The I Ching, or Book of Changes,
Understanding
the I Ching
May be the oldest
book of the earth; it is certainly one of our greatest treasures of wisdom. As Confucius
said, by following the counsels of the book, and studying it continuously, we
can attain creative awareness in every situation.
As Confucius said, by following the
counsels of the book, and studying it continuously, we can attain creative
awareness in every situation.
From recent advances in biology we know that the basis of evolution is self
organization.
There is no outside force orchestrating our evolution.
Our destiny holds no master plan.
We have every opportunity to control our
own evolutionary development.
Our evolution does not happen by random chance, or
by stupid mutations.
The development of life in the Universe is neither predetermined nor a random happenstance,
and we are given every opportunity to
change or influence our human evolution as we go along.
We can master techniques to create, channel, and unfold and to direct it to our
specifications,
(Instead
of just allowing it to just happen to us.)
Self organization or evolution can
develop along multiple potential paths.
This is what we sometimes call free will.
Still, there are a few constraints.
The process of evolution is naturally structured and shaped by certain basic
laws.
It is influenced and shaped by the four dimensions and other numerical building
blocks of nature.
From this perspective our ability to evolve can be understood as the capacity
to create information based on the Mandelbrot vector 0 -> : z -> z² + c
considered as a continuous creative process.
This creative process can be influenced by our spontaneous improvisation of our
choices in each moment.
Using this technique to its maximum
potential involves returning to Zero, to
our deep center of pure awareness, and acting from there.
This whole field of spontaneous creativity and returning to zero was thoroughly
explored for millennia by ancient Chinese thinkers.
In Chinese, pure awareness is called Wu Chi.
It is the infinite, formless place just before all meaning and form. The place
from which all creativity springs. When you are connected with Wu Chi you are
in the Tao.
When you are in the Tao creativity naturally happens. WU CHI, emptiness, is
symbolized by the empty circle, and TAI CHI, plenitude, is symbolized by the
ancient Chinese yin/yang fractal:
WU CHI is pure attention, zero emptiness, corresponding to deep sleep.
TAI CHI is one, containing the fractal dichotomy of Yang and Yin. Yang is time,
Yin is space. Yang is characterized by the circle. Yin by the right angle.
Symbolically Yang is a straight line, Yin is a broken line.
Yang ______________
Yin _____ _____
In CHI, Yang is the direction upwards, Yin downwards.
Yang is the closed circle, Yin is the open angle. Yang is clockwise, Yin
counter-clockwise. Yang is hard, resistant and tense, Yin is soft, yielding and
relaxed.
Creativity is used here in the largest sense of the word.
It refers to a free and spontaneous state where life itself is created and self
organized in new and intelligent ways.
It does not only refer to the creation of art.
The Chinese understood the whole of life as the proper field of creativity, not
just traditional art, music, books and paintings.
Everything we do can should be an art.
Everything can be infused with creativity and beauty.
One of the applications of this kind of creativity which we have come to know
in the west is martial arts. Martial arts originated in China and then spread
to all of the other Eastern countries such as Japan and Korea. Martial arts
such as Kung Fu, Tai Kwon Do, Karate, Judo, etc.
The creative process has been applied by the Chinese in many other fields as
well, including medicine, religion, psychology and even human politics.
The psychological and political applications of the creative process can be
seen in the ancient Chinese book, the I Ching, or as it is sometimes called,
The Book of Changes.
According to many scholars this is the oldest book on Earth.
The I Ching is made of 64 hexagrams, which are combinations of six yin or yang
lines.
The sixty four possible yin-yang combinations Ò the hexagrams Ò represent the
basic situations of creative time.
Confucius is purported to have said that by following the counsels of the I
Ching, and studying it continuously, a person could attain creative awareness
in every situation.
Many scholars believe using and understanding the advice contained in the Book
of Changes can provide us with a key to comprehension of the universal laws of
creativity.
