Readings On Doing Readings

How does Yijing readings guide me
in doing Yijing readings?

Reading approach
At times I would encounter certain concerns or issues in my reading practice, and I was clueless on how to figure out the answer. Those situations often provoke me to ask this question:

How should I read this?

But instead of resorting to other approaches, I would turn to Yijing right away, knowing that it can shed clarity on how to approach a certain reading.

So this is what happens: I would do a Yijing reading to get an idea on how to do a Yijing reading. Doing this a number of times has given me so much benefit in structuring a reading content, sequencing my consulting process, and refining my reading interpretations.

As always, Yijing responds with clear and exact reading approach. And I applied these approaches in my personal readings and reading sessions with clients, bringing more clarity and ease in understanding Yijing readings.

Going beyond
Some words are attached to the Greek prefix meta– to describe something that transcends or goes beyond a particular subject. For example:

metadata: data that describes the data.
metathinking: thinking on one’s thinking
metalanguage: language that describes language
metaphilosophy: philosophy of philosophy
metastudy: studying the studies
metatheory: theory on studying theory
metastory: a bigger story within a story

These are relatively new words, coined to serve the need of an overview, objective approach on their respective subjects. They are quite different from their counterparts like metamorphosis, metanoia, metaphysics and metaphor, which are much older words coined from their historical context.

It’s hard to visualize all these abstract ideas. But the word metaphoto, which means taking a picture while taking a picture, (mostly, a selfie on a mirror) is an exception:

Yijing Metareading
In line with this use of the prefix meta-, I call my approach as Yijing metareading, which I simply define as:

Yijing readings on doing Yijing readings

The approach is simple: If I am clueless on how to read something or how to approach a certain reading, I would immediately do a Yijing reading to know how.

Here are some metareading questions I asked before:

How should I do a quick reading?
How do I read the cryptic message?
How should I do a group reading?
Is it OK to do I Ching readings anywhere?

Let me briefly discuss these questions

Metareading #1: Quick Reading
Doing Yijing readings take time, especially the detailed ones. And not all personal issues and decisions require detailed readings with all the textual and symbolic explanations. I have encountered friends and clients who get more confused when I explain the symbols to them. More so if I read the text, which are too cryptic for an ordinary querent. So I thought of the best way to read Yijing insights that are practical and straightforward.

Nothing could be more fitting than the insight of Tiger, Tail, Treading. I got Hexagram 10 as a response to the best quick reading approach. As my mind operates in threes (3 is said to be the magic number), these three elements are exactly what most people need, which I saw in their practical counterparts: Situation, Challenge, Action. You can read the full story of this metareading in this blog post.

Metareading #2: Cryptic Text
Honestly, Yijing is not an easy text. Diviners, scholars and first-timers all experience the same thing: it’s not uncommon that Yijing can be hard to comprehend, depending on their level of study. For ordinary users, it’s normal to get stuck with the text and find it disconnected from their own inquiries. So I thought of asking Yijing on how to understand the text and its message if it appears to be too cryptic.

But Yijing never fails to guide. Even though the struggle was real (and still is), Yijing still gave me a clear framework using Hexagram 17 to 58 on how to approach cryptic answers in 3 ways: to contemplate the insights within; to focus on images or text that calls attention; and to have an engaging conversation with kindred spirits. You can read the entire discussion of this approach here.

Metareading #3: Group Reading
After making three frustrating attempts on group reading back in 2016, I realized I could not longer give detailed instructions and do personalized interpretations on every single participant in a big group. It’s impractical time-wise and overwhelming effort-wise. But I still wanted everyone to get a taste of Yijing’s insight, and I was trying to figure out the best approach to do that.

So to avoid making the same mistake and make a group session worthwhile for everyone even for a limited time, I sought answer to the Yijing, which has been so reliable for me in times like this. Strikingly, I got Hexagram 34 and it directly spoke about my mistake, and the solution I need to apply: just a single reading to reveal unique insights for all participants. Here’s a more detailed account of that group reading insight.

Metareading #4
In 2016, I had been seriously practicing Yijing for three months using coins to do a reading. But doing readings so voraciously, I sometimes caught myself thwarted, unable to cast coins whenever I was in a public place or in transit. Not to mention recommended elaborate reading rituals to follow, which I find too impractical to do if I’m always on the go.

So I asked the Yijing if I can do readings anywhere.I got unchanging Hexagram 12 and I meditated on its ideogram – a bird flying to the mouth of heaven – giving me a clear picture of saying “yes, I can do it anywhere.” This frees me from worrying where to do it and focus on the intention of reading it instead. Here’s a post dedicated to this metareading.

Helping itself
I have come to realized that consulting Yijing is not just useful for practical decisions or big questions. Metareadings like this have informed and clarified my Yijing practice. It’s like Yijing is helping itself to reveal itself clearer and better. As a practitioner, doing this approach is also a practice that helps me practice Yijing much better.

Indeed, what a better way to practice!

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