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Clarity,
Office 17622,
PO Box 6945,
London.
W1A 6US
United Kingdom
Phone/ Voicemail:
+44 (0)20 3287 3053 (UK)
+1 (561) 459-4758 (US).
midaughter
visitor
- Joined
- May 10, 1971
- Messages
- 392
- Reaction score
- 4
Eastern thought concentrates on the energy aspect of how things work
while Western thought attempts to break things down into separate
modules. It is wise to remember that one cannot really separate the
medium, question and the diviner each into a separate category. We
call this process "the miracle of the three" Yin and Yang interacting
to cause the 10,000 things.
Many people from ever seriously considering such arcane traditions as
the I Ching, astrology, alternative healings techniques, etc. because
they simply can not explain "how it works".. And even when they see a
stunning demonstration of "it working" they still remain basically
unconvinced and suspicious that they've been duped in some manner they
can't explain.
When we look at this situation we realize just how important
"rational explanations are to us". We somehow feel more comfortable if
we can delineate the mechanism of phenomena and thus can place it in
its proper niche in the scheme of things.
I think our understanding of the world of the I Ching is greatly
enhanced by our recognition of our mental biases and eccentricities
and by attending to the fact that a mental attitude and cultural
environment thoroughly different than our own created and developed
the IC.
" The theory of law and energy is basically the same as the "meta"
theory of the Divine Intelligence: The Universe is an impersonal
energy yet it has intelligence and responds to our thoughts. The idea
of having to explain the mechanism as to how the Yi works is basically
alien to the Chinese mind and there is very little discussion of it in
Chinese philosophy."
from Eight Lectures On the I Ching, by Richard Wilhelm which offers
the above clarification.
Wang Fu-chich is one scholar who undertook to explain the mechanism by
which the Yi works. He wrote that between heaven and earth there
exists nothing but law and energy.
" Between heaven and earth there exists nothing but law
and energy. The energy carries the law and the law regulates the
energy. Law has no form. It is only through the energy that the
image is made manifest. This reveals itself in great things and
small things.
Only a person of highest moral integrity can understand this
interaction of law and energy and basing himself on its manifestation,
he can grasp the symbols, images, and hexagrams. By observing its
small expressions, he can understand the auguries. In this way,
consulting the oracle comes about by itself."
I think that approaching the question from an "energy" aspect is
one way to do it. An illustration of this is found by looking at the
numbers Four and Five.
Western civilization is based on the Four
While the Chinese is on the Five.
The Number Four logic system:
The number four is the key number of geometry and mathematics,
sciences which are the foundation of western civilization. The four is
the progression from a dichotomy
(perception of simple contrasts, 'this' and 'that' ) to the double
dichotomy ( 2 X 2 ) which produces the grid, the matrix for pattern
awareness, cognition. Marc Jones in his Fundamentals of Number
Significance, says:
"Multiplied by itself the TWO produces the grid that is perhaps
the most common basis for diagramming and understanding all
structuring, either by nature or by man in an imitation of natural
development of any solid or tangible sort...The symbolization of pure
number presents the FOUR as the case of the service to each other of
two systems of coordinates such as time and position. "
Jones goes on to say " The FOUR always identifies a relationship
in variation of occasion in connection with function, and this in
practical everyday fact is what always can be seen to be the building
operations or the simple maintenance responsibility through the whole
spread of nature at large....the development and perfection of the
cooperation between purpose and potential leading to the ends thus
sought is the never deviating concern of any TWO emphasis . Thus in
numerology it is the FOUR that is the fundamental fabricator in every
sense of the term"
The Logic system of the number 5:
Jones says "the FIVE reveals the basic establishment of selfhood
in its utterly ecstatic maintenance of an innate poise in the total
context of all the swirling convergence's of reality of each special
moment ...He adapts the sheer liquidity of the universe of flux to the
ends in view of his own." Anyone who has ever attempted to discover
the interface between the western "four elements" and the Chinese
"five elements" will have an immediate appreciation of the nuances of
the FOUR and FIVE and the ramification these have had on shaping the
two cultures.
As has been noted oriental science/philosophy, particularly the
Chinese, attends primarily to an "energy process' perspective while in
the west the emphasis is on the manipulation of matter. Consequently
the western "four elements" describe a fundamentally
functional/structural reality. The Chinese "five elements", on the
other hand, have nothing "substantial" about them at all, but are
instead essentially "moving agents".
Another characteristic of the attitude of the FIVE is in its
perception of CAUSE. Because the FOUR can plot everything, i.e.,
everything in its limited universe, it does not give reality to
anything it can't connect with a cause. The FIVE, however, is at home
in the swirling convergence's of reality and therefore does not waste
a lot of energy attempting to sharply delineate chains of cause and
effect. This is expressed by Buddha's doctrine of "interdependent
origination" - any effect is the product of such a vast multitude of
interdependent causes it is impossible to identify a given chain of
causes with any certainty.
Taken from Midaughter's List
while Western thought attempts to break things down into separate
modules. It is wise to remember that one cannot really separate the
medium, question and the diviner each into a separate category. We
call this process "the miracle of the three" Yin and Yang interacting
to cause the 10,000 things.
Many people from ever seriously considering such arcane traditions as
the I Ching, astrology, alternative healings techniques, etc. because
they simply can not explain "how it works".. And even when they see a
stunning demonstration of "it working" they still remain basically
unconvinced and suspicious that they've been duped in some manner they
can't explain.
When we look at this situation we realize just how important
"rational explanations are to us". We somehow feel more comfortable if
we can delineate the mechanism of phenomena and thus can place it in
its proper niche in the scheme of things.
I think our understanding of the world of the I Ching is greatly
enhanced by our recognition of our mental biases and eccentricities
and by attending to the fact that a mental attitude and cultural
environment thoroughly different than our own created and developed
the IC.
" The theory of law and energy is basically the same as the "meta"
theory of the Divine Intelligence: The Universe is an impersonal
energy yet it has intelligence and responds to our thoughts. The idea
of having to explain the mechanism as to how the Yi works is basically
alien to the Chinese mind and there is very little discussion of it in
Chinese philosophy."
from Eight Lectures On the I Ching, by Richard Wilhelm which offers
the above clarification.
Wang Fu-chich is one scholar who undertook to explain the mechanism by
which the Yi works. He wrote that between heaven and earth there
exists nothing but law and energy.
" Between heaven and earth there exists nothing but law
and energy. The energy carries the law and the law regulates the
energy. Law has no form. It is only through the energy that the
image is made manifest. This reveals itself in great things and
small things.
Only a person of highest moral integrity can understand this
interaction of law and energy and basing himself on its manifestation,
he can grasp the symbols, images, and hexagrams. By observing its
small expressions, he can understand the auguries. In this way,
consulting the oracle comes about by itself."
I think that approaching the question from an "energy" aspect is
one way to do it. An illustration of this is found by looking at the
numbers Four and Five.
Western civilization is based on the Four
While the Chinese is on the Five.
The Number Four logic system:
The number four is the key number of geometry and mathematics,
sciences which are the foundation of western civilization. The four is
the progression from a dichotomy
(perception of simple contrasts, 'this' and 'that' ) to the double
dichotomy ( 2 X 2 ) which produces the grid, the matrix for pattern
awareness, cognition. Marc Jones in his Fundamentals of Number
Significance, says:
"Multiplied by itself the TWO produces the grid that is perhaps
the most common basis for diagramming and understanding all
structuring, either by nature or by man in an imitation of natural
development of any solid or tangible sort...The symbolization of pure
number presents the FOUR as the case of the service to each other of
two systems of coordinates such as time and position. "
Jones goes on to say " The FOUR always identifies a relationship
in variation of occasion in connection with function, and this in
practical everyday fact is what always can be seen to be the building
operations or the simple maintenance responsibility through the whole
spread of nature at large....the development and perfection of the
cooperation between purpose and potential leading to the ends thus
sought is the never deviating concern of any TWO emphasis . Thus in
numerology it is the FOUR that is the fundamental fabricator in every
sense of the term"
The Logic system of the number 5:
Jones says "the FIVE reveals the basic establishment of selfhood
in its utterly ecstatic maintenance of an innate poise in the total
context of all the swirling convergence's of reality of each special
moment ...He adapts the sheer liquidity of the universe of flux to the
ends in view of his own." Anyone who has ever attempted to discover
the interface between the western "four elements" and the Chinese
"five elements" will have an immediate appreciation of the nuances of
the FOUR and FIVE and the ramification these have had on shaping the
two cultures.
As has been noted oriental science/philosophy, particularly the
Chinese, attends primarily to an "energy process' perspective while in
the west the emphasis is on the manipulation of matter. Consequently
the western "four elements" describe a fundamentally
functional/structural reality. The Chinese "five elements", on the
other hand, have nothing "substantial" about them at all, but are
instead essentially "moving agents".
Another characteristic of the attitude of the FIVE is in its
perception of CAUSE. Because the FOUR can plot everything, i.e.,
everything in its limited universe, it does not give reality to
anything it can't connect with a cause. The FIVE, however, is at home
in the swirling convergence's of reality and therefore does not waste
a lot of energy attempting to sharply delineate chains of cause and
effect. This is expressed by Buddha's doctrine of "interdependent
origination" - any effect is the product of such a vast multitude of
interdependent causes it is impossible to identify a given chain of
causes with any certainty.
Taken from Midaughter's List