 |
|
Although the Angel Falls are much taller than the Niagara Falls, the latter are much wider, and they both pour about the same amount of water over their edges - about 2,8 billion litres (748 million gallons) per second. |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
Decoding Destiny With the I Ching
Posted on Thursday, January 12, 2006 (CST) by Thoth
 Who wouldn't like to know what tomorrow holds? Every ancient culture, it seems, has devised methods to foretell the future. Europeans had their tarot cards, Native Americans had their cowrie shells, Japanese looked into tea leaves and the Chinese depended on the I Ching or the Book of Changes.
I was exposed to The I Ching as a young girl and remember being shocked by the accuracy of the answers. My question had to do with a boy I was attracted to.
Would he ever like me back, I asked? After throwing a die, I was referred to a certain page which offered an answer, albeit a cryptic one: Wherever the sister goes, the brother follows. It was true. I befriended the boy's sister and soon enough, he became my boyfriend. I have been a fan of the I Ching ever since.
Written over
5000 years ago by a Chinese sage named Fu Hsi, the I Ching is based on
eight trigrams, which look like three rows of three lines (---) one below the other,
each of which means a different thing. Fu Hsi developed these trigrams
based on his observation of nature and the correlations between
different parts of the universe—heaven and earth, fire and water, wood
and metal, yin and yang, creation and destruction. And therein lies the
first lesson of the I Ching: Everything is interconnected.
Much of Taoist philosophy
is based on this interconnectedness. The great Taoist scholars and
sages could foretell events by observing seemingly unrelated elements.
For instance, a crow's incessant cawing could indicate that a visitor
was approaching. In the modern world, we call these omens and pay
little attention to them. But as Chinese fortunetellers will tell you,
"Just because you can't see the sign doesn't mean that it isn't there."
And therein lies the second
lesson of the I Ching: In order to see the future, you have to have be
deeply rooted in the present. In other words, you won't see any signs
if you are haring around, all stressed out and overscheduled. You have
to slow down a bit, observe the world around you and gauge what you
see. You have to pick up on subliminal signs and allow your unconscious
thoughts to flow through. As Carl Jung writes in his brilliant
commentary on the I Ching, "I would sit for hours beneath the
hundred-year-old pear tree with the I Ching beside me, practicing the
technique by referring the resultant oracles to one another in an
interplay of questions and answers. All sorts of undeniably remarkable
results emerging alongside meaningful connections with my own thought
processes which I could not explain to myself."
This point was driven home
to me when I met Master Raymond Lo, an expert on the I Ching. Based in
Hong Kong, Raymond Lo or Master Lo as he is called has written books
and gives classes on feng shui, divination, and the I Ching all over
the world including Singapore, Hong Kong, and the U.S. A smiling man
with a gentle demeanor, he met me early one morning before going off
for a day of private consultations. After we discussed the I Ching, he
asked if I had any personal questions that I wanted an answer for. It
seemed like an opportunity too good to pass up.
My husband and I had been
talking about moving towns for a long time. We liked where we lived but
wanted a few changes. We wanted to live closer to our parents because
they were getting old, and offer our children a different school
system. When prompted for a personal question, I immediately blurted,
"Will we move?'"
Instead of divining, Master Lo smiled and said, "Let's try to improve the question, shall we?"
I nodded, wondering exactly what he meant.
"When you ask if you will move, do you mean that you want to move within the next one year or the next five years?" he asked.
"Within the next one year," I replied.
"Are you moving to seek an improvement or to escape a bad situation?" he asked.
"To seek improvement," I replied.
"Do you desire this move or is it being foisted upon you?" he asked.
"No, it isn't being foisted on us," I said.
"In other words, you desire
to move to a new location within the next one year but want to know if
the move will improve your situation or not," Master Lo said.
"Exactly," I replied.
In divining, whether it is
through the I Ching, tarot cards, or tea leaves, half the answer can be
had by simply framing the question to accurately reflect your
circumstances. When you run into a psychic or a fortune teller next
time, don't jump to ask the question. Reflect on your circumstance and
figure out exactly what it is your heart desires.
Once I asked the question,
Master Lo asked me to roll three Chinese coins three times and noted
how they fell-heads up or tails up. Then he began an elaborate process
of giving each combination of heads and tails a Chinese character with
a yin and yang connotation, allotting each character with a specific
element (there are five elements in Chinese philosophy; water, earth,
fire, metal and wood) and doing some mathematical calculations to
deduce which of those elements 'conquered' the other.
Ancient I Ching texts
explain that this time taken to formulate the answer allows the
subliminal subconscious elements to flow through. Many English I Ching
translations advocate using bamboo stalks just like the ancient times
rather than the quicker coin method. The idea behind it all is to tap
into the intuitive, unconscious part of one's self in order to achieve
the answer. This slow process of calculation also makes one open to the
universe and its suggestions, they say.
Whatever the reason, Master
Lo's answer to my question resonated with me. It was specific, and it
offered reasons and solutions. You will not move house, he said,
because you will lose money and are more attached to your current
property than you think. All of which were true. We knew we would lose
money with the move but wanted to do it anyhow. I knew I was attached
to the current property which was why the move remained a decision we
agonized over rather than merely execute.
I asked Master Lo if he referred to the I Ching to ask personal questions himself.
"Not often," he said. "The
I Ching is remarkably accurate and one has to have the strength to
stomach what it says because it may not be the answer you want."
My sentiments exactly.
It is possible to practice
the I Ching anywhere in the world. You don't have to travel to China to
use this particular oracle. There are excellent English translations
available at almost any bookstore, so you can do the practice yourself
in the comfort of your own home. That said, interacting with Chinese
master like Raymond Lo taught me several invaluable things.
1. Take the time to
formulate a 'good' question. Be specific about time frames (whether it
is one month or one year or five years), about what it is that you
desire (money, family, power, health, wisdom). As Master Lo explains,
some questions ask one thing but imply another. When a person says,
"Should I sell my house?" what he is really asking is whether he will
make money on the transaction.
2. Follow all the steps
explained in the book to get your answer. If possible, take the harder
route, i.e., procure and use bamboo stalks rather than the easier coins
as part of the process of getting answers. It will allow your mind to
settle and your unconscious to simmer through.
3. Be prepared for the answer. It may not be the one you want. Test the answer to see if it works.
These three things will set
you on the road to viewing the I Ching as a collaborator rather than as
a mere book. They may get you started on the road that Carl Jung took
when he came into contact with the I Ching. As your familiarity
increases, you may choose to use the book every morning just to get in
touch with your inner self, your psyche. Rather than using it to
foretell your future, you may end up using it as a vehicle to get more
in touch with your present. And that, as any Taoist monk will tell you
may not be a bad thing.
Article Source
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| | The comments are owned by the poster. We aren't responsible for their content. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
No Comments Allowed for Anonymous, please register |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Re: Decoding Destiny With the I Ching
by Myrna on Thursday, January 12, 2006 (CST)
(User Info | Send a Message) | This article is great, it answers some questions I had about I-Ching. Of all the divination forms I am familiar with, the I-Ching is probably the most intriguing, once it has connections with the ancient Chinese Philosophy, I already read the book of I-Ching twice and there is always some new hidden meaning in those expressions, but strangely when I decided to give it a try and made a question for myself the answer I got , or at least the way I interpreted it made so much sense to me, that I was truly astonished. One of these days I will definitely ask for some advice to an experienced person, like Papa Jack. :)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
