(Copyright © 2000-2005 C.J.Lofting)
In figuring out how the I Ching 'works' we find correlation with how our brains work as they derive meaning. Thus we move from a 'divination' process that is reactive to one that is more proactive; realising of course that one's proactivity will come up against that of another/others such that what is considered 'inevitable' may not neccessarily be so! The form of consulation focuses on elements of the unconsious being stimulated by the context where context can 'push our buttons' - as such we know what is going on 'vaguely' but need to bring all of that into the light of day; to make it all seem a bit 'clearer' and so giving us choices in actions. In this particular model we use the hierarchy of belief systems derived by Rober Dilts. In the alternative model we use the basic dynamics of brain processing of qualities.
(go direct to questions)
Robert Dilts, in his book "Changing Belief Systems with NLP" has come up with a hierarchic structure which I have mapped to that of a hexagram:- Dilts I Ching Spirituality(god) Heaven Identity(soul) Heaven Beliefs and Values(heart) Man Capabilities(mind) Man Behaviour(strength) Earth Environment(stimulus) Earth In the traditional I Ching there is often reference to the ruler of the hexagram. This is usually line 5 or line 2 (the centre line of each trigram.) Line 5 is supposed to be the line of the king/lord whereas line 2 is of lower social status. Comparing this with Dilts' structure, line 5 is the line for Will and Identity and line 2 for Behaviour and Strength. In the psychological sense, therefore, it is one's Identity and/or one's Behaviour that rules a situation. (Who you are (form) or what you do (Process)). Dilts' structure is used to show how the different levels interact and block or enable creativity. The upward path is more of a feedback loop between the two adjacent levels in that it is rare, say, for one's Environment to strongly affect more than one's Behaviour. If it does it will be a progressively diminishing effect the further up the levels we go. The downward path, on the other hand, can have a dramatic effect on the levels below it. (Change in belief can strongly influence capabilities and behaviour and environment). Dilts investigates (using NLP) how you can detect 'blockages' by how people limit themselves. For example a person may state that "Creativity can be difficult and disruptive.". Analysis suggests that this has come from the beliefs and values level. If you can change the person's mind about this then you will automatically change/influence ALL levels below.(Imagine what happens when you change their 'god' - in the I Ching, changing the top line shifts perspectives dramatically from the conditional to the unconditional, from competitive to cooperative, or visa versa) The way this structure is treated demonstrates the underlying 'need' we seem to have for structure AND procedure. You can make a model of an individual by slotting values for their soul,god,mind etc and also analyze the procedural based up/down paths. Another point is that, when used as a diving tool, the majority of questions asked of the I Ching start with 'What', as in "What should I do about..". Dilts' system places 'What' questions at the level of behaviour: Identity Who Beliefs Why Capabilities How Behaviour What Environment Where/When The content of the question implicitly tells you where the person is 'coming from'. Most questions asked of the I Ching are about behaviour which suggests that the users difficulty with things, and therefore the appeal to outside sources, rests with the level above behaviour, namely Capabilities. (In this system, for example, explicit questions of identity (e.g."Who am I") suggest an implicit difficulty with spirituality.)
Based on the above categories of Dilts, answer the below questions. Once satisfied with your answers, scroll down and press the "SUBMIT" button at the bottom of the table ( or the "RESET" button to start again.).
Use the supplied emails links to let us know how things went; e.g. was this method useful and how did it compare to the more 'traditional' methods ? Have fun, explore, try out "what ifs?" - through understanding these questions one can focus on eliciting a 'preferred' response in one's daily activity. Note that when presented with a hexagram and its page of information, clicking on the hexagram symbol will take you to another page of detailed information.
I Ching Plus Questions Method
ENVIRONMENT
My relationship with the immediate environment is active/strong
My relationship with the immediate environment is passive/weak
My relationship was active but now now sure
My relationship was passive but now not sure
BELIEFS
I hold firmly to my beliefs
I often question my beliefs
I used to be firm about my beliefs, but now not so sure
I used to question my beliefs, but now I am surer
BEHAVIOUR
I am confident with the manner in which I behave, what I do
I am not confident with my behaviour, I can get confused
I was confident about my behaviour, but now not so sure
I was not confident with my behaviour, but now not sure (am surer)
IDENTITY
I am confident about who I am, I have inner strength
I have doubts about my identity
I was confident about who I am, but now I am not so sure
I had doubts about my identity, but now I am surer about it
CAPABILITIES
I have a good understanding about my capabilities, how I can handle things
I am unsure what I am capable of
I had a good understanding of my capabilities but now not sure
I was unsure of my capabilities but am now a little surer
SPRITUALITY
My sense of mission is strong
I have no sense of mission
I used to have a sense of mission but now not sure
I used to have no sense of mission but now not sure sure
Pressing submit will present a page of three frames down the page in a particular form of interpretation - the order being:
You have three choices in behaviour:
1) The "Causal State" reflects the flow of the context and its 'demand' for a cooperative response to its stimulus. To go with the flow, adopt the characteristics of the associated ' responding' hexagram, or, if there is none, then the response is the characteristics of the cause; cause and effect are 'one'. If you dont like this situation you need to move on, change contexts, find some place to go. (2) The "Current State" or "Changing State", YOU, reflects tension between text and context. To assert the characteristics of this hexagram as context you need to neutralise the changing lines caused by the context 'pushing'; mediation is required. If there are no changing lines then you are 'in the flow' and need to do nothing other than what you are currently doing. - or else, move on. (3) The "Future State"or "Becoming State" reflects what will develop if you do nothing in response to any changes etc. IOW this is the 'preferred' response to the stimulus and if you stay around long enough you will turn into it; reflects its characteristics. As such, if you choose to stay around then adopt this behaviour to 'fit in' quickly or else move on.
Of interest is that when we assign the Dilts' system to the line positions of the hexagrams, what hexagrams have an active line in only one position and do these specific hexagrams relate in any way to the Active Dilts label? Here is the list together with the hexagram's opposites - active lines for all positions bar the one under review - as well as the raw mixing concepts with the trigram associations : Spirituality (23) Splitting Apart(Self Development -remove the unusable) (43) Breakthrough(Resoluteness) mixing concepts: Bond / Blend (23 - Development(give way)/Balance(devotion) (43 - Development(push forward)Balance(power)) Identity (08) Union (Receptive leader/central/Group) (14) Possession in Great Measure(Active lead) mixing concepts: Bound / Blend (08 - Protection(secure)/Balance(devotion)) (14 - Protection(Guidance)/Balance(Power)) Beliefs (16) Enthusiasm (Perseverance/Foresight) (09) Taming Power of the Small mixing concepts: Bind / Blend (16 - Change(Influence)/Balance(Devotion)) (09 - Change(Influence)/Balance(Power)) Capabilities (15) Modesty (Humbling) (10) Treading (Conduct) mixing concepts: Blend / Bond (15 - Balance(Devotion)/Development(Give way)) (10 - Balance(Power)/Development(Push Forward)) Behaviour (07) The Army (Social requirements) (13) Fellowship with Men mixing concepts: Blend / Bound (07 - Balance(Devotion)/Protection(Secure)) (13 - Balance(Power)/Protection(Guidance)) Environment (24) Return (Towards light/away from dark) (44) Coming to Meet (towards dark/away light) mixing concepts: Blend / Bind (24 - Balance(Devotion)/Change(Influence)) (44 - Balance(Power)/Change(Influence)) A structural analysis using a hexagram mapped with Dilts' levels and weak/strong lines:- -- -- ------ -- -- ------ -- -- ------ From bottom to top:- Strong environment (stimulating). Weak behaviour (can get confused) Strong capabilities (can handle it) Weak beliefs (does not know/believe it) Strong identity (Inner strength - Will to go on) Weak spirituality (poor sense of mission) This hexagram is associated with the MBTI/Keirsey group called Organizers (in Row 3 of the MBTI diagram). In this case we are dealing specifically with Scientist/Theoretician (INTJ). This group are the map makers with a bias towards the map over the territory. In the traditional I Ching this hexagram is called After Completion (Hexagram 63 - Guidance influenced by Security). The image states: "..Thus the superior man takes thought of misfortune and arms himself against it in advance" What better way to avoid problems then to have a map? A point of interest here is that this hexagram is a copy of the positional template used for all hexagrams. The template, therefore, has the symbolic meaning of organization and map making. In this hexagram, the base trigram is associated with the concept of bounding (enclosure). This bounding is expansive and so we have a map starting from somewhere (where we are) and showing our surroundings (enclosure).The map is continually being expanded in all directions. It acts as a guide. A point of interest is that the MBTI/Keirsey categorizations only go as far as level 4 (1st four lines). There are no explicit categorizations beyond this. However, if we include the Dilts structure we can explicitly extend the levels. The INTJ group has four hexagrams within it. Using the Dilts structure we get a finer level of personality structure: Organizers Scientist/Theoretician/Planner Strong will, strong spirituality: hex 37 The Family. image: "..Thus the superior man has substance in his words and duration in his way of life." Strong will, weak spirituality: hex 63 After Completion. image: "..Thus the superior man takes thought of misfortune and arms himself against it in advance" Weak will, strong spirituality: hex 22 Grace. image: "..Thus does the superior man proceed with clearing up current affairs. But he dare not decide controversial issues in this way" Weak will, weak spirituality: hex 36 Darkening of the Light. image: "..Thus does the superior man live with the great mass. He veils his light, yet still shines." Another method of analysis combines the procedural and structural in that hexagram interpretation is the structural top trigram describing the situation(form) and the bottom procedural describing the behaviour(process) or visa versa. Since all systems seem to map the same template, 'gaps' in one system can be filled by data from another system as long as the positional relationship is kept constant. The current texts on the I Ching reflect a mindset, much of which was created when Richard Wilhelm's translation was published. This mindset deals with human issues, but the template on which the I Ching has been based can also be used for other, non-human, issues. For details on Dilt's work see: Dilts,R(1987) "Changing Belief Systems with NLP" Meta Pub. Dilts,R.,Epstein,T.,Dilts,R.,(1991) "Tools for Dreamers" THE CONCEPT OF TRINITY. Although the I Ching and the MBTI are based on powers of two in form, there is scope for these systems to show threeness. If we accept that yin/yang is associated with process and the left hemisphere of the brain, then the trinity is introduced when we combine the concept of change (yin/yang) with no-change (T'ai Chi). For example, the Enneagram of Riso is explicitly based around powers of three although analysis shows that there is a strong '2' part, in that each personality, when analyzed, is interpreted as a midpoint between a down side personality and an up side personality. Analysis of the Enneagram suggests that rather than there being nine basic personality types, there are infact eight psychological types and one sociological type; the latter being more of a template than a type since it symbolizes the heroes of the world as well as the villains and as such persons of this type are known to change easily suggesting that they have transformed from another type into the sociological 'archetype' and back again. This sociological type (type 3), being a template, never changes; psychological types transform in and out of it and it is they that change, just like the psychological types of the MBTI and Jung. The Tao Te Ching is also tertiary based with 81 sections, and there is a form of diagram system similar to the I Ching which is tertiary based. These all seem to have been developed after the binary systems but with different logical levels which infact retain the binary structure. At the same time is should be noted that the I Ching and the MBTI deal with change, or variance. There are invariant roots that are not covered in the texts and 'suggest' a trichotomy rather than a dichotomy, and this suggests support for the yin/yang being associated with process only. JUNGIAN INFLUENCES. Both the I Ching and the MBTI have one person in common - Carl Jung. I emphasize this since most of the translations of the I Ching available in european languages today are usually reinterpretations of Richard Wilhelm's 1923 german translation and the later 1950 english translation. Jung wrote the forward to Wilhelm's book and has stated there and elsewhere that he was aware of and had used the divining side of the I Ching prior to 1923. The question is, could Jung's early exposure to the I Ching have subconsciously affected his development of his typology? Was the mixing terminology of the template, solely in the domain of the I Ching? The typology was completed by 1922, and Jung does not mention any of it in the introduction to Wilhelm's I Ching; he concentrates more on his synchronicity concept. However, if this did occur, then it is possible that the correlation of the MBTI to the I Ching may infact just be the result of a common source - Jung's mind. The template may be just a model of Jung's mind rather than 'the mind'. There is the suggestion that Jung and Wilhelm, being friends, were 'like-minded' and the I Ching translation would be agreeable to both. Furthermore, the other maps dealing with psychology may have the same structure purely because of Jung's influence on psychology and psychiatry. The people who devised the maps were affected unconsciously. I intend to show that this is NOT the case, for other categorization systems map to the template and they do not deal with psychology nor psychiatry, and those that do, have the pre-Jung sources of ancient greece and babylonia. I HAVE A QUESTION!