Do you take the I Ching seriously???

[cherylw23]

I found your interactive reading by computer concerning. How does the computer interconnect with my personal aura, necessary for connections with the ancestors of the past?. It would seem that the reading is a random selection, I could just as easily turn to any page regardless of my specific circumstance. Kind of hocky, really different from the numerous sources I have consulted for the past thirty years, having done various methods pennies, chinese coins, yarrow stalks: each one requires my personal metaphysical input for accuracy. This electronic method you propose does not. I hope you approach the I ching with reverance, and are not simply making it a source of entertainment.

[hilary]

Hello Cheryl,
and thanks for posting. :-) I'm very pleased to have someone with your experience here!
Yes, I approach the I Ching with great reverence, and I thought carefully before including a free reading at the site. In my own experience, I've found that computer readings work, though I will admit it took me a long time to feel comfortable with one, and I still almost always use a physical method. I'm not sure why - I think I find it easier to concentrate that way. So I can sympathise with your reaction.

The real question is, can you have a spiritual connection with a computerised reading, or is it 'just random'? To which I'd reply with another question: is there such a thing as 'just random' when someone is truly seeking answers? As I see it, physical space and methods are not important - there are no physical barriers for the I Ching. If someone needs an answer and is sincere in their question, this is true everywhere, and answers will come, through whatever doors are open. I've no idea how this can happen - but I'm quite sure that it does.

The important word here is 'sincere'. If you approach with a trivial attitude, you get a trivial answer. And if computer readings make you uncomfortable, and you find it hard to take their answers seriously, then of course don't use them!

And one last point, which is important to me personally. An online reading is easy to use without knowledge or experience. My main hope for the online reading here is that it will introduce people to the I Ching who might never have tried it otherwise.

BTW, of all the methods you've tried, which do you prefer?

All best wishes,
Hilary

[chris]

Cheryl,

consider the I Ching as a discipline out of which we view reality. All meaning is determined by the structure of the discipline, by its syntax and grammar.

This means that for ANY moment ALL hexagrams of the I Ching are applicable. The selection of one of the many acts to bring out an aspect. The selection process does not matter. You can consciously select a hexagram and use it to interpret a moment or else you can use 'random' methods.

What IS important is to have a question which is strongly valued by you. What that does is set a text that is then placed in the context set by the I Ching. Your brain does the rest.

The random element acts to give you a possible interpretation that you may not have considered.

I repeat, for ANY moment ALL hexagrams are valid. The making of a choice or throwing of coins particularises one of those hexagrams and you WILL find meaning as long as you have a question; no question - no meaning :-)

The I Ching is one of many metaphors we use to interpret reality. It reflects our neurology which uses object/relationship distinctions (yang/yin).

[h.j.barrett]

I think that what Chris is saying, in his own unique language ;-), is that there's no special meaning to the hexagram you receive using traditional methods. It only has the meaning you read into it.
(He has his own systematic method of building up a hexagram from a question-and-answer session, rather than relying on God/the universe/spirit to give the right answer.)
So of course from his point of view, it makes absolutely no difference whether you use yarrow stalks or a computer.