What is the I CHING?
'I Ching' Books
The ‘I Ching’ (pronounced “ee cheeng”), is sometimes written as ‘Yi Jing’ and is also known as ‘The Book of Changes’.
The I Ching is essentially a means of obtaining advice, inspirational insight or wisdom that can help, remind or guide you to YOUR OWN authentic answers to the questions which are of importance to you, or your life, at any given time or situation.
The I Ching does not stop at advice giving, it also provides a wealth of beautiful poetry and oriental philosophy that stretches back at least 5000 years to the roots of Chinese Taoism.
The I Ching is one of the oldest and most spiritual books in the world. To the Chinese it is a sacred classic and commands a special place in the hearts of the people; to many Chinese it is as important as the Bible is to Western society, although it is read and consulted in a totally different way.
There is no need to understand Eastern philosophies to appreciate or benefit from the I Ching; all that is necessary is to understand the wonderful idea of ‘polarities’.
To Westerners, polarity may mean opposites, as in negative and positive. To understand I Ching it is necessary to abandon these rather fixed ideas, and understand that seemingly opposing energies can be complementary. In the same way as night follows day gradually and without division, it is necessary to understand that nothing is fixed, nothing is split into past, present or future, everything is interlinked and constantly changing, always moving.
One of the main principles of I Ching is that Qi. We have no name in the West that translates Qi but the normal word used is energy, although I think that this word could lead to many misunderstandings. Perhaps ‘life-force’ or ‘love’ is a closer understanding. Qi comes in two forms: ‘Yang’ (active, masculine and powerful) and ‘Yin’ (passive, feminine and gentle).
This understanding of Yin and Yang has a deep meaningful relationship to all our lives and the Universe. The I Ching holds that everything in the Universe as we know it is generated from the Yin-Yang polarity:
Within the I Ching a straight line represents Yang ‘ _______’
Yin on the other hand is represented by a broken line ‘ ____ ____’
The concept basically concerns what Jung called ‘synchronicity’ – a way of looking at things which connect one to another in unexpected ways. For example, you might be thinking of someone, and then, apparently out of the blue, they turn up on your doorstep or they ring you on the telephone. Or you may be worrying about a problem or situation and, seemingly by chance, you find an answer in a newspaper or magazine article you are reading, or it seems to come out the blue!
The truth is likely that the ‘answer’ has always been within you, sometimes blocked or stagnated, but it is there nevertheless.
Taoism believes that nothing is fixed or permanent, everything changes. This is the principle of the I Ching.
Consulting the I Ching.
The I Ching concerns change, movement, momentum and regeneration. Change itself becomes the focus of attention rather than the question or questioner. Change can be both negative and positive; how you view this is dictated by your perspective on the matter being investigated.
It is worth noting that the ‘I’ of the I Ching is normally translated to ‘change’. The object is to use change to reach your potential by aligning and working with it, rather that opposing it – i.e. going with the ‘flow’.
By going with the flow we can become more creative and can begin to let go of past and outmoded conditioning/thinking. If we allow ourselves to go with the flow nothing is fixed or rigid and we become open to life’s opportunities. If you alter the present, the future must be altered. The I Ching offers ways of empowering you, and therefore altering your present and future.
It is important to note that the I Ching does not predict future circumstances or events; it relates solely to the paths of action open to us, leaving us to meditate on our options and choices. A person consulting the I Ching and asking the question always remains apart from the I Ching itself. The I Ching hexagrams are consulted, the related passages read and then the questioner will hopefully be inspired to look within themselves to find their own answer or insight. It is as if they were consulting their own very old, wise, inscrutable Chinese sage
There is more than one way of consulting the I Ching. One of the traditional methods uses grains of rice, another uses yarrow sticks (allegedly because Yarrow grows on the grave of Confucius); the main method used in the West is by throwing coins, usually Chinese, although any coin will do the job.
Yarrow Sticks
Full details on method are given in all I Ching books and ‘throwing’ the I Ching is very simple: three coins are shaken in a cupped hand and throw down when you feel the time is right; there is no time limit and it’s a good idea to write down and meditate on the question being asked.
'I Ching' coins
When the coins are thrown down, count their value. Repeat this action six times; first build a trigram (three lines); then the two trigrams make a hexagram (six lines). Both the Hexagram and the position of the two trigrams have very important meanings, which will be explained later on in the I Ching reading.
One or all of the lines may be ‘moving lines’, shown as ‘x’ or ‘o’ in the middle of the line, these lines that are not fixed, changing from yang to yin or yin to yang. This can mean that the situation or question is in a state of flux, unbalanced or due for immediate change, so the two hexagrams must be read to understand the full meaning of the answer.
It is necessary to look a little deeper at the connection to the Tao, considered by the Chinese to be the ‘Absolute Truth’. The Tao (The way) is the basis of the I Ching which inspired the mystic Lao-Tzu, who is said lived to more than 200 years of age, to write Tao The Ching, or ‘The Classic Of The Way Of It’s Virtue’, which is the central text of Taoism.
Yin Yang
This text promotes ‘going with the flow’ or ‘Wu-Wei’, softness, kindness and humility, rather than aggression and toughness. This is the relationship between yin and yang. It further teaches that one of the main ways towards understanding is through meditation and correct breathing, or as Lao-Tzu suggested ‘breathing permanently like the infant’, with light breathing to such an extent that it appears to outward inspection as though the person concerned is hardly breathing at all.
It is worthwhile remembering that the I Ching represents an entire philosophy and way of life. It symbolises a cyclical universe and a path that follows fixed laws with only meaningful coincidences. It encourages one to look within, and does not give yes or no answers. It shows that we can all be at one with the environment and with nature.
The I Ching is a guide that requires us to look within ourselves for the answer given various choices or suggestions. It’s guidance reflects the moment in time at which the coins are thrown and the hexagram drawn showing a probable outcome with various alternatives. It does not give yes/no answers would cheat you of an opportunity for spiritual development.
Ultimately the I Ching should be treated with reverence and respect.
