I-Ching Transforms Life!

 

 

Often, in the face of the events and circumstances of life, we feel perplexed, hesitant, fragile. It is necessary to act, to make decisions and, at the same time, in the face of these impositions and the loneliness that accompanies them, to understand that we know so little about the mystery of being walking humans between heaven and earth.  

 

Who are we? What are we? Do we weave our destiny, or are we dragged by it? Pain and joy, suffering and happiness, night and day, failure and fulfillment, death and life are pairs of opposing and excluding forces? Is there an endless clash between one and the other, a weak attempt to annihilate one and deify the other?

The I Ching teaches us that it’s not. Rather, they are opposing forces that complete and reconcile, becoming one, such as the back and palm of the same hand or inspiration and expiration that together forms breath, giving support and sustainability to life.

 

Known as the Book of Mutations, the I Ching is a text at least four thousand years old. Of Chinese origin, it has been consulted as an oracle and source of wisdom, inspiration and inner serenity by men and women, illustrious and anonymous, around the planet.

 

Confucius (to whom parts of the book are attributed) and Lao Tse, two central figures in the Chinese spiritual and philosophical tradition, the Dalai Lama, C. G. Jung and nobel prize writer Hermann Hesse were some of those who sought, fascinated, to open their hearts and minds to the lessons and practical teachings contained in the metaphors and symbols of the I Ching.

 

Always using the laws of nature as a reference, the book is based on eight basic symbols – heaven, earth, fire, water, thunder, mountain, lake, and wood (or wind) to instill and exalt in the one who consults it, knowledge of himself, lucid and intelligent reflection, and his relationship with the world.

 

"And he stayed entire hours, under the centenary pear tree, the I Ching beside his side, practicing his technique. All kinds of remarkable and indisputable results emerged, relationships full of meaning with my own thoughts and feelings...", Jung wrote in his memoirs. Or, more succinctly and directly, Hermann Hesse defined: "The I Ching can transform Life".

 

The Book of Mutations is demanding with those who consult it and reminds that half of the answer is contained within the question. Hence the importance in the elaboration of it. The question must arise not from more immediate and selfish vanity or interests, but, if possible, from a more essential and truer region inside of us.

In reality it is our own selves, within our depths, who gives the answers. The I Ching and the consultant, in interpreting the text, only help us to find the truth, submerged in our hearts. Like the stars, the I Ching is not the goal, but the direction.

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*Quotes from the book I Ching - The Book of Mutations

 Author- James Legge Hemus - Livraria Editora LTDA