Is the I Ching Still Useful in These Times?

[ginnie]

Evolution in the Mandate of Change?

'I Ching, they say the mandate has changed. Spirituality used to be about sacrifice and being long-suffering. But now they say it's all about freedom and joy. Do you think, given its great antiquity, the I Ching can still be useful in our times today?' 24.1.5 > 8

I also asked, 'Please tell me what I need to know about that hexagram 8 I just received, I Ching.' 15.3.5 > 8

I'm uncertain about whether YI is replying to my question, which was about the change of mandate regarding what spirituality is, or to my personal immediate situation of limping, 39. Hasn't there been an evolution in the mandate of change? I intended to ask that more general question.

The thought occurs to me that it is not the I Ching that is behind the times, but that I myself am behind the times .... A Course in Miracles says we are all living in a past that was concluded a long time ago. I believe that is the reason the I Ching is able to help us. Because the I Ching exists in the true present, and is therefore looking backwards in time at us, seeing how we are stuck here in the past, in a place and time of deep challenges .. and is one of many beneficent spiritual forces helping us move more into alignment with the true present.

I know it sounds like I just answered my own question, but that's just the effect of my style of writing. (One is supposed to give a sense of conclusion at the end.)

I am very interested in what you have to say ...

 

[heylise]

In hex.8 it says "To stand by. Auspicious. The source of oracle consulting with yarrow stalks" (I don't agree with the translation of 'consult the oracle again').
So I think in all times relations and cooperation and dangers which have to be conquered - the subject of hex.8 - are the main reasons for consulting. This mandate did not change.

And aren't suffering and joy two sides of the same medal? Spirituality encompasses them both, bringing support for those who suffer means to give them more joy and freedom, sacrifice is for finding peace and happiness.

I like your way of 'thinking loud', walking from question to possibilities to solutions and back again.

 

[ginnie]

I like your way of 'thinking loud', walking from question to possibilities to solutions and back again.

Thank you so much for this compliment!

 

[ginnie]

Recovery from a health problem

Do you think, given its great antiquity, the I Ching can still be useful in our times today?' 24.1.5 > 8

The background is that I was using the I Ching to help me recover from a health problem. Guided by the I Ching, I have now recovered from what was bothering me on April 16, which happens to have been 5 days ago.

It was very arduous doing things this way, because I needed to ask many questions. But what else could I do? The way health care has become so fragmented, we have to try to make sense of things any way we can ...

 

[sarah06]

For me it is still useful. It helped me to find my way back home.
By the way, I love your style of writing, it inspires me!!

 

[sarah06]

Besides, it gives us so much and I´ve learned so many things from it. Everytime I read it, I find something new in it. Thanks...

 

[ginnie]

I am going to have to re-visit this important question again some other time.

When we have important questions to decide, it's frustrating that different translations imply opposite courses of action.

We apparently cannot rely much on the people around us, if we are always turning back to the I Ching ... This is the way life is now, in the times in which we are living.

A person used to be embedded in a particular culture, and the people around him or her held values in common. We don't see this anymore. People just don't agree on what is important. People don't even agree on what a man is (or does) or what a woman is (or does).

It is said we must create our own lives. It is said that with our thoughts we are constantly creating our own future, our own outcomes. I never once heard or read these concepts when I was growing up. Well, certain concepts never change, I guess. To be honest, to be loyal. But that our every thought has a future effect. I never heard that from anybody when I was a child. They weren't concerned with what we were thinking, just so long as we learned to behave.