Iching 13

 

T'ung Jen (Fellowship)

I Ching Hexagram 13
T'ung Jen (Fellowship)

Action: Socialize

Hu Gua (hidden influence) 44 Coming to Meet: Encounter

Zong Gua (underlying cause) 7 Army: Correct Discipline

If you understand nature’s symmetries,
you will use no counting rods.

Humankind has not woven the web of life.
We are but one thread within it.
Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves. – Chief Seattle

Reading at a Glance: T’ung Jen is a hexagram that explores your principles, character, integrity, and how you interact with others. In joining with another, the relationship will allow you to share a special connection, but is not always a romantic or harmonious interaction .This is because there is more of an emphasis on gaining Clarity about how you behave in relationship to others. Yet, there is a lot to learn from these partnerships. We are often attracted to groups because of our shared interests. Once in the group however, we discover the ways in which we are different. The hidden influence of Coming to Meet allows for the exploration of the Shadow in your relationships. It is an opportunity to own the dynamics you bring to your relationships rather than blame others for your condition. If you can discover even the smallest insight about yourself through a relationship, regardless of its duration, it has been successful. Moving away from the underlying cause of Army, we had the opportunity to put individual expression aside to work as a Team. Now partnerships have to be viewed in terms of how you can best serve them while discovering more about yourself. Fellowship places emphasis on socializing so if you have been introspective, it is time to return to the group. There is a sense of caring and emotional well being at play as you interact with others. If you are isolated from others, Fellowship is a call to realize that no person is an island. We are part of a tapestry of interaction, yet each individual fulfills their own destiny. Fellowship presents a relationship with an emphasis on what it can teach you about yourself.

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I often do iching oracle when confused. Today I got this result. It seems learning about my own basic nature and that of others and their doing the same is the goal to make for a better whole, more productivity, happiness in a greater social context. We are too often obsessed with ourselves in the moment, not taking the big picture into account. Generally in spirituality , romantics, hobbies, etc one is focused on feeling good in the moment but we can lose sight of long term goals, which we must reassess from time to time. Of course we often do just he opposite, ignoring our feeling as we have some plan imposed by social will( career or marriage, family expectations). Balance between such short and long term goals/ feelings is difficult to acheive. Few people have a truly fulfilling career or ideal marriage without problems(permanent honeymoon). In college I never settled into one major so never acheived anything due to a short attention span. Now I take the opposite tack of sheer bloody mindedness, hanging on till the bitter end, proving I can get through any problem by being flexible, consistent, caring, attentive, hardworking. Middle age brings certain traits with it. I suppose if I had stuck to the course in colllege, become an accountant at 22, married, had three kids and remained in my dreary hometown that I would have rebelled at 45, gone to Thailand and lived on the beach as a hippy. A time for every season also. Lots to think about here. And when i socialize with someone it changes me in subtle ways. This gets passed on to my acquaintances, changing their moods, like chocolate, coffein or similar which mysteriously gets fed into the blood of everyone I meet after having gorged myself on sweets or lots of coffee. No man is an island.