The Technique
The Leadership I Ching
Book Contents
Preface
Introduction
The Technique
Base Structure of the I Ching
The Technique
A Road Map for Your First Consultation
Watch Your Mood
As I mentioned it already, it is very important that you are in a relaxed and meditative state of mind before you set out to consult the I Ching. If you are restless or anxious, avoid consulting it and choose a quieter moment. It is also important to avoid disturbance, to make sure your mobile is turned off and you haven’t any closely approaching appointments. Allow your mind to be quiet, then focus upon the question. Formulate the question clearly in your mind, better: write it down. You may want to use a little ritual for getting into the right mood, by burning an incense stick, lighting a candle, and taking a few deep breaths.
Get Prepared
You need three coins, some paper, and a pen. You may choose the coins according to your taste and preferences.
Some prefer the original Chinese coins that are round with a square hole in the center. But any coins can do, the only thing is that they are of the same kind, the same size and the same weight!
Before using the coins for the first time, you may want to dedicate them by washing them and holding them up a moment in your closed hands in front of your frontal lobe (6th Chakra).
This preparation may focus your internal energy. It is important that you use these coins for no other purpose, so by preference place them close to this book, in a dedicated drawer where there is no other material, except, if ever you also use the Tarot and the Runes. In such a case, you may have all your divinatory tools in one and the same drawer.
Ask Your Question
In my experience it is of great importance to clearly formulate your question. If it is ambiguous, you will get an equally ambiguous reading. If you ask an either-or question, you may get a totally off-track answer, so avoid from the start to ask for two alternatives in one single question! For example, if you ask ‘Will it be beneficial if I travel to India for this next vacation,’ this is a fairly precise question. But if you are asking ‘Should I travel to India or to Bangladesh,’ you can’t possibly get a correct answer for you put up two alternatives in the same question.. But you can well ask about a problematic situation in the following manner: ‘Why do I have constant problems with my boss?’
The answer you will get then will point you to the most intelligent way to handle the confrontation; in most cases the I Ching will tell you how you act in a way that is either inappropriate or inflexible, and how you can learn to deal with the situation constructively.
Make the Hexagram
Then shake the coins in your cupped hand and let them fall onto a flat, uncluttered surface. To repeat it, you get potentially four different combinations:
— Three tails, 6 (yin, — — , answer)
— Three heads, 9 (yang, — , answer )
— Two tails, one head, 7 (yang, — , no answer)
— Two heads, one tail, 8 (yin, — — , no answer)
Now compose your hexagram on a sheet of paper, or memorize your sequence. For example, when you draw 6–8–8–9–9–8, look at the Hexagram Guide below and you will find it’s Hexagram 45, with Lines 1, 4 and 5 as answers. I have found an easy way to write this down on your paper without needing to write the broken and unbroken lines. You simply write 45/1/4/5. This means it’s hexagram 45 with the lines 1, 4 and 5 changing.
What is a changing line?
The Moving Lines
Now the lines that are answers, the nines and the sixes, these lines are changing. That means you can then immediately compose the hexagram with the changed lines, the one into which the present hexagram will change. You can find that easily by taking your original sequence, 6–8–8–9–9–8 and then change the moving lines to their opposite. You will then receive 9–8–8–6–6–8 which is Hexagram 24 (Return).
Reading the Hexagrams
The first hexagram comments on the current situation. To stay with our example, consult Hexagram 45 below in the text. First read the General Advice, printed in Small Caps under each hexagram, then look up the text for lines 1, 4 and 5. Then you try to find a synthesis or a direction in your reading. You can only do that intuitively, there is no recipe for how to do that. Read if necessary all this information over and over again until you get an inner hunch!
Then look up the changed hexagram by reversing the yin lines into yang lines and vice versa, as I just explained it. Do not look up the lines, however, they are not valid in a changed hexagram, only the General Advice.
Then reflect how this additional information can be useful to you for further analyzing your situation; then summarize it all in a short and concise sentence and write it down.
