You must have come here because you were trying to learn or study the I-Ching, but it seems impossible to do because it is all in ancient Chinese or translation/interpretation of the ancient Chinese, which makes no sense to you. Memorizing them seems like you are trying to memorize a dictionary, you know there is page one, and there are also 3000 pages after it until the end of the book; how many days would it take to remember all this? It’s crazy; maybe let’s find an app that will bring out the information whenever I need it. However, you are not satisfied because it is like trying to learn math, but you don’t know how it works, so you always go back to the reference table for the multiplying questions; that sounds like a stupid idea and very stupid-looking too. How do you make sense of this, and how did the first person start it all? Why does it work? Your brain is now full of questions and maybe even curiosity.
The quick answer is in the eBook, and you can read the I-Ching Mastery book that I have written if you want to jump into the learning stage immediately.
I Ching is Not for Memorizing
That is right; you heard it right! I Ching is not for memorizing; it is for you to understand, and then you can come up with your own I-Ching book by looking at the lines and interpreting what it means. I-Ching is just a combination of yin and yang strokes, which could be interpreted in many ways as long as you know what you are referring to for the situation.
You might now ask me, “Why do people study the book if they don’t need to memorize it?” Many people learn it the “dead” way and do not master it. Even if you memorize the book, it doesn’t make you a better I-Ching master. The real application of I Ching is not because you have a book or memorized the book.
What Makes I-Ching Accurate
Why is I-Ching accurate? Anything can be accurate, even playing cards or just a few coins. It is not “I Ching” that is accurate; it is the source of the power for the divination that makes it accurate. If only I-Ching itself could be accurate and powerful enough for divination, why don’t people make an app and do everything with it instead? What is the purpose of having a divination master if the computer can do the job?
There was a time when many “masters” were freaking out because there were tons of apps coming out for these kinds of things. Suddenly they felt like they would run out of business because everyone could do divination on their own now. If it is that easy, divination must be a scam.
Divination is not just about a “formula” then some random lottery draws out of a book of “answers.” I saw people say “consult the I Ching” all the time, and they are consulting the “book.” I was laughing so hard because the book doesn’t talk back, so you are just flipping pages and interpreting things on your own and believing that is what the dead book said. The book cannot even refuse or say you are wrong; it’s sad.
I-Ching is about consulting the source of that person who practices divination. The source could be their sect or lineage’s higher power, the god, their ancestors, or whatever preheaven beings they are connected to. For example, the emperor in China back in the old days would always ask their ancestors for advice by using divination methods. It could be I-Ching or whatever book they use as the “database” or codebook,” but the main point is that they are talking to someone in the preheaven, and the preheaven side is giving them answers by using a pool of answers as metaphors.
That means if your preheaven party is not cultivated, not educated, or not smart, the advice can still be bad for you because they are not intelligent enough. A cultivated and wise source can give a lot of good advice, which is why people praise them later when the advice leads to good results.
It is not the I-Ching that is powerful; the source that the divination master uses are powerful.
What is Your Source
If you are just an ordinary person, you don’t have any sect or lineage backing you up; then your source is nothing but yourself. You will ask about your “heart” which is the energy heart that feels and generates emotion. The heart is not bad; it’s just that your heart is uneducated on this subject, so it is like you are trying to use your feelings to drive before you learn to drive; imagine how it would turn out.
Like me, a master who does divination would have a lot of knowledge and experience on the subject. At the same time, we have a sect or lineage at the back, which allows us to ask our gods for advice, and the gods are always much more powerful and intelligent than humans. By asking the gods, we can get answers that are much more beneficial for us, which is why divination is very powerful in our hands. We don’t need to use the I-Ching; we can use anything; it’s just a way for the god to give us answers with a bunch of expressions as a metaphor.
If you don’t have a source for divination, even if you memorize the book of I-Ching, you won’t better and your divination still doesn’t benefit you much. It’s just like trying to roll a dice to check your fortune; it doesn’t work because you lack a real and powerful source for answers and guidance.
How to Start Learning
If you want to learn from the book first, I suggest two books. The first book is on how to master I-Ching, and the second is with all 64 I-Ching examples explained clearly in modern English. You can read, but after reading them, you won’t be able to do the divination for real because you still don’t have a source. If you want to learn divination, get ordained first and connect yourself with the source. Once that is done, you will be open to a new world of fun.
