I have found that when I go to seminars there is often one totally unexpected thing that I learn. In a recent seminar it was about finding neutrality. Another participant was telling me how it was hard for her to reach neutrality before doing a hexagram. I then had a moment of insight. This was an aspect I had not paid enough attention to, even though I had consulted the Oracle for a decade. I began to explore ways to reach neutrality.
1.) The Hexagram 52. Meditating, was an outline for this. It began for me by deepening my understanding of what the purpose of an I Ching meditation is (“ ...to remove those thoughts and images that trouble the mind....”) and how this differs from other types of meditation. As I reflected on this hexagram I started to see why neutrality is important in a meditation / Hexgram. I need to be still and clear to receive the images and the help.
2.) During exercises in seminars I’ve been led to work with visual images that take away the disturbing thought / image and carry it to the Cosmos. Some of these images were loading the disturbance on a wagon or letting the Cosmic vacuum cleaner grab it. Now my own personal images pop up as well and sometimes they are quite amusing.
3.) I remembered Carol saying that even if I didn’t receive anything specific in a meditation, at least I have had the cleansing. This has been helpful for me in developing a regular meditation practice because it freed me from the expectations of ‘producing’. Also I find that insight often comes a while after a meditation.
4.) I read something by Hanna in the website blog about approaching these processes with modesty and sincerity. That seems so obvious yet sometimes that’s missing. I may do a simple check of my inner state to see if this is where I am at in the moment.
I look now to see if I’m in neutrality before meditating, doing a hexagram or asking questions of the Sage. When I get a yes that I have reaching neutrality it gives me confidence that my communication is truly with the Sage.
By jk