17. The Wanderer
Fire on Amoghasiddhi’s Mountain
The hexagram depicts Amitabha’s all-discerning light shining brightly atop Amoghasiddhi’s mountain of resilient protective stance of reaching the highest peak of enlightened spiritual perfection—the all-accomplishing radiant hue of perfected wisdomocity. The adept has wandered aimlessly for endless kalpas amidst dark and strange vistas of endless ignorance and dissatisfaction; Amitabha’s fire now breaks-through the disparaging mist and dissolves away the inability to discern the right path of ascending Amoghasiddhi’s mount of noble freedom.
When one discerns this breakthrough there is no longer any wandering alone in uncertain darkness but resolutely grasps the hand of the Primordial Guide and Mentor who bears the luminous lantern revealing the Right Direction away from endless purgatory and self-punishment to the bright splendor and certain liberation in the Unborn.
Interpretation of the Lines (in ascending order)
First yin: Restless in wandering, there is endless misfortune.
The exhausted wanderer is weak and weary and is unable alone to pierce through the darkness of worldly concerns and impediments—all is disorientation.
Second yin: The wanderer comes upon a most welcoming lodge.
The door of the lodge opens and one is invited to join the company of fellow-travelers who have sojourned long and hard along the byways of imperfection and who point you in the Right Direction towards the salvific light—a most auspicious encounter.
Third yang: You unwittingly burn the lodge to the ground.
You have decided to shun wise company and instead have burned-away any hope of not again succumbing to the forlorn darkness that inevitably awaits outside.
Fourth yang: The wanderer encounters another haven of hospitality, but still the heart remains heavy and despondent.
Mistrust remains your constant companion and leaves you in a monochrome frame of mind.
Fifth yin: You take-aim and shoot at the foul in your life, a short-lived satisfaction.
You try to force the issue to an outcome of your liking, but the stench of the wandering still clings to you like an old smelly-sock.
Sixth yang: The phoenix burns its nest (Amitabha’s symbol that advances spiritual transfiguration); the wanderer first smiles, but afterwards great misfortune continues to rule the day.
The wandering adept is alerted to the power of inner-alchemy and transformation, but still decides to depend exclusively on the stubborn intellect wherein nothing is left but the darkness of the tomb.