: "should I pursue Buddhist or Fourth Way teachings as my main path?" numbers 759

 

 

Well I wouldn't want to answer the first question, especially with my limited experience, since it is a bit fatalistic and I could be wrong one way or the other. Maybe a better way to ask would be "What should I do to remedy -- "? I could try that with some new numbers maybe..

 

 

To the second question:

 

The trigram is Mountain. There's a few possible ways to look at this.

 

Mountain would signify Asian Buddhism to me as it is a common symbol and because many monks were "mountain men" which are part of the Mountain (Earth element) symbology. The prenatal (also past) association is Heaven and Metal, while the postnatal (present and future) association is Thunder and Wood.

 

This could be read as Earth is the mother of metal, and metal controls wood, in the same way that The Fourth Way has been influenced largely by Buddhism. Given this relationship, it would be better to drop The Fourth Way pursuit as it draws energy away from the practice of Buddhism.

 

 

Now, on the other hand... The prenatal trigram associations are northwest and Heaven, while the post-natal association is northeast and Thunder. Both Heaven and Thunder have much to do with new beginnings which perhaps could symbolize The Fourth Way being that it's a much newer path than Buddhism.

 

At the same time, I'm seeing that Heaven and Thunder both have Fire associations and fire burns wood element (you postnatal Thunder energy is wood element) so I'm thinking that this "new thing" could burn up your energy in the future, as also shown by the controlling relationship between metal and wood saps a bit of juice too. Plus, metal (Heaven) and fire have a controlling relationship which pushes this even more away from the "new" one imho.

 

So I think it's saying that Buddhism is your strong foundation, and the new stuff invigorated with some fresh energy, but it will eventually tax your other energy and burn out anyways, so best to stick with the big Buddha mountain since that has the most stability in the whole equation and even sort of creates and controls the later energies.

 

Seems you could return to some of this rock solid foundation in the northwestern direction from your living space, possibly near a trail.

 

I hope that made some sense..

[Jetsun]

Well I wouldn't want to answer the first question, especially with my limited experience, since it is a bit fatalistic and I could be wrong one way or the other. Maybe a better way to ask would be "What should I do to remedy -- "? I could try that with some new numbers maybe..

 

 

To the second question:

 

The trigram is Mountain. There's a few possible ways to look at this.

 

Mountain would signify Asian Buddhism to me as it is a common symbol and because many monks were "mountain men" which are part of the Mountain (Earth element) symbology. The prenatal (also past) association is Heaven and Metal, while the postnatal (present and future) association is Thunder and Wood.

 

This could be read as Earth is the mother of metal, and metal controls wood, in the same way that The Fourth Way has been influenced largely by Buddhism. Given this relationship, it would be better to drop The Fourth Way pursuit as it draws energy away from the practice of Buddhism.

 

 

Now, on the other hand... The prenatal trigram associations are northwest and Heaven, while the post-natal association is northeast and Thunder. Both Heaven and Thunder have much to do with new beginnings which perhaps could symbolize The Fourth Way being that it's a much newer path than Buddhism.

 

At the same time, I'm seeing that Heaven and Thunder both have Fire associations and fire burns wood element (you postnatal Thunder energy is wood element) so I'm thinking that this "new thing" could burn up your energy in the future, as also shown by the controlling relationship between metal and wood saps a bit of juice too. Plus, metal (Heaven) and fire have a controlling relationship which pushes this even more away from the "new" one imho.

 

So I think it's saying that Buddhism is your strong foundation, and the new stuff invigorated with some fresh energy, but it will eventually tax your other energy and burn out anyways, so best to stick with the big Buddha mountain since that has the most stability in the whole equation and even sort of creates and controls the later energies.

 

Seems you could return to some of this rock solid foundation in the northwestern direction from your living space, possibly near a trail.

 

I hope that made some sense..

 

Thanks that is interesting and makes sense in many ways. I think the compassion teachings in Buddhism will always be my core no matter what ever other practices I do and it would be a mistake to ever loose those that foundation.

 

I was wondering while reading it whether would I have enough faith in it to completely live my life through such divination and trust that it will guide me correctly in big decisions, which would more or less mean bypassing my rational mind. It would be a good experiment to try live your life completely through it for a short period of time to see how it serves you, I suspect that it would probably do a better job than my normal mind to be honest.

 

If I rephrase the first question to "how can I heal the shock and blockages in my body?" it might be better. Numbers: 573.

[starhawk]

Hi Harmonious Emptiness,

 

My question is : should I move to LA in August or September of 2012, or stay where I am now? Number is 592.

 

Which location will help provide better means to reach my spiritual goal? -- 683

[Taomeow]

I've been taught how to ask the oracle, so let me share a little bit of what I've learned.

 

No yes-no, either-or, should-would questions. The oracle does not like the yes-no questions because there's an "it depends" built into most situations; can't answer the either-or questions at all (think about it -- how would you know whether the hexagram you get is the answer to your "either" or to your "or"? ); and she does not operate in the subjunctive mood -- "should I" presupposes you are appointing her to make your decision for you, something she refuses to do at all times.

 

The best way to put the inquiry is proactive -- "I divine my best course of actions toward such and such (desired) outcome" or, alternatively, "in order to avoid such and such (undesired) outcome." This gives you pragmatic how-to instructions in the answer, i.e. you "hire" the oracle to be your teacher. She prefers this role to all others, in my experience. She is no crystal ball, much less a fortune cookie. She is not passive, and very, very seldom fatalistic. Any situation you anticipate she is more likely than not to describe in terms of what you are likely to get depending on how you participate in its development.

[Harmonious Emptiness]

- Taomeow and Jetsun,

 

Though I think questions can be asked in terms of "should I do this" I agree that any divination is far more valuable as a means to show us some things that we should keep in mind while making our own decisions, but ultimately to make our own decisions perhaps based on some elements that were overlooked. That's one thing that I really like about I Ching commentaries is that they provide wisdom which is always correct and which can be applied to so many situations, though it will often seem to speak to specific details as well.

 

This way of using the trigrams however can also help, for example, to find a lost dog as shown in one of the case studies in the book.

 

To loosely paraphrase Ken Cohen, though there may be external influences, we are safe so long as our knowledge of self is firm.

 

 

Okay, I'm going to try to work on some more questions here. They may take some time, hopefully it won't be too long a wait...

 

H.E.

[Harmonious Emptiness]

Hi Harmonious Emptiness,

 

My question is : should I move to LA in August or September of 2012, or stay where I am now? Number is 592.

 

Which location will help provide better means to reach my spiritual goal? -- 683

 

Hi Starhawk

 

It would help me to know which direction the move will be for you. Can you PM me your current city and city of origin? It's difficult to know if I'm on the right track without this info.

[Harmonious Emptiness]

 

If I rephrase the first question to "how can I heal the shock and blockages in my body?" it might be better. Numbers: 573.

 

Ha. Great! Where do I start? Keeping in a mind that an element of this system is intuitive, things that sort of jump out at you should be considered for association.

 

The trigram is Wind, prenatal association is Earth, and postnatal association is Lake.

 

Wind is associated with wood, qi, meridians, established momentum, and love. Earth is associated with stagnation and blockage. Lake is associated with metal and water elements, communication, lungs, and girl.

 

There are a few sides to this it looks like.

 

Metal-Lake in postnatal future reduces Earth blockage-stagnations in prenatal past .

Water-Lake is mother of wood-Wind-meridians .

 

 

So strengthening lungs-metal would reduce earth-blockages. This is something you may already be doing since Wind is associated to something that has already built up some momentum. Lungs are also associated to communication as is Lake to joyful expression, so expression would naturally be part of releasing the blockages, maybe in the arts (associated to Wind-Wood). Wood also controls earth and this controlling relationship is related to wife and finance. You might get involved in arts classes, as (if I remember correctly) I think education is related to metal as well (if it's not earth), so this might also add to your metal element.

 

There is also the symbol of a girl or concubine in Lake who is joyful. In both Lake and Earth there is also association to the Trigram water and since these are associating to expression and blockage, the water may be related to releasing blockage in the kidneys, perhaps as excess water would take away from metal. As we know, a fun girl can help with that too.

 

Water could help wood-meridians too, but it seems you need to work on the earth-blockage more than wood element.

 

 

This must be beginners luck man, you're giving me some easy numbers to work with here!

 

edit:

 

Also I should add.. though I guess it seemed kind of obvious so maybe I skipped over it... The metal-lungs thing would point to doing qi-gong since this involves breath and also the qi and meridians associated with Wind. If you've been doing this for a while already then this association seems stronger too since there is an association of momentum and Wind, like you've been doing something right and it's going well.

 

Further, it is said "water hides in Lake" meaning Lake is primarily metal but also water. So this appears to be very auspicious! Since the metal-lungs-qigong of Lake takes away the earth blockages, while the water of Lake nourishes the wood of Wind-meridians. The girl and open communication part seems to have a strong indications as well, again, imho.

 

It looks like education is more earth-element, however, another earth asssociation is that it nourishes metal, so perhaps some more dynamic classes which involve participation and communication would be good earth-element in this case . Don't rule out theater-acting classes, btw..

 

edit II:

 

Another thing to keep in mind, since there are a few things pointing to love and romance with a happy girl who can help with the meridian issue in your question (wind and lake connections), is that you should find a girl who is happy but not a crazy fire party girl, as fire will burn wood, add to earth, and control your metal elements. So a nice happy, open yet calm girl would be perfect for you right now.

 

Any other info you want to share with me might lead to more insights on this too..

 

Edited February 14, 2012 by Harmonious Emptiness

[Harmonious Emptiness]

Hi Harmonious Emptiness,

 

My question is : should I move to LA in August or September of 2012, or stay where I am now? Number is 592.

 

Which location will help provide better means to reach my spiritual goal? -- 683

 

Ah, okay, I see I wasn't really looking at it right before. This is good actually!

 

question 1: trigram = Earth

 

Earth corresponds to late summer. My first guess is that you will be coming from the north and moving southwest based on the prenatal and postnatal associations, which are literally north and southwest respectively. Pretty awesome considering LA is the southwest corner of the US!! Wind in the present&future may signify the cooler air of September which also falls in late Summer. Perhaps Wind and southwest in the future associations might also mean that moving there in September will bring you love and music.

 

 

question 2: trigram = Fire

 

This looks very good, since Fire corresponds to fame and reputation and L.A. is all about fame and reputation . Here you also have Thunder and east in the past-beginning and Heaven and south in the present or future.

 

Thunder sort of shakes up the life energy, so maybe you were looking to shake things up in your life with new energy which was the root of wanting to move to LA. Perhaps you always wanted to move to LA since fire is in thunder as well.

 

Heaven is largely about spirit rising upwards so the energy of LA might help with this if that's what you're looking for. The Heaven trigram signifies sort of "important people" like elders, government, wise man, and famous person, so perhaps you will happen upon a wise and experienced mentor in LA. South also appears with the Heaven trigram so this person may be more southwards in LA though LA is very southwards as it is.

 

Also Heaven (in future) is metal element and Thunder (in past) is wood element so it seems that the future will control the past rather than the opposite. The fire burns wood and wood is controlled by metal.

 

 

 

I think those numbers were bang!-on.

 

 

edit: I should also mention that Heaven being the future trigram and signifying an important or famous person would largely signify LA as well.

 

This could also be related to you wanting to go there and pursing our goals and living out our destiny is an important part of the spiritual process, imo.

Edited February 15, 2012 by Harmonious Emptiness

[Jetsun]

 

So strengthening lungs-metal would reduce earth-blockages. This is something you may already be doing since Wind is associated to something that has already built up some momentum. Lungs are also associated to communication as is Lake to joyful expression, so expression would naturally be part of releasing the blockages, maybe in the arts (associated to Wind-Wood). Wood also controls earth and this controlling relationship is related to wife and finance. You might get involved in arts classes, as (if I remember correctly) I think education is related to metal as well (if it's not earth), so this might also add to your metal element.

 

This feels pretty much spot on to be honest, I have a big problem with verbal expression as I have an energetic block in my neck which makes me stutter sometimes, I was trying to get into doing art and music for a while but I couldn't find anything which kept me interested, but I may start again as it makes so much sense if I am blocked there to do something like an arts practice.

 

There is also the symbol of a girl or concubine in Lake who is joyful. In both Lake and Earth there is also association to the Trigram water and since these are associating to expression and blockage, the water may be related to releasing blockage in the kidneys, perhaps as excess water would take away from metal. As we know, a fun girl can help with that too.

 

Water could help wood-meridians too, but it seems you need to work on the earth-blockage more than wood element.

 

Yeah a nice woman would help me with so many of my problems, the problem is where to find one

 

Also I should add.. though I guess it seemed kind of obvious so maybe I skipped over it... The metal-lungs thing would point to doing qi-gong since this involves breath and also the qi and meridians associated with Wind. If you've been doing this for a while already then this association seems stronger too since there is an association of momentum and Wind, like you've been doing something right and it's going well.

 

Further, it is said "water hides in Lake" meaning Lake is primarily metal but also water. So this appears to be very auspicious! Since the metal-lungs-qigong of Lake takes away the earth blockages, while the water of Lake nourishes the wood of Wind-meridians. The girl and open communication part seems to have a strong indications as well, again, imho.

 

It looks like education is more earth-element, however, another earth asssociation is that it nourishes metal, so perhaps some more dynamic classes which involve participation and communication would be good earth-element in this case . Don't rule out theater-acting classes, btw..

 

I have more or less given up on Qigong to be honest and I don't do any forced breathing any more, but I have been doing more emotional type Tibetan Buddhist practices which could be what the wind is about as the Tibetans call the movement of energies winds. I wonder if there is any way of asking whether it is these Bodhiciita practices which are benefiting me and building up the momentum? no worries if you are busy.

 

To be honest I am very surprised with the accuracy of your recommendations putting them into practice is the hard part but it is pretty interesting how true they seem to be, I might dig out my own Iching books.

[Harmonious Emptiness]

This feels pretty much spot on to be honest, I have a big problem with verbal expression as I have an energetic block in my neck which makes me stutter sometimes, I was trying to get into doing art and music for a while but I couldn't find anything which kept me interested, but I may start again as it makes so much sense if I am blocked there to do something like an arts practice.

 

 

. Well, that might make sense as to why Wind also has an association with being hesitant?

 

I was thinking before to suggest taking singing lessons. I think this would be great since it strengthens lung power, expresses emotions, and forces you to get over holding back expression. Further, you want to improve your wood element and strengthening your metal element will strengthen water element which will strengthen wood element.

 

So singing will work on metal (lungs and communication) and positively affect water (kidneys, courage) by decreasing hesitancy through the courageous expressiveness of singing. This water will be positive and moving forward so it will nourish wood (energy, meridians) rather than decreasing metal-lung-expression-elements

 

I've taken private singing lessons and it can be quite uncomfortable at first, but eventually by the end of the lesson you manage to get over it. For some people it may take longer, but the fear of communication that so many people have would incline them to give it up. In your case you can start just by focusing on strengthening your lung power and don't worry too much about the pitch and all that as it will work eventually when you've got the power and control to put behind it. Keep in mind, Wind has to do with momentum so you have to keep at it this time .

 

There aren't many good singers around either, so it probably won't be too difficult to find people to jam with once you've got some pipes to work with. This might lead you to that sunny lake along the way ?

 

I have more or less given up on Qigong to be honest and I don't do any forced breathing any more, but I have been doing more emotional type Tibetan Buddhist practices which could be what the wind is about as the Tibetans call the movement of energies winds. I wonder if there is any way of asking whether it is these Bodhiciita practices which are benefiting me and building up the momentum? no worries if you are busy.

 

Yes, any energy type exercises that you have been doing is probably what it means by things that you have been doing. The Yijing being a Taoist practice which recognizes the importance of energy channels, suggested remedies by doctors who use this Yijing method will usually prescribe energy work of various kinds. I think because you have been working with emotions that this relates somehow to communication as well and ties in to the rest of it.

 

To be honest I am very surprised with the accuracy of your recommendations putting them into practice is the hard part but it is pretty interesting how true they seem to be, I might dig out my own Iching books.

 

Well, I'm learning from all of this, so feel free to try some more. I only have one other question right now .

[Taomeow]

Well, I'm learning from all of this, so feel free to try some more. I only have one other question right now .

 

Here's a couple , since I'm trying to decide if I need this book (I am familiar with many versions of various applications of the I Ching, so I've grown a bit picky ) :

 

1. Why does this book associate Wind with Wood -- rather than with Metal, as is common in the taoist tradition? The Lungs are Metal, Wind/air/breath is naturally a function of the lungs, this has been my understanding and the approach of some lineages I've had some exposure to (e.g., maoshan). Is there an explanation the author provides for his different association?

 

When you look at trees swaying in the wind you might think they are directly related, but qi-wise, it's deeper. Trees don't produce wind. It may seem surprising that metal does, but it does. E.g., the cosmic wind ultimately has iron as its source -- the formation of the stars via compression of the core into iron, which releases the qi of Metal, its Wind aspect. So... is there something I'm missing -- or the author?

 

2. Does it mention the Plum Blossom oracle by any chance?

[Harmonious Emptiness]

Here's a couple , since I'm trying to decide if I need this book (I am familiar with many versions of various applications of the I Ching, so I've grown a bit picky ) :

 

1. Why does this book associate Wind with Wood -- rather than with Metal, as is common in the taoist tradition? The Lungs are Metal, Wind/air/breath is naturally a function of the lungs, this has been my understanding and the approach of some lineages I've had some exposure to (e.g., maoshan). Is there an explanation the author provides for his different association?

 

When you look at trees swaying in the wind you might think they are directly related, but qi-wise, it's deeper. Trees don't produce wind. It may seem surprising that metal does, but it does. E.g., the cosmic wind ultimately has iron as its source -- the formation of the stars via compression of the core into iron, which releases the qi of Metal, its Wind aspect. So... is there something I'm missing -- or the author?

 

2. Does it mention the Plum Blossom oracle by any chance?

 

Yes, he does mention the Plum Blossom oracle, along with many other texts written by Shao Yong. He explains his lineage with much detail throughout an entire chapter, and includes many names of Yijing books written by Zhou Dunyi, Liu Mu, and Shao Yong. Zhongxian Wu's (author) lineage (Youlong Pai, Hidden Immortal), a Southern school of Complete Reality, is also detailed here.

 

The explanation of why Wind is wood element is as follows:

 

"In the realm of Heaven, the presence of spirit expresses and manifests itself in the form of Wind. In the Earth, spirit expresses itself in the lushness and aliveness of "wood" (plants). The virtue of Wood is to gently push and advance the expansion of harmonious Qi."

 

 

This system is very different to me, though I haven't ventured very far into various applications. Were you familiar with prenatal and postnatal application methods from other sources? Do you know of any other Shao Yung books that have been translated?

[starhawk]

Wow that was pretty ashtonishing you could read all that. THANKS!

I live in the midwest right now and my feng shui Gua umber is 5, so heading southeast leads to success from compass school fent shui.

Incidentally I currently have a famous meditation teacher to my southwest, even right now. So I wonder, perhaps LA is a metaphor or an archetype of me and my direction in life?

 

To follow up the previous question, can I ask: does my past guru near or far when i am earth? To me this analogy means i am the center regardless of where I live, so then where does my direction take me? 687

 

I will have to take the IChing more seriously in my future studies. How'd you happen upon the book and this method?

 

 

 

Ah, okay, I see I wasn't really looking at it right before. This is good actually!

 

question 1: trigram = Earth

 

Earth corresponds to late summer. My first guess is that you will be coming from the north and moving southwest based on the prenatal and postnatal associations, which are literally north and southwest respectively. Pretty awesome considering LA is the southwest corner of the US!! Wind in the present&future may signify the cooler air of September which also falls in late Summer. Perhaps Wind and southwest in the future associations might also mean that moving there in September will bring you love and music.

 

 

question 2: trigram = Fire

 

This looks very good, since Fire corresponds to fame and reputation and L.A. is all about fame and reputation . Here you also have Thunder and east in the past-beginning and Heaven and south in the present or future.

 

Thunder sort of shakes up the life energy, so maybe you were looking to shake things up in your life with new energy which was the root of wanting to move to LA. Perhaps you always wanted to move to LA since fire is in thunder as well.

 

Heaven is largely about spirit rising upwards so the energy of LA might help with this if that's what you're looking for. The Heaven trigram signifies sort of "important people" like elders, government, wise man, and famous person, so perhaps you will happen upon a wise and experienced mentor in LA. South also appears with the Heaven trigram so this person may be more southwards in LA though LA is very southwards as it is.

 

Also Heaven (in future) is metal element and Thunder (in past) is wood element so it seems that the future will control the past rather than the opposite. The fire burns wood and wood is controlled by metal.

 

 

 

I think those numbers were bang!-on.

 

 

edit: I should also mention that Heaven being the future trigram and signifying an important or famous person would largely signify LA as well.

 

This could also be related to you wanting to go there and pursing our goals and living out our destiny is an important part of the spiritual process, imo.

[Harmonious Emptiness]

 

does my past guru near or far when i am earth? To me this analogy means i am the center regardless of where I live, so then where does my direction take me? 687

 

 

I'm not sure what you mean exactly by that question. Do you mean, -- is your past guru near or far in the answer to the earlier answer Earth?

 

The first answer I would say is that 687 leads to Mountain which has Qian/Heaven (can mean wise man, father, senior generation, famous) as past, and Qian/Heaven was referred to in your second question about where you should move which probably symbolized famous/LA referring to your future. Qian in the past is south.

 

Also, Qian in the past would be right there vs. in the future, since there are no specific directions of near and far.

 

Also, if you didn't mean the way that I read that question, then you probably did by mistake and which is why the Zhen/Thunder future says "if you ask for more specifics than that it's not going to be good." It could also mean "shake up your disbelief, have some courage and go for it." They say that the Thunder of spring wakes up the sleeping plants and shakes them up with new energy!!!

 

Seems to me that these are the commonalities that should be payed attention to. To look at the directions under Mountain and say "that's what it says" would be too mechanical and it rarely speaks in such direct language as it did before to say "southwest." Maybe it was just being nice for my lucky 3rd question

.

[Taomeow]

Yes, he does mention the Plum Blossom oracle, along with many other texts written by Shao Yong. He explains his lineage with much detail throughout an entire chapter, and includes many names of Yijing books written by Zhou Dunyi, Liu Mu, and Shao Yong. Zhongxian Wu's (author) lineage (Youlong Pai, Hidden Immortal), a Southern school of Complete Reality, is also detailed here.

 

The explanation of why Wind is wood element is as follows:

 

"In the realm of Heaven, the presence of spirit expresses and manifests itself in the form of Wind. In the Earth, spirit expresses itself in the lushness and aliveness of "wood" (plants). The virtue of Wood is to gently push and advance the expansion of harmonious Qi."

 

 

This system is very different to me, though I haven't ventured very far into various applications. Were you familiar with prenatal and postnatal application methods from other sources? Do you know of any other Shao Yung books that have been translated?

 

Thanks for citing the explanation. The virtue of Wood is expressed very succinctly and correctly. (Wood is indeed the phase of expansion of harmonious qi, also known in the larger context of a live planet and, still larger, of the cosmos teeming with biological phenomena, as Life, live organisms -- animals are part of this, of course, as are humans and non-synthetic, fully biological aliens. The harmonizing properties of the Wood phase of qi counteract entropy. Put in different terms, the virtue of Wood is to inactivate the second law of thermodynamics... hooray for that, because mindless and meaningless increase of entropy would make for one boring universe! Hooray for Life that makes it not so! )

So, he equates "expansion" with "penetration," the property of Wind found in the I Ching (e.g., in the "penetration under the bed" etc. lines). I still say "penetration" is a property of Metal (like a blade) but then the miaodao, the taoist sword, IS shaped like a blade of grass... Interesting, I'll have to think some more about it. It's as though Wood can show some traits of her grandmother phase, Metal... and the "gene" they share might be Wind.

 

To your question: well, yes, I've been familiar with the components of Shao's approach from other sources (primarily taoist numerology derived from Hetu and Luoshu over xiantian and houtian bagua arrangements over wuxing), but I know this stuff mostly via a different venue (classical form-compass/xuankong feng shui and bazi), and have always used the I Ching "as is." I might get the book after all though, since as you say it references Shao's work, which is of interest to me. Thanks.

[Harmonious Emptiness]

does my past guru near or far when i am earth? To me this analogy means i am the center regardless of where I live, so then where does my direction take me? 687

 

 

Looking at your question again, I guess you meant Earth as in center of the bagua directions. I think my previous response to this question was correct, though would add that Mountain is stability, like right there as in you are your own guru when you are Earth..

 

Then it has Qian/mentor in the past and Thunder in the future. This could mean you have been your own guru in the past but it would be wise to go to the Thunder in the future which means shaking things up. This may lead you to an external guru, but the experience is what is needed it seems as this might "shake the mountain" and teach you new things, which, I will add, is usually much easier with the help of an experienced master.

 

 

If you are concerned about going off the seemingly obvious compass lines associated with your gua number then it could also say "you have your stable ways and ideas about what you should do, but you need to shake those up if you are going to find the guru you are asking for. The mentor was mentioned in the past, and breaking up your preconceived notions will be required for you to realize this."

 

How'd you happen upon the book and this method?

 

 

I was looking for a book online to spend a gift certificate - was somehow connected to something else I was searching for.

 

It wasn't like the morning when an original print of Daniel Reid's book mysteriously appeared in my building's recycling bin . I had been wondering about that book for years and it was very good timing as I was starting to learn more about energy transmutation .

[starhawk]

I was looking for a book online to spend a gift certificate - was somehow connected to something else I was searching for.

 

It wasn't like the morning when an original print of Daniel Reid's book mysteriously appeared in my building's recycling bin . I had been wondering about that book for years and it was very good timing as I was starting to learn more about energy transmutation .

 

Cool... yea I like shaking things up if it's fruit that will fall down

Yea, I meant earth as in the compass directions, and either way it's interesting that you read the question like that. Maybe that was what was "supposed" to happen...

 

For I-ching practice, have you tried looking up and examining the general energy of dates in history (past, present, future)? Try dates when worldwide events occurred, like the start of wars, the end of wars, natural disasters, 11.11.2011, today's energy, 12.21.2012... (I'm curious about the last one).

[Harmonious Emptiness]

Cool... yea I like shaking things up if it's fruit that will fall down

Yea, I meant earth as in the compass directions, and either way it's interesting that you read the question like that. Maybe that was what was "supposed" to happen...

 

For I-ching practice, have you tried looking up and examining the general energy of dates in history (past, present, future)? Try dates when worldwide events occurred, like the start of wars, the end of wars, natural disasters, 11.11.2011, today's energy, 12.21.2012... (I'm curious about the last one).

 

Interesting idea. I think it needs to be done with a question though in order to understand the connections. As long as there is a sincere reason to ask then I think some guidance can be gained. After all, the basis is essentially the causes and effects from 5 elements theory, so figuring out the element of one thing helps to make sense of more and more relationships.