About Author : The I Ching , also called “Book of Changes” or “Classic of Changes” is one of the oldest of the Chinese classic texts. The book is a symbol system used to identify order in chance events. The text describes an ancient system of cosmology and philosophy that is intrinsic to ancient Chinese cultural beliefs. The cosmology centres on the ideas of the dynamic balance of opposites, the evolution of events as a process, and acceptance of the inevitability of change . In Western cultures and modern East Asia, the I Ching is sometimes regarded as a system of divination. The classic consists of a series of symbols, rules for manipulating these symbols, poems, and commentary.
I Ching Quotes and Quotations
The Creative knows the great beginnings. The Receptive completes the finished things.
No plain not followed by a slope. No going not followed by a return. He who remains persevering in danger is without blame. Do not complain about this truth Enjoy the good fortune you still possess.
Everything proceeds as if of its own accord and this can all too easily tempt us to relax and let things take their course without troubling over details. Such indifference is the root of all evil.
Instead of solid accomplishments the man pursues pleasures and self-gratification. He will never achieve anything so long as he is surrounded by dissipating temptations.
Perseverance alone does not assure success. No amount of stalking will lead to game in a field that has none.
Creativity comes from awakening and directing men’s higher natures which originate in the primal depths of the universe and are appointed by Heaven.
A person in danger should not try to escape at one stroke. He should first calmly hold his own then be satisfied with small gains which will come by creative adaptations.
Of all that is good sublimity is supreme. Succeeding is the coming together of all that is beautiful. Furtherance is the agreement of all that is just. Perseverance is the foundation of all actions.
When clouds form in the skies we know that rain will follow but we must not wait for it. Nothing will be achieved by attempting to interfere with the future before the time is ripe. Patience is needed.
Indecision regarding the choice among pleasures temporarily robs a man of inner peace. After due reflection he attains joy by turning away from the lower pleasures and seeking the higher ones.
He who possesses the source of Enthusiasm Will achieve great things. Doubt not. You will gather friends around you As a hair clasp gathers the hair.
Water everywhere over the earth flows to join together. A single natural law controls it. Each human is a member of a community and should work within it.
Great indeed is the sublimity of the Creative to which all beings owe their beginning and which permeates all heaven.
The superior man acquaints himself with many sayings of antiquity and many deeds of the past in order to strengthen his character thereby.
The quiet and solitary man apprehends the inscrutable. He seeks nothing holds to the mean and remains free from entanglements.
April 14th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
The only way to keep ancient wisdom alive is to stop worshiping it and begin adapting it to our time and culture, continually breaking the bond between it and the system that claims it. The I Ching still lives for those who use it, precisely because students and translators have repeatedly snapped the fetters placed on it by the Confucian and Taoist systems of thought and belief.