I ching

I Ching Hexagram 50
Ting (Cauldron)

Action: Refine

Hu Gua (hidden influence) 43 Determination: Breakthrough

Zong Gua (underlying cause) 3 Difficult Beginnings: Persevere

You hold the power to become the master of your existence.

Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side,
which he never shows anyone. – Mark Twain

Reading at a Glance: Ting is associated with the alchemical process of transformation where the distance between spirit and ego must evaporate. On the hero’s journey to fulfill one’s destiny, you are first called into initiation. You can choose to ignore the call or follow it. Generally the initiation begins when the ego has been wounded or a path suddenly ends. Therefore, the Ting or Cauldron is often about the deeper, spiritual and more all encompassing aspects of your journey. This is a powerful hexagram with a message about fulfilling your destiny and the enormous inspiration you possess to accomplish your aims. The cooking pot can show a situation in its beginning stages such as taking a job to receive training or the early part of a relationship that is as yet undefined. The preceding hexagrams all describe change. The Well relates to access from the unconscious where its inspiration leads to the necessary change described by Molting or Revolution. The Cauldron is where the actual change is taking place so the message can be: 'give it time, something is still cooking." While the underlying cause of Difficult Beginnings suggested persevering or pushing onward toward your goal, the Cauldron is a complete rebirth and reconnection with your life path. In other words, most of the hexagrams are reflecting the mundane or daily experiences you encounter. When you receive the Cauldron, the perspective has broadened into a more omnipotent view of your life. If you are asking about work or relationships and receive the Cauldron as an answer, you can be certain that fate or karma are infusing the answer. There is enormous power in the situation. The hidden influence of Determination or Breakthrough can only work if you are on the right path. Life can seem to be pushing back against you as a way of ensuring you get where you need to be. With the proper Determination to succeed on your authentic path, success is assured. Since the Cauldron is a spiritual vessel, this hexagram can portray enormous talent, creativity or spiritual insight that you can tap. In a sense, YOU are the Cauldron and your inspiration is boundless.

Initiation:

Balance your basket

on the winding path.

“Nothing transforms things so much as the ting. Therefore follows the idea of a cauldron.” The ting was cast of bronze, with three legs and two carrying rings on each side. Like most cauldrons, it served as a ritual vessel where sacrifices were made.

A ritual is how you validate the unknown, unseen or unspoken through ceremony. On a mundane level, you tip your hat, shake hands, or kiss on the cheek as each culture prescribes. This leads to the habitual behavior, which becomes common within the empire; it is also the image of how the inner empire can become a wasteland.

“Inner and outer, it matters not” they cannot be separated. Famine within, will always project itself upon the outer world. When you do what is expected of you, authenticity is lost and famine grows within and without. The Cauldron asks you to approach the invisible with a sense of reverence and sacrifice. The Well is the source within, but the Cauldron reveals how this source nourishes you in the same sense as food. The work you do ‘in here’ will be powerfully reflected into events 'out there.' This is how you can become the master of your present existence.

The Gentle Wind becomes the wood used to inspire the fiery flame beneath the cauldron. Unlike the image of the Well, which uses the Wood to draw from the Abysmal Water, the Wood now gives life to and feeds the Fire of transformation. The Cauldron suggests that you are ripe for your debut.

The nuclear trigram of the Gentle Wind seeks upward penetration, while the Creative remains firm at the center. It captures the image of how you are gathered toward the center of Te, where “thirty spokes share one hub.” At its rim, you surface to call experience fortune or fate in the random turning of events. Events are not random, in that what is full becomes empty; what is still begins to stir as the Way goes round and round. Connected to Te or your authentic center, where the center of the wheel moves the least, you are no longer buffeted by outer events. You stop traveling in circles, reacting to each event, as if you are not connected to it. Everything you will ever become takes root from within. Yet, sometimes you must traverse the wasteland to resurrect your real voice.

Exploring the power of your inner drummer, you will find a meaningful pattern unfolding in daily events to exercise your growing power. The Clinging portrays how you can move toward an awareness of the synergy existing between the inner empire, and how it takes shape in the outer world. Like the incense and smoke that is burnt during spiritual offerings, the burning Fire brings the visible to meet the invisible. At the same time, approaching the invisible can shed light on the visible.

Observing experience, you may fail to see how it mirrors the unseen world within. As the seen and unseen interact, what is called fate is how life moves to unleash your real nature. You must question what you hold to be sacred, and learn to let it go. In a world of change, the idea of sacred holds little relevance.

The master said: “At dusk, the cock announces dawn; at midnight, the bright sun.” What is visible in one realm is only a portion of what remains unseen in another. Transcending the distinction between ‘in here’ and ‘out there,’ the Cauldron becomes a ritual vessel that offers you a deeper understanding of how you participate with life. It always responds to lead you back to the center of your Te.