Hi it's Mike Chen. Divination is the
reading of signs, or symbols with the
intention of receiving guidance and
wisdom about current situations and
future events. From ancient and medieval
worlds up to our modern era, many
different methods of divination have
been used, are still being used today,
which includes, what are not limited to,
the observation of animal behavior, the
movement of the stars and the planets,
the casting of lots, and utterance from
supposed Oracle's. In the past, these
methods were understood to be some of
the ways of communicating with the
spiritual world where unleashing unseen
powers. But from a modern psychological
standpoint devination now represents one
of human subtle means of accessing the
wisdom of the unconscious mind. One
ancient system of divination which
originated in China and has endured
until now, even though thousands of years
have already passed, it's steeped in this
in legend and possesses undeniable
spiritual philosophical and historical
values. This is known as the I Ching or
the Book of Changes, and it is
unquestionably one of the oldest and the
most important books in the world's
literature. The I Ching is an ancient
Chinese divination text and is also the
oldest of the Chinese classics. The text
possesses a history of more than two and
a half millennia of commentary and
interpretation, making it an influential
text throughout the world for the
inspiration. It serves in religion arts
literature,
psychoanalysis and even business.
Originally, the I Ching was a divination
manual in the Western Zhou period, around
1,000 to 750 BC. Sometimes between 500
and 200 BC, which was over the course of
the Warring States Period, it was
transformed into a cosmological text
that came with a series of philosophical
commentaries known as the ten links,
after it became a part of the five
classics in the second century BC. The I
Ching established itself as not only the
basis of divination practice for
centuries across the Far East, but also
the subject of scholarly commentary and
influential tool in the Western
understanding of Eastern thought. The
interpretation of the readings found in
the Book of Changes has sparked intense
for centuries. Nevertheless, many have
used a book symbolically to providing
guidance for moral decision-making which
is why it is not surprising that both of
the two branches of Chinese philosophy,
Confucianism and Taoism share common
roots through this ancient text. Even
many Western figures like psychologist
Carl Gustav Jung, physicist Wolfgang
Pauli in writer Hermann Hesse have
recognised The Book of Changes as an
intelligent, profound and sophisticated
system of divination which is most
likely why it has been in continuous use
up to now in different parts of the
world. Now let's talk a little bit about
the philosophy of the i-ching.
Change is the central idea behind the I
Ching, much like the way that night
gradually and without division follows
after the day, in one season evolved into
another. nothing lies in the universe
it's fixed forever unchanging. Everything
is not split into the time frames
of the past, the present or the future.
All things in the universe are
interlinked and constantly moving and
changing. We are all in a state of flux
and transition. In the past to
understanding and embracing change
involves acknowledging and comprehending
the relationship between the energetic
polarities of yin and young. Yin and
young, while seemingly opposing energies
are in fact complementary. Yin
corresponds to receptive, mutable and
contracting form, while yang corresponds
to active, creative and expensive force.
The balance between these two energies
is ever changing and transforming, which
is why it is signified by a wavy Center
lying in the well-known yin yang
symbol, also known as the Tai Chi with a
great ultimate. In Daoist thinking, the
concept of energetic balance between yin
and yang and flow have a deep and meaningful
relationship in people's lives, in that
of the universe as a whole, and because
everything in the universe is generated
from the yin-yang polarity and the flow
between the two opposing yet
complementary energies, the philosophy of
the I Ching welcomes change, movements
transformation, momentum and a
regeneration. The I Ching is all about change,
exploring and defining that changes you
experience, even if they may be beyond
your current understanding, and revealing
all the possibilities for future change,
action as well as in the action. In the Book
of Changes, yin and yang are represented
by unbroken and broken lines and
utilizing the I Ching as
the tool for divination. These lines are
used to create hexagram, figures which
are made up of six lines, each inquiry to
the Oracle will require a hexagram
reading, and possibly additional line
readings as well. A hexagram is made up
of two trigrams and each diagram is made
up of three lines. Each line is either
broken or solid corresponding to the
negative force yin, and a positive force yang.
There are eight possible trigrams, cosmos
Thunder, water, mountain, earth, wind or wood
fire, and lake. These eight trigrams were
conceived as symbols of all that happens
in both heaven and on earth. At the same
time, they were all held to be in a state
of continual transition with one trigram
changing into another, just as
transitions from one phenomenon to
another are continuously occurring in
the physical world. There are 64
different hexagrams and each hexagram
has six changing lines in the presence
of hexagrams meaning. These
changing lines in the primary hexagram
also point to the creation of a second
transformed hexagram, which is also
included in the readings and
interpretation, when responding to a
person's consult over a situation. We're
answering a question. All in all, there
are 4096 possible core readings with the
inclusion of symbols nuclear trigrams as
well as other factors. The interpretation
possibilities provided by the Book of
Changes are pushed into the tens of
million. The I Ching is made up of 64
chapters and each of them relate to a
corresponding hexagram which presents a
particular message. In consulting the I
Ching, the first step to do is to
formulate a question, followed by the
creation of the hexagram. This is
typically done through the process of
throwing coins, but several other ways
have also been utilized in consulting
the ancient texts. One traditional method
uses grains of rice, while another uses a
yarrow sticks, but for our purpose of
explaining, the process of consulting I Ching
, we will be using the example of
throwing coins. Now before casting the
coins down, those who seek to consult the
Book of Changes for divine guidance must
first meditate on the question they want
to ask, which are usually related to the
issue or situation they're currently
facing. With the question in mind, three
coins are shaken in a cupped hand before
they're thrown down, and then throwing
the coins. The intention is to create a
hexagram.
as previously mentioned, each hexagram is
built up from a series of six lines and
these lines are either broken or
unbroken, reflecting the energetic
qualities of the situation at hand. Now a
straight line represents a yang energy,
or Yang Yang,
while a broken line represents yin
energy, or yang yin. There is also
another energetic quality which reflects
the dynamism of the yin where yang
energy of any situation. These lines are
called moving or changing lines and they
can either be in moving. We're changing
also referred to as old yin. Where yang
moving or changing, which is also known
as old yang. I know this is really
confusing, right? But the unique
combination of these four energetic
qualities and the possibilities over the
six lines of a hexagram represent the
energy of the entire situation in
individual is consulting The Book of
Changes about. So in the coin method, each
time three coins are thrown at the same
time translates to an energetic line and
so throwing the coins six times create
the six lines, that become the whole
hexagram. The two distinguishable sides
of the coins are assigned numerical
value. Heads are given the value of three,
while tails have the value of two. By
throwing three coins at the same time,
their combined value will fall between
six and nine. These values can then be
translated to their energetic lines. This
corresponds to the old yin, 7 to the young
yang, 8 to the yong yin and nine to
the old yang. The value and a type of
energetic line of the first coin throw
corresponds to the first or the bottom
line of the hexagram, while the result of
the second throw corresponds to the
second line from the bottom line of the
hexagram, and it's so on repeating the
coin throw six times helps formulate the
values of the line of the hexagram from
the bottom up. Once the trigrams have been
written down, the grid table of the Book
of Changes is consulted to identify the
name and the number of the hexagram that
was formulated based on the result of
the coin throw. So it's definitely much
easier than, you know, get your palm read,
or stare into a crystal ball. but the I
Ching represents an entire ancient
philosophy that should be treated with
great respect in admiration.
It symbolizes the cyclical
interconnectedness of the universe and
it serves as a moral guide to a personal
path of balance and harmony. The wisdom
of this book contains has the potential
to stimulate your sensitivity, creativity,
and resourcefulness even when you are
experiencing the most challenging and
demanding periods of your life. Most
importantly, the I Ching does not give
you some specific and straight-to-the-point
answers you might be expecting. Instead,
it empowers you and encourages you to
look inside for the answers that you
seek. The book also offers a wealth of
beautiful poetry and Chinese philosophy
that stretches back 5,000 years into the
origins of ancient Chinese customs and
values, and perhaps this is the more
widely embraced reason why the I Ching
should be considered a global treasure,
and guys I personally try to read the
I Ching before, and yeah I got the page
like you know, point five. Well one thing
I love to do in my life is to meditate
and I feel like that has actually got me
through so many tough times in my life.
So if you guys want more information
about the I Ching or about meditation
about Qigong practices, I'll put some
links in my description box all, so
take a look if you're interested. Thank
you all so much for watching this video!
I'll see you later!