Trigrams help

[Yaksha]

can anyone tell me where to start in order to understand the meaning of the trigrams of the pakua?

[FritzCat]

Get a good copy of the I Ching (Book of Changes)

[RAF]

Total I Ching: Myths for Change

Stephen Karcher
2003
ISBN 0 316 72431 9
Time Warner Books UK

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books

Although not related to martial arts, Stephen Karcher is a scholar whose writing is clear, interesting and able to trace back to original characters.

His seminars are excellent.

[_William_]

You can read the I Ching here:

http://www.sacred-texts.com/ich/index.htm

Lotsa other interesting stuff too.

btw do I know you from another forum?

[Yaksha]

Maybe ShaolinWolf?

[Yaksha]

Wouldn't it be better to learn extensively about the trigrams before delving into the hexagrams?

[Buddy]

Yaksha,
Post a specific question about the trigrams and lets see who knows what. I bet I know nothing.

[Yaksha]

Well, to start off, what are their benefits. I'm learning more and more about chi kung, chinese medicine, and kung fu and I've seen the trigrams used in all of those things, but I don't even know what they signify.

I understand the general theories of the five elements and yin and yang, but I do not understand the trigrams except that they are somehow related.

[herb ox]

Check out

http://www.kjartan.org/backrubfaq/section02.html

for some basics on the 8 trigrams... granted it's feng shui, but the basics underlying the meanings are the same.

Good luck

herb ox

[_William_]

Yaksha

They are related like this:

Wu Chi --------------> Tai Chi---------------> Yin and Yang---------------------> Five elements/phases(Wu Hsing) -----------------------------> 8 trigrams(Pa Kua/Bagua) -------------> 64 hexagrams ----------------> the "ten thousand things".

From what I can gather, it is basically a Taoist "grand unified theory" to explain changes, since everything is a manifestation of the abovementioned cycles. I Ching is typically used for divination, but I think it actually holds a much higher meaning, since Confucius said he wished he had spent more of his life studying it. Dunno about medical usage.

Someone more knowledgable can probably explain it better, since my knowledge in this is somewhat superficial. I am rather turned off by matters that are overly esoteric.

[TaiChiBob]

Greetings..

The I Ching read as a book is a magnificent study of human nature.. it points to the liklihood of cause and effect as it relates to the experience of living.. it makes a great companion to Sun Tzu's "Art of War".. the two books illustrate the probabilities of human nature and strategies for managing that nature effectively..

Be well..

[Yaksha]

Well, I can read it. Understanding it is another matter however. It seems it would take a very long time to make any meaning out of it at all.

There seems to be some introduction info that I am missing.

There are yang and yin lines.
but what about the three positions in the trigrams, what do they represent? There is a top, a middle, and a bottom position.

What do those three mean?

---

Is the i ching's only use for divination?

It seems more scientific than that.

[herb ox]

broken lines - yin
solid lines - yang

"top" position - Heaven
"middle" position - Man
"bottom" position - Earth


Sorry 'bout the bunk link I gave last time - try
http://www.kheper.net/topics/I_Ching/trigrams.htm

peace

herb ox

[count]

How about where you are
the direction you're going
where you end up
YinYang relationship to the trigrams

[count]

showing the relationship with the organs and five elements.

8 Trigrams