Do you use,"I Ching made easy".(Sorrell)book?

[denv12]

Last year when I first read about I Ching I decided to buy a couple of books suitable for beginners.One book is this book:"The I Ching made easy",By Roderick & Amy Max Sorrell.For me,I really enjoy this book.Its simple,easy to understand,so what more could a beginner want? And,I have the "Everyday I Ching" By Sarah Dening book too.I used that as well.Both books listed and recommended on this forum.

I would like to hear from others who are/have used this book and compare notes.What do you like about this book? How does it help you? This book uses the 6 coin method,which I still use even after buying 2 Stephen Karcher books.

Thanks.

[micheline]

Hi DEnv,
This was my favorite book for a good stretch. Right now my copy is all held together by paper clips : ) I still love it, and sometimes I go back to it for a quick succinct message. Also, because I used it for so long, it is photographically in my memory, stirred well into my cauldron of understanding...sometimes the commentaries for the lines and hexagrams is the first thing I see mentally when I throw coins and get a reading.

The fact that Brad gives it a nod says somethig as well, in terms of some kind of accuracy with original chinese.

When I first used the I ching, I was going through many challenges. Through this very book, the Yi became available to me as my friend and mentor, and the help and guidance I got was made very readable and understandable..... and like all Yi responses, the clear guidance and the way it played out, made me a believer in the powerful accuracy of the book of changes.
SOMETIMES there is a lot to be said for keeping things simple.

I also had the opportunity at this time to be in touch with Rod and Amy Sorrell......I talked to them by phone a few times and also used to get their newsletter. Amy wrote me a letter from a spa in New Mexico once, talking to me about how the I Ching had changed her life and just sharing her experiences with me. They are very beautiful people and walk what they talk. they are down to earth and, from what I could see, devoted to sharing the joy and wisdom found in I Ching. So the book was an important part of my learning, needless to say.

For quick, common-place readings about quick decisions I may be puzzling over, I sometimes use the 6 coin method, throwing all the coins at once into a line, using six pennies and a dime.

BUt when I have serious issues to discuss with Yi, I am much more formal...use three coins and, if I am not clear, all my texts, Lise's site, Brad's, and always ultimately my intuition.

Lately I am quite enthralled by the online ICHING available at Great Vessel. Because of clarity, I now love to explore the crossline omens and the more mythical, poetic and mystical images used by Stephen Karcher. I think this may become my choice for all future indepth readings.

BUt I will always love the sorrell book....and all the many teenagers who come thru my house now use the sorrell book for guidance in their own lives! They love it.

[bradford_h]

Sorrell's is good, but it isn't the Yijing. Neither is Denning's. They are simplified interpretations, worth reading, but you really need to get some decent translations if you want to move forward with this. What you get out will be proportionate to what you put in. If you do it like a dilettante that's as deep as you're ever going to go.

[micheline]

well, he gives it a nod....if not his sanction ; )

anyway, if the young sprout tries to grow too fast, he might end up just hiding out like a morel mushroom.

the key words are accessibility and understanding. the more decent translations might have been too overwhelming for me in the beginning. first you get a simple formula, then solid food, and eventually you will grow your own. become a vegetarian? eat only boullibaise stew? create your own cauldron of magic alchemy?

with all deference for the scholarly study, I personally have never been a stickler for the "letter" of the Yijing, and find the spirit of it speaks through many outlets. Because of that,however, a whole new world of expanded meaning opens up as I retread my way through more thorough understandings. Dont know if it would have been as significant if I had tried to learn too much too fast.

[denv12]

Thank you for all your replies.

It must be nice to have met the Sorrell's.I like people like them.They make learning easier.

I do admit with great pride the book is going to stay with me as part of my learning process even after I've bought indepth books such as the Karcher books.Its a keeper.