The use of recursion to create the hexagram sequence of the I Ching comes with the property that the sequence
generated is more one of 32 PAIRS of hexagrams. (This is also reflected in the tradition
sequence and so reflecting the recursion used to create that sequence).
To work backwards in identifying generic meanings we have to focus on the pairs. I will here, as an example, focus
on the hexagrams that form the octet of FIRE (Clinging) IOW all hexagrams with fire trigram as a base.
The order is (from low to high)
36, 22, 63, 37, 55, 30, 49, 13
36, 22 The only difference in all of these pairs is the TOP line. In hex 36 (yin top line) the emphasis is on darkening
the light or more so HIDING it. IN hex 22 there is also an emphasis on hiding but from BEHIND a facade where we
'beautify' the outside as compared to 36 where we take the 'beauty' inside.
Thus the FIVE line expression, the pentagram of 10100, deals with HIDING of something in general.
63, 37 Hexagram 37 covers the concept of tension release through rigid social structure - be it family, clan, collective
etc. Hexagram 63 has a similar aire in the form of establishing closure, the completion of 'something' but also
that completion being done 'correctly' - a focus on 'syntax' is present. As such BOTH hexagrams have a sense of
achieving something through a rigid structuring and this general nature is represented in the symbol of 10101.
55, 30 Hexagram 55 covers diversity concepts but in particular the over-abundance of 'something' and as such a
potential breaking of, or more so overflowing of a structure. Hexagram 30 has a focus more on RE-structuring, establishing
a sense of direction, an ideology, something to cling to. Both reflect going 'beyond' the existing structure(s)
and this is reflected in the symbol of 10110.
49, 13 These two hexagrams complement the HIDING of 36, 22 by a focus more on REVELATION, we do not 'draw in' but
move 'out', reflected in the unmasking processes of 49 and the forming of casual relationships of 13 - both of
these hexagrams reflect a more proactive perspective than the 36, 22 pairs.
AS we can see, the pairs are ordered to REFLECT the yin/yang biases rooted in the original dichotomy of yin/yang
that we have applied recursively. Thus within the octet we have hexagram groupings of:
BETWEEN emphasis (as in 4 yin vs 4 yang in the octet):
36, 22, 63, 37 VS 55, 30, 49, 13
36, 22 VS 49, 13
63, 37 VS 55, 30
36 VS 13
22 VS 49
63 VS 30
37 VS 55
WITHIN emphasis:
36, 22 VS 63, 37
55, 30 VS 49, 13
36 VS 22
63 VS 37
55 VS 30
49 VS 13
At the pentagram level we have:
Yin side:
10100 - HIDING (36 + 22)
10101 - RIGID STRUCTURING (63 + 37)
Yang side:
10110 - GOING BEYOND (escape) existing STRUCTURE (55 + 30)
10111 - GOING BEYOND HIDING (49 + 13)
As I have identified elsewhere, the fundamental functions of the neuron are to transform and/or transcend, aka
to protect and/or exploit-recruit. These distinctions reflect the overall bias of TRANSFORMATION - seeking PROTECTION,
learning 'good' habits to blend-in with the local context - for the more yin sides and TRANSCENDENCE - seeking
escape to another context or replacing the existing context- for the yang sides. When we zoom-in to the underlying
hexagrams these transform/transcend perspectives continue:
36 - transform (protect)
22 - transcend (go beyond)
22 as such can serve to attract and yet hide. 36 serves to hide, to definitely NOT attract. thus the focus on 22
of beauty is more into 'facading' and as such to 'gloss over' and so to 'hide' where the focus is to the gloss
not what is beneath it - this reflects 'trickary' as a property of transcendence.
63 - transform (protect - closure)
37 - transcend (go beyond - tension release of rigid structure)
55 - transform (protect - against too much diversity)
30 - transcend (go beyond - ideology)
49 - transform (protect - through revelation/revolt)
13 - transcend (go beyond - join with others)
The orders in the remaining octets (ordered from YIN end to YANG end, each pair transform, transcend) are:
Heaven [Go beyond]
11, 26 (protect, go beyond)
05, 09 (protect, go beyond)
34, 14 (protect, go beyond)
43, 01 (protect, go beyond)
Lake [Protect]
19, 41 (protect, go beyond)
60, 61 (protect, go beyond)
54, 38 (protect, go beyond)
58, 10 (protect, go beyond)
(Fire is [Go beyond])
Thunder [Protect]
24, 27 (protect, go beyond)
03, 42 (protect, go beyond)
51, 21 (protect, go beyond)
17, 25 (protect, go beyond)
For the octets on the yin side there is a subtle change in focus, still retaining yin-to-yang but now with the
yin side more dominant due to the yin base line - the full sequence of yin hexagrams we have:
Earth [protect]
02, 23 (protect, go beyond)
08, 20 (protect, go beyond)
16, 35 (protect, go beyond)
12, 45 (e.g. the goal of 12 is to neutralise the attacks of others upon one's faith and so strengthen one's faith.
This reflects protection leading to transcendence. The goal of 45 is to SHARE celebration of faith and as such
reflects overall transcending perspective which when shared is a form of protection)
Mountain [go beyond]
15, 52 (protect, go beyond)
39, 53 (protect, go beyond)
62, 56 (protect, go beyond)
31, 33 (protect, go beyond)
Water [protect]
07, 04 (protect, go beyond)
29, 59 (protect, go beyond)
40, 64 (protect, go beyond)
47, 06 (protect, go beyond)
Wind [go beyond]
46, 18 (protect, go beyond)
48, 57 (protect, go beyond)
32, 50 (protect, go beyond)
28, 44 (protect, go beyond)
In EACH hexagram you will find BOTH concepts of transcend/transform as you do yin/yang BUT the overall biases are
reflected in the above orderings - e.g. in Wind we have:
46 - transform (protect - become more entangled)
18 - transcend (go beyond - correct past corruption)
..
..
28 - transform (protect - do more than required) BOTH 28 & 44 deal with excess.
44 - transcend (go beyond - persuade/seduce)
Note there is an aire of 'going beyond' in these due to the Wind bias and the fact that we are at the yang end
of the yin hexagrams. As such I can easily interpret 46 as 'going beyond' with its emphasis on 'pushing upwards'
BUT closer examination shows the focus is upon getting more entangled with person/company/group etc and as sucg
more protect bias. 18 on the other hand could be interpreted as protection rather than transcending BUT the focus
is more on correcting the corruption to allow one to 'go beyond' - to get 'above' it all. I am sure you will all
'see' the dualities expressed in each hexagram but in the binary ordering there are influences from the more general
levels that flavour the particular hexagram meanings.
Overall, ANY categorisation based in recursion of a dichotomy (a la yin/yang) will reflect the generic qualities
of the differentiate/integrate distinctions and as such will reflect terms syonymous with differentiate/integrate
as in transcendence/transformation - exploit/protect, replace/balance-out. The use of recursion will encode these
'all the way down' such that WITHIN each octet is the same pattern as in the whole sequence of 64 (32 yin-32 yang)
and we go down to the level of PAIRS - it is the PAIRS that identify the 'stop' level of the recursion.
Here is the list of hexagrams grouped under the brain-related functions of transforming and transcending.
Transforming bias (Yin) - focus is on learning 'good' habits and so integrating with the context such that one
is pushed by the context. The overall emphasis is on PROTECTION.
Yin base line set
02, 08, 16, 45
15, 39, 62, 31
07, 29, 40, 47
46, 48, 32, 28
Yang base line set
24, 03, 51, 17
36, 63, 55, 49
19, 60, 54, 58
11, 05, 34, 43
Transcending bias (Yang) focus is on replacing existing context with another either through asserting one's own
context or else escaping to another context. The overall emphasis is on exploitation/recruitments etc to achieve
'transcendence' (i.e. something 'better' than what is)
Yang base line set
01, 14, 09, 26
10, 38, 61, 41
13, 30, 37, 22
25, 21, 42, 27
Yin base line set
44, 50, 57, 18
06, 64, 59, 04
33, 56, 53, 52
12, 35, 20, 23
Due to the use of recursion which allows the whole, the original dichotomy, to be reflected in all parts so each
of the derived hexagrams reflects BOTH functions BUT in each hexagram there is an overall bias in favour of one
function or the other.
Here is the list of hexagrams grouped under the brain-related functions of transforming and transcending.
Transforming bias (Yin) - focus is on learning 'good' habits and so integrating with the context such that one
is pushed by the context. The overall emphasis is on PROTECTION.
Yin base line set
02, 08, 16, 45
15, 39, 62, 31
07, 29, 40, 47
46, 48, 32, 28
Yang base line set
24, 03, 51, 17
36, 63, 55, 49
19, 60, 54, 58
11, 05, 34, 43
Transcending bias (Yang) focus is on replacing existing context with another either through asserting one's own
context or else escaping to another context. The overall emphasis is on exploitation/recruitments etc to achieve
'transcendence' (i.e. something 'better' than what is)
Yang base line set
01, 14, 09, 26
10, 38, 61, 41
13, 30, 37, 22
25, 21, 42, 27
Yin base line set
44, 50, 57, 18
06, 64, 59, 04
33, 56, 53, 52
12, 35, 20, 23
Due to the use of recursion which allows the whole, the original dichotomy, to be reflected in all parts so each
of the derived hexagrams reflects BOTH functions BUT in each hexagram there is an overall bias in favour of one
function or the other.
Note that I have added the following page under the link "CLASS:" to each interpretations
of the hexagrams -
--------------------------
HEXAGRAM CLASSES
Since the I Ching serves as a metaphor for the brain's manner in which it interprets reality so the primary functions
of the brain shine through any metaphor. These prime functions are those of Transforming and Transcending and these
reflect the basic properties of the brain of Integrating and Differentiating.
The Transformation function is the process by which we learn 'good' habits that enable us to quickly blend-in with
a context such that it pushes us - we conserve energy by having habits encoded into the input areas of the neurons
of the brain and as such get pushed rather than have to continuously monitor the context for changes. The overall
emphasis therefore is on fitting-in, integrating, and in general of PROTECTION and the maintaining of balance.
The Transcendence function is the process by which we can elicit 'new' perspectives on a habit that is responding
to a context - we can 'slice n dice' the habit and, through the link to synchronisations of neurons as responses
to stimuli, re-synchronise data to create new, alternative, behaviours that can (a) aid us in escaping the current
context for another or (b) asserting our own context over the existing. The overall emphasis therefore is on REPLACEMENT
of the existing context either by escape to assertion of one's own; the focus is on differentiating something 'better'.
In general this transcendence 'drive' reflects the recruitment of others to 'go beyond' - and not necessarily giving
those recruited any benefit for their efforts to aid in 'your' transcendence!
The Transcendence function is associated with differentiation and SINGLE CONTEXT thinking (universals) which is
very EITHER/OR and so very CLEAR in what it wants/needs (it 'stands out').
The Transformation function is associated with integration and more multiple context processing (local context
sensitive).
Thus in the IC+ interpretations of the hexagrams each hexagram has been identified with its overall functional
preference. Due to the nature of the manner in which the hexagrams have been derived (recursion of yin/yang) so
properties of BOTH functions can be identified within each hexagram, however the TOP LINE of each hexagram shows
the particular bias of that hexagram - if the top line is YIN then the bias is to Transforming whereas if the top
line is YANG then the bias is to Transcending.
Note that these biases are local and operate WITHIN the general biases determined by the BOTTOM LINE of the hexagram.
For example, the only differences between hexagram 2 and hexagram 23 is the top line. BOTH hexagrams are 'yin'
based and as such have a GENERAL bias to transforming - protection - but the TOP line of 23 is yang and gives 23
a focus on transcending, on replacing something with something considered 'better' - in 23 the perspective is on
PRUNING, on clearing away chaff from the wheat. This replacement process is done within an integrating context
(yin base line) and as such serves as an example of protecting the 'true' faith by occasionally pruning."