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Led into peace by ancient book of truths

By Sandra Lee (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-06-17 10:08

I throw three coins, they clink on the table and create a hexagram, and then I consult the I Ching (Book of Changes), as I have done for 15 years. The hexagram addresses what is really going on in my life, on all levels, not just the obvious ones. I count on it to guide me.

When this becomes known among my Chinese friends and students, they all declare that the I Ching is too difficult and too ancient to understand. The wisdom of the I Ching has come down from thousands of years of Chinese philosophical thought. It seems to have its deepest layers rooted in a time before Confucius. So how does this ancient text relate to an American in today's society, dilemmas and lifestyles?

Balance is the key in the I Ching. That was wisdom 3,000 years ago and is just as true today. I am asked how an ancient Chinese oracular system can possibly be relevant to my very modern life. To me the answer is simple. Human nature has not changed much through time. All the modern self-help books try to help readers create balance in their stressful lives.

The way of the I Ching is to guide us to correct the world through correcting ourselves by thinking about events in a different way. The Buddha stated long ago that "We are what we think". The I Ching counsels that it is not the events that happen in our lives that matter, it is how we think about them.

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