Do You Consult The Yi Jing (i Ching)?

[Wayfarer64]

It has come up on another thread that there is a tendency for people in many faiths to petition the "higher powers" we believe in - for spititual support, grace or favor or insight, strength, courage and other blessings or knowledge, as we seek to find our bliss manifested in our life's path. I have found the Yi Jing to be my primary "Bible" in such seeking...

 

I have been consulting the Yi Jing for almost 40 years and am curious as to the practices of youse bums in this regard.

 

The Wilhelm/Baynes translation was my introduction to the Tao. I think Legge's was a solid effort and later a friend gave me the Sam Reifler interpretation which I found very refreshing. Also, T.F.Cleary is always a solid choice for English translations of Eastern sources & studies.

 

I hope to open a discussion of these few, as well as some others of varying impact, which I hope we can get into here as this thread progresses...

[thaddeus]

It has come up on another thread that there is a tendency for people in many faiths to petition the "higher powers" we believe in - for spititual support, grace or favor or insight, strength, courage and other blessings or knowledge, as we seek to find our bliss manifested in our life's path. I have found the Yi Jing to be my primary "Bible" in such seeking...

 

I have been consulting the Yi Jing for almost 40 years and am curious as to the practices of youse bums in this regard.

 

The Wilhelm/Baynes translation was my introduction to the Tao. I think Legge's was a solid effort and later a friend gave me the Sam Reifler interpretation which I found very refreshing. Also, T.F.Cleary is always a solid choice for English translations of Eastern sources & studies.

 

I hope to open a discussion of these few, as well as some others of varying impact, which I hope we can get into here as this thread progresses...

The Yi Jing is interesting, but like with tarot cards, if someone is assigning literal meanings to things and looking them up in a book, then they are just a hack--imnho. I see it as just a tool to access a greater awareness. I'm sorry if this flies right into the face of your beliefs about the Yi Jing (I ching), but you can also look at any pattern and derive the same conclusions. One can look at the bottom of a teacup, the way some pebbles are scattered in the path, etc. etc. The real skill, gongfu or whatever is to be able to access that which you already are aware of.

Anyway, you asked for opinions...

[Wayfarer64]

Hey there Thaddeus,

This is exactly why I wanted to bring this up. There is little if any relationship between Tarot and the Yi Jing.

Except in the root nature of causality and the true nature of our myriad seperate realities being united on mystical and/or sub-atomic levels. The Yi Jing is a book of observation of natural cycles and manifestations, that may be applied to circumstances when meditation and practice come together in the attempt to reach a level of interactivity found through-out the united universal system we call our reality.

 

The Yi Jing is the basic source of Taoist thought put into a context that makes us think of applications. It is not about the supposed obvious gleaning of mystical mumbo-jumbo as if going to a sooth-sayer. It is about learning the ways of nature and the connectivity of all life within the Tao.

 

And yes that is to become conscious of that which you are already aware of on deeper levels.

I put the question in a context of literal interpretation and seeking answers as if petitioning with prayer for a purpose. I admit to leading this thread into that realm as a way of advancing a fuller realization of the Book of Changes' meaning and uses.

 

I am researching Jung's experiments with the Book of Changes and hope to have an idea of what he found out within a year's time...

 

I believe there is no Taoist study without an understanding of the roots of Taoism, which is The Book of Changes. All development is from the bottom up, from the roots to the fruits. If its the Blues to hip-hop or the YI Jing to modern Zen, there is no understanding of modern practice without the shamanistic source being explored.

Edited October 6, 2006 by Wayfarer64

[thaddeus]

Hey there Thaddeus,

This is exactly why I wanted to bring this up. There is little if any relationship between Tarot and the Yi Jing.

Except in the root nature of causality and the true nature of our myriad seperate realities being united on mystical and/or sub-atomic levels. The Yi Jing is a book of observation of natural cycles and manifestations, that may be applied to circumstances when meditation and practice come together in the attempt to reach a level of interactivity found through-out the united universal system we call our reality.

 

The Yi Jing is the basic source of Taoist thought put into a context that makes us think of applications. It is not about the supposed obvious gleaning of mystical mumbo-jumbo as if going to a sooth-sayer. It is about learning the ways of nature and the connectivity of all life within the Tao.

 

And yes that is to become conscious of that which you are already aware of on deeper levels.

I put the question in a context of literal interpretation and seeking answers as if petitioning with prayer for a purpose. I admit to leading this thread into that realm as a way of advancing a fuller realization of the Book of Changes' meaning and uses.

 

I am researching Jung's experiments with the Book of Changes and hope to have an idea of what he found out within a year's time...

 

I believe there is no Taoist study without an understanding of the roots of Taoism, which is The Book of Changes. All development is from the bottom up, from the roots to the fruits. If its the Blues to hip-hop or the YI Jing to modern Zen, there is no understanding of modern practice without the shamanistic source being explored.

Yeah, I could probably use some 'edumacation' on the subject. Jung I believe was studying the synchronicity aspect of things. It will be interesting to see what you come up with.

As far as changes and cycles, what's the big deal..things go through change..can you give an example of what you mean specifically with regards to the hexagrams? Thanks Wayfarer!

[Wayfarer64]

Hi again Thaddeus,

 

I'm not sure I know what you are asking, but in terms of constant change being understood and no big deal to you, I think that is actually a large conceptual leap in the minds of humans. Until very recently humans thought the world was the center of the sun's orbit and many other ideas that have been proven wrong. Many ideas about the nature of reality will change for us all. So, I think it is a big deal. An open mind is a prerequisit to seeking any sort of truth. And an openness to change is a given for open-mindedness...

 

If you are asking about the interactions between hexagrams found in the changing lines I can only offer my own approach as developed over the years to help promote inner growth and connectivity to the natural world. I try to think of what I would need to do to attain or avoid the consiquences suggested by the changing lines as they pertain to the question asked.

 

I think about what the needed critical path to my goals would be and if I can apply the suggested attitudes in a sensible way. Sometimes I do not find the connections, often I do. But it is the meditation before and after the consultations where the work is done. The Yi Jing I use as if a snap-shot taken from deep space to get a general idea of where I'm at. A different perspective is all it is, and each often inigmatic line can have different interpretations for different situations.

 

The basic discriptions of characteristics of the tri-grams and the attributes of the lines, either changing or not- are meant to be the points of departure into an "accounting" of our own internal checks and balances.

 

These comments on your hexagrams' changing lines are not meant to be literal guide-posts for behavior patterns and ways to proceed. But they may indicate what human attributes are needed to become a better human, which are spelled out in terms of perseverance in the right.

 

It is a book developed to bring an inlightened and evolved - (to address another thread's theme here); way of conducting ourselves. This being a way based on the natural attributes so much saught after in sages and masters of any school of thought. A sort of how-to book of self-developement...presented as a tool of devination or a way to tell fortunes, so people will consult it for any number of reasons and receive a bit of ancient wisdom for their efforts.

 

Jung does go into a scetchy idea of his experiments but claims not to have taken notes so I may come to a dead-end in that research pretty soon-unless I do some of the same sorts of experimenting myself...So more later- Pat

Edited October 7, 2006 by Wayfarer64

[...]

this is cool, because I just got a few books on the I Ching from amazon. (including the notorious wilhelm translation w/ jung commentary...)

 

I don't know what to think about the divination methods. If so many wise men, from confucius to jung, are amazed with it... Then I would probably be a fool to blow it off.

[Uncle Fester]

.

Edited September 20, 2021 by darebak

[MASTERforge]

The I Ching as a Mirror on the soul

 

I have a copy of the I Ching. I read it page by page and used the divination method. What most struck me is its depth and life contained within it. The best way I can describe it is as a mirror reflecting the depth of your understanding or spiritual development (I hate to sound like a new age cliche). I found a few lines from the Tao Te Ching that describe it perfectly, and also how people react to it.

 

If a sage of the highest order hears about Dao he is keen to act in accordance to it

When I read the I Ching I realised that the divination does not connect to something external like a god or entity. The passages make you seek understanding to the very depth of your soul. Its very much an internal process like meditation, in fact it is meditation, you meditate on its answers to find meaning. if you are able to do this you can find new meaning or answers to the question posed other than you may normally have thought. The depth of your answer can only reflect the depth of your personal development as the answers come from within (there I go sounding new age again). This is probably how some people have a deeper understanding of the bible. Understanding its metaphors and not taking things as literal. The best stories have metaphor in them. The readings gently guide you to a more flexible way of dealing with issues.

 

If you can comprehend its depth, the value of the I Ching is limitless.

 

If a sage of the middle order hears about Dao he half believes and half doubts

Im sure many people read the I Ching and find that it has very wise words but is on the same level of Tarot or star signs. It can be quite fun and novel. The book will probably go on the shelf not deeply read but only comprehended superficially. The information is consumed but not absorbed.

 

All the answers are there, but disbelief halts progress and understanding.

 

 

If a sage of the lower order hears about Dao he laughs loudly about it

Many people are not even capable of reading the book and if you try to explain it to them cannot comprehend any of its meaning. Their ignorance makes the book a worthless piece of paper. Not understanding subtlety or metaphor how can they understand?

 

The more I learn about the Dao the more profound it becomes and the less I can describe it. The I Ching is core and central to my development and understanding of the Dao along with tai chi and meditation. They are different things but all lead to the same aim which I can only describe as spiritual enlightenment.

 

Leigh

[cloud recluse]

MASTERforge;

 

I concur utterly with you opinion here ( so therefore you must be highly intelligent ).I have to say that the odd occasions I have consulted the Yi Jing as an oracle have been disconcertingly effective,but its the Yi's potential as a wisdom text that really draws me.

 

But its only recently that Ive stared to fell inclined to follow that draw,& this thread has certainly stimulated that.I am starting to belive that a truly Daoist path will involve a deeper apprecaition of the Yi Jing,as almost as a kind of 'Embodiment' practice,or a bridge between the embodiments of tai ji & the transcendance of meditation.

 

Which leads me to speculate thus:

 

Mediation is "Heaven",the relaxing of our striving back into the Transpersonal.Tai Ji is "Earth",the full entry of awareness into the flesh. So is the Yi Jing "Humanity",a conceptual structure sensitizing us to the Dao?A right use of the human being unique conceptual apparatus,NOT to enclose us further in thought,but rather to liberate thought into flow,both 'up to Heaven & 'down ' to earth??

 

A kind of a practical Trinity of Daoist cultivation according to the "Heaven,Earth,Man" formula ??

 

Any comments?

 

Regards,Cloud

Edited October 9, 2006 by cloud recluse

[Wayfarer64]

One quick observation is that these discriptions from each of us - and those we quote - have decribed some sense of "traveling" into our deepest selves, towards heaven, into higher, spiritual aspects of ourselves, into the earth, even communing with a disembodied sage/oracle as possible and experienced interactions that our minds as "consciousness" have tried to express.

 

These are the things that really grab my wonderment and impel me to delve ever deeper into the inherent mystery of how any book becomes a vehicle, and how the Book of Changes just seems to be geared for any road!

 

The sense of gently being lead to new perspectives seems deliberate and meaningful to me.

[...]

I've consulted those free and instant on-line I ching's dozens of times.

 

Does anyonethink there is a difference between throwing yarrow sticks yourself, or clicking a button? I mean.. It's all apparantly random, right?

[Wayfarer64]

I've consulted those free and instant on-line I ching's dozens of times.

 

Does anyonethink there is a difference between throwing yarrow sticks yourself, or clicking a button? I mean.. It's all apparantly random, right?

 

Sticks are the best , then coins ( due to the odds of heads and tails being not quite the same as the sticks method)- then any other method...

But-

The process is viable. I know long-time consulters of the book who just open to a page at random and poke their finger on a spot on one of the two available pages to see what the book is telling them!!!

I for one would not go that route as it is the state of mind I am in from a meditative lead-up to and follow through where I find the doors opening to my perception of cercumstances I am curious about....

 

I do have some concern as to filtering through the on line systems. For instance when people ask me to help them learn the Yi Jing and throw the coins I try to have as little to do with the actual process from choosing coins to reading the book as I possibly can -because I feel as if my activity as a go-between changes the out-come.

 

Something like the Quantum Mechanics problem of the observer creating the out-come of the observed events he is trying to study. But with another observer being the source of explaination. The seeker of answers acts as if blind and needing a sighted person to tell the situation's events.

 

Hey maybe if the question relates to problems with yr computer this may help!-(just a wee joke)-

[taolpha]

Very interesting indeed but I prefer to consult my quite self. I feel we have the answer to all our questions and problems with in us. Just relax and wu wei.

[Uncle Fester]

.

Edited September 20, 2021 by darebak

[cloud recluse]

Very interesting indeed but I prefer to consult my quite self. I feel we have the answer to all our questions and problems with in us. Just relax and wu wei.

Taoalpha;

is it not possible that the framework & 'feel' of the Changes could sensitize you quicker,sort of give you something to align your conceptual mind to your intuitive mind,or perhaps give your intuitive mind a 'voice' in the conceptual realm?

 

I know this is a bit vague,its an idea still bubbling around in me,but its something along the lines of the Yi being a sort of Yoga in itself,something that rapidly acclimatizes your thinking mind to express the intuitive mind more concisely,or perhaps it unites the two.

 

If the conceptual mind is 'aligned' to the intuitive mind via the framework of the Changes,could that not speed up

the process of relaxing into the quite self,as the thinking mind is no longer antagonistic to the flow of the intuitive mind,& thus generates less dissonance,less noise?

 

Having said all that Taoalpha,you yourself personally may have absolutely no need for such a device.But I think it could have a very real use for other people as a tool for acclimatising the conceptual mind to Wu Wei,a sort of facilitator to a deeper sensitivity.So even if we dont need it ourselves,knowledge of its yogic function would be good for assisting others.

 

Yes? No? Whaddaya think?

 

Regards,Cloud

[thaddeus]

Very interesting indeed but I prefer to consult my quite self. I feel we have the answer to all our questions and problems with in us. Just relax and wu wei.

I agree with this...more often than not, I believe reading sticks and believing there is some kind of mysterious magic in it, leads one astray. It reinforces the story of whatever one is looking for. Why do we need to keep looking outside to sticks, coins, cards, etc?

T

[Wayfarer64]

Hey Cloud,

 

Now we're really on a roll! You've expressed one great usage ot the book, if not in a nut shell, at least in terms any yogic practisioner can relate to. I also see it as a tool to keep the mind balanced and optimized in one's own Tao.

 

That is the magic for me- that it reaches most who use it, yet each in a fifferent way at different times, on different levels. And this is only because it is our own minds that create the experience. It is a very internal experience, triggered by the Yi Jing's construct which has some deep connection to ancient anamist and shamanistic wisdom. And as has been noted, there are many numerical "coincidences" relating to human DNA etc... The nuber 8 (BA in Chinese), is the numerical basis of Feng Shui. And the philosophical roots of Feng Shui were directly developed as an off-shoot of the Book of Changes.

 

So for me, it is about how we direct our own energies. The terminology of the "superior man" used in the Wilhelm/Baynes translations can also be translated as teacher or yogi etc...

So thanks for yr input once again!

 

And may I humbly ask you to check out my interpretations of the hexagrams and changing lines...@ http://www.lulu.com/pdgart -

there are several sonnets available to read there at no cost.

I would deeply appreciate any feed-back you could offer as to content or form...

 

Even though we know that the Tao which is named is not the Tao, we all keep trying to explain our reality to each other in -what I believe to be- sincere efforts to help one-another in the transcendent practices of seeking answers to very difficult questions. It came to me to use poetic constructs to make the language more user-friendly. I hope it works for you.-

Peace -Pat

[cloud recluse]

I agree with this...more often than not, I believe reading sticks and believing there is some kind of mysterious magic in it, leads one astray...

T

 

True enough,but many people have a very mediative approach to doing a reading,& it delivers quite specific & impressive results.

 

While it can certainly degenerate into mechanical "fortune telling ",& I would not disagree with you criticisng that unfortunate tendency at all,is it not possible that it could ALSO function as a catalyst?Something more that just an 'external oracle?

 

After all Bagua is based on the same structure of Changes ! If your body can become sensitive to the Changes through Bagua,why not your conceptual mind through the Yi Jing ?

 

I mean,some people do no practice except for Just Sitting.Others engage in complex alchemies.& there are people who do both.Couldnt the Yi Jing be a kind of Daoist Jnana Yoga?

 

Not everybodys trip,but not necessarily an invalid one.Just a case of avoiding the mechanical approach perhaps.

 

Regards,Cloud

Edited October 9, 2006 by cloud recluse

[thaddeus]

 

After all Bagua is based on the same structure of Changes ! If your body can become sensitive to the Changes through Bagua,why not your comceptual mind through the Yi Jing ?

what does this mean exactly? how is bagua related to the yi jing...didn't Wang Xian Zhai say relating martial arts to the YiChing, 5 elements, etc. was all a bunch of BS?? or do i have that misquoted..of course, correct movement is spiral and that spiral needs to go full circle, much like the cycle of the hexagrams..but other than that..what is there to it? That's what I'm trying to understand from this..

Thanks,

T

[cloud recluse]

what does this mean exactly?

T

 

Just that for some people,having the formalised pattern of the Changes at their fingertips gives their conceptual mind a broader,more flexible 'language' to think in.From there,the conceptual mind could perhaps relax into a deeper listening with greater ease,& also express the subtler promptings of intuition with more efficiency.

 

A decade ago I had a breif encounter with a Yu Shin Dao Kung Fu group,and one of their practices was the study & exploration of the Yi Jing NOT as an Oracle to be consulted,but as a set of concepts that sensitised the mind to the flow & balance of different grades of forces in the current moment.This thread has got me speculating about that again.

 

As to the Bagua connection,its pretty much one Ive always taken for granted,as Im not a Bagua practitioner myself.So if it turns out to be crap,I would be very interested.My knowledge here is strictly 2nd hand 'book -larnin'

Edited October 9, 2006 by cloud recluse

[thaddeus]

A decade ago I had a breif encounter with a Yu Shin Dao Kung Fu group,and one of their practices was the study & exploration of the Yi Jing NOT as an Oracle to be consulted,but as a set of concepts that sensitised the mind to the flow & balance of different grades of forces in the current moment.This thread has got me speculating about that again.

I guess an example would help..if it's not too much trouble..

[cloud recluse]

I guess an example would help..if it's not too much trouble..

 

Oh Lord,its 1am in the morning here I was about to go to bed!

 

The quickest thing I can coherently think of to type (Im sorry T,but my housemate is distracting me by pointing out VERY silly things in Ashida Kims SECRETS OF THE NINJA.its a laugh riot,and I think Darth Maul is in two of the photos ) at the moment is that contemplating a hexagram,its construction options for movement from its current form,starts to generate a certain perspective.One can begin to then see concrete situations as reflecting the balance of forces abstracted in a particular hexagram,& the options for transformation into the next Change.

 

But its NOT a purely intellectual mapping of a situation,its trying to give the intellect an opening to the intuitive,a catalyst.

 

Im sorry,but my housemate wont leave me alone,hes ranting about the Police hassling him now,I will get back to you on this with something a bit clearer. Regards,Cloud

[cloud recluse]

OK,A bit of peace.Hes now yelling about new agers getting hung up on Quantum Mechanics,whille shovelling some kind of gooey cake down his throat!

 

Anyhow Thad,

 

Imagine that your mind-your surface,conceptual conditioned 'persona' mind- is attached to a particular theme.It wants the world to be a certain way.Its most comfotable imagining a very specific balance of forces any any given situation,youe 'ego-trip'.This balance of forces could be abstractly represented as a particular hexagram.Your mind favours it,& resists/fears the presence of other situations,other Hexagrams.

 

This resistance frustrates your deeper intuitive minds desire to awaken the conceptual mind to the ongoing mutation of one circumstance/hexagram into another.Your mind doesnt want to keep up with the flow,dosent want to see the Change.It only interprets other Changes as a defeat of its ideal,as an absence of vitality.

 

Studying the Changes,contemplating them & seeing them in actual situations can teach the surface mind to see the Dao in these previously threatening circumstances as well.It can loosen the egos attachments,& align it with the deeper minds intuition.Contemplating the Yi Jing becomes a meditation on a wisdom text that reworks the thinking minds definitions of 'valid' situations.Its parameters are hopefully expanded,its less resistant to new situations.

 

So you would start to appreciate more & more events as the Dao,not just your favourites.

 

And thats as far as I go tonight,coz now Im getting a headache. But keep at me with questions on this Thad,as its helping to clarify my own thoughts!

 

Regards,Cloud-Who-Wishes-He-Really-Was-A-Recluse-Right-Now

[thaddeus]

OK,A bit of peace.Hes now yelling about new agers getting hung up on Quantum Mechanics,whille shovelling some kind of gooey cake down his throat!

 

Anyhow Thad,

 

Imagine that your mind-your surface,conceptual conditioned 'persona' mind- is attached to a particular theme.It wants the world to be a certain way.Its most comfotable imagining a very specific balance of forces any any given situation,youe 'ego-trip'.This balance of forces could be abstractly represented as a particular hexagram.Your mind favours it,& resists/fears the presence of other situations,other Hexagrams.

 

This resistance frustrates your deeper intuitive minds desire to awaken the conceptual mind to the ongoing mutation of one circumstance/hexagram into another.Your mind doesnt want to keep up with the flow,dosent want to see the Change.It only interprets other Changes as a defeat of its ideal,as an absence of vitality.

 

Studying the Changes,contemplating them & seeing them in actual situations can teach the surface mind to see the Dao in these previously threatening circumstances as well.It can loosen the egos attachments,& align it with the deeper minds intuition.Contemplating the Yi Jing becomes a meditation on a wisdom text that reworks the thinking minds definitions of 'valid' situations.Its parameters are hopefully expanded,its less resistant to new situations.

 

So you would start to appreciate more & more events as the Dao,not just your favourites.

 

And thats as far as I go tonight,coz now Im getting a headache. But keep at me with questions on this Thad,as its helping to clarify my own thoughts!

 

Regards,Cloud-Who-Wishes-He-Really-Was-A-Recluse-Right-Now

Thanks, I guess I just don't get it. I can understand a situation symbolized by a hexagram, and then I can understand that hexagram can change (much like a cloud dispersing). I understand the hexagram can change in finite ways based on the coin toss. Now whether or not the hexagram appeared by some divine yet unkown source and the changes predict the outcomes of those changes to me is where the BS factor comes in. I'm of the mind that I can make *any* hexagram fit to *any* situation--including the finite outcomes. The only difference I feel is in the idea of limitless possibility. The potentiality we live in is such that *anything* is possible. I don't think studying the hexagrams really helps in that regard, I feel it can only hinder in that is imposes a form on that which is unlimited. Make sense? Because in studying the hexagram potential changes, it *predicts* (and that's where I see the fallacy in this) outcomes. How many people made poor decisions based on random coin and stick tosses and abstract translated commentaries.

If I want to understand the nature of change, I can meditate on the wind blowing through leaves, I can watch clouds, I can see a candle flame.

I guess after this rant, what i'm saying is that there is nothing magical about the book, and one can't disregard the fact that it is an oracle and is used to predict the future..to change it and imply it's a meditative tool I think is stretching it a bit...

Yeah, this is good in that it also refines my understanding as well. Thanks for understanding my questioning and not taking offense at it..

T

[Wayfarer64]

Hi there Thaddeus and Cloud etal,

 

Thaddeus I think you have this backwards - the whole devination thing is a side-show. The shamanistic interpretation of the universal forces at work in any given situation and the connectivity of each moment's situation with the "One & All" - which is but a chart of what we call the Tao around here- THAT is the meat of the experience.

 

It would be a fool's errand to run yr life trying to follow any directives you could glean from the changing lines. But also it could be construed as foolish to ignore guidence from the original sages who created the system and have been revered through the millenia.

 

The oldest book we know of on earth is not about parlor tricks or finding one's future fortold. It is a guide to behaviors that cohere to the ways of nature, how to fit into the moment and become part of the Tao-or natural order of the universe whatever you wish to call it. The tendencies of natural forces to attract or repel or disperse each other is what is offered. The nature of heat to rise and chills to settle offers insights for the quite mind when applied to situations in a manner as Cloud discribed of intuition or acceptance of jarring inputs.

 

Ken Kesey discribed cunsulting the Yi Jing as asking for a kick in the third eye. It is meant to unsettle and disrupt complacency and huberis. It insists on honesty with one's self to function at all. Because all one does is look inside to see how the words apply to yourself. A tool for introspection and to see just who you are in your own reconing...

 

Also, this whole section of the Tao Bums site is called Taoist Discussion. There can be no Taoist discussion without the ancient hexagrams that the whole kit and kaboodle derives from. There would be no word we say as Tao, no Bagua, Feng Shui or even much of Confucianism to speak of without the basic philosophy found in the Book of Changes. It is the original written source of anything calling itself Taoist...It is the structure of the whole 64 hexagrams combined that forms the basis of the philosophy.

 

Study the inner meanings of the hexagrams without ever throwing yarrow sticks or coins and you will gain much more knowledge of how easy it is to live fully in the moment than many many other techniques I have tried...It is the ABC of the Tao. and yet, easily misunderstood.

 

Still, as Cloud stated it is not for everyone to relate to possitively. Many folks just can not make use of it. For me it bacame a spring-board to creative works for over three decades and counting. It just gets deeper and more exciting and meaningful year by year...

 

If you don't get it or like it or think it's crap no matter... But if you do not understand it and yet have time to belittle its importance on a site which was created to discuss its impact these three mellenia later; that strikes me as amazing hubris.

 

My amazing hubris is in creating art based on what I have gleaned from it.