How to ask Question

[ren]

Hey All,

This comes from a forum I think is associated with the Super I Ching site. I don't know if Alex Chiu is the author.
One line caught my attention and I would like to get your feedback.

How to ask questions
Wed 28 Jun 2017, 19:39
To know how to ask questions to I Ching is very important, it's the first step to get an accurate answer. If your mind is not focused, you wont get a precise answer. You have to do the effort yourself. These are some basic rules:

- select a time to dedicate to the question, don't be in hurry

- focus your mind, make clear to yourself exactly what you want to know.

Becareful, because the ordinary mind is tricky, tell yourself a story, but actually is thinking something else. So a little preparation is needed. Relax, breath and get free of unwanted thoughts.

In case you are more experienced, you need to fix the appointed star in advance (or what is J and what U) is also a method someone finds useful, but that's up to you

- write down your question in a file or notebook to record ALL of them

- when everything is clear, toss the coins in a neutral state.

- use the hexagram generator. If you don't know how to use it, take time to learn before asking ANY question. Remember, you have to do your own effort. For nothing, nothing is given.
Please I Ching by showing respect by learning to use the proper tools to question him, that's the best way.

- when things has happened (or not happened), and the outcome is known, come back to compare your findings with your previous understanding of the hexagrams. You will learn a lot from your own experience.

Thanks,

ren

[The-Monk]

I believe that was built up over many years, and pieces were cherry picked and put together by the original author that "felt right" to them. So the sentence in question may be out of context in relation to the "How to" approach itself.

[throosden]

I'm a beginner in WWG, so definitely not sure what is being meant here?

Is appointed star, J and U related to setting, subject and object? And the author suggesting that these need to be fixed before asking question?

And is The-Monk suggesting that this is subjective opinion by the author, such that it is not necessary?

[The-Monk]

Is appointed star, J and U related to setting, subject and object? And the author suggesting that these need to be fixed before asking question?

Pretty much, yes.

And is The-Monk suggesting that this is subjective opinion by the author, such that it is not necessary?

Yes. And no.

Yes, because the original author did not put that piece together in one go. Some of it was created a long time ago, and then subsequently when "inspiring" and "insightful" parts were posted by others, the author appended those particular parts (sometimes even editing it in part or entirely) in to what they viewed as the "propoer process" for "How to ask...". Which is why I said that the context is likely lost as it was not originally part of that "How to ask..." piece and the accompanying piece where the original context was is now no longer connected to this anymore and thus loses context and meaning.

No, because despite the entirety of Five Arts being agnostic towards peoples views, thoughts and beliefs, invariably, there is a subset of people where Five Arts will not perform in their hands entirely, or as well in the hands of others. By extension, there will be those who need "structure" and "process" to go through, such as praying, or meditating before performing readings, before they are able to perform well with their line of Five Arts skills. So, for some, it is most certainly helpful to have a regime to run through to help with their approach. However, there comes a point also where too strict a regime or doctrine becomes "dead weight" and becomes nothing more than an activity that is pointless in the hands of another that may not require such methods to gain the same results.

[throosden]

Some school I used to be in had the following explanation(from what I recall of course):

All training - from meditation and qigong stuff to all metaphysics studies - needs 2 phases, correction and letting go.
For letting go phase, can drop whatever rule you want, if it feels right.
If you don't have these 2 phases, at one point you might (will) stagnate in your training.

I like it. Is nice to hear more or less the same thing here.