How to discover the changing line(s)?

[JustARandomPanda]

I recently purchased The Magician's I Ching by Swami Anand Nisarg. The book has helped me understand some things about the I Ching I didn't before. However, the one thing that has frustrated me to no end is the utter lack of explaining how a person throwing the sticks - using the method he describes - determines which line (lines?) is the changing line.

 

This book using 4 carpenter's pencils rather than 50 yarrow stalks to create the hexagrams. He gives an explanation of why the 3 coin method is not as good as the 50 yarrow stalks (it has to do with mathematical probabilities). So he developed the 4 carpenter pencil method to duplicate the probabilities of the 50 stalk method without actually needing to haul around 50 stalks.

 

 

Sounded great. Until I got to the section where he talks about creating a hexagram. And that's when I realized this book is probably meant for people whom already have been casting i ching hexagrams for many years. He just tosses out a single line about needing to determine the changing line but fails to explain how one goes about doing that. This in a book where he stresses in the introduction and the publisher has on the back cover how it's a book meant for i ching noobs.

 

Can anyone here explain to me step by step how you go about determining which line (lines? can there be more than one changing line?) is the changing line?

 

 

Any help is appreciated.

 

 

****

Edit: corrected typo

Edited September 20, 2016 by JustARandomPanda

[Swami Anand Nisarg]

Hello, I'm the author of the book in question!

Over in the I Ching facebook group I run, someone brought this post to my attention.

 

I'm sorry that it didn't seem clearly explained in your reading of it. I'll see if I can clarify it here. 

 

So, on p.43-44 of The Magician's I Ching, I explain the Four Staves Method (it can actually be done with any four flat sticks or even four coins, the "carpenter's pencil" was just an example I provided of what I've used). You have to designate (marking some kind of difference) which side of the four objects you are using is "yin" and which is "yang".

 

Quoting from the book I wrote (keywords in bold):

 

"If all four come up Yin, the result is a broken changing line..."

 

"if three come up Yin (and one Yang): the result is a broken line..."

 

"If they are tied (2 and 2), you have to look at the one that fell further to your left: 

-if that symbol is a Yin: the result is a broken line...

-if that symbol is a Yang: the result is a solid changing line..."

 

"If three come up Yang (and one Yin) OR if all four come up Yang, the result is a solid line..."

 

 

So you can see, I explained there which are the two cases where the casting of the 'four staves' will create changing lines.  And yes, there can be more than one changing line.

You should also make sure to look at the table on p.49-50, which will tell you what parts to read of the hexagram depending on how many changing lines you received.

 

I hope this clarifies things for you.  If you have any other questions at all, please feel free to add me on Facebook; or go to The Magician's I Ching facebook group (which is not just about my book, it's a general discussion group where we talk about all kinds of things related to the I Ching).  It's open to anyone who's interested in I Ching and owning my particular version of the I Ching is not required.

[thelerner]

Hello, I'm the author of the book in question!

Over in the I Ching facebook group I run, someone brought this post to my attention.

It's always nice to have an author around.  I'd love to hear some of your insights into it. 

 

Huh, I don't think I've ever noticed this subsection before..

Edited August 4, 2016 by thelerner

[Andrei]

Hi Swami Anang Nirsang,

 

Can you explain why 4 coins are better than 3 coins for generating the hexagrams?

 

I understand there are different probabilities but my question is why the yarrow stalk probabilities are more accurate than the three coin method? Is there a philosophical or mystical reason for that? To me it makes sense that probabilities should be equally on both directions from Yin to Yang and Yang to Yin should be the same. Why Yin changing to Yang should be less probable than Yang changing to Yin and why this is considered the "correct" method?

 

Number Yarrow stick probability Three coin probability YinYang Signification Symbol
6           1/16           8/16          2/16                 8/16 old yin yin changing into yang   ---x---
8           7/16                           6/16                         young yin yin unchanging         ---  ---
9           3/16           8/16          2/16                 8/16 old yang yang changing into yin ---o---
7           5/16                           6/16                         young yang yang unchanging    --------

Edited August 4, 2016 by Andrei

[Swami Anand Nisarg]

Yes, there is a mystical/cosmological reason for this. It has to do with the nature of change. The I Ching measures change in reality over time.  In our reality, change does not happen with equal probability.

 

If you look at the odds, in the Yarrow/Four-Staves method, there is equal chance (8/16) of getting a Yin or a Yang; but there is a big difference in the odds of getting a Yin turning into a Yang (1/16) versus getting a Yang turning into a Yin (3/16).  This is because Yang represents a strong force, and Yin a weak force. In our reality it is more likely to see phenomena that are weak but stable than things that are strong but stable, and more likely to see strong things becoming weak than weak things becoming strong.

I very recently elaborated on these details about Yin and Yang in the latest entry of the Yi Fa Society blog. 

[Daeluin]

This seems related to our creation-oriented momentum.

I wonder how this changes when one equalizes or reverses this momentum.

[Daeluin]

It is generally easier to spend money than it is to do the work that earns the money. Easier to consume than to produce. Easier to express than to explain.

 

And even then, the work we do, be it cooking, building, serving, transporting, teaching, usually involves the care-taking of a process that is transforming more yang to yin than yin to yang.

 

There are layers upon layers of this. Perhaps one needs to transcend time and space before one reaches something of an equilibrium.