The Deeper I Ching

I Just moved into my new place, and am a little bit out of synch and rythm here and don't know what to say, but I will take this time to say that I want everyone to understand well, that there is an esoteric side to all sacred literature, east or west, and it has a deeper meaning than what the conventional church or teacher will give you. As we look at the chapter and verses of the I Ching, hopefully it becomes clear from the posts I am making that there is a deeper message, and that message can only be found by looking for it in deep contemplation. We go on comparing verse to verse, line to line, looking for that deeper meaning. For the mysteries of life are not for the weak or the unsteady, nor for the immoral, or inferior person. Only the "superior person" can benefit from the deeper teachings of the I Ching, or from the Bible, or from the Tao Te Ching. They are written in such a way that the true message is far from obvious. We often have things staring us right in the eye but we totally overlook it because we are looking for a simple answer to a simple problem. As such we "use the I Ching as a tool and do not give it its proper respect and due (hexagram twenty line four) We receive counsel of the I Ching, but even the "KIng is not clearminded." The I Ching states in hexagram forty eight line three that "this is its hearts sorrow, for the well is cleaned, but no one drinks from it. If even the king were clear minded, good fortune might be enjoyed in common." But we are like a bunch of drunken sailors, home from the sea, who see nothing clearly at all, not even what is right in front of them. So we understand no symbolism, we understand no sleight of hand or blind that hides the real meaning. We look only for surface meanings, and what can help us in our immediate circumstances.

So, we often have to be left alone for a while to our own devices in order to be "taught the seriousness of life." Even when we use the I Ching, and get a good answer to a specific problem, we find that we are only confronted with more and more problems. This is because we don't take the time to find the underlying meanings which can help us in our daily lives, and become a more whole and fulfilled person, eventually becoming what the I Ching calls "The superior man." We must give up our superficial way of viewing things. We use the I Ching like the person who contemplates through the "crack of the door," (hexagram twenty line two) and does not see the broader picture that leads to a fuller and more abundant life. We are not able to contemplate well enough to "decide the choice between advance and retreat" (hexagram twenty line three) and we are not able to contemplate our lives to the point where "the superior man is without blame" (line four).

I honor and value the use of the I Ching as a tool to find out about problems in relationships, and career related choices, but it is difficult to find out we are not going beyond that point to the real heart of the I Ching. We are not "biting through," to the meat on the bone. to the point where we "receive yellow gold," (hexagram twenty one line five). We must search deeper, and look for the allegorical meanings of the words, and listen to what the sage has to say to us personally, not just our circumstances.