The Mystery of the Trigrams: A Theory: The Mind in Time
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 ต.ค. 2024
- This video is an overview of a theory about the ancient Chinese trigram symbols and their prenatal and postnatal arrangements.
In this theory the trigrams are taken to represent states of mind. This model integrates the trigram symbol's line configurations with their traditionally associated terms. What emerges is a consistent and coherent system of understanding.
When new light is shone on mental patterns we are given an opportunity to see things anew.
This model has been updated - a video covering the changes can be found here: • UPDATE: A More Elegant...
If you are unfamiliar with the subject a pdf file of background information is here:
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The first of two papers on this subject: taijireality.s...
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Comments, suggestions and criticisms appreciated.
THANK YOU
The theory outlined in this video has undergone some changes since 2018. I believe that the concept of time causes unnecessary confusion and can better be replaced with the following model of cønsciousness: past = memory, present = sense, future = imagination. This is dicussed in a more recent video: th-cam.com/video/hdZbFcACUN8/w-d-xo.html.
I hope at some point there will be enough support for this work to warrent a remake of this animated video to reflect the latest model.
Thanks to all of you who are finding this subject interesting and worth your time!
If you'd like a human to read your next script, please consider contacting me via reply. Happy to help.
Yeah, I hear what you're saying. All the other videos feature my real voice. Will have to remake this video someday to reflect the model update anyway. So many projects - so little time!
It’s interesting how past is on top when the trigrams are read from the bottom up. Therefore, at first glance the top-down orientation threw me off. Your detailing of the paradigm, however, was quite self-consistent, which means there’s true merit to your analysis. This is why I wondered if your analysis was based on a traditional paradigm or one from a more modern, possibly Jungian, source.
I commented on this link above. Quickly here, though, your use of that form of post-Heaven arrangement is a feng shui use where the energy is being drawn inward, rather than flowing outward from within as is in the pre-Heaven arrangement. Norse myths explain this with Thor and his fighting rock giants in the East, but TCM also demonstrates this idea in the liver/spleen competition for dominating the body…and other world mythologies have similar tales to show that a common Sumerian origin is possible. It might even be that Sumerian religion/ideology was a summation of all the temple complexes from earlier Stone Age cultural groups. We are finding out now how the pre-imperialist Old World was united by a semi-urban temple network which is repeated in the New World as well. The idea of a temple-based cultural semi-nomadism, using the temples as houses of wisdom and variable healing ceremonialism, is only beginning to foment in academic minds. The potential of a Stone Age globalism is quite possible, given the mobility of pre-urban humanity on both land AND sea. When we accept that the native Philippine language relates to Hawaiian, and Basque possibly related to Athabaskan languages we must begin to question the foundations of literate wisdom traditions.
Modern material borders cultivate mental limits to imagining the Stone Age human potential. While I like T McKenna, there are some limits to his I Ching understanding while his insights remain enlightening.
this is a well made video. so underrated!
One of those gems 💎 in a corner of TH-cam, thanks very good😃
I'm convinced that recognizing the way the I ching is organized is like having a calculator that few people can understand
This might be true but I have yet to be convinced one way or the other.
@@taijireality I'll give you a small example. A part of the way astronomy is embedded in it is how the 384 total lines can equate to a 384 days in a lunar calendar used by Hebrews and Thais. An issue that has been pointed out is that a 13 month lunar calendar would lose time because it would have 29.something(additional digits to decimal points) days x 13 months for it to work. It would lose time and require intercalary days every few years. However, recently I was reflecting on how an idea of if a "mega hexagram" means 6 lines of approximately 4200 years (6x4200yrs=number of years in an actual precession) so each line of the 6 in a super-hexagram would represent 2 zodiac ages. Here's the thing, if you were to have 2 "mega" hexagrams totaling 12 lines for each of the zodiac signs, you could also halve the number of 64 hexagrams. Meaning ..a calendar that would never lose time could be a 12 month year with 32 days equalling exactly 384 days. 384 days is not an arbitrary number the same way 365 days isn't because...that is the number of days it takes the earth to orbit the sun. 384 days it the number of /complete/ orbits the moon makes around the earth in a year. So there you go, a 12 month year with no odd-numbered months that would never lose time. Derived from calculations that I read about. No one to my knowledge has pointed this idea of a 12 month calendar with 32 days. Even our solar calendar requires leap years so isn't perfect. 384daysx64 = approximately 67 solar years. 67x64=4288 yrs. This math isn't precise but to quickly explain it that is the explanation of my idea of a flawless calendar
I have been studying mind-body duality and the research theorized it might be best to understand the concept as a process (wave) as opposed to measureable space-time phenomena (particle). The process would span time (past, present, future) by placing the body in the past and the mind in the future.
I like to envision it as a pitch in a baseball game where the pitcher creates the pitch in the future, it then is delivered by the body in the past, and resolved in the future. This is the way the future can influence the past while the past creates the future. The eight trigrams might be the fundamental building blocks for consciousness in our universe.
I appreciate your work for inspiring this thought process in me, thank you.
Thanks for writing - the sense that others find this work useful and thought provoking is very encouraging!
I like the idea of mind-body duality as a wave although I'm not entirely sure what that means. My sense is in general the wave paradigm corresponds with reality better than particle theory. Perhaps the particle is an artifact of the feeling of separateness that comes from the observer's experience. But this ignores the obvious observation that observers are a significant component (if not the only) of the phenomena being experienced.
I also resonate with the idea of the body as an artifact of the past - although I do have some problems with the idea of anything being "placed" in the past. I'm reasonably dedicated to the idea that past and future are artifacts of mind and that the present is the only thing that truly "exists" in any tangible sense.
So I would say that mind investigates present and past in order to find its way into the future (with the expectation of bringing the body with it). From this point of view it's impossible for anything to actually happen at any time except the present. When the mind considers the past and future it does so in the present. Yes, we considered things in the past that we now might recall. But recollection itself is also occurring in the present.
I remember hearing an interesting story about how different cultures perceive time differently. We tend to think that the past is behind us and that we're moving into the future ahead. But apparently some see it opposite - they think of the future as behind them because it's not something that can be seen. They see everything around them as the past because everything around us comes from all the events that have ever previously occurred.
Here's an article I wrote about time you might find of interest: medium.com/@taijireality/metaphysical-questions-for-physicists-about-time-3bed9bb2c596
Cheers!
@@taijireality I really love this! For me, you are a prime example of someone I'm looking to network with. I have an understanding of life that feels unique to me.. yet, universal. I see relationships that connect with my research in the research you've proposed, perhaps highlighted, here. (will need to download that pdf you mentioned)
Have you heard of "Human Design" before?
@@jaycegames5083 I think I've heard the term "human design" before but I don't know exactly what it refers to.
I'm considering the idea of starting a meeting group on Zoom to discuss ideas of this nature. Keep an eye out for an announcement in the next few weeks.
I’d say it’s more like wave and particle simultaneously present, depending only upon the observational perspective relative to the observer at any given moment.
This inspired much contemplation. Thank you.
The construction of the two baguas you refer to as the pre-natal and post natal are explained in Steve Moore's book The Trigrams of Han. He did a great job of tracking down the different cosmological threads and how they were put together in the making of these. Having studied them extensively and read Steve Moore's work I have abandoned them as being a highly contorted cosmological construction in the first case and a mathematical pattern created without meaning by Shaoyong in the latter case. Though the pairing in the second (Xiantian / Early Heaven arrangement) at least reflects the family pairings Mountain/Lake; Thinder/Wind etc. Having said all of this I would add that I admire your grasp of the trigram attributes.
Thanks for the reference - I will look it up. I have found that scholarly excavation of historical phenomena does not necessarily explain the original inspiration. Having said that - theorizing on it does not necessarily explain it either!
We each find significance where we do - which is likely as it should be. Who can say why anyone finds something interesting?
Your “Xtian” phrase makes me think you’re from a heathen background, yes? That’s often the term used when they wish to express their contempt for Christian or apparent Christian ideologies.
“Having studied THEM…I have abandoned THEM….” Are you referring to what you think are distortions made by Christian ideas (most likely from Jesuit influences)?
I would have to say that Christian ideas have little to do with the Yi-Jing and Bagua. They were already formed before Christianity made its way into the Empire. Therefore, you’d be better off looking at the Sumerian expressions of roots to all human religions. Dingir, the word for “divinity” is the 8-pointed star image that reflects the Yang-Yin aspects in a Taiji-tu (Taiji image) at the center of the 8-spoked wheel. This is the foundation of the god Tengri in Siberia, converted into Semitic by the Akkadians as Il, become El-Al of Hebrew-Arabic variations. It is also the foundation of Zeus/Jupiter-Dyaus/Tiwaz of India-European forms. Therefore we see how Mars-Thingus refers to Tyr, god of the Thing! Yes, the thing was the government meeting, but steeped in temple rules like a VERY strict abhorrent view of weapons and blood-shed.
So, rather than blame apparent similarities to “Xtian” influences, you might want to better understand the pagan influences upon the Christian dogma. Urban “Heathens” today often use contempt for what they proclaim to be “Xtian” influences upon pagans in order to refuse to analyze deeper truths. This willful ignorance derives from passion, not intelligence, and hinders any understanding. Trust me, I was duped by it in my youth as well. I had to come to a higher spiritual view that could hold “uncomfortable” and/or contrary ideas together in order to find a clearer truth to the issue at hand.
@@taijireality who can say? Anyone else who finds it interesting as long as they remain self-aware of what they feel they understand.
IF you literally read all of the 384 lines of 64 hexagrams to try understand trigrams, it just seem the top line of a trigram represents future, the bottom represents past. Even the divination progress draw the line from bottom to top
Interesting presentation! I think your interpretation is well-supported in Richard John Lynn's Note in page 125 of the chapter "Explaining the Trigrams" in the book "The Classic of Changes: a New Translation of the I Ching."
Meanwhile, in Thomas Cleary's Taoist I Ching, [as I understand it] he offers the suggestion that the trigram can be reckoned as a timescale with the bottom line representing the beginning, the center line - the middle, and the top line - the end. While this interpretation, according to him, is to be utilized in an analytical method of generating a Trigram (for divination,) I personally do not think that this is in conflict with your inverse interpretation of a Trigram's timeline. [see Lynn's note]
I'd be interested to see that passage!
@@k3tarnin Not necessarily inverse: "beginning" can be thought of as the tip of a spear - the frontmost part of a vector moving through time - therefore, closest to future. The end is when things are over - when they have passed into the past. Nothing more to be done with them. So - entirely consistent. Time is a tricky thing. I wrote a paper on it you might find interesting: medium.com/@taijireality/metaphysical-questions-for-physicists-about-time-3bed9bb2c596 Thanks for the comments!
@@k3tarnin yes, the trigrams are traditionally read from the bottom up
The is the most craziest voice modifiers I have heard in a long time. It starts to really sound funny at 01:36 in the video.
Anyways. I am studding Sacred Geometry and this form is also found in them. To have a physical "dance" for Sacred Geometry is really fun!
Yeah - hopefully some day I'll get around to rerecording the audio on this first video. If you haven't checked them out yet - the rest of the videos have a normal speaking voice...
taijireality I have not, yet. I was falling down the rabbit whole last night and I found the Voice really fun, 😆 I have heard a lot worse in Audio Books. 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽
I subscribed. I can hardly wait for more videos!
westsi1 Your enthusiasm inspires me to work on the next one. Is there anything in particular you’d like to have discussed?
@@assemblyofsilence Glad to know that! For me, this is one of those vidoes I'll listen to few times and share with friends.
@ 9:41, you mentioned in future vidoes you'll explain how trigrams are paired with their opposites - I was excited to hear that...then I went to your channel and this was your only video lol. I'll wait however long. If you must, please do a little at a time, but ONLY when you feel good about it. I'll will let you know if I have any other suggestions in the future. Truly appreciate your efforts.
New trigram videos now available! th-cam.com/channels/8j2QsBqUb7ylMAnjUCS_ow.html
This is a very interesting analysis, thank you. The psychotherapy paradigm is important, indeed. The narrative behind the trigrams is missing in Chinese records. This being the reason philosophical extrapolation is a necessity. This also allows a free-form style of usefulness from contemplation.
“Prenatal/Postnatal” are possibly better called “Pre-Creation/Post-Creation.” The “Natal” part is referring, actually, to Theogony (“God’s Birth) as the foundational purpose behind Creation stories. At some point, the stories describe a revolt of Son against Father, as the Greeks actually have it happen twice with Zeus leading the second revolt.
Each Revolution is a repeated cycle of energies, but always manifesting new superficial details upon the repeated fractal pattern of Action-Changes. Indra pulling Dyaus from his heavenly throne by his Achilles heel changed power to the warrior class from the priestly class, much like Marduk gained rulership over the temple order after defeating the Zu-Demon that stole the tablets of destiny. Similarly, Thor (Thunder) was most praised in Germania as ruler of cultivated life; agriculture, arts, wisdom, just as Prometheus defended himself as he was found guilty for giving humans fire. In India, Indra brought fire from the sky and gave it to humans, like Prometheus (forethought) in Greece. Thor is the only one who can truly control Loki like Apollo and Mercury.
The changing of the trigrams into the post- order derives from this revolutionary action of Thunder usurping the Throne by placing the fire of passionate ambition (centered in the Heart) upon the throne on high (Mind). By riding up to control fire, gaining the seat himself, Thunder rules as Jade Emperor. The green of Jade is divine heavenly blue, since the two words are the same in ancient Chinese. It represents the Spring as the Wood element. Thor was worshipped in groves, not temples. In winning fire, Indra had gained the favor of the Phoenix to ride after Soma. As they retreated with the plant of immortality, the defending archer shot at them. The bird dodged it and a feather fell to this material world, becoming the first fire altar to receive sacrifices (as you mention).
After being pulled from his throne (the Achilles heel element corresponding to the death of the Greek hero), Dyaus (cognate with Zeus) was considered “dead” or retired from his position. Tyr (cognate to Dyaus/Zeus) lost his power as he gave it up to the military he trained. Finally, I include the death of Osiris to this because notice that the Heaven trigram replaces the Mountain position, referring to a retirement within the burial mound…like the Stone Monkey King in Chinese legend, who was punished for being too aggressive and unruly in Heaven. Mountain/Rock moves over to Thunder, recalling a Norse Myth where Thor fights a particular giant, even though he’s known as the killer of Giants in the East. Wind moved above Thunder, showing the World tree, fully rooted in the floating rock-Egg (Golden Embryo), and it’s branches reach up and out to gather the winds.
Like Lilith in Jewish mysticism, when she wanted to be on top, Adam refused her. As we see, however, the upside-down mirror image of the World tree exists as Earth separated from Heaven by the Valley (real meaning of Tui, translated here as “Lake”), manifesting the primordial ocean upon which the divine egg (Mountain/Rock) floats. The Valley is the vessel that holds the spilt essence-blood-semen from Heaven, the first sacrificial libation poured upon the fire-lake that is the flowing lava of Tejas (“thought that is fire”). This 1 fire becomes 3 fires which is thoughtful-Mind, passionate-heart, and sensational-manifestation, the foundation of the Sanjiao (triple burner), of Chinese alchemy.
I wish I could host a forum of all the different philosophical patterns derived from the yin-yang paradigm in the Yi-Jing. Again, I really enjoyed your presentation. It was clearly detailed, with obvious depth available if we wished to to dive in more. 🙏
Excellent work, thank you for sharing
Thank you for commenting!
Thank you. I thought that a Trigram was supposed to be read bottom-up? (past, present, future)
I just got an email from someone (perhaps you?) on this same subject. Here is what I wrote in response:
"I have heard the same - that the trigram is essentially "bottom up”. What exactly this signifies is up for grabs. But here are some interesting things to consider: we can think of the movement of time as an arrow with the future at the very tip of the arrow and the past in its wake. From the point of view of consciousness the future happens first - which is to say that things change before we notice those changes.
Therefore - the experience of the present is always a bit behind whatever has happened (in some sense we could say that everything we experience is already the past because we cannot experience anything without at least some small delay).
This fits with the idea of the trigram being built from the bottom up (assuming the theory is correct and the bottom line represents future). From an experiential point of view everything outside our experience happens before we experience it. Thus we can say that future events “arouse” our senses (Thunder).
Experience occurs within the present but it consists of events that have already passed, however briefly. This apparent contradiction only indicates that future and past are mental constructions and have no independent reality of their own.
It may be that the associations we have with the word "time” are somewhat misleading when applied to this theory. Time can be thought of in many different ways. For instance - we tend to think of the future as being something ahead of us and the past behind us.
But everything we see in front of us happened in the past - so it makes sense to think of the past as something right in front of us. And because the future is invisible we could think of it as something behind us - out of our range of vision. Apparently this is how some indigenous cultures conceive of time.
Then there is the ancient idea that "real” time moves retrograde to time as we see it (a concept I mention in a couple of the videos).
Time is slippery because it's not real - it's a construction. And as with all constructions there are many ways to build it. A new reconstruction of time might require a new term!"
@@taijireality I hear what you are saying, and it's quite accurate. I've been toying with etymology a bit.. I don't think English is even the language to express these concepts in the first places... but here goes.
Past-present-future exist simultaneously.. we each experience it in completely unique ways.
MIND (Future) - typically the mind is.... thinking about the past, present, or future.. however, the mind is quite etheric.. it's tangible yes.. you can measure the out put of the mind (think gamma rays and vibrations our ears and eyes can't pick up) but not quite physical. We co-create with the universe using our mind but we are not the universe, nor are we the mind.
BODY (Past) - Physically tangible reality. As above.. so below. Like Father.. Like Son.. This is the helplessness of experiencing life as a living bio-organism being. Water.. Food.. Sleep.. Eat.. Poop.. Pee.. Be.. B. BODY
SPIRIT (Present) - If there's thing that can be said about life.. it's that none of it makes any sense without any relativity. The mind and body are joined together through spirit.. past and future through the present moment.
The most important part is understanding where we (I) fit in the mix.. Who am I? Am I my mind? Am I my body? Am I my spirit? ... I'd say I'm a little bit of all 3.. and it's association's like these that help me understand how to use my mind to bring balance to my mind-body-spirit complex.
Working on my book.. current title..
Jayce Games Music
Composing life with Passion and Purpose.
@@jaycegames5083 The Taoists say "the mind is the ruler of the body, and the spirit is the treasure of the mind". From this I infer that the spirit is the animating spark that allows for cønsciousness (ie. "Great Spirit). Each mind is a temporally conditioned node of the Great Spirit (G0d). The body is merely the physical vehicle. But of course the body is comprised of cells each of which (I believe) have their own cønsciousness. It might be said that reality is fundamentally a network of cønsciousness. But ultimately - these are things we simply do not know - although it's interesting to consider the various possibilities - some of which are far more resonant than others!
Thanks for writing!
@@jaycegames5083 if you want to go to the English roots, try the Germanic mythical order. The Norns, like the fates, relate to the Trinity of time. Yet, they aren’t called these three words. The first is Urðr, meaning “Original (action).” The second is Verðandi, “becoming” as in presently manifesting, and Skuld, “should” as in what should come…with hesitant openness for variability in our expected manifestations. An action set forth a fractal pattern, and that fractal is constantly becoming manifested in living changes. The future expected is “validated” by our understanding of past patterns of action that got us to the present. This is why Ganesha has an elephant head…long memory avoids obstacles that have been seen before.
Thank you! ❤ Loved it.
This trigram overview is useful to know in comparing to the Double Bubble theory by Katya Walters. Joyful trails ...
I will look into that, thank you. I believe this model can be correlated with a very wide range of others - something I hope to focus on in future videos.
Fijne uitleg. Zeer behulpzaam.
Dank je.
New trigram videos now available! th-cam.com/channels/8j2QsBqUb7ylMAnjUCS_ow.html
Amazing video!!!👍👍👍 Thank you very much!🙏🏻😌☺️
Perfect . Thanks alot
This is damn good.
Want to learn pls send details
Here is the latest version of an article on the subject: taijireality.substack.com/p/a-more-elegant-trigram-theory-part Subscribe to my substack and you'll receive an email when the next article is dropped - coming soon...
taijireality.substack.com/subscribe?
8 Trigams 128 palms!!!
I was thinking about Neji earlier...remembering how he was about "no one can change" and yet, his 8 trigram technique was based on the I Ching - The Book of Changes lol.
@@westsi1 OMG so true!
The fact that change occurs doesn't mean we can cause it to occur as we wish!
A very consistent theme from a book I read about I ching is accepting life the way it is.
@@westsi1 no one can change…from the pattern of change they were born into. Yet, everyone IS change, which means all things can be cultivated. A field and seeds always change, which means the basic process never changes. If you are the process, you do not changed. If you are the thing going through the process, you are in constant flux of changes. It all depends on the mental perspective from the sky view of the forest as a whole or the canopy view of the various living beings interacting.
Thanks. Definitely now I know much more about trigrams, even if don’t know what to do with this knowledge
Well, I wouldn’t become too convinced about truly knowing anything here - it’s just a theory.
Nevertheless - potential applications are discussed in some of the other videos. I’ve got one called “Utility of Trigram Theory” which (although I honestly don’t recall what exactly gets suggested) might be helpful [th-cam.com/video/qGtG9iapgls/w-d-xo.html].
Thanks for writing
taijireality Right now I'm delving into Eight Trigrams Boxing. It's New (post natal) eight palm changes are great for my covid rehab as pure physical exercise but I'm almost gave up to make sense of its practical connection with trigram theory (
I started this because when I was studying taijiquan I wanted to understand why each of the trigrams was related to the 8 techniques. The connection is tenuous but I can see there's something there. I don't know eight palm changes well enough to say much about it. I imagine there must be some relationship but I think it's probably a lifetime of practice to see it clearly!
Exercise is better than thinking for rehab! Good luck in your recovery!
taijireality, you have that happy combination of openness and inquisitive mind the qualities I admire the most in the people. Don't sure which trigram signify that )) water?
@@terciary the I Ching can be interpreted as a calendar. The 384 days are a lunar calendar akin to the Hebrew and Thai calendar. I study the commentary and recognize that it is binary but have never tried to read it by making lines on my own. There is also a correspondence between our calendar and our days of the week because for example the 7 days of the week are represented by the 7 classical planets. (Sunday=sun Monday= moon going toward Saturday = Saturn) the 52 weeks of the year correspond to these 7 days. You may wonder what I'm describing ..I'm describing how the 52 weeks and the 67 year time cycle (64x384 days = 67 solar years) are essentially related to multiples of the number 7 and 8. 7x7=49. Very close to 52years. 8x8= 64. Close to 67years In addition to the 52 weeks of the year, the mesoamerican New fire ceremony which was held every 52 years was determined because of the least common multiple of the 260 day tzolkin time cycle and the number of days in 52 (365 day) solar years. This is a model of transformation of time, lunar, solar, and planetary rhythms that has only been partially deciphered. Fun fact the great pyramid of Giza has an approximately 52 degree angle, and as the ROYGBIV spectrum is the 49th octave of the electromagnetic spectrum and a pyramidal structure splits light in to 7 colors, the number 64 represents the number of DNA codons in our genetic code. It can be speculated that the gravitational pull of the moon wove our DNA in to it's pattern. Also, do not confuse the 7 days of the week with the 7 Rays of light. In Hindu astronomy the 7 planets and two positions of the moon (so 9 total) correspond to the ordering of the 7 planets but the moon is planet #8 and Mars is #7 meaning that the #1 (lunar node and #2 (additional lunar node) do not correspond exactly in numerical ordering ofthe days of the week because the moon (Monday) is #8 (8x8=64) and Mars (Tuesday) is #7 (7x7 49)