Philosophy of I Ching

TKe Phil osophy o( the I C hing

ty C arol K . Anthony

SecondEdition, ExpandedandReiyd

TLr P h ilo so p h y of the I (2 l\ing

tyC arol K. Antliony Second Edition E xpan ded an d R eviscd

A nthony Publishing C om pany Stow, M assachusetts 01775 U .S .A .

© 1998 by Carol K. Anthony. All rights reserved. Anthony Publishing Company 206 Gleasondale Road, Stow, Massachusetts 01775, U .S.A. Library o f Congress Card Number 81-69537 ISBN-0-9603832-2-0 Printed in the United States o f America First Edition, 1981 Second Edition, 1998 Cover Art Fabric Design by Christel Burghard-Worfel Cover Design by Leslie Carlson Typography and Book Design by Leslie Carlson Email: info#ichingoracle.com

Contents Prcface to t keS econd E dition

1. The I Ching or Book o f Changes: an Overview W hat is The I Chtng or Book of Changed Its I listoric Significance The / The Books that Comprise the I Ching The Traditional Use o f the I Ching The Sage W ho Speaks through the I Ching The Cosmology o f the / Ching The Tao

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1 5 7 8 9 12 14 16

2 .T h e Superior M an and the Inferior M an as Aspects o f the Personality 22 The Superior M an and the Superiors 24 The Inferiors, or Bodily Aspects o f Sell 35 Inferiors as Ego-Based Ideas 39 The Inferior M an as Ego 41 Self-Development 61 3. T he Sage 4. T h e Sage-Student Relationship 5. Self-Developm ent From the Bottom o f the Pit Up, Or, W akening to the Inner Call to Self-Develop Keeping Still, or / Ching Meditation 6. Action in H um an Relationships M odesty Learning the Way o f the Sage through Self-Development Com ing to M eet Inner W ithdrawal as Punishment

75 84 101 120 126 136 136 139 141 144

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Disengagement within Oneself Limitation The Power of Inner Truth Non- Vction Furthering, the Creative Experience 7. Goals Universal Goals Individual Goals A Job to Do 8. The Lines, Trigrams, and Hexagrams The Hexagram Lines The Trigrams The Hexagrams The Hexagram Changing Lines The Hexagram Calendar 9. Learning to Communicate with the Cosm os The Traditional Method of Building and Reading the Hexagrams A New Method o f Consulting the I Ching Is There a Correct Age to Begin a Serious Study o f the I Ching?

148 149 150 154 158 166 167 169 173 187 188 189 193 196 196 200

205 211

Prefacc to the Second Edition

It is now 17 years since I wrote the original manuscript of this book. More experience, time, and hindsight have made me realize how this original work might be improved and made clearer. It has occurred to me, looking back at the original book, how very difficult it is to explain the I Ching. While it has been the most central classic book o f the Chinese culture, at its beginning over 5000 years ago, it was not a book. Having said this, it is not easy to understand that it is still so much more than a book. Other people who have consulted it regularly, as I have, have realized that it is also a teacher, and a way o f looking at things. Rather than suggesting structured ways o f relating to change, it shows us how to keep unstructured and adaptable in an optimal way. And then, o f course, there are those who look at it as the source o f their particular discipline: fcng shui, acupuncture, a theory o f art, a theory o f war strategy, T ’ai Chi, Taoism, and Confucianism; and there are those who have seen in it the structure of the Cosmos, the genetic code, and an explanation o f chaos theory. Indeed, how does one explain such a book?! Just as I did not discuss many o f these aspects ol the I Ching in the original edition o f this book, I do not try to do so in this edition. M y focus, then as now, was on the ability o f the I Ching to act as a teacher, and to explain the way o f the Cosmos. I will share my experience o f this, and the sorts o f lessons I have been taught over the last 27 years, hopefully in such a way that the reader will be able to experience the teacher who speaks through the I Ching for himself. A s I explained in the first edition, there is a philosophy implicit within the hexagrams and lines o f the 1 Ching that is reiterated again and again. T h is philosophy, in itself fascinating, is unlike the analytic philosophies o f the West, which focus on explaining our material existence. T he I Ching presents a philosophy that helps individuals relate meaningfully to the dynamics o f life, as

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