{"id":236,"date":"2010-07-31T08:46:23","date_gmt":"2010-07-31T15:46:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thetolteciching.com\/blog\/?p=236"},"modified":"2021-01-30T23:04:25","modified_gmt":"2021-01-31T06:04:25","slug":"why-a-new-i-ching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thetolteciching.com\/blog\/why-a-new-i-ching\/","title":{"rendered":"Why A New I Ching?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I cannot distance the I Ching<\/em> from my own life any more than you.<\/p>\n

My first teachers of the Book of Change<\/em> impressed upon me the perceptual<\/em> aspect of this ancient work, as opposed to the historical<\/em> interpretation so prevalent in modern versions.\u00a0 They focused my attention on the natural symbolism of the trigrams, encouraging me to develop an emotional, or heart-mind<\/em>, experience of the real world<\/em> energies<\/em> they represent.\u00a0 This meant spending long spaces of time in nature, learning to cultivate a communication with these energies<\/em> based on the kind of spiritual <\/em>intuition I was being taught at the time.<\/p>\n

My nature pilgrimages led me to more remote areas of the Americas, especially the least-traveled parts of the Copper Canyon in Mexico, where I was adopted by a family of Tarahumara shamans.\u00a0 My initiation into the densest Pre-Columbian rituals of these descendants of the Toltec peoples opened the gateway of energies<\/em> connecting each of us with all others.<\/p>\n

Stumbling into Native American teachers, in other words, brought me to the understanding that my teachers of the indigenous Chinese I Ching<\/em> had insisted I learn.\u00a0 This makes profound sense in retrospect.\u00a0 Nature is Nature everywhere.\u00a0 And shamanism, though its techniques and descriptions differ by culture, is everywhere based upon sensing and interacting with the spirit within all matter.<\/p>\n

Beyond this, however, it is self-evident that the indigenous peoples of ancient China and the Americas share the same mother culture, which spread not just through Asia but crossed the Bering Strait and populated the whole of the New World.\u00a0 It was only after I encountered the sacred divinatory calendar, The Day Count<\/em>, or Tonalpoalli<\/em>, of ancient Mexico that I glimpsed the thread of an oracular tradition running through both cultures.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, my continuing studies of the I Ching<\/em> proceeded without books.\u00a0 I pursued my teachers’ advice to grasp the real world nature<\/em> of the trigrams in order to see through their eyes<\/em>.\u00a0 Experiencing the trigrams as the archetypal structure and pattern of human perception allows us to extend that structure into the hexagrams, whose combinations of trigrams reflects the real world coupling<\/em> of internal and external dimensions.\u00a0 This perceptual<\/em> approach to the I Ching<\/em> provides us with a way to encounter the living Oracle, as opposed to sticking to the dead words of the historical<\/em> rendering.<\/p>\n

There are many good books published on the I Ching<\/em>.\u00a0 However, they are all based on the King Wen Sequence of hexagrams and rework the same historical<\/em> material over and over.\u00a0 This is not in and of itself bad, of course.\u00a0 There is much to be gained by mining such a rich vein of interpretive material.\u00a0 But we now know that those interpretations of the hexagrams and trigrams, attributed to King Wen and the Duke of Chou, are based on historical events that occurred at the time of the transition from the Shang Dynasty to the Chou Dynasty.\u00a0 The naturalistic symbolism of the I Ching<\/em>, in other words, was used as a vessel to contain and express the power of righteous change<\/em> that cannot be fulfilled without the righteous effort<\/em> of righteous individuals<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Undoubtedly the work of several generations of priest-diviners spanning the Shang and Chou Dynasties, this historical interpretation infuses the hexagrams and lines with the oracular power of an ancient lineage of shamans using the historical developments of the time as a living metaphor for archetypal change as it manifests in any Age<\/em>.\u00a0 This remarkable accomplishment explains the predictive power of the historical<\/em> interpretation, originally titled the Chou I<\/em>, or Changes of Chou<\/em>, and its continuing efficacy as an Oracle.<\/p>\n

But the real power of the Oracle does not lie in its interpretive material\u2014it lies in the real-world energies<\/em> that manifest in all matter, including human nature.\u00a0 The real power of the Oracle lies in the real-world energies<\/em> that likewise manifest as the living symbols of the I Ching<\/em> in the form of its lines, trigrams and hexagrams.\u00a0 This correlation between the real-world energies<\/em> that form the unchanging pattern of change<\/em> within nature, spirit, and human nature is the real dynamic that establishes the Oracle’s communion with unfolding events across the entirety of the eternal moment.\u00a0 It is this naturalistic perspective that needs to inform the interpretive material and not the historical events of 3,500 years ago.<\/p>\n

The concept of righteous<\/em>, for example, is based on both a specific spiritual presence and spiritual ethic:\u00a0 it indicates something that is both in accord with the One and actively pursues the course that benefits all.\u00a0 It is a concept that runs like an unconscious assumption throughout the traditional text:\u00a0 because it was written by the court diviners, who were advising the political leaders of their time, it is a top-down model of change that assumes an enlightened, righteous<\/em>, ruler will lead the many into a time of peace and prospering for all.<\/p>\n

Such an ideal, noble and well-intentioned as it is, can now be said without any fear of contradiction to be ill-founded and antithetical to human nature.\u00a0 Power creates institutions to perpetuate power.\u00a0 The many suffer at the hands of the few that hold the reins of power.\u00a0 Wealth and power are concentrated among the few, who enjoy privileges at the expense of the many.\u00a0 Rulers serve their own purposes, not the needs of the governed.\u00a0 Even if one such ruler established a reign of real equality and justice, we know now that the succeeding generations of rulers would not cease in their efforts until they had undone all those reforms.\u00a0 Power is anonymous and perpetually seeks the line of least resistance, following the pull of gravity, towards totalitarianism.<\/p>\n

If we are to reach the Golden Age of Humanity that so many generations of sages and savios have prepared us for, it will not be because of the trickle-down righteousness of a ruler.\u00a0 It will be because the ground-up awakening of righteous individuals<\/em> continues to build into a sea change of self-governance that spans borders and guarantees peace and prospering for all.<\/p>\n

Rather than being written for the rulers, the I Ching<\/em> needs to be written for the governed, who must adapt to the political, economic, and social pressures of the day, all the while seeking the path of personal and collective metamorphosis.\u00a0 The question is no longer how to rule but, rather, how to deal with rulers.\u00a0 It is not how to influence the many but, rather, how to deal with those seeking to influence.\u00a0 Rather than being written for those seeking to maintain the status quo, the I Ching<\/em> needs to address those seeking to create the most meaningful life possible for themselves and all others at the same time.\u00a0 Rather than being a vessel for the elite, the I Ching<\/em> needs to be a raft for those seeking to free the elite from their slavery to greed, dominance and self-interest.<\/p>\n

Some might argue that there have been efforts to update these anachronisms in various modern interpretations.\u00a0 But this argument fails on the single issue of the Sequence of hexagrams, upon which all those interpretations are based.\u00a0 As mentioned above, this Sequence is attributed to King Wen, who masterminded the overthrow of the Shang Dynasty and the founding of the subsequent Chou Dynasty.\u00a0 This Sequence he allegedly devised while under house arrest by the Shang emperor.\u00a0 It is this Sequence and its appended interpretive material that came to be known as the Chou I<\/em> or Changes of Chou<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In fact, this Sequence, which begins with the hexagram formed by the doubling of the Heaven<\/em> trigram, is completely identified with the founding of the Chou Dynasty.\u00a0 The importance of this cannot be overstated.\u00a0 Legend has it that the Sequence of the hexagrams was different during the preceding Shang Dynasty, where it began with the hexagram formed by the doubling of the Earth<\/em> trigram and was known as the Guizang<\/em> Sequence.\u00a0 Likewise, the even older Xia Dynasty that preceded the Shang had its own Lianshan<\/em> Sequence, which began with the hexagram formed by the doubling of the Mountain<\/em> trigram.\u00a0 Thus, each of three succeeding dynasties had their own Sequence of hexagrams<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The historical accuracy of this legend is less important than its symbolic import, for what it means is that the new Sequence of hexagrams confers upon a new Dynasty its legitimacy<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Mawangdui manuscript is the oldest physical copy of the Chou I<\/em> and, even though it starts with the same hexagram formed by the doubling of the Heaven trigram, it presents a different Sequence and even different names for many of the hexagrams.\u00a0 Not only, then, were there different Sequences of hexagrams associated with different Dynasties, but even within the same Dynastic tradition, it was permitted to alter the received Sequence as well as the names of the 64 hexagrams.<\/p>\n

Why?\u00a0 Because such altered sequences were not intended to be used to communicate with the Oracle.\u00a0 Similarly, the masterful Sequence of Shao Yung that was based on the natural number values of the hexagrams arose in conjunction with the Chou I<\/em> but neither was it intended to be used to communicate with the Oracle.<\/p>\n

Why not?\u00a0 Because the order of the hexagrams in the Dynastic Sequence alone<\/em> is charged with Oracular power.\u00a0 The Sequence and even the hexagram names can be changed in order to investigate the pattern of change among the 64 hexagrams but the Oracle answers only<\/em> to the sacred unchanging pattern of change among the hexagrams as exemplified in the King Wen Sequence.<\/p>\n

However, the priest-diviners of the Shang, who were seeing the end of their Dynasty\u2014not just in the events surrounding them but in their oracular divinations\u2014faced the problem of constructing a new Sequence for the coming Dynasty.\u00a0 This they would have considered their sacred duty since their ultimate allegiance was to the Oracle and not any political entity.\u00a0 The specific problem they would have faced, then, was how to devise a new Chou Sequence while maintaining the magically charged<\/em> Sequence of the Shang Dynasty, which began with the hexagram formed by the doubling of the Earth<\/em> trigram\u2014the same problem their predecessors faced during the transition from the former Xia Dynasty, whose Sequence began with the hexagram formed by the doubling of the Lake<\/em> trigram.<\/p>\n

What we know as the King Wen Sequence, therefore, is conceived as at least the third iteration of a magically charged<\/em> Sequence of hexagrams, each of which began with a hexagram formed by the doubling of a trigram.\u00a0 Much research and discussion have followed the King Wen Sequence over the millennia in an effort to explain what appears to be the random ordering of its 32 pairs of hexagrams.\u00a0 It is, of course, this mysterious relationship among the real-world energies<\/em> of the trigrams and their emergent hexagrams that gives the Oracle its power\u2014which makes formulating a new Sequence that holds this same charge<\/em> a question of profound import as we enter this new Dynasty.<\/p>\n

Next Week:\u00a0 A New Version of the I Ching<\/em><\/p>\n

~<\/p>\n

The Toltec I Ching<\/em>, by Martha Ramirez-Oropeza and William Douglas Horden has just received a Silver Award in the 2010 Nautilus Awards<\/a>.\u00a0 It recasts the I Ching in the symbology of the Native Americans of ancient Mexico and includes original illustrations interpreting each of the hexagrams.\u00a0 Its subtitle, 64 Keys to Inspired Action in the New World<\/em> hints at its focus on the ethics of the emerging world culture.<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a> to go to the main site to see sample chapters, reviews and the link to Larson Publications<\/a> for ordering the book.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I cannot distance the I Ching from my own life any more than you. My first teachers of the Book of Change impressed upon me the perceptual aspect of this ancient work, as opposed to the historical interpretation so prevalent … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[210,3],"tags":[10,155,165,154,162,161,153,156,7,36,170,59,23,158,6,159,160,169,172,32,174,148,13,149,8,150,167,151,164,166,171,9,163,173,33,152,157,168,147],"class_list":["post-236","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-new-i-ching","category-the-toltec-i-ching","tag-animism","tag-animistic-mother-culture","tag-archetypal-change","tag-barranca-del-cobre","tag-chou-dynasty","tag-chou-i","tag-copper-canyon","tag-count-of-days","tag-divination","tag-golden-age-of-humanity","tag-guizang","tag-heart-mind","tag-hexagram","tag-historical-interpretation","tag-i-ching","tag-king-wen","tag-king-wen-sequence","tag-lianshan","tag-mawangdui","tag-metamorphosis","tag-new-dyansty","tag-new-i-ching","tag-new-world","tag-new-yi-jing","tag-oracle","tag-perceptual-interpretation","tag-priest-diviners","tag-real-world-energies","tag-righteous-effort","tag-righteous-individual","tag-sequence-of-hexagrams","tag-shamanism","tag-shang-dynasty","tag-shao-yung","tag-social-transformation","tag-tarahumara","tag-tonalpoalli","tag-xia-dynasty","tag-yi-jing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thetolteciching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thetolteciching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thetolteciching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thetolteciching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thetolteciching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=236"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.thetolteciching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":240,"href":"http:\/\/www.thetolteciching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/236\/revisions\/240"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.thetolteciching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=236"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thetolteciching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=236"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.thetolteciching.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=236"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}