The different facets of change, and the concept of opposite yet complimentary states of interacting harmoniously, are the essential principles which give the I Ching its powerful and positive outlook on the world of human social interaction. The Book of Changes takes into consideration the concealed nature of things, situations, and men in order to suggest a possible proper course of action.
Its simple use, along with the millenniums of accumulated wisdom it contains, has made it a popular tool for people seeking knowledge and insight. The I Ching can help to uncover the concealed essence inherent in the circumstances surrounding people and events.
The I Ching bestows a sense of conviction upon the character and deeds of the person that truly believes in its relevance and ancient wisdom. Through the I Ching, a person of faith can be guided towards the proper course of action.
Chance and destiny find themselves intermeshed into a cohesive whole when one decides to cast the I Ching. The elements of chance draw from the supra-conscious mind to form a pattern indicative of the prevalent conditions, and of the proper course of action. This pattern is rendered as a hexagram. The I Ching hexagram is composed of 6 lines. The six lines form the upper and lower trigrams which together give the image of the reading.
The occurrence of a particular moment holds all the essence of that point in time and the chance outcome of that event can be read through the lines that form the I Ching hexagram.
The premise of the I Ching is that every moment in time holds the true spirit of the Tao (the way). By casting the I Ching, you are hoping to access the true spirit of that moment for direction or guidance regarding issues you have in mind. You should be concentrating on a question when you cast the I Ching.
Typical methods for generating I Ching readings in the past was by the use of 3 coins or yarrow sticks. You can get a reading from our website with the click of a mouse button.
The I Ching is not a book based on religious tradition. In the Book of Changes, there is no God to bring judgement on regarding the right and wrong actions of people. What the book attempts to do is organize life’s experiences into certain recurring patterns, which throughout time have remained relatively the same. Although the I Ching does not speak of any specific God, it does promote the belief in the divine or mystical realm. The I Ching can be a teacher to any person with an open mind, regardless of religious or spiritual conviction. Even though there is no mention of God, the concept of Heaven and the divine are present throughout the book. The I Ching concerns itself with the divine spirit within man rather than with the concept of a separate superior being looking to pass judgement on humanity. The I Ching stipulates that the superior being is within each of us and that it is up to each individual to make the right decisions and to follow the proper path.
The Book of Changes places humanity somewhere between heaven and earth. Heaven is seen as the supra-sensible world of ideas and thoughts, while earth is viewed as the solid, concrete, material aspect of the universe. The human mind and body can be viewed as an intersection between these two macrocosms. Once the concept of heaven, earth and conscious life are understood as an inter-related whole, the combination of these three forces form a trinity of primal powers that interact among themselves to give our lives motion, order and meaning.
One of the main causes for the present condition of spiritual renewal can be attributed to eastern philosophies becoming more widely accepted by western minds. The eastern mind has always had a more tolerant attitude towards the relationship between mystical cosmic forces and the natural environment. The peaceful insight of the eastern spiritual systems has brought about the rise of Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism within western cultures. The concepts brought to light from the eastern spiritual systems are not particularly different from their western counterparts, but the attitudes taught by both types of systems can be very dissimilar. The eastern systems tend to give one more freedom but also more responsibility in the direction of their own destiny.
The eastern mind finds it easier to be accepting of fate without a need to judge it’s reason. They see themselves as part of a whole which includes all of creation. They see humanity as part of an intricate but balanced system, where every individual is responsible for its effect on other parts of the whole.
The I Ching is much more than an oracle. It is also a book that represents the accumulated wisdom of the ancient Chinese thinkers and traditions. The Book of Changes is a means to access knowledge that allows one to shape his own destiny by finding and following the proper course of action.
When Taoists refer to the Tao, they associate with the oath a particular direction. To remain within the Tao, a person must accept this natural direction, and live out his life in accordance with the laws governing the situation. Feelings of doubt, fear, and discontent, are all emotions that point to the fact that a person is not following , or accepting, the natural path which is their Tao. This person’s duty is to eliminate negative blocks to the proper path in order to obtain peace of mind.
The I Ching attempts to distil the nature of human experience into sixty four patterns. Each of these 64 patterns, called hexagrams, will provide general guidance regarding the state of mind of the inquirer. The I Ching reading attempts to provide the inquirer with a path that best follows the immutable, eternal and universal laws of nature. The text of the reading uses imagery and symbols that mirrors natural cycles and events. Change of seasons, flow of water, sowing and harvests and all examples of the imagery used to try to explain situations.
The wisdom contained in the I Ching originates mostly from philosophical and scientific observations of the laws which rule nature. These laws of nature direct the course of events in our world and are used to explain the situations described in the I Ching readings.
The I Ching is not about the constraint of man’s free will. It is not about the application of some rigid code of ethics . Instead it tries to teach us to live our life to it’s full potential though the proper path. It invites us to conscientiously look within, at one’s own personality, character, perspective and purpose. We must learn to make the proper choices in order to live in harmony with the laws of the universe.
The I Ching tries to teach us that the proper course must be followed from within. The proper course must be taken of our own free will. We must choose to act in accordance to higher universal laws. Humans maintain the ultimate power and right to shape their own destiny. The decisions that give shape and purpose to their lives must come from within. Only then will a person be following their tao or proper course. The tao is not usually the path of least resistance although sometimes it can be.
The 64 hexagrams are patterns based on different recurring social conditions. They depict the entire range of social experiences and interactions. The hexagrams are symbols of the combination of the Heavenly light giving powers with the Earthly dark powers which rule over a given situation.
What makes these patterns applicable to a particular situation is the cponcept of synchronicity. The concept tells us that at any given moment, the acts that we undertake are intrinsically linked with our past, present and future actions and thoughts. Because of this synchronicity, the casting of the I Ching provides a glimpse into the essence of the question in mind at that time.
If the I Ching is casts twice in a row with the same question in mind it will provide different answers because conditions and the moment in time are different. Be weary of casting the I Ching over and over again with the same question in mind since the unviverse may simply decide to ignore you and provide no insight.
The guidance offered from the I Ching remains, even after thousands of years, relevant to humanity and to the society we live in because the patterns of interaction between humans has not changed much over the years. The I Ching’s interpretation of a situation only points to the proper course of action. Each situation has a right and wrong path which will bring about success or misfortune. The path chosen by the inquirer remains their choice.
The I Ching uses a binary system that Taoists reffer to as yin & yang. The Yin/Yang concept is based on the concept of duality combined ine the one. This duality can be seen in all cultures and religious systems and aspects of life. Good and evil, light and dark, positive and negative, male and female, movement and rest, life and death are all deep rooted concepts in all of us that are dual in nature. These dual natured concepts only make sense if they are looked at with their interrelated opposites. This points to the constant mutations at work in the universe andin the social world of human experience. It represents the fluctuations, death and rebirth of the universe which are interconnected and in perpetual movement. Like a breath, the tides of the universe are in perpetual motion. These primal energies continue their cycle of change in a never ending process in which a new equilibrium is attained at every moment in time. The constant state of tension between the opposites but complimentary forces, that both repel and attract each other, are constantly regenerating themselv es. This eternal dance of fundamental motion between dual states on all levels owes its existence to the Tao, also known as the universal laws of change.
The Yin force is the weak, dark element while the Yang force is the strong, bright element. The yin force is seen as the drak principles ruling over the world. It is a withdrawal of life’s energies from the world of the visible. It could be compared to death, a return to the etheral. The yang force is thought to be the light principle, corresponding to life entering into the world of the manifested matter. This could be compared in some cultures ot birth and re-incarnation. These two forces represent the ebb and flow of life’s energies.
The Yin/Yang concept in the I Ching also refers to Yin as the famale principle while Yang is male. Creation is aroused through the movement and interplay between these two polar primal forces. Change is simply the partial or total conversion of one of these polar forces to it’s opposite.
The I Ching represents the Yin principle as a broken line while the Yang principle is a solid line. A hexagram is made up of 6 of these Yin/Yang lines. The lines arecast and read from the bottom to the top and reveal the pattern and proper course of action applicable to the situation that the inquirer had in mind at the time of casting.
When someone decides to explore the world of the I Ching, he will find that there is no room for false pretense. The unethical leader, and the self-centered person, will always be inferior to the person choosing the proper course of action.
A note should be made about the male/female concepts put forward in the I Ching need to be viewed in the context of it’s period in time, it’s location and the audience the original text was intended for.
The proper path put forward by the I Ching is not an easy one. It is the path of the heart. It cultivates proper attitudes and a sense of responsibility for one’s own destiny.
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