"Going with The Flow"

LIVING IN THE PRESENT.

In those few seconds to two minutes is all you have of existence. However, your mind will repeatedly tell you that you have a past, a future, and lots of things to be doing now (usually to resolve those past and future notions).Your body is so closely inter-twined with the material world, with all its' delights and distractions, that you may never stand to one side just for a moment.Your brain will connect it all together to give you a bit more room to enjoy yourself, and give you the impression that things are a little more predictable, or uncertain. There is actually a 'still centre', and I guess trees live in this dimensionless timeless state, but your mind will tell you the opposite, and keep you involved and reacting right up to the last moment. It's O.K., since everything only happens in the present.

The rest is history.

A Way in the world.

Some of the maps are a little dated.

In my studies of The I Ching, like so many others, I was captivated by the mystery and the mechanics of all those charts and hexagram layouts. It was not until I understood a very basic concept that the whole system 'fell into place', and started to produce some strange and accurate results. It is not the hexagrams, the rituals, or the magic, but energy that makes it work.

That energy is volatile, and changing all the time. You can only guage it or measure it (take a Reading of it) in a very short space of time - in about one second to about two minutes (not withstanding the sometimes long rituals, or shorter time in coin throwing, to get there). It can only happen in the present moment.

When you see the energy - something like the flow of energy in Feng Shui - you understand that it is symbolic, elemental, and powerful. It is a Way through the world. To use The I Ching you need to pose a question, and select a hexagram, but The TAO I CHING goes a little further in not only providing an instant and easy access, but in using the energy of these hexagrams to reflect, and change, your energy. When you see the flow of energy through yourself, through your thoughts, feelings, and reactions, you'll see the connection between you and TAO.

TAO is that great flow of energy that runs through the universe, that takes you and everything with it. You can continue to use The I Ching to ask questions about your busy life and prospects. I certainly do. You can also slow down the whole process by observing your situation, and assimilating the energy, as recommended in The TAO I CHING. www.taoiching.com When you continue to do this you start to live in the present.

IF YOU SEE BUDDHA

"If you see Buddha in the street, kill him !"

I always thought that the irreverent Zen saying "If you see Buddha in the street, kill him !", was, perhaps, a warning not to worship spiritual leaders or follow spiritual doctrines without question.

'Life on the street', indeed your life, is not static, an ideal, or a set of rules to follow, but a direct daily involvement. To be 'aware' there should be a sense of alertness, in a wake-up call that could happen any time. (The urgency in the quote above).

If you see someone in the street, or anywhere, studying 'The I Ching' (about as likely as meeting Buddha), approach them, point directly behind them, or to the sky, and shout ! "LOOK OUT !"

Chance and Change rule, and the energy is volatile, shifting, flowing, and moving everyone and everything. The TAO I CHING will tell you what (to do about it), and why, but don't hang-around too long.

Hexagrams in the Process of Change.

Order any number on the Chinese menu 1 - 64.

That's quite a few hexagrams, but Wang Pi has put them all into a nice arrangement for you. He did this in 246 A.D. , and called it "The Map of Life", but you may not have seen this before {unless you've downloaded 'The I Ching The Book of Chance and Change' from my website http://www.taoiching.com/} . Infact the few who have seen it couldn't make much sense of it, unless they had the key. That 'key' is of course energy.

That's a lot of hexagrams, but you needn't get confused because you'll only select one at a time. The HEXAGRAM is a strange symbol, packed with information. It looks like a simple diagram of six lines, but it is quite dynamic and has the potential to change. The hexagram has a meaning which you can consult in The I Ching, but if you looked into The TAO I CHING you would also see that it is a state of awareness - to live in, to reflect on, and to use. It is your life right now, or an aspect of it, or a pressing question you have, presented to you in an 'energy picture'. The piece of energy you have chosen reflects and changes, as though it had a life of its' own. All of this energy is moving and changing all the time. As soon as you form a question, and select a hexagram, you actually take part in this process of change. Through regular use, or whenever you have a question, the hexagrams of The Tao I Ching will change your energy (if you want to), and strangest of all, you will notice a lightness, or ease, in your mental state (of awareness), as it guides you towards a sense of harmony and inner peace. The rest is history.

The I Ching

The Ultimate Calculation

Only 64 situations, or events, can happen to you, or be experienced by you, in this life. This is the basic notion or conclusion of The I Ching or 'Book of Changes'. 'Book of Changes' because you can never be sure of what will hit you next, or what changes lie ahead. This is a complicated system of 64 hexagram symbols, each with the capacity to change into any of the other hexagrams. You can select a hexagram to show you 'what's up', and what this might change to. The ancient Chinese, who invented this system, based it on another idea they had about the way energy flows through everything, Man, Nature, and the universe. This energy, or the two aspects of it that cause change, came to be known as 'Yin' and 'Yang'.

The fun started when every permutation, state, action, and reaction, was calculated (producing 4029 combinations of hexagrams) based on the presence of Yin/Yang energy. After a thousand years or so messing around with bones, shells, and bamboo strips, they wrote it all down in 'The Classic of Change'. This in turn led to even more speculation, insight, symbolism, mysticism, and 'spirituality', which was added to The Book in ten wings or 'additions'. Today, of course, we have the profound mystery, that funny, half black half white, round symbol, and that great saying 'Going with the flow' , which everyone misunderstands to their great misfortune. You could find out what 'went wrong' by going to www.taoiching.com but you're probably happy enough not to bother. Either way, Chance and Change rule !

The I Ching is a pretty big book

"When struck by a thuderbolt

it is unneccesary to consult

'The Book of Changes' as to

the precise meaning of the omen"

ANCIENT CHINESE PROVERB

Signposts.

How often is it that you come across this ?

HEXAGRAMS are not really destinations, but more like signposts - to an answer, a different state, condition, or aquisition, or potential. The hexagram won't actually give you everything you ask for, but it might 'literally' do so. You see, hexagrams only show you your present position, or the present moment. The hexagram is a sort of destination that you have already arrived at - the present moment. You may not like this, seek to overlook it, or look instead to the future, or the past, but here you are !

Within the six-lined hexagram symbol are three line combinations, called TRIGRAMS. The top half, or top three lines, of the hexagram is a trigram, and so is the bottom half (and there are two more in the centre of the hexagram if you care to look). It is these trigrams that help, or hinder, you on your way to your destination. The trigrams show your strength, speed, and direction, and you could be going in the wrong direction, or at the wrong speed, hence the idea of 'hinder'. Actually it's all there to give you information. The hexagram will show you where you are starting from, and some of the potential.

The next time you come across a signpost, it's not so much the places that you could go to, but the choice you have. That choice, determined by your circumstances and where you think you want to go, is represented by a hexagram. All the time you are making decisions, and some of the time not quite sure which way to go, so using the TAO I CHING is like using signposts to get you where you want to be. Now, if that signpost had no place names on it, what would you do ? See where you actually are, look around you, and make a choice. Welcome to the TAO I CHING.

The Path Beyond.

'The Path Beyond The Meaning of Life'
Rachael Wilmot. Oil on canvas 36" X 36"

This is a painting by Rachael Wilmot. She of course went on to actually paint the destinations she hinted at in this painting, and you can catch-up with those at http://www.illustriousartworks.com./

The scene is the crossroads at Neuadd Chapel above NANTERNIS village, a few miles South of New Quay on the West coast of Wales (U.K.). This ordinary view is a metaphore for a metaphysical situation, as suggested by the title of the painting, and the destinations on the signpost behind the self portrait of Rachael.

She occupies the foreground, and certain states of awareness are visually aligned to the body. The cat (Mutti) is a symbol for 'gut' instinct, and level with the stomach. The heart is level with the signpost, and ones' direction in life. A set of choices presents itself when we arrive at the crossroads. That signpost has 'philosophical' directions. Turn right for PURPOSE (Nanternis), take the left for KNOWLEDGE (Llwyndafydd), and straight on for MEANING (Cwm Tydu). The route we are on is AWARENESS (Caerwedros, and ultimately Carmarthen, Swansea, and the rest of the world). Rachael stands at the present moment.

If we take the road to MEANING, we immediately pass the chapel and cemetry, which is aligned to the head and thoughts. If we follow the lane we end up on the horizon, and probably 'out on a limb'. The path beyond The Meaning of Life is indicated by a simple visual trick.

I wonder if the HEXAGRAMS are a similar 'simple' visual trick ?