Call her moonchild
Waving silver wands
To the nightbirds song
There is so much that is obscure in the passages contained within the I Ching. Many western scholars have tended to dispose of it as a collection of magic spells . To understand the self there is nothing foolish about exploring every possible avenue.
THE I CHING
BOOK OF CHANGES
THE COMMENTARY
The I Ching insists upon the idea of self knowledge throughout. The method by which this is to be achieved is open to every kind of misuse, and is therefore not for the frivolous minded and immature; nor is it for intellectualists and rationalists. It is appropriate only for thoughtful and reflective people who like to think about what they do and what happens to them. Not to be confused with the morbid brooding of the hypochondriac.
In the I Ching, we venture into the unknown even more so than the fields of psychology and psychotherapy. To understand the self there is nothing foolish in exploring every possible avenue. In the exploration of the unconscious, we come upon very strange things. Unexpected revelations may occur from questionable therapies. The irrational fullness of life has taught me never to disregard anything, even when it goes against all theories.
In our search for self, one is never quite sure if the compass is pointing true or not, but security, certitude and peace do not lead to discoveries. It is the same with this Chinese mode of divination. Clearly the method aims at self knowledge though it is also put to superstitious use . The wisest of the sages have preached the need for self discovery without success. Even to the most biased eye it is obvious that the I Ching represents one long admonition to careful scrutiny of ones own character, attitude and motives.This attitude appeals to me personally and has induced me to lead others to this ancient wisdom.
It is by no means easy to feel one's way into such a remote and mysterious mentality as that underlying the I Ching. One cannot easily disregard such great minds as Confucious and Lao-tse, if one is at all able to appreciate the quality of the thoughts they represent. Much less can one overlook that the I Ching was their main source of inspiration. The changing opinions of men scarcely impress me anymore; the thoughts of the old masters are of greater value to me than the philosophical prejudices of the western mind.
In the tossing of the coins ones own personality is often indicated in the answer of the oracle. My oracle now appears below with direct comment.
Hexagram 29 - K'an, THE ABYSMAL
Special emphasis is given to the third place by the fact that the line is indicated by a 6 . This line says :
Forward and Backward, abyss on abyss.
In danger like this, pause at first and wait.
Otherwise you will fall into a pit in the abyss.
Do not act in this way.
Formerly, I would have accepted unconditionally the advice, " Do not act in this way," and would have refused to introduce the I Ching for the sole reason of caution. But now the council may serve as an example of the way in which the I Ching functions. It is a fact that if one begins to think about it, the problems of the I Ching do represent "abyss on the abyss," and unavoidably one must "pause at first and wait" in the midst of uncritical speculation; otherwise one really will lose his way in the darkness.
Could there be a more uncomfortable position intellectually than that of floating in the thin air of unproved possibilities, not knowing whether what one sees is truth or illision? This is the dreamlike atmosphere of the I Ching, and in it one has nothing to rely upon except ones own so fallible subjective judgement.
Equally fitting is the coforting beginning of this hexagram-- " If you are sincere, you have success in your heart"-- for it indicates that the decisive thing here is not the outer danger but the subjective condition, that is, whether one believes oneself to be "sincere" or not. The hexagram compares the dynamic action in this situation to the behavior of flowing water, which is not afraid of any dangerous place but plunges over cliffs and fills up the pits that lie in its course ( K'an also stands for water). This is the way in which the "superior man" acts and. . . carries on the business of teaching.
K'an is definitely one of the less agreeable hexagrams. It describes a situation in which the subject appears to be in grave danger of being caught in all sorts of pitfalls. Just as in interpreting the dream with utmost exactitude, so in consulting the oracle one must hold in mind the form of the question put, for this sets a definite limit to the interpretation of the answer.
The first line of the hexagram denotes danger: "In the abyss one falls into a pit." The second line does the same, then adds to the counsel: "One should strive to attain small things only." I apparently anticipated this advice by limiting myself in this introduction to a demonstration of how the I Ching functions in the Chinese mind, and by renouncing the more ambitious project of writing some type of psychological commentary related to the I Ching in regard to its detailed totality.
The fourth line says:
A jug of wine, a bowl of rice with it:
Earthen vessels
Simply handed in through the window.
There is certainly no blame in this.
Although as a rule it is customary for an official to present certain introductory gifts and recommendations before he is appointed, here everything is simplified to the utmost. The gifts are insignificant, there is no one to sponsor him. He introduces himself; yet all this need not be humiliating if only there is the honest intention of mutual help in danger.It looks as though the book were to some degree the subject of this line.
The fifth line continues the theme of limitation. If one studies the nature of water, one sees that it fills a pit only to the rim and then flows on. It does not stay caught there.
The abyss is not filled to overflowing,
It is filled only to the rim.
But if, tempted by the danger, and just because of the uncertainty, one were to insist on forcing conviction by special efforts, such as elaborate commentaries and the like, one would only be mired in the difficulty, which the top line describes very accurately as a tied - up and caged - in condition.
Indeed, the last line often shows the consequences that result when one does not take the hexagram to heart.
In our K'an hexagram we have a six in the third place. This yin line of mounting tension changes into a yang line and thus produces a new hexagram showing a new possibility or tendancy. We now have hexagram 48, Ching, THE WELL. The water hole no longer means danger, however, but rather something special as a well:
Thus the superior man encourages the people at their work,
and exhorts them to help one another.
The image of people helping one another would seem to refer to the reconstruction of the well, for it is broken down and full of mud. Not even animals drink from it. There are fishes living in it, and one can shoot these, but the well is not used for drinking, that is, for human needs. This description is reminiscent of the overturned and unused (ting) that is to receive a new handle. Moreover, this well, like the ting, is cleaned. But no one drinks from it:
This is my heart's sorrow,
For one might draw from it.
The dangerous water hole or abyss pointed to the I Ching, and so does the well, but the latter has a positive meaning: it contains the waters of life. It should be restored to use. But one has no concept of it, no utensil with which to carry the water. The jug is broken and leaks. The ting needs new handles and carrying rings by which to grasp it. So also the well must be newly lined, for it contains "a clear, cold spring from which one can drink." One may draw water from it, because "it is dependable".
It is clear that in this prognosis the speaking subject is again the I Ching, representing itself as a spring of living water. The preceeding hexagram described in detail the danger confronting the person who accidentally falls into the pit within the abyss. He must work his way out of it, in order to discover that it is an old ruined well, buried in mud, but capable of being restored to use again.
Summary
I submitted two questions to the method of chance represented by the coin oracle, the second question being put after I had written the analysis of the answer of the first. The first question was directed, as it were, to the I Ching: what had it to say about my intention to write a commentary? The second question concerned my own action, or rather the situation in which I was the acting subject who had discussed the first hexagram. To the first question the I Ching replied by comparing itself to a cauldron, a ritual vessell in need of renovation, a vessell that was finding only doubtful favor with the public. To the second question the reply was that I had fallen into a difficulty, for the I Ching represented a deep and dangerous water hole in which one might easily be mired. However, the water hole proved only to be an old well that needed to be renovated in order to be put to more useful puposes once more.
These hexagrams seen are in the main consistant as regards theme (vessell, pit, well ) and as regards intellectual content, they seem to be meaningful. Had a human being made such replies, I should have considered him to be of sound mind, at least on the basis of the material presented. Indeed, I should have not have been able to discovr anything delerious, idiotic, or schizophrenic in the answers. In view of the I Chings extreme age and its Chinese origin, I cannot consider it archaic, symbolic and flowery language abnormal. On the contrary, I should have had to congratulate this hypothetical person on the extent of his insight into my unexpressed state of doubt.
On the other hand, any person of clever and versatile mind can turn the whole thing around and show how I have projected my subjective contents into the symbolism of the hexagrams. Such a critique, though catastrophic from the standpoint of Western rationality, does no harm to the function of the I Ching. On the contrary, the Chinese sage would smilingly tell me: "Don't you see how useful the I Ching is in making you project your hitherto unrealized thoughts into its abstruse symbolism. You could have written your commentary without ever realizing what an avalanche of misunderstanding might be released by it.
The Chinese standpoint does not concern itself as to the attitude one takes toward the performance of the oracle. It is only we who are puzzled, because we trip time and again over our prejudice, the notion of causality.
The ancient wisdom of the east lays stress on the fact that the intelligent individual realizes his own thoughts, but not in the least upon the way he does it. The less one thinks about the theory of the I Ching, the more soundly he sleeps.
It would seem to me that on the basis of this example the unprejudiced reader would now be in a position to form at least a tentative judgement on the operation of the I Ching. More cannot be expected by a simple introduction. If by means of this demonstration I have succeeded in elucidating the psychological phenomenology of the I Ching, I shall have carried out my purpose. As to the thousands of questions, doubts and criticisms that this singular book stirs up - I cannot answer these.
The I Ching does not offer itself with proofs and results; it does not vaunt itself, nor is it easy to approach. Like a part of nature, it waits until it is discovered. It offers neither facts nor power, but for lovers of self knowledge, of wisdom - if there be such. . . it seems to be the right book. To one person its spirit appears as clear as day; to another, shadowy as twilight; to a third, as dark as night. He who is not pleased by it does not have to use it, and he who is against it is not obliged to find it true. Let it go forth into the world for the benefit of those who can discern its meaning.
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