I Ching

The I Ching, the Book of Changes, is a book , one of the oldest in the world, a living text that originated in China as much as 5000 years ago. It is a book of wisdom, one that can be contemplated; and it is also an oracle: you can ask questions of it, questions about your life, about your community, about the world.

It is a book made of images, images distilled from the contemplation of the warp and weft of light and dark, of that which rises and falls, of that which moves and rests, of the way heaven, earth and humanity entwine and change in the continual flow of time. The images of which the book is made are of heaven and earth, thunder, wind, wood, water, fire, lake, and mountain. These images are constellated into 64 chapters called hexagrams, which are pictures of 64 situations, or archetypal intersections of time and the world. They are titled according to the subject of the hexagram, situations we all might encounter in the course of our every day lives such as Waiting; Nourishment; Difficulty at the Beginning; Splitting Apart; Return; Opposition; Peace; Stagnation. The I Ching counsels us on how to become "a Superior Man" (as one translation calls it) - a CHUN TZU - a phrase whose etymological roots in Chinese show a person who joins heaven, earth and man, a person who balances body, speech and mind.

As an oracle the I Ching became a means to seek counsel and guidance and to get a picture of the human community in relation to the non human community, the visible world in relation to the invisible worlds, the world of the living to that of the ancestors. Consulting it, which we do through the medium of chance by casting coins (one of several methods used), we are given a way to think about and see a bigger picture than that afforded by the limitations of our every day mind.

What began as an oracle in the hands of shamans and diviners living in the forests of ancient China was taken into the courts of the Chinese emperors, and into the studies of philosophers such as Confucius. Over the course of 2000 years it was contemplated, discussed and commented upon by people who take the world into themselves and who think deeply about things. And over the years it was consulted, as it is now, by leaders of communities, merchants, farmers, scholars, householders, parents, soldiers, teachers, students, dreamers, poets, lovers, wanderers, meditators..... people who seek to understand the way time changes the world, the way the past transforms into the present and unfurls into the future. It speaks to those who seek the comfort of wisdom, who seek meaning in the midst of hope and fear, who want to live and make decisions in which the fullest potential is fulfilled.

The I Ching changed shape over the years: it began with words written on the shells of turtles; it was written on bamboo, on silk, on paper, rolled and bound into books with commentaries and translations offered by people who dedicated their lifetimes to the study of it. In relatively recent times it was translated into European languages, into English about 50 years ago, and so it entered the river of western mind, where it has continued to guide, to fascinate, to bewilder and to inspire those who study it. The I Ching is one of many treasures bestowedon the west from the great wisdom traditions of Asia .