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How Does Yi Ching Work?

crock

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What is the foundation for assuming the Yi Ching works for divination? The only rational I have ever heard is that there is no random chance in the universe. If you throw four coins the universe gives you the answer you need. A person seeking divination would have to accept that throwing the coins is not a purely random event.
 

meng

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The 'nothing is random theory' is one I can buy into, if I had to offer a Newtonian explanation. However, divination is only part of why I use the Yijing. There are plenty of divination devices, but from my first reading, it was as though I was hearing for the first time. It spoke to me. Why? haven't a clue. It's a familiar song, like 61.2. It helps me to get and keep my act together.

There are other visualizations I've contemplated, such as 'the time is the book' theory. Or, the 'oops, out of fishing line' theory. But there are many other ideas and beliefs as to what's actually going on with the oracle aspect. Angelic beings, deity, spirit guides are often credited. As far as I can tell, it makes no difference, and it's a fast way to drive yourself crazy trying to understand it. In the words of Carl Jung, "the less we think about how the I Ching works, the more soundly we sleep."
 
C

cjgait

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I use the Yi as more for philosophy and self development than divination these days, but I do find it speaks to me like a person. As the Great Treatise puts it, 'speaks to me like a parent'. I feel that there are several factors to this 'human-like' nature of the Yi:

1. The texts were attached over what was probably a long period using an empirical approach, i.e., consult, record results, compare with outcome, tune.

2. The set of texts are just the right size for an oracular system. As I've written elsewhere on this forum, when there is a larger set of texts such as the Forest of Changes the tendency is for the readings to be either 'spot on' or 'way off'. The Yi seems to almost always describe the situation in a meaningful and useful way.

3. The text is just obscure enough to leave room for the subconscious to work. By this I mean that beyond the brief 'tags' such as good fortune and misfortune it uses images that are evocative, but often so shrouded in mystery that commentators from 2,000 years ago are already wondering what they mean.

4. All of these factors together make for a text which is molded to fit the human mind. Thus even if I don't believe there is a lot of veracity to using the Yi for precise predictions, for instance predicting the outcome of an event, the ability of the book to describe the situation and guide our thinking onto the best path is invaluable. That is what has kept me coming back to it for the last 40 years.
 

forty two

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What is the foundation for assuming the Yi Ching works for divination?

Experiance :D

20 years of almost daily divination attest it to be true. No more to add.

Best wishes Yvonne
 

yen hui

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Jung's Foreword to the I Ching

What is the foundation for assuming the Yi Ching works for divination? The only rational I have ever heard is that there is no random chance in the universe. If you throw four coins the universe gives you the answer you need. A person seeking divination would have to accept that throwing the coins is not a purely random event.

Are you familiar with Dr. Jung's Foreword to the Wilhelm edition of the I Ching?
 

crock

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I am only familiar with Hua Ching Ni's version of the Yi Ching. I will investigate Carl Jung's preface to Wihelm's edition.
 

bradford

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It works the same way a well works.
A machine with only one moving part, which be you.
 

mryou1

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I use the Yi as more for philosophy and self development than divination these days, but I do find it speaks to me like a person.

Same here, I am very hesitant to use the I Ching for predicting the future, due to a possibly unfortunate skeptical nature, but it's great for helping one get to the root of a problem. And in this... if the book is good, filled with good knowledge and good advice, then using it in your life is, well, good. And perhaps having a system for using it "randomly" makes it that much better. If someone would devise an easy method for using the advice of say the Tao Te Ching, The Bhagavad Gita, the Bible, or even the token self-help book you have lying around, perhaps it would operate on a function akin to the I Ching.

But not quite, because there is that special something built into the I Ching from the start. And I don't entirely rule out what Jung calls synchronicity or even divination in the sense of determining the future. The universe is so vast, how am I to judge?
 

yen hui

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Excerpts from Jung's Foreword to the I Ching

I will investigate Carl Jung's preface to Wihelm's edition.

Excerpts from Jung's Foreword to the I Ching

01. Whoever invented the I Ching was convinced that the hexagram worked out in a certain moment coincided with the latter in quality no less than in time. To him the hexagram was the exponent of the moment in which it was cast -- even more so than the hours of the clock or the divisions of the calendar could be -- inasmuch as the hexagram was understood to be an indicator of the essential situation prevailing in the moment of its origin.

This assumption involves a certain curious principle that I have termed synchronicity, a concept that formulates a point of view diametrically opposed to that of causality. Since the latter is a merely statistical truth and not absolute, it is a sort of working hypothesis of how events evolve one out of another, whereas synchronicity takes the coincidence of events in space and time as meaning something more than mere chance, namely, a peculiar interdependence of objective events among themselves as well as with the subjective (psychic) states of the observer or observers.

02. The ancient Chinese mind contemplates the cosmos in a way comparable to that of the modern physicist, who cannot deny that his model of the world is a decidedly psychophysical structure. The microphysical event includes the observer just as much as the reality underlying the I Ching comprises subjective, i.e., psychic conditions in the totality of the momentary situation. Just as causality describes the sequence of events, so synchronicity to the Chinese mind deals with the coincidence of events.

The causal point of view tells us a dramatic story about how D came into existence: it took its origin from C, which existed before D, and C in its turn had a father, B, etc. The synchronistic view on the other hand tries to produce an equally meaningful picture of coincidence. How does it happen that A', B', C', D', etc., appear all in the same moment and in the same place? It happens in the first place because the physical events A' and B' are of the same quality as the psychic events C' and D', and further because all are the exponents of one and the same momentary situation. The situation is assumed to represent a legible or understandable picture.

03. Now the sixty-four hexagrams of the I Ching are the instrument by which the meaning of sixty-four different yet typical situations can be determined. These interpretations are equivalent to causal explanations. Causal connection is statistically necessary and can therefore be subjected to experiment. Inasmuch as situations are unique and cannot be repeated, experimenting with synchronicity seems to be impossible under ordinary conditions.

In the I Ching, the only criterion of the validity of synchronicity is the observer's opinion that the text of the hexagram amounts to a true rendering of his psychic condition. It is assumed that the fall of the coins or the result of the division of the bundle of yarrow stalks is what it necessarily must be in a given "situation," inasmuch as anything happening in that moment belongs to it as an indispensable part of the picture. If a handful of matches is thrown to the floor, they form the pattern characteristic of that moment. But such an obvious truth as this reveals its meaningful nature only if it is possible to read the pattern and to verify its interpretation, partly by the observer's knowledge of the subjective and objective situation, partly by the character of subsequent events.

It is obviously not a procedure that appeals to a critical mind used to experimental verification of facts or to factual evidence. But for someone who likes to look at the world at the angle from which ancient China saw it, the I Ching may have some attraction.

04. My argument as outlined above has of course never entered a Chinese mind. On the contrary, according to the old tradition, it is "spiritual agencies," acting in a mysterious way, that make the yarrow stalks give a meaningful answer. These powers form, as it were, the living soul of the book. As the latter is thus a sort of animated being, the tradition assumes that one can put questions to the I Ching and expect to receive intelligent answers.

05. If for instance a person finds himself in a confusing situation, he may himself appear in the oracle as the speaker. Or, if the question concerns a relationship with another person, that person may appear as the speaker. However, the identity of the speaker does not depend entirely on the manner in which the question is phrased, inasmuch as our relations with our fellow beings are not always determined by the latter.

Very often our relations depend almost exclusively on our own attitudes, though we maybe quite unaware of this fact. Hence, if an individual is unconscious of his role in a relationship, there may be a surprise in store for him; contrary to expectation, he himself may appear as the chief agent, as is sometimes unmistakably indicated by the text. It may also occur that we take a situation too seriously and consider it extremely important, whereas the answer we get on consulting the I Ching draws attention to some unsuspected other aspect impllcit in the question. Such instances might at first lead one to think that the oracle is fallacious.

Confucius is said to have received only one inappropriate answer, i.e., hexagram 22, GRACE -- a thoroughly aesthetic hexagram. This is reminiscent of the advice given to Socrates by his daemon -- "You ought to make more music" -- whereupon Socrates took to playing the flute. Confucius and Socrates compete for first place as far as reasonableness and a pedagogic attitude to life are concerned; but it is unlikely that either of them occupied himself with "lending grace to the beard on his chin," as the second line of this hexagram advises. Unfortunately, reason and pedagogy often lack charm and grace, and so the oracle may not have been wrong after all.

06. I must confess that I had not been feeling too happy in the course of writing this foreword, for, as a person with a sense of responsibility toward science, I am not in the habit of asserting something I cannot prove or at least present as acceptable to reason. It is a dubious task indeed to try to introduce to a critical modern public a collection of archaic "magic spells," with the idea of making them more or less acceptable. I have undertaken it because I myself think that there is more to the ancient Chinese way of thinking than meets the eye. But it is embarrassing to me that I must appeal to the good will and imagination of the reader, inasmuch as I have to take him into the obscurity of an age-old magic ritual.

07. As I have indicated above, I have no answer to the multitude of problems that arise when we seek to harmonize the oracle of the I Ching with our accepted scientific canons. But needless to say, nothing "occult" is to be inferred. My position in these matters is pragmatic, and the great disciplines that have taught me the practical usefulness of this viewpoint are psychotherapy and medical psychology. Probably in no other field do we have to reckon with so many unknown quantities, and nowhere else do we become more accustomed to adopting methods that work even though for a long time we may not know why they work. Unexpected cures may arise from questionable therapies and unexpected failures from allegedly reliable methods.

In the exploration of the unconscious we come upon very strange things, from which a rationalist turns away with horror, claiming afterward that he did not see anything. The irrational fullness of life has taught me never to discard anything, even when it goes against all our theories (so short-lived at best) or otherwise admits of no immediate explanation. It is of course disquieting, and one is not certain whether the compass is pointing true or not; but security, certitude, and peace do not lead to discoveries. It is the same with this Chinese mode of divination. Clearly the method aims at self-knowledge, though at all times it has also been put to superstitious use.

08. I of course am thoroughly convinced of the value of self-knowledge, but is there any use in recommending such insight, when the wisest of men throughout the ages have preached the need of it without success? Even to the most biased eye it is obvious that this book represents one long admonition to careful scrutiny of one's own character, attitude, and motives. This attitude appeals to me and has induced me to undertake the foreword. Only once before have I expressed myself in regard to the problem of the I Ching: this was in a memorial address in tribute to Richard Willielm. For the rest I have maintained a discreet silence. It is by no means easy to feel one's way into such a remote and mysterious mentality as that underlying the I Ching.

One cannot easily disregard such great minds as Confucius and Lao-tse, if one is at all able to appreciate the quality of the thoughts they represent; much less can one overlook the fact that the I Ching was their main source of inspiration. I know that previously I would not have dared to express myself so explicitly about so uncertain a matter. I can take this risk because I am now in my eighth decade, and the changing opinions of men scarcely impress me any more; the thoughts of the old masters are of greater value to me than the philosophical prejudices of the Western mind.

09. In view of the I Ching's extreme age and its Chinese origin, I cannot consider its archaic, symbolic, and flowery language abnormal. On the contrary, I should have had to congratulate this hypothetical person on the extent of his insight into my unexpressed state of doubt. On the other hand, any person of clever and versatile mind can turn the whole thing around and show how I have projected my subjective contents into the symbolism of the hexagrams. Such a critique, though catastrophic from the standpoint of Western rationality, does no harm to the function of the I Ching.

On the contrary, the Chinese sage would smilingly tell me: "Don't you see how useful the I Ching is in making you project your hitherto unrealized thoughts into its abstruse symbolism? You could have written your foreword without ever realizing what an avalanche of misunderstanding might be released by it." The Chinese standpoint does not concern itself as to the attitude one takes toward the performance of the oracle. It is only we who are puzzled, because we trip time and again over our prejudice, viz., the notion of causality.

The ancient wisdom of the East lays stress upon the fact that the intelligent individual realizes his own thoughts, but not in the least upon the way in which he does it. The less one thinks about the theory of the I Ching, the more soundly one sleeps.
 

meng

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a peculiar interdependence of objective events among themselves

Interactive hormonal dancing. And to think it happens as a passing glance in a crowd, even if only in your imagination.
 

pocossin

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In the words of M.D. Faber, the Yijing interested Jung precisely because
it was based on psychological projection, on the participant's capacity to find in a
specific passage a link to his own idiosyncratic preoccupations. It was not mere
chance that made the book work; it was the user’s creative ability, his flare for
reading his own personal agenda into the cryptic message. Here was an obvious
link to synchronicity: a coincidence, an accident, brings to the surface a
connection one could not quite see on his own.
http://chaocenter.rice.edu/uploadedFiles/Psychology of divination (6-26-10).pdf
 

yen hui

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On Bridging the Gap

Same here, I am very hesitant to use the I Ching for predicting the future, due to a possibly unfortunate skeptical nature, but it's great for helping one get to the root of a problem. And in this... if the book is good, filled with good knowledge and good advice, then using it in your life is, well, good. And perhaps having a system for using it "randomly" makes it that much better.

No one can be faulted for giving priority to the I Ching as a Book of Wisdom first, and foremost; which also reflects my own position toward it, and one fully warranted by the book's history, as summarized by Wilhelm, in his Introduction:

"When it happened for the first time in China that someone, on being told the auguries for the future, did not let the matter rest there hut asked, 'What am I to do?', the book of divination had to become a book of wisdom." And so it evolved from a mere book of oracles into a book of wisdom, which is now it's "higher nature," so to speak.

It tends, thus, to baffle me, somewhat, why some "minimalists" desire to deconstruct and reduce it back to a mere book of oracles, or to its pre-book of wisdom state, or stage of evolution; as if its thousands of years of evolution, into a book of wisdom, represent little more than a corruption of the "original" intent of its first inventors.

In his book entitled The Tao of Physics, Fritjof Capra observes that

"The purpose of consulting the I Ching was thus not merely to know the future, but rather to discover the disposition of the present situation so that proper action could be taken. This attitude lifted the I Ching above the level of an ordinary book of soothsaying and made it a book of wisdom. The use of the I Ching as a book of wisdom is, in fact, of far greater importance than its use as an oracle."

In giving precedence to it as a book of wisdom, Capra echoes the following words of Wilhelm: "Of far greater significance than the use of the Book of Changes as an oracle is its other use, namely, as a book of wisdom." ( Introduction ) It is often a deep feeling of mine that a growing number of its contemporary followers tend to have this backwards, and consider the Oracle function of the book to be of primary significance.

However, we must be careful to avoid deviating into the opposite error of minimalizing the importance of the Oracle, which enables us to realize (actualize) our rightful place in the "trinity of primal powers," according to Wilhelm:

"The second theme fundamental to the Book of Changes is its theory of ideas. The eight trigrams are images not so much of objects as of states of change. This view is associated with the concept expressed in the teachings of Lao-tse, as also in those of Confucius, that every event in the visible world is the effect of an 'image,' that is, of an idea in the unseen world. Accordingly, everything that happens on earth is only a reproduction, as it were, of an event in a world beyond our sense perception, as regards its occurrence in time, it is later than the suprasensible event.

"The holy men and sages, who are in contact with those higher spheres, have access to these ideas through direct intuition and are therefore able to intervene decisively in events in the world. Thus man is linked with heaven, the suprasensible world of ideas, and with earth, the material world of visible things, to form with these a trinity of the primal powers.

"This theory of ideas is applied in a twofold sense. The Book of Changes shows the images of events and also the unfolding of conditions in statu nascendi. Thus, in discerning with its help the seeds of things to come, we learn to foresee the future as well as to understand the past. In this way the images on which the hexagrams are based serve as patterns for timely action in the situations indicated."

Many key ideas are brought to bear in this passage, by Wilhelm. Sages, he says, are "in contact with those higher spheres," and "have access to these ideas through direct intuition;" implying thereby that they no longer need to consult the Oracle out of necessoty, but do so out of reverence for, and honor to the Deity, first, their Ancestors next, and thirdly to all Sages and Past Masters of the Great Tao. This is implied in many places in the I Ching, such as in Hexagram 16, for example.

The point here, though, is that until we completely realize our own inherent sagehood, and establish perpetual contact with those higher spheres (Hex 1 - Line 5), through direct intuition, then we are in desperate need of the Oracle's aid to help bridge the gap, between us and "the suprasensible world of ideas." Until that gap is effectively closed, we are handicapped and dysfunctional in our 'office' as one of the "three primal powers."

One other thing that I desire to emphasize here is that the Oracle reveals to us "the suprasensible event" within the invisible spirit realm; which he says transpires before its manifestation in real time. Thus, while it is true (in one sense) that it reveals the future to us, from the standpoint of real time, it is imperative that we perceive and understand the Oracle's revelation from the spiritual standpoint, or from our true ground and center of primal power; that is, from the standpoint of "the suprasensible event" as the invisible seed of that which is to come, in real time. Thus is it written that "to know the seeds is divine indeed," for "the clouds pass and the rain does its work, and all individual beings flow into their forms."

If someone would devise an easy method for using the advice of say the Tao Te Ching, The Bhagavad Gita, the Bible, or even the token self-help book you have lying around, perhaps it would operate on a function akin to the I Ching But not quite, because there is that special something built into the I Ching from the start.

The I Ching was only one of several oracle systems developed in ancient China. I once owned, about 25 years ago, a copy of the Tao Te Ching that was uniquely structured into its own oracle system, based on an ancient Chinese manuscript tradition. The popularity of the I Ching eclipsed them all, however, though some of the other systems / methods are still around and attracting growing awareness.

The thing that is special about the I Ching, imo, is its profound legend and age. It is by far the oldest and most widely revered of all the surviving oracle systems to date.

And I don't entirely rule out what Jung calls synchronicity or even divination in the sense of determining the future. The universe is so vast, how am I to judge?

The most important thing is never to force things before their proper time. Cultivate the power of receptivity to, and awareness of "the suprasensible world of " ideas and events; and, in good time, your inherent wisdom for, and emotional acceptance of the Oracle will blossom, naturally, into a fully grown golden flower.

Peace and prosperity to you and all!

Yen Hui
 

yxeli

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I cant really add more to this discussion that hasnt already been said, its exactly what i would have said, but with alot more backup. I'm adding this just as another witness to this book.

Our brains evolved to see patterns in things. From looking at the archetypal situations in this book, the people who are receptive to these seemingly arbitrary junctures of words and phrases, through the process of relating it clearly to your own point of origin, can see the patterns, and so can make sense of it.

When we start talking about metaphysical things, quantitative analysis falls away. qualitative analysis, which to me is what king wen and all the other guys first translations were doing, is the way to approach this book. They took it seriously, and related it directly to their own experiences.

wikipedia|:
In the conventional view, qualitative methods produce information only on the particular cases studied, and any more general conclusions are only propositions (informed assertions).

Correct me if i'm wrong, but arent the oracle bones notes that they took regarding this divination system? notes on how they experienced the lines? I dont think the zhou and shang were trying to shape the answers, they just did a cast, and tried to relate it to what was going on for them at that point in time.

And since then, a myriad of other words derived from the originals have come down to us from other people who took this book seriously. The right translations will blow your mind, and instead of you having to think in some kind of 'bent' way, forcing your brain to see the pattern, good translations will show you whats happening so plainly, that you stop being a skeptic. you cant help but 'believe'. I have read some commentaries that are telling me exactly the situation i'm in, that the thought that it isnt 'for real' completely dissapears.

theres my two cents! :)


Yx
 

meng

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The objective, as I see it, isn't that the artifact be worshiped. That's, for all intensive purposes, simply a fetish. The artifact predicts its ears/handles will be moved (they're moveable!), but that doesn't have to lead to the cauldron's broken leg, nor the meal spilling onto the prince. It serves a different people now, most in a polar opposite culture. The truth of it reveals itself to whomever is open to receive it, any time, any place, any language.
 
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I don't know how it works, but I interact with the Yi daily anyway. :) It seems to have the same rules as the universe itself and whatever you think that means at the time. I've viewed the world as unfolding beautifully and I saw the Yi as doing the same. It really is like everyone has posted, what you are open to.
 

meng

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I don't know how it works, but I interact with the Yi daily anyway. :) It seems to have the same rules as the universe itself and whatever you think that means at the time. I've viewed the world as unfolding beautifully and I saw the Yi as doing the same. It really is like everyone has posted, what you are open to.

Like this a lot, but here comes the but. I'm always drawn back to the phenomenon of becoming surprised in your own dream. So, 'being open to' isn't always what one expects to experience. And, individual consciousness is operating in layers, "wheels within wheels." Anyway, these surprises, these unexpected things, come from where? How can we surprise ourselves? But we do in dreams.

Years after making this observation a number of times, I heard Joseph Campbell ask the exact same question: how is it possible to surprise yourself in your own dream?

Well, if one is capable of surprising their self in a dream, might they also be capable of offering a surprising answer to a given question?
 
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yen hui

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Interactive hormonal dancing. And to think it happens as a passing glance in a crowd, even if only in your imagination.

:D Imagination becomes reality, according to the I Ching (Hex 4 - Line 4, Wilhelm ed.); but only if persisted in long enough. That's the power of dreaming, which power is often misunderstood and misapplied. Thus the warning against persisting in "empty," that is, unprofitable and misguided "imaginings."
 

bradford

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I personally think it's a must to understand the mental processes called Apophenia and Pareidolia. Sometimes these two processes are named in dismissing divination as a valid mode of perception or inquiry. But I think they are a vital part of our repertoire of evolved cognitive skills and knowing more about them contributes to our divination skills.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apophenia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pareidolia
 

meng

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You mean that really wasn't Jesus on my toast?
 

meng

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:D Imagination becomes reality, according to the I Ching (Hex 4 - Line 4, Wilhelm ed.); but only if persisted in long enough. That's the power of dreaming, which power is often misunderstood and misapplied. Thus the warning against persisting in "empty," that is, unprofitable and misguided "imaginings."

Who judges which questions are unprofitable and misguided?

Imagination is a function of the Creative, which is why dreams were once, and sometimes still are, thought to be the voice of God(s). Dreams can be a form a divination every bit as life changing as a Yijing reading. They just require skill to interpret symbols, just like the Yijing.
 

meng

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:D Imagination becomes reality, according to the I Ching (Hex 4 - Line 4, Wilhelm ed.); but only if persisted in long enough. That's the power of dreaming, which power is often misunderstood and misapplied. Thus the warning against persisting in "empty," that is, unprofitable and misguided "imaginings."

Secondly, the ability to make what is imaginable a reality is an attribute of h2. Like Courtney said, "being open gives rise to more unexpected options."

4 is essential only to admit you don't know, which therefore makes room to receive an answer.
 

gene

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One thing we have to bear in mind is that everything is connected. There is no separation in reality in the universe. It is only as we on the human level perceive it. And since it seems objects are outside of us we do not recognize the connection.

Furthermore, everything is connected by only one thing. That thing being consciousness. All the so called material world is nothing more than consciousness condensing itself into matter. As such the physical world is the prodigal son which has lost its awareness of its connection with the Father. The
Father is pure consciousness. Therefore everything that exists is consciousness. In fact there is nothing else. All else is illusion. (And modern science is bearing this out, more and more everyday. And will be the harbinger of the coming new age when we all understand this.)

Therefore, in Chinese philosophy (truth) before there was yin and yang there was the great (if I recollect the term correctly) wu wei. Wu wei was the absolute unity which divided into yin and yang and was the supreme all. There was (and is) nothing else. But the wu wei, being bored, (allegorically speaking) divided itself into two equal and complementary opposites, yin and yang. Since yin is space, and yang is time, neither really exists apart from the other. In unity it is only consciousness. There is no space and time, but this consciousness reveals itself when called upon to do so by those who understand its premises. Since all is connected, and all is consciousness, it knows itself intimately, and infinitely. Therefore, it gives us the answer as it chooses fit. We are contacting that deeper consciousness within the universe, which is the universe.

Gene
 
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cjgait

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Close, but no cigar. Wu Wei is 'non-doing'. The term you are thinking of is tai qi. It's the Chinese version of the A'in Soph.
 

gene

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cjgait

I still think it is wu wei. I will have to look it up. I know the term used is not tai qi, although perhaps that term could be used also. But the supreme all, (which can be tai qi alright) does carry the connotation of non-doing.

Gene
 
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cjgait

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Wu Ji

cjgait

I still think it is wu wei. I will have to look it up. I know the term used is not tai qi, although perhaps that term could be used also. But the supreme all, (which can be tai qi alright) does carry the connotation of non-doing.

Gene

Found it! In this Wikipedia passage on Zhou Dun Yi there is a reference to Wu Ji. I think that's the term you were trying to recall:

It contained his theory of creation, which can be summarized in the following paraphrase of its first section: "In the beginning, there was t'ai chi (taiji) (the great ultimate of being), which was fundamentally identical with wu chi (wuji) (the ultimate of non-being). Because of the abundance of energy within t'ai chi, it began to move and thus produced the yang (the positive cosmic force). When the activity of the yang reached its limit, it reverted to tranquility. Through tranquility the yin (the negative cosmic force) was generated. When tranquility reached its limit, it returned to movement (yang). Thus yin and yang generated each other. Then, through the union of the yin and the yang the transformation of both, the five agents (or elements) of metal, wood, water, fire and earth were brought into being. These five agents are conceived of as material principles rather than as concrete things. They can therefore be considered the common basis of all things. The interaction of the yin and yang through different combinations of the five agents generates all things in a process of endless transformation." (Arrington, 1999, p. 46)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhou_Dunyi
 
C

cjgait

Guest
There is an article on Wu Ji in Key Concepts in Chinese Philosophy by Zhang Dainian (ISBN 0300092105). Here is the introductory portion:

p. 71 8. Limitless, Ultimate of Nonbeing
Wu Ji, Wu Qiong

"The expression 'limitless' and its relatives are found in the Laozi and the Zhuangzi and also in writings of the logicians. It has no special philosophical meaning. In Song-dynasty philosophy, however, the same expression 'limitless' should be translated as 'ultimate of beinglessness,' for the negative element is no longer qualifying the word 'limit' but is rather qualified by the word 'limit,' here to be translated into Song philosophical jargon as 'ultimate.'"

The text then goes through two pages tracing the terms through history, ending in this about its place in the Zhou Dunyi Diagram:

"Zhou Dunyi's Diagram of the Supreme Ultimate and his notion of ultimate beinglessness certainly had Daoist origins, and in this Huang Zongyan's testimony, quoted in the footnote, is valid. Zhu Xi gave his own interpretation of Zhou's phrase. the Confucian philosophy of the Song and Ming dynasties, however, does not often discuss the ultimate of beinglessness. It is not an important Confucian concept."

The lengthy footnote referenced traces the origins and transmission of the diagram, but casts doubt on the veracity of them.
 

bradford

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You mean that really wasn't Jesus on my toast?

I got some toast once that had the spitting image of the cosmic background radiation left over from the big bang.
 

bradford

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Point of clarification.
The Wu Ji or Supreme Nothing was expressed in a diagram (Wujitu) transmitted by the Daoist Chen Tuan, a predecessor of Zhou Dunyi.
The Taijitu was developed by Zhou Dunyi as his attempt to improve on the idea and diagram, although I think both have merit.
These two diagrams will look vaguely familiar to anyone who had studied the Otz Hhayim or Qabalah Tree of Life. It's my theory that this evolved out of the Chinese diagrams after being carried to Europe by the Arabs at the end of or after the eleventh century.
These are the two diagrams:
http://www.hermetica.info/Wujitu.jpg
http://www.hermetica.info/Taijitu.jpg
This was the original Taijitu diagram. Later the word would come to refer to the yin and yang "fishes" in the circle.
 
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