Each Sunday, I cast a reading for the week ahead – sometimes just asking for something to be aware of, sometimes asking for advice. This week I asked for advice, and received Hexagram 4, Not Knowing, with no changing lines.
This was pretty baffling. Lately I’ve been working very intensely and intentionally, focussed in on the targets for the day, which lead towards the target for the month, which builds towards the target for the year… and so on. It’s a wonderful way to ensure that I’m not just drifting through ‘busy work’, and I always know what I’m doing from moment to moment.
But I’m feeling the pressure of time more intensely than ever, and I’ve got into the distressing habit of reacting like a cat with its tail trapped when anything comes up that’s not in The Plan for the day. Hm… could be something out of balance here…
So the question behind the question was, ‘How can I get it all done?’ Now how – on earth – is ‘not knowing’ any kind of guidance for dealing with a to-do list as long as your arm?
Oddly enough, it turned out to have a good practical application right away. Two technical snafus came up that I had no clue how to fix. Under these circumstances I could either a) try to work it out myself through trial and error or b) explain the problem to the helpdesk and wait to see if they come up with something. So I looked at this…
‘Not knowing, creating success.
I do not seek the young ignoramus, the young ignoramus seeks me.
The first consultation is clearly informative.
The second and third muddy the waters,
Confusing, and hence not informative.
Harvest in constancy.’
…and sent the first question to the helpdesk. They replied with the hour, and the problem was solved.
The remaining snafu was one of those things the helpdesk officially don’t support (and they get miffed if you try it on). I resisted the strong temptation to ask them anyway – more for the sake of having someone to complain to than out of any particular hope they’d solve the problem for me – and settled down to trial and error. And, hallelujah, solved the problem – all while Not Knowing the first thing about the Cascading StyleSheet complexities that were causing it.
I think there’s an element of ‘trial and error’ in the Image. As so often, it helps to elucidate the original oracle. If asking again and again won’t help, what will?
‘Below the mountain, spring water comes forth. Not knowing.
The noble one with the fruits of action, nurtures de.’
Sometimes you can build up your own capacity and resourcefulness just by doing, carving your own course – making it up as you go along.
So there was one layer of the reading, and it turned out that following its advice actually saved me a good-sized chunk of precious time.
Later, I was listening to Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth while I cooked. My ears pricked up when he started talking about the inner protestation, ‘But I don’t know who I am!’ He responds to this:
‘If you can be absolutely comfortable with not knowing who you are, then what’s left is who you are.’
It seems there could be another layer to this week’s advice. After the meal, I followed links at random and found myself at the wonderful blog, Practical Spirituality, by Staci Boden. (Isn’t the hyperlink a great new instrument of synchronicity?)
At bottom, I think this is saying the same thing that Tolle said:
“Spirituality is a relationship with the unknown mystery of life; an energy that is difficult to quantify or touch. It’s not something we can use to get what we want so we can feel more in control over life’s challenges.”
Oh…
…this is what the reading is about. Hexagram 4 is how you relate to everything you don’t know – including the things that aren’t knowable. And the other side of this coin is that if I know all about everything I’m working with, then there’s a whole lot that I’m not relating to at all.
More from Staci:
“Goals and dreams are the way the unknown – some might even say God – speaks to us and works through us. An intention is a guide in navigating the unknown. But it is important to look closely at what lies underneath and around intentions to find what motivates them. It’s possible to hold focus for a dream or goal, but in an open way, so that there is room for the intention to become a sounding board in a conversation with the unknown. It’s also possible to invite (and invoke!) help from the unknown in order to refine intentions as a way to learn and grow.”
There’s nothing wrong with being the young ignoramus, or having this insistent desire to learn, and flow further and deeper. The problems only start when this tips over into a desire to know it all already, to eliminate the unknown.
Of course, I ‘already knew’ all this. 🙄 Odd how ‘revising’ it gives me the sense that I’m breathing freely again.
And to cap it all, after I wrote the draft for this post I watched a short ‘inspirational movie’ before bed. It turned out to be platitudinous and not especially inspiring – but it just happened to contain the phrase,
“Just because you don’t know how to attain it, doesn’t mean it is not possible.”
What translation are you quoting from here? I got a chuckle out of the phrase “Confusing, and hence not informative.” Dryly witty statement of the obvious, it seemed to me – I like it!
That’s my own working version (and I think Yi has plenty of that dry wit – generally at my expense, for some reason…) – you can get it from the ‘extras’ page in the Friends’ Area.
Dear Hilary,
I’m so happy you found Practical Spirituality to be a source of support. I am with you about synchronicity and hyperlinks–following links can feel like skipping on rocks across a stream of synchronicity to land somewhere new. And here I get to connect with the I Ching, wisdom I’ve always respected from a distance and now have the opportunity to learn more about, through you.
Have a wonderful rest of your week!
Staci
Thank you, Staci!
(You know, your blog tag line sums up divination in a nutshell. I think you and Yi will get on beautifully.)
Hilary … My first hunch after reading your words, “…I’ve been working very intensely and intentionally, focussed in on the targets for the day…” was, “Time for now to soften the intention, cool the intensity and shift the focus? … Time to be a bit of a fool…?” 🙂
Now I’m going to read the rest of your words…
You write so beautifully! This post about not knowing illuminates my spirit since I’m one that gets so frustrated from not knowing (whatever subject captures my interest) it already and I get so impatient with the learning process. Now I understand. After reading your post I understand that I need to develop a relationship with the unknown and be at peace about it. I’ve been reading Eckhart Tolle’s A New Earth, too. Synchronicity. A lovely unexpected happening.
Thank you for your work. I’ve been frustrated because I don’t understand the I Ching and can’t express it eloquently like you do. But I’m learning to be at peace with that and just learn from you as the Unknown guides me.
I love how the ancient sages knew “the young ignoramus” in us all … Sometimes it’s a relief to be seen in my ignorance/naiveté by eyes that are kind and knowing in that way that only elders’ eyes can be. All of the sages in my life, past and present, have this in common: they look upon holy-fool ignorance with what I’ve come to see as compassionate irony … (and they understand that ignorance and stupidity are two very different qualities!) Sages will laugh in an ageless, tender way that says, “I know … I know …” (shaking head; rueful grin on face) … trailing off with a giggle that only an old, deeply etched soul can sound … the giggle that knows how we humans try to weld Life to our wishes and never give up trying 😉 … The sages, we can be sure, have tried every trick in the book (and then some!) … 😀
Not knowing can lead us into new territory and thus into a novel perspective on what we’re struggling to see…
I’ve started looking at my sage-figures at home (photos of my spiritual parents; Kwan Yin, Confucus; beloved humans and cats who have died and joined my line of ancestors; Buddha; two art prints by Frank Howell; my cats, who can be Holy Fools to the nth degree, etc.) and seeing them as if we are mirrors of each other. To look in a mirror and see a sage’s face … that’s a huge stretch most days … but it’s a face I pray to emulate in how I look at the world and relate with others …
The sage knows, too, that the Young Fool of Hexagram 4 is already a sage, one just out of bud and unaware … clueless at first ;-D (That could be a great name for Hexagram 4! –> Clueless At First)
I think there’s one intrinsic facet of awareness called, “knowing that I don’t know.” There are some things that we simply will *never* know as long as we’re housed in these bodies and minds. And there’s so much that we do know, and can apply to what we don’t, and see if there’s any “fit” between the two. Of course there is, ’cause this is Yin and Yang in one of its countless blendings 🙂
Hilary, you’ll know and you’ll not know … you’ll know and you’ll not … know and not … know and not … and have all kinds of thoughts, hunches, feelings and questions to bring into the blend … and possibilities will emerge … Sometimes it feels like you’re on a roller coaster, doesn’t it …
Sometimes, too, Life and our minds just need to slow down a bit; perhaps it’s time to rest in the questions for a while, even as you tend to related matters …
It can be such a relief to be able to say, “I don’t know.” 😉 Mark Twain, as he aged, felt pleased as punch to declare his ignorance on things…Here’s the quote (which is one of my Hex. 4 favourites):
“I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did. I said I didn’t know.”
Sometimes things are hidden from us for a reason. We may not be ready yet for the knowledge that we seek. There is something covered, and hidden from sight.
in terms of the question posed, you and I have a similar problem. How to make the most of our time. For there are only so many hours in the day, and only so many days in our lives. How do we cover it all?
We can’t. We can’t we can’t we can’t. And we have to learn that that is okay. That is why we live more than one lifetime. In hexagram four we learn that we must come to understand the seriousness of life. Yet for all that, constant drill must not be applied, for it leaves us lifeless and dull. There is only so much we can do, and that is okay.
As Isis said, “no man hath me unveiled.” The more secrets we uncover, the more there is to be uncovered. We see darkly, as though through a tainted glass. We can only know more when we are ready to know more. And in other sacred texts, “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that he hath revealed…” How much is revealed to us? Are we ready for more? Can we handle more….?
Gene
@Jaliya ‘Clueless’ it is. Maybe without the ‘at first’, since hexagram 4 turns up at all kinds of unexpected moments when I think I’ve really arrived and really know what I’m doing. Definitely the voice of the sage saying, ‘Ah well, there she goes again, the young one without clue…’
@Gene Is there a connection between being at peace with not knowing, like Darlene says, and being at peace with not being able to do it all?
I do agree that the ‘covering’ can be there for a reason, can be protective. And also that “We can only know more when we are ready to know more.” To which I would add that being willing to ask question after question about it doesn’t amount to being ‘ready’!
Asking question after question is the only way to get the answers. Until we are ready we won’t even know the right question to ask.
I am going in two different directions here, and am therefore being a little miscommunicative. Please forgive me for that. On the one hand I have been trying to answer your question, on the other, talking about hidden knowledge. They are not necessarily the same thing.
in a way, there is no answer to your question, because there are only so many hours in the day, and we must deal with that. Unless, of course, we can move so deeply into the spiritual level that normal physical laws do not apply. And how many people do that? In a sense what it is saying is that the answer to your question is covered up. It is not available to you at this time. You must go a step deeper before this question can be answered.
Gene