What exactly is I-Ching, How does it work and is it real?

[DalTheJigsaw123]

What exactly is I-Ching, How does it work and is it real? I mean what exactly is it? I searched throughout this forum and could not really to many answers. I thought I would start a different thread, to really get to the bottom of this! I-Ching reminds me of Alchemy; am I wrong???

[三江源]

Have you thought about buying a copy, or getting one from your library?

 

[11:33]

google is your friend. You don't need to buy one, the Wilhelm translation is all over the internet free.

[DalTheJigsaw123]

Yea, I was flipping through the book in Barnes and Noble and Borders, it looked quite interesting. I want to learn more about it. Has anyone used it and what is the result you have received.

[Uncle Screwtape]

Edited June 5, 2009 by Uncle Screwtape

[三江源]

Cant see the link, Uncle?

[Uncle Screwtape]

Cant see the link, Uncle?

 

You can't see my signature? Maybe I have to adjust my settings. Here it is: I Ching Discussion Group

 

(If you think calling me Uncle is weird, you can call me Richard. )

[三江源]

You're right Uncle Richard ... ( )....( )

 

I cant see your signature, I'll check out your group now though, thankyou for that. I am just reading An idiots guide to the I Ching because I need to befriend what it is. The time is right for me to stop singin old David Bowie songs without full taoist recognition.

[DalTheJigsaw123]

[Uncle Screwtape]

I don't know much about alchemy but I have described it loosely as that n the past, yes.

 

Richard

[DalTheJigsaw123]

I don't know much about alchemy but I have described it loosely as that n the past, yes.

 

Richard

 

 

Oh, ok! Thank you. I will check out the forum, in your signature thank you again.

[Iskote]

...

Edited June 7, 2009 by Iskote

[Uncle Screwtape]

As you can see, it is not straight forward at all as to what it is or isn't.

 

I agree with you there as far as historical evidence, but wherever the text came from, it is clearly an exposition on change, on the interconnected and relative nature of things and events. And it very obviously puts us at the helm of fate.

 

But regarding the modern view that Fuxi didn't exist, here is an interesting article that discusses the first few crumbs of archeological evidence in a trail that might, just might, lead to Fuxi.

 

http://www.cybermacro.com/articles21.html

 

And here is an article discussing fragments of archeological evidence that some think point to the Yellow Emperor.

 

http://fuzhou.china.com.cn/english/2004/May/94765.htm

 

Richard

[freesun]

Here is a link to the I Ching and other classic texts: Text

I do not recommend using the online oracle function. It does not give accurate results in my experience.

Edited June 6, 2009 by freesun

[Iskote]

...

Edited June 7, 2009 by Iskote

[DalTheJigsaw123]

Here is a link to the I Ching and other classic texts: Text

I do not recommend using the online oracle function. It does not give accurate results in my experience.

 

 

Thank you so much! It is much appreciated.

[Uncle Screwtape]

Here is my preferred online version. The Ta Kuan and, I think, the Shuo Kua are at the bottom of the page, too.

 

http://www.geocities.com/clearlight610/chou_i/chou_i.html

[11:33]

Hey Uncle,

 

I have aquestion for you.

 

How come sometimes the I-Ching seems to give me a long series of extremely accurate answers. But then it just starts seemingly giving me junk. It makes me not want to even mess around with it, because something that is right sometimes and totally wrong others is even worse than something that is always wrong (cus you would never use something that was always wrong!).

[Uncle Screwtape]

I have never known the I Ching to be innacurate, so I cannot say. A few months ago I got a divination where I leapt upon one thing it said but, knowing what I do now, I can see I had ignored too much else of the divination. I know why I did, too: I made the mistake of looking for what I wanted to see.

 

A lot depends on my mental state at the time of asking. You really need to very, very still. As still as possible. And receptive. I wasn't in the aforementioned divination; I was all over the bloody place, in fact. I choose the yarrow stalk method because it takes much longer and helps place me in a meditative state (the divination I got wrong I raced through with coins). By the time I come to the reading I am listening much more to my instinct than my intellectual processes, and this is something I have taken years over.

 

A good exercise is to do a reading for someone where you only know the question and none of the background. You have to rely on your inner voice totally then (interestingly, I have found these readings to be the most accurate). There is a lot in the I Ching about cultivating the sort of character required to engage fully with the changes. I don't believe it is something you can just dip in and out of. It's a lifelong committment.

 

It's an art you need to refine. I also have a personal feeling that if you ask silly questions you should know the answer to already you get silly answers. That is how it seems to me anyway. Plus, you don't keep asking about the same thing, do you? Because . . .

 

YOUTHFUL FOLLY has success.

It is not I who seek the young fool;

The young fool seeks me.

At the first oracle I inform him.

If he asks two or three times, it is importunity.

If he importunes, I give him no information.

Perseverance furthers.

 

Richard

Edited June 8, 2009 by Uncle Screwtape

[Uncle Screwtape]

Incidentally, as far as using the I Ching goes, there is no need to ever use it as a divinatory tool. You can just learn from reading it.

 

Richard

[gendao]

I think it's a way of viewing events in terms of their fundamental binary assembly language..

Edited June 8, 2009 by vortex

[Uncle Screwtape]

I think it's a way of viewing events in terms of their most basic binary assembly language..

 

Brilliant!

[VCraigP]

Incidentally, as far as using the I Ching goes, there is no need to ever use it as a divinatory tool. You can just learn from reading it.

 

Richard

 

For what it's worth.

 

My teacher Master Zhongxian Wu has just published his first book on the I Ching.

 

Seeking the Spirit of the Book of Change: 8 Days to Mastering a Shamanic Yijing (I Ching) Prediction System

 

http://www.amazon.com/Seeking-Spirit-Book-...6197&sr=1-1

 

In this book Master Wu presents in book format what I learned in my first weeklong retreat with him.

You will learn about the 8 Trigrams and how to use them for Divination alone without reference to the 64 Hexagrams.

 

Also included are the 8 moves of the "mother form" of the Wudang He Style Taiji form. Each 8 moves embodies one of the 8 forces of the bagua - Heaven, EArth, Fire, Water, Mountain, Lake, Thunder, Wind.

 

By learning about the 8 forces one can begin to see their activity and make a connection between the abstract understanding of the forces and how they enter into our life. By this perception coming to understand how they communicate to us when making an inquiry.

 

This approach to divination with the I Ching is quite different in my experience. I have seen Master Wu make profound connections to questions using this method, and several interesting examples are given in the book.

 

It is written in a seemingly casual style, but as with his previous book on Shamanic Tiger Qi Gong it is multifaceted and you can dig into the manner layers of the presentation.

 

I think it is a great addittion to any Yijing scholar/student's collection if for nothing else than presenting a very unique perspective to Yijing study.

 

Craig

Sorry for the commercial, I usually try to refrain.

Please try to see it as just a sincere wish to share some of what I have gained through my study with this man.

[Iskote]

...

Edited June 10, 2009 by Iskote