Free I Ching Course

I n nt t r ro d u uc c t to r y I C h hi in n g C ou r rs se e from Clarity

Covering everything you need to know to start divining with the I Ching

Please send any questions or comments about this course to: Hilary Barrett [email protected] (0)1993 881984

1

Introductory I Ching course © Hilar Hilary y J Barrett Barrett 2004

Table of Contents

Introductory I Ching Ching Course __________________________________ _____________________________________ ___ 1 Table of Contents _______________________ _______________________________________________ __________________________ __ 2 Part 1: Where does does it come from, and what is it for? ___________ ________________ ___________ ___________ _________ ____ 3 So what is it used for?_______________________________________________________ 3 Part 2: How to identify a good I Ching translation__________________________________ translation__________________________________ 5 Part 3: Reviews Reviews of some of the best best I Ching books ___________ ________________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ______ 7 Stephen Stephen Karcher, how to use the I Ching ___________ _________________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ______ 7 Alfred Alfred Huang’s ‘Complete I Ching’ ___________ ________________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ______ 8 Part 4: The working parts _____________________________________________________ 10 Part 5: Finding the real question _______________________________________________ 13 Are there any wrong questions?______________________________________________ questions? ______________________________________________ 14 Part 6: How to consult ___________ ________________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ______ 16 Part 7: A sample reading reading ___________ ________________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ _________ ____ 19 “What’s the potential in this relationship?”____________________________________ 19 To sum up: ___________ ________________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ________ ___ 20 Part 8: What now? ___________________________________________________________ 22 Become Become a friend ___________ _________________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ___________ ________ ___ 22 Get some different translations______________________________________________ 22

2


Part 1: Where does it come from, and what is it for? The I Ching is an ancient Chinese oracle: its name means Book of Changes. Change is the only constant, in your outer and inner experience alike. The I Ching offers ways of changing your own life, and of understanding and moving with the changes around you. The oldest parts of the I Ching oracle were first written down some 3,000 years ago in ancient China. However, they are thought to come from a spoken tradition of shamanism that is immeasurably older: how old, it is impossible to say. But what is truly remarkable about the I Ching is that it has developed organically from these ancient roots, with new ‘branches’ of theory and experience growing and flourishing over the millennia. The very oldest texts within it are known as the Zhouyi – the Changes of Zhou. This has been in continuous use since the kings of the Zhou dynasty used it to plan their campaign to overthrow the corrupt Shang rulers, in about 1000BC. Since then, generations of people who studied the oracle and consulted it for guidance in their own lives have added their own commentaries to it – practical, spiritual, and philosophical. Some of their words have been enshrined as part of the I Ching in use today. But it isn’t called the Book of Change for nothing. The modern world is finding new meanings within the oracle: it’s answering questions about everything from stock market investment to the latest New Age gurus, and new I Ching books are proliferating! (In the next part of the course, I’ll cover how to recognise a good I Ching book, and recommend some of the best available.) As you develop your own relationship with the oracle, I think you’ll find that its timeless voice speaks directly to modern concerns. So what is it used for? You can consult the I Ching as a meditation, without any particular question in mind. However, people have most often asked it specific questions about projects in their lives. Early Chinese diviners asked whether they should invade a certain state; in the 21st century, business people ask about advertising campaigns. The ancient diviners would ask two questions – ‘If the king sets forth?’ ‘If the king does not set forth?’; you might ask ‘what if I take this job?’ and ‘what if I don’t?’. The Marquis of Wei, in 478BC, was following an age-old tradition when he asked the oracle to help him understand a dream; I often do dream interpretation readings for clients. And then as 3

Introductory I Ching course © Hilary J Barrett 2004

now, people have always asked the I Ching about their relationships. (True, it’s more likely to be about the emotional consequences of moving in together than the political repercussions of an arranged marriage – but things do change a little over 3,000 years!) Probably these examples have already started you thinking about what you can achieve with the I Ching. The important thing is that it isn’t, and never has been, just a way to predict a future that’s set in stone. (This could be because there’s no such thing…) Do you know the Serenity Prayer of Reinhold Niebuhr? “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” The I Ching brings both the wisdom to know the difference and the insight and confidence to make one. But if you don’t get hold of a true, authentic translation, all this potential remains beyond your reach. In the next lesson I’ll show you how to discriminate between the good translations and the all-too-common wastes of paper, and give you some links where you can find free texts and information on the I Ching.

4


Part 2: How to identify a good I Ching translation If you want to use the I Ching for yourself, you will need to start with a copy of it. Sounds obvious, no? But in fact the shelves in the ‘New Age’ section of the world’s bookshops are groaning with ‘I Ching’ books that have very little to do with the I Ching. Beware of the words ‘modernisation’ and ‘simplification’. There are many authors out there, some of whom know the I Ching well, some who don’t, who feel that the original imagery of the I Ching is simply too remote from modern perceptions. Instead of translating it, they write out their own explanations and paraphrases. It’s as if I told you there was someone I’d like you to meet – but instead of bringing you and him together to talk, I kept you in different rooms and ran in-between passing on summaries of what he said (or what I’d understood of what he said!). What kind of communication would you have? You’d manage to share some information, no doubt, but it would all be rather flavourless… Seriously, though, how can the I Ching speak to you if its words are taken away? A single image contains a great concentration of significance, and can be understood on many levels at once – there are always new depths of meaning to be uncovered. Every time you ask the I Ching a question, you create a unique relationship between your question and its answer, and a unique set of meanings. Even when you’ve already received exactly the ‘same’ answer several times in response to other questions, you will find that this one is new. But if you’re stuck with someone else’s ‘one size fits all’ interpretation, this creative interaction never takes place. The basic requirement for a I Ching translation is that it should be a translation. Look for the original images: the Well at Hexagram 48, the tiger in Hexagram 10, the rivers to cross and directions to move in. There will also be comments from the author on the original texts, but make sure you can see clearly which is which. Another factor is how much of the I Ching you are getting. The most important part is the ancient Zhouyi, which consists just of the name of the hexagrams, judgements and line texts. But the I Ching as a whole contains a wealth of additional, later commentary, part of the 10 Wings. (There’s a full account of the Wings and how to use them in divination in the reference manual of the complete I Ching Course.) To be honest, you can perform perfectly good divinations without the more metaphysical of 5


these commentaries, especially if they are replaced by insightful interpretations from the modern author. But it is good to have the option of reading the complete book. In the recommended books below, I mention which ones include the complete I Ching. I have one further recommendation for you: buy more than one if you possibly can. Even between faithful translations of the I Ching, there are enormous differences in meaning, especially in the oldest parts of the text. This is because the Chinese characters do not work in the same way as English words. The same character can be a verb, noun or adverb; it could be the object or subject of a verb. There’s practically no punctuation, and the translator’s choice of where to insert a comma can change the meaning completely. Having a second translation does more than just give you alternative versions to choose between. It liberates you from the ideas of any translator, so you can begin to develop your own, personal understanding. (Ideally, you would have a large collection of individual translations, a concordance and a Chinese dictionary - but you can manage without!) To prove that I’m not just saying this to increase my book sales ;) … … you can get Book I of Wilhelm’s I Ching for free from onlineClarity: http://www.onlineclarity.co.uk/I_Ching_resources/Wilhelm_translation.pdf There are also plenty of online resources, including complete translations, commentaries and more, but in the nature of the internet, these things come and go. You can find an up-to-date listing here: http://www.onlineClarity.co.uk/I_Ching_resources/directory.html

In the next part: some of the best I Ching books you can get, with in-depth reviews and extracts to enable you to choose the translation that suits you best.

6


I n nt t r ro d u uc c t to r y I C h hi in n g C ou r rs se e from Clarity

Covering everything you need to know to start divining with the I Ching

Please send any questions or comments about this course to: Hilary Barrett [email protected]

1


Free I Ching Course

Recommend Documents