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[Cookie Monster]

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Edited May 4, 2021 by Ocean Form

[Marblehead]

Your question caused me curiosity:

 

From the web:

 

 

yi  [yee]

noun
1.  (in Chinese ethical philosophy) faithful performance of one's specified duties to society.

 

 

I also saw something that indicated that it might mean change or changes.

 

 

[Rocky Lionmouth]

Interesting! Hoping to see some yummy stuff pop up in here!

 

EDIT: i told myself "Screw the paraphrasing you lazy dog, go git the quote boy! Go!"

 

(... snip snip...) check out the Tài Xuán Jīng, The Elemental Changes (snipp...)

 

Came up in a binary reading discussion of trigrams, this book contains 81 tetragrams. Funny thing: those changes arent called Yi.

 

She went on about bagua superimposed on the five phases more original contexts and at the end of the post she drops this gem on us:

 

(...) (There's lots of "inappropriate" and "inauspicious" situations in the I Ching/ Yi Jing, that's because Yi refers to irregular changes, the kind of changes that happen in an off-balance world.  The regular natural changes are described by different systems.)

What is the traditional pictogram of Yi? Is there a symbolic meaning or interpretation that could help shed some light?

Edited March 19, 2017 by Rocky Lionmouth

[Fa Xin]

I read "Yi" and thought of intention.

[windwalker]

So you can say, working with the yijing is working with the hexagrams

 

But you could also say we're working with yi, through the hexagrams

-and that any oracular method (e.g. tea leaves) actually tries to understand yi, no?

 

So, what is Yi?

 

Can you be a little more clear in your question. 

Its an interesting topic 

So far it seems  kind of confused between "intuition" and "intention" 

[Rocky Lionmouth]

I believe the OP is referring Yi from Yijing/I king/i ching, which i think isn't the same Yi as the intent that is talked about in internal arts and medicine when they say "qi follows the yi" or the one from Xin Yi Chuan and Yi Quan, i believe the pictograms are different alltogether from Yijing.

[allinone]

People think they need to do things like lawn mowing, cut branches, wash teeth. Actually these things doesn't have to do. Is Yi that force?

[sillybearhappyhoneyeater]

do you mean,

易yi: change

仪 yi: rite

意 yi: intention

or

义 yi: order?

 

I'm guessing you mean 意 yi: intention.

Can you use intention to read the hexagrams?  Yes, this is why the hexagrams are so important in meditation.  The hexegrams can be translated into functions of the body and mind and when we meditate, it is useful to understand how hexagram theory explains our meditation practice.  For instance, the yin in Li reverting the the centre of kan makes the yang of kan move to the centre of li, thus turning kan and li into heaven and earth.  Thus revealing the true nature (xing) as the heaven trigram and the body as the earth trigram.

This is related to how we use our intention to create 真意 zhen yi: real intention.

[Taomeow]

Since the topic is about the Yijing (I Ching), it's this yi:

 

易 yi: change

 

My books on the origins of Chinese characters assert it's a picture of a chameleon. 

 

This is what another ancient classic, the Shujing (Book of Documents, or Classic of History) has to say about it:

 

"When in years, months and days the season has no yi, the hundred cereals ripen, the administration is enlightened, talented men of the people are distinguished, the house is peaceful and at ease.  When in days, months and years the season has yi, the hundred cereals do not ripen, the administration is dark and unenlightened, talented men of the people are in petty positions, the house is not at peace. "

 

This is what the Eranos I Ching (Ritsema/Sabbadini) Introduction has to say about it:

 

"We have yi when things are off track, when chaos irrupts into our life and the usual bearings no longer suffice for orientation.  We all know that such times can be very fertile -- and extremely painful, disconcerting and full of anxiety.  Modern chaos theory pays particular attention to these murky transitions, by which forms transmute into each other." 

[Michael Sternbach]

Interesting! Hoping to see some yummy stuff pop up in here!

EDIT: i told myself "Screw the paraphrasing you lazy dog, go git the quote boy! Go!"

Came up in a binary reading discussion of trigrams, this book contains 81 tetragrams. Funny thing: those changes arent called Yi.

She went on about bagua superimposed on the five phases more original contexts and at the end of the post she drops this gem on us:

 

What is the traditional pictogram of Yi? Is there a symbolic meaning or interpretation that could help shed some light?

The Tài Xuán Jīng - although little known - is as interesting as the Yijing. Its tetragrams are based on three raised to the fourth power, whereas the hexagrams of the Yijing are based on four raised to the third power (at least that's one way to look at it). The underlying divinatory mechanism however seems to be the same.

[Rocky Lionmouth]

*rubbing palms like a glutton at a buffé*

 

Told you guys this was gonna be a good one

[[email protected]]

Does it (Yi) really impact the practice somehow? I have not noticed this substance in exercises, but may be I have missed something. I guess it has some connection with practical aspects, but in general, unless I find how it is applied for practical aspects.

[awaken]

The interchange of energy between Heart fire 心火 and kidney water腎水 is based on the clean 意土 yi earth.

 

心藏神火 the Shen fire is hidden in the heart.

 

腎藏水 the Jin water is hidden in the kidney.

 

脾藏意 the yi is hidden in the spleen.

 

The pure yi , real yi, can let the energy of heart And kidney interchange. 心腎交

 

After 心腎交， we can open the secret door, Xiuang guan.

 

But many people don't know what is pure yi, so they can't open the secret door. They only can rotate the lower Dan tian.

 

If the teacher only teach you rotate the lower Dan tian, he is just a qi gung teacher, not a Dan dao teacher.

 

A real Dan dao teacher will teach you how to pure your yi, what is real yi, how to open the secret door.

Edited March 30, 2017 by awaken

[allinone]

the secret door is a door to elevator what takes you down bottom where you can take stairs to heaven. Backbone reference.

[Rocky Lionmouth]

Thus far it has been established that yi is an intentional chameleon of aberrant change and directed attention and it opens the secret elevator down to the basement where the gardening tools and bikes of spirituality are stored.

 

Good, time for a shower and late lunch.

[Taomeow]

Thus far it has been established that yi is an intentional chameleon of aberrant change and directed attention and it opens the secret elevator down to the basement where the gardening tools and bikes of spirituality are stored.

 

Good, time for a shower and late lunch.

 

  As my teacher is fond of saying, nothing Chinese is ever straightforward. 

 

Ready to apply yi nian 意念 now?  Yi meaning thought/ to think /intention and nian meaning to study.  It is the step one may want to take before getting into the mind of tao:  the mind of taiji. 

 

This kind of yi is also referred to by some internal MA masters as the emperor.  They then call qi the general, and li the foot soldiers. 

 

Now then, when you make the art your own, it's much like the emperor making the whole country obey his will.  Mine is the empress, however.    How does she rule toward an orderly bodymindspirit country?  She does not have to give orders.  She does not have to tell the general what to tell the foot soldiers.  All she needs to do is lift an eyebrow, ever so slightly, and the whole kingdom obeys her thought-intent.  That is, whenever she leaves her chambers to mind the affairs of the state.  When she takes a nap, or even hibernates for years at a time (she's the empress, she does as she pleases, and the human mind, even my own, can't fathom what the mind of taiji, even my own, is up to), the kingdom might go haywire.  Go with the flow of that other yi, 易, the chameleon, the monkey wrench kind of change.  So, when she graces the domain with her presence, everything rejoices...  and the chameleon kowtows to her.       

Edited April 27, 2017 by Taomeow

[Wu Ming Jen]

Related to the energy expended by thought and intention, this form of energy regulates the Shen, or spirit. It is related to the Earth element and the two internal organs the spleen and the pancreas. It is the energy of the stable mind and a moderator of one’s behavior. It is also responsible for analytical thinking, memory and intelligence. It can balance polarity, as it is neither yin nor yang. Yi can be a factor in eliciting and fostering change.

 

So Yi must be intention, change, a rite and order all rolled up as one.

 

Not surprising that we need over 50 English words to partial describe a single Chinese symbol.

 

​Chinese Tattoos are a great form of language as it turns out.

Edited April 28, 2017 by Wu Ming Jen

[Taomeow]

Related to the energy expended by thought and intention, this form of energy regulates the Shen, or spirit. It is related to the Earth element and the two internal organs the spleen and the pancreas. It is the energy of the stable mind and a moderator of one’s behavior. It is also responsible for analytical thinking, memory and intelligence. It can balance polarity, as it is neither yin nor yang. Yi can be a factor in eliciting and fostering change.

 

So Yi must be intention, change, a rite and order all rolled up as one.

 

Not surprising that we need over 50 English words to partial describe a single Chinese symbol.

 

​Chinese Tattoos are a great form of language as it turns out.

 

Oh, you are talking about the shen of the spleen.

 

That's yet another yi (I mean, different from the ones I've tackled so far...  not sure if someone else already did).  In many ways it is the opposite of change, for it is the shen that learns from past experiences and informs/regulates the present based on those.  It stores stuff, it is a holding/storage facility.  The spleen holds blood in the vessels; yi the shen of the spleen holds emotions and thoughts in the mind and in the blood.  It holds on to experiences, and mindfulness is rooted in this. 

 

You know what else is rooted in this yi?  The refutation of the "living in the present" idea so dear to so many.  Only people whose spleen yi is so weak that it can't perform its holding functions properly "live in the present."  By the same token, when it is out of balance and too strong at the expense of other shens (notably zhi that looks into the future), one may wind up "living in the past."  Neither mode is optimal, of course.  A healthy spleen yi is like a healthy appetite (incidentally, the spleen opens into the mouth, and many eating disorders and unwholesome diets are rooted in spleen yi being out of whack) -- as I was saying, a healthy appetite is not ignorant of what/when you ate before, earlier...  nor oblivious to when/in what form your next meal might realistically be coming.  I.e. it stays mindful of the past and (via cooperating with zhi) foresees the future simultaneously and integrates them toward the best decision to make right now about what/how much to eat.  Spiritually it's also like that -- a healthy spleen yi is not stuck in the past but never, ever oblivious to it or willfully disregarding it -- and so can afford informed and smart (as opposed to ignorant and dumb) spontaneity in the present without blocking or damaging the future.  In a sense, it lives in the past much like one's gongfu is rooted in the past in its entirety, which is the only way it can manifest in the present or have a future. 

[Wu Ming Jen]

Nailed it..... Yi and shen 

[Rocky Lionmouth]

Omnomnom delicious!

[liminal_luke]

The interchange of energy between Heart fire 心火 and kidney water腎水 is based on the clean 意土 yi earth.

 

心藏神火 the Shen fire is hidden in the heart.

 

腎藏水 the Jin water is hidden in the kidney.

 

脾藏意 the yi is hidden in the spleen.

 

The pure yi , real yi, can let the energy of heart And kidney interchange. 心腎交

 

After 心腎交， we can open the secret door, Xiuang guan.

 

But many people don't know what is pure yi, so they can't open the secret door. They only can rotate the lower Dan tian.

 

If the teacher only teach you rotate the lower Dan tian, he is just a qi gung teacher, not a Dan dao teacher.

 

A real Dan dao teacher will teach you how to pure your yi, what is real yi, how to open the secret door.

 

 

Oh, you are talking about the shen of the spleen.

 

That's yet another yi (I mean, different from the ones I've tackled so far...  not sure if someone else already did).  In many ways it is the opposite of change, for it is the shen that learns from past experiences and informs/regulates the present based on those.  It stores stuff, it is a holding/storage facility.  The spleen holds blood in the vessels; yi the shen of the spleen holds emotions and thoughts in the mind and in the blood.  It holds on to experiences, and mindfulness is rooted in this. 

 

You know what else is rooted in this yi?  The refutation of the "living in the present" idea so dear to so many.  Only people whose spleen yi is so weak that it can't perform its holding functions properly "live in the present."  By the same token, when it is out of balance and too strong at the expense of other shens (notably zhi that looks into the future), one may wind up "living in the past."  Neither mode is optimal, of course.  A healthy spleen yi is like a healthy appetite (incidentally, the spleen opens into the mouth, and many eating disorders and unwholesome diets are rooted in spleen yi being out of whack) -- as I was saying, a healthy appetite is not ignorant of what/when you ate before, earlier...  nor oblivious to when/in what form your next meal might realistically be coming.  I.e. it stays mindful of the past and (via cooperating with zhi) foresees the future simultaneously and integrates them toward the best decision to make right now about what/how much to eat.  Spiritually it's also like that -- a healthy spleen yi is not stuck in the past but never, ever oblivious to it or willfully disregarding it -- and so can afford informed and smart (as opposed to ignorant and dumb) spontaneity in the present without blocking or damaging the future.  In a sense, it lives in the past much like one's gongfu is rooted in the past in its entirety, which is the only way it can manifest in the present or have a future. 

 

 I´ve long been interested in Kunlun practice (in an on-and-off way).  It´s other name is Yi Gung, which I take to mean development of the Yi function. What it means to work with or develop the yi is a topic that interests me -- so thank you! Any further comments much appreciated. 

Edited May 10, 2017 by liminal_luke