I Ching (Confucianism, Taoism)

The Book of Changes embodies a special system which represents the results of three thousand years of Chinese reflection on the nature of change. In Chinese thought it is only in constant change and growth that life can be grasped at all; the opposite of change is neither rest nor standstill, for these are aspects of change. Rather the opposite of change is held to be regression, or growth of what should decay. Change is therefore natural movement, namely development which can only reverse itself by going against nature. The special importance and use of the system in relation to human development lies in its application of this notion to change within individuals and social groups as well, clarifying the manner in which man's growth and development takes place in typical forms and through interlinked transformations governed by laws of change.

The concept of change is here conceived not as an external, normative principle that imprints itself upon phenomena, but rather as an inner tendency according to which development takes place naturally and spontaneously and with which it is wise to be consciously in harmony. The occidental notion of progress, incorporated in the idea of cyclic movement by the image of the spiral, is alien to this system as being an attempt to exalt the new over the old in a manner which does not accord with change in nature. Here the concept of a cycle of transformations, which eventually return to any initial condition, is basic.

The ultimate frame of reference for the changes identified in the system is therefore the unchanging; the world is held to be a system of homogeneous relationships. As a foundation for the emergence of these relationships, two interacting primordial principles (of determination, and of dependence,) are distinguished. They are united by a relation based on homogeneity; they do not combat, but complement each other in their complex interplay. Their difference in level creates a potential, by virtue of which movement and living expression of energy become possible.

The system contains the patterns and scope of all possible (qualitative) transformations. These patterns are also present in the mind of man, the insights into the cosmic process being related directly to the human psyche and to social relations. So that everything that undergoes transformation must obey the laws prescribed by the mind of man, who is therefore free to act to his own advantage in the light of these laws governing the perceived reality of space-time conditions. The system is so widely applicable because it contains only those relationships which are so abstract that they can find expression within every framework of reality.

The special figurative notation used in the system provides representations of the essence of all earthly phenomena. In the manner by which they interact and are transformed into one another within the system, they provide a representation of the interrelationships of all events and conditions, both in the macrocosm and in the microcosm. The mathematically perfect structure of this notation and the absolutely logical construction of the system as a whole thus yield a strict norm which underlies individual, changing situations and at the same time provides the frame for life in all its comprehensiveness.

With the help of an understanding of the system, it is possible for an individual to arrive at a complete realization of his innate capacities. This unfolding rests on the fact that man has innate capacities resembling the fundamental principles of the cosmos, of which he is a microcosm. Since the laws governing the relationships between these principles are reproduced within the system, the individual is provided with the means of shaping his own nature so that his inborn potentialities can be completely realized.

Aside from its descriptive function, which serves as a meditation aid to further intuitive understanding of conditions in the world, the system has also been extensively used for prediction. The possible change relationships between events or conditions, represented by the manner in which the figures transform into one another, provide a comprehensive view of the laws relating any sequence of events, thus permitting prediction of a pattern of future conditions as a guide to action. An individual can therefore select courses of action to ensure conditions most facilitative for his development, before a sequence of events has actually begun. For the questioner, an ordered framework within a fully rounded system is therefore available, within which a point to be established would give his momentary situation and what it implied for his own further growth.

For the individual, this map of possible changes provides him with the opportunity of shaping his life harmoniously, so that life in its turn becomes a reproduction of the laws of change. By embracing, through the system, the essential meaning of the various situations of life, an individual is in a position to shape and develop his life meaningfully, acting in accordance with order and sequence, and responding in each case according to the requirements of any situation. The individual's actions are thus set in order, to the satisfaction of his mind; for when the microcosmic conditions with which he may be faced (within the possible pattern of changes) are meditated upon, he intuitively perceives their interrelationships in the macrocosm. Thus the major value of the use of the system, for prediction in everyday life, lies in its ability to shift the questioner's point of view and to lift him out of personality-bound perception. It enables him to look at events from the point of view of ever transforming cycles of change, whilst at all times impressing upon him the need for self-knowledge.

How the system works is not understood, particularly in the West, since it is based on principles alien to the occidental mind. (The Chinese themselves have always held that the many levels of meaning contained within the framework of the system can only be assimilated through prolonged reflection and meditation). It is suggested, however, that in part it simply provides a functional framework for the intuition of the user, particularly when used as a predictive device. The view of the cosmos embodied in the system is in a way comparable to that of the modern physicist whose model of the world is a decidedly psycho-physical structure. The microphysical event includes the observer just as much as the reality underlying this system's structure comprises subjective (namely psychic) conditions in the totality of the momentary situation. Just as the physicist's principle of causality describes the sequence of events, so the principle of synchronicity of the Chinese mind deals with the coincidence of events, the starting point for organizing observation is the unity of the universe, as experienced by the individual at any one moment, namely as an underlying, all-inclusive flux. The principle of synchronicity takes the coincidence of events in space and time as meaning something more than mere chance, namely a peculiar interdependence of objective events amongst themselves as well as with the subjective (psychic) states of the observer(s).