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From the I Ching Record Book —

Suggestions for How to Use Your I Ching Record Book

  • You don’t always need to ask a question. You might let the I Ching tell you what you need to know right now.
  • Start by noting your inquiry by writing down the response to your  hexagram. You might use one of the suggested questions in this  book.
  • Don’t be vague. Be as specific as you can with your question.
  • Katya Walter, author of “Tao of Chaos” says: “Don’t ask a yes or no binary question. Instead ask an analog question – one that can give you a 360 degree range of possible answers. Think of it like going into Baskin Robins with a world of possible tastes.”
  • Don’t ask a question when you already know the answer.
  • Remember that I Ching is best thought of as advice coming from an ancient and very wise source. Some people say to think of the I Ching as a person one might consult. I think of I Ching as calling on my DNA to guide me. I believe that the key to how the I Ching works is found in and controlled by DNA. We are all connected to each other.
  • Write down your answer on the corresponding hexagram page where you can keep a record of when you received this response and your related comments.
  • An advantage of having I Ching records in an e-book format is when you do an I Ching reading for another person you can print and give them notes on the appropriate page.

I find that keeping a record of my I Ching questions helpful. Sometimes the answers I get are very obvious as to their meaning but at other times I think, “What is that about?” Or, “I don’t think so.” Or, “I don’t like that answer.”

I experience the I Ching like I do dreams. They are both symbolic and often mysterious in meaning. In both instances, if I keep track and look back after some time, the meaning becomes clear. A simple example of this is when I ask my New Year question, “What will most characterize this coming year for me?” At the beginning of the year it is impossible to tell what will unfold during the entire year. I like getting a hint of what may be ahead. Sometimes I am surprised by what seemed like a weird hexagram to receive for the year but by the end of the year the response fits. I also keep a record for personal research of the I Ching, always testing to see if and how it works.

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7 Comments on How to Use Your I Ching Record Book

  1. fran llorensNo Gravatar says:

    thanks

    it is very interesting

    but i don, t know whom i arrived to here

    sometimes i have in my hands the solution, the cuestion is that

    whom i losted my live, and which is necesary retunt to it

  2. nagarajuNo Gravatar says:

    mine is hexagram 30

  3. HilaryNo Gravatar says:

    As an alternative to “Don’t ask a question when you already know the answer,” how about,
    “Don’t ask a question if you’re not ready to change your mind about its answer”
    ?

    (Demitra’s point is dead on – but equally, there’s no point in my asking if I already “know” the answer with such certainty that I can’t possibly hear anything else.)

    • AdeleNo Gravatar says:

      Thanks for the input, Hilary. What I meant by not asking a question if you already know the answer are the obvious ones – questions that someone new to I Ching might ask as a test. Maybe I should just take that suggestion out.

  4. berryNo Gravatar says:

    Yes I agree with you. Thanks for such great comment. I easily understand all your listed suggestions.
    It’s helpful to us.

  5. AdeleNo Gravatar says:

    Hi Demitra,

    Thanks for posting such a thoughtful comment. I certainly see what you mean here. I probably should have worded that better for what I mean by what one already knows, but can’t think how at this moment. uuuumm …
    Adele
    .-= Adele´s last blog ..How to Use Your I Ching Record Book =-.

  6. Hi Adele, I agree with all your listed suggestions except one. I think that to not ask a question because you believe you already know the answer is not taking into account that your belief about what you think you know may possibly be flawed.

    I originally asked questions that I knew the answers to as a way of learning the I Ching language better. It was my thinking that if I knew the answer then looking at the way I Ching worded it would be helpful to me when trying to make sense of other answers that I really didn’t have any preconceived notions about.

    However, there have been times when doing this that the outcome turned out to be, interestingly enough, completely different than what I had expected. Though at those time I certainly didn’t know what to make of the obvious discrepancy between what I knew and what I Ching was telling me, I quickly learned that I Ching’s larger overview on life makes it more qualified in matters pertaining to Changes than I am. More importantly though, I learned that what I think I know about anything or anyone is always in flux, and that sometimes the shift may be in a direction I am in no position to even anticipate.

    Mystery is the charm of life and sometimes it is good to realize that we aren’t quite the masterfully conscious architects of our experiences that we imagine we are. Ultimately, this is the real value in making use of a divination tool such as I Ching.

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