What questions you can ask the Yijing ?

[waterdrop]

What questions you can ask the Yijing ?  


[ I read different things  and a bit confused about what questions to ask or not to ask   ......      so would be interested to read even more views about this from people here  and if someone wants to explain why that can be an added bonus    (but will definitely appreciate only seeing different users point of view - without explaining why)  

I just now asked the Yijing what work path i should choose in life   , but the results (1>46)   seems vague  -  and the answers in cases of a question like this seem to be describing something like a general good advice of work hard , be persevering etc   and not "be a pianist/construction worker/engineer etc"    so it made me wonder again about what questions to ask or not ...    or more accurately   :    are there questions to never to ask cause i will never ever get a good reply to them  ?    to never ever ask a yes/no  question ?  are there questions that are best to ask  ?    are there questions that are more easy to understand than others ?   are there questions that you will get a reply to  but just wont be able to easily understand it  (maybe i was told i should be a lawyer that specializes in agricultural disputes  and i missed it?)  ?   
 

[mcoolio]

An important question to ask, and I have to admit that I too should probably spend some more time thinking, studying this.

 

The way you specify your question is very important and determines the answer the YiJing gives you. Different techniques allow you to reveal different kind of information about the question of concern.

 

When one moves on to the Liu Yao aspect of YiJing, this becomes very clear. The second book of Alfred Kee goes in depth into this subject.

 

To see what I mean you can check the preview of the book on google books. The first chapter (fully available) introduces 5 different  question asking techniques and later chapters show technical details of interpretation with Liu Yao.

[mcoolio]

Another thought to add:

 

Sometimes it is simply the case that certain other metaphysics systems are better suited to answering certain questions.

 

For example, question you asked just now: what career should I choose, is probably a question that better fits astrology. Although I Ching can still give you certain useful information regarding the topic of course.

[Harmen]

 

[waterdrop]

Thank you very much for the effort to make a video to reply to me

Edited August 30, 2022 by waterdrop

[mcoolio]

On 8/30/2022 at 7:52 PM, Harmen said:

 

 

Interesting way of commenting :D. Makes discussing here a little bit difficult though, since you have to watch the whole video and can't quote. But I guess referring to the content of a book without much explanation, like I did too ...

 

You disagree with my statement there:

 

On 8/23/2022 at 2:52 PM, mcoolio said:

The way you specify your question is very important and determines the answer the YiJing gives you. Different techniques allow you to reveal different kind of information about the question of concern.

 

I disagree with your disagreement :). Like I said, when studying the Liu Yao aspect of the YiJing this will become more clear.

 

Just look at Alfred Kee's 2nd Liu Yao book, grasping the changes of the i ching. Where he gives 5 different types of questions and how to interpret them. Some examples:

 

1. Is it good to do this? ; Should I do this?

2. Will I get this? ; Will I lose this? ; ...

3. Which is better, A or B? ; Who will win, A or B? ; ...

4. How will my relationship with A develop? ; How will this illness, career, ... develop? ; ...

5. When will X happen? When should I do this? ; ...

 

He also (very) briefly talks about how these methods can be combined and how sometimes it is not possible.

 

Many of the questions we ask the YiJing are combinations of some of these methods and I think that it is very good to learn to identify this. Seems to me that especially in the beginning stages of learning YiJing, it can be good to break up your question in multiple pieces and study each casting separately.

 

Even before I started learning about Liu Yao, I have had much benefit from asking my question in this form:

 

What will happen if I do this?

What will happen if I don't do this?

 

 

You talk about how you have to give the YiJing a framework. Well, in my opinion the way you specify your question is also a part of that. YiJing is very flexible and it can probably answer all (logically correct) questions. But being precise in your way of questioning makes interpreting the answer more easy. Since you are then restricting the YiJing to a certain set of answers, you know exactly how you have to interpret the hexagram. And we know there are many ways of interpreting a hexagram...

 

Furthermore, I would say that even when you give YiJing a simple statement like "I will go to war with this country" like in the old books, you are still (implicitly) asking a question, because you are still consulting the Yi Jing and asking for a comment on the situation. No?

 

And finally, I would think that it can actually be possible that the YiJing gives you a wrong answer. Seems to me like it could certainly be the case that in certain conditions or at a certain time or in a certain place, the connection with the YiJing is not good and the hexagram is faulty. This is also something Alfred Kee talks about in that same book. He calls it the 'chaotic hexagram'.