Guanyin fortune stick

100

Lower stick

Guanyin fortune stick 100: Holding Still and Waiting

The Buddha and the gods, all-knowing, are letting you know:
a muddled person talks things over and grows more confused.
An old person who draws this sacred stick
would do better to keep to the old ways and wait.

jadealmanac.com

The verdict

The final stick tells you everything; keep things as they are and do not move until the time comes.

What it says to you

This is the last stick in the set, and it reads like a closing note: all has been told, now stop talking it over. The poem's warning is about muddle. The more you argue a question in circles, the foggier it gets, and the stick advises older askers in particular to sit tight. Its grade is lower, and the temple text says nothing goes smoothly under it. The remedy is stillness and doing good. Do not change anything big right now. Put the decision away for a while, give some time to helping others, and come back when the timing is clearer.

The story behind the stick

For the last stick, editions disagree. The mainland lists give The Three Teachings Debate the Way. In the sixth century Emperor Wu of the Northern Zhou summoned spokesmen of Buddhism, Confucianism and Daoism to his court, in a series of formal debates, to argue which teaching stood highest and rank them. The quarrel produced rankings and decrees but no settled answer, and the three traditions lived on side by side in ordinary Chinese life, where many still say the three spring from one source. Another edition gives instead Emperor Xuanzong of Tang dreaming his way to the palace of the moon. The debate story fits this lower stick's warning well: argue a sacred question in circles, and you come out more confused than when you began.

Line by line

1. The Buddha and the gods making things known means the answer has already been given in full. The usual reading takes it as the stick closing the matter, so drawing again is discouraged.

2. A muddled person talking things over and growing more confused warns against endless discussion. Interpreters see it as advice to stop debating and seeking more opinions on the question.

3. An old person drawing this sacred stick names the asker most likely to receive it. Most readings take it as particularly aimed at older people, and loosely at anyone weighing a late change.

4. Keeping to the old ways and waiting is the final advice of the whole set. Readers understand it as holding still, avoiding big moves, and doing good until the time becomes clear.

The original verse

佛神灵通与君知
痴人说事转昏迷
老人求得灵签去
不如守旧待时来

Seven characters a line, as printed in the BW Monastery edition.

Sources for the story: zhouyi.cc Guanyin lot 100: https://www.zhouyi.cc/lingqian/guanyin/5483.html; buyiju.com Guanyin lot 100: https://www.buyiju.com/guanyin/100.html; ttlingqian.com Guanyin lot 100: https://www.ttlingqian.com/guanyin/100.html; masterseanchan.com Guanyin oracle lot 100 (gives Emperor Xuanzong visits the moon palace, alternative King Xiang of Chu).

Optional: the temple way

At a temple the stick is not yours until two moon blocks agree: one flat side up and one round side up, a holy cup.

Confirm with the moon blocks

About stick 100

Is Guanyin stick 100 good or bad?

Stick 100, "Holding Still and Waiting", is a lower stick, a cautionary stick. The final stick tells you everything; keep things as they are and do not move until the time comes.

What does Guanyin stick 100 say about love?

Hold still; nothing goes smoothly now.

What does Guanyin stick 100 say about money?

Make no changes; wait.

What does Guanyin stick 100 say about work?

Keep things as they are and wait.

Draw another stick , or for a straight yes or no, throw the moon blocks

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The verse follows the BW Monastery edition of the Guanyin set; the English rendering and reading are Jade Almanac's own. A drawn stick is a tradition and a prompt for reflection, not advice about health, money or the law.