I Ching Wisdom ~ The Book of Changes ~ excerpts ~

1. A situation only becomes favorable when one adapts to it.

- Wu Wie’s comment:-
As long as you are angry or upset over an event you will be unable to perceive its beneficial aspects, and you may wear yourself out with unnecessary resistance; the event may have been to your complete advantage from the first moment.
Even happy turns of fortune sometimes come to us in form that seems strange or unlucky.
The event itself is simply an event; the way you respond to the event determines its final outcome in your live.
Once an event has taken place, since you cannot alter the past, all that is left to you is your response.
Why not respond as though the event occurred for your benefit?
You will then immediately experience good feelings about the event, and by acting in accord with your feelings, you will help to bring about that end.
Anyone who understands this concept and acts accordingly will mount through the skies of success as though one the wings of six dragons.
~ Richard Wilhelm translation rendered into English by Cary F. Bayness, Bollingen Series XIX

I Ching Wisdom ~ The Book of Changes ~ excerpts ~

2. To a person of true understanding it makes no difference whether death comes early or late.

- Wu Wie’s comment:-
He cultivates himself and uses his time productively.
His sense of the transitoriness of life does not impel him to uninhibited revelry in order to enjoy life while it lasts, not to yield to the melancholy and sadness, thereby spoiling the time remaining to him.
Secure in the knowledge that all is one, he experiences himself as much a part of the universe as the stars and the trees; as enduring as All That IS.
Knowing that time is only an illusion, he feels no break with time.
Understanding this, you need have no fear of the moment of death, which is only a point of transition, such as walking through a doorway from one room into another and not more remarkable than any other moment.
~ Richard Wilhelm translation rendered into English by Cary F. Bayness, Bollingen Series XIX

I Ching Wisdom ~ The Book of Changes ~ excerpts ~

3. By manifesting a humble attitude, people will naturally want to help you and give you good counsel.

- Wu Wie’s comment:-
It is a part of human nature to love and help the humble and to resent and thwart the arrogant.
People soon give up counseling an egotistical person who thinks he knows everything.
~ Richard Wilhelm translation rendered into English by Cary F. Bayness, Bollingen Series XIX

I Ching Wisdom ~ The Book of Changes ~ excerpts ~

4. Do not hate. Hatred is a form of subjective involvement that binds you to the hated object.

- Wu Wie’s comment:-
Hatred is a product of evil.
To the extent you allow yourself to feel hatred, to that extent you become an instrument of evil.
When you hate someone you draw that person to you.
IS that what you want?
To eliminate the connection, dismiss the person from your thoughts.
To combat evil, respond with goodness.
~ Richard Wilhelm translation rendered into English by Cary F. Bayness, Bollingen Series XIX

I Ching Wisdom ~ The Book of Changes ~ excerpts ~

5. For power to be truly great it must remain inwardly united with the fundamental principles of right and justice.

- Wu Wie’s comment:-
The inferior person, concerned only for his own well being and pleasure, uses his power to further his own selfish ends and to cause hurt and trouble for others.
This is degenerative use of power and bodes ill for everyone, particularly the wielder of the power.
The superior person, concerned with the principles of right and justice, uses his power to aid others and improve the general welfare.
This bodes well for everyone, particularly the wielder of the power.
~ Richard Wilhelm translation rendered into English by Cary F. Bayness, Bollingen Series XIX

I Ching Wisdom ~ The Book of Changes ~ excerpts ~

6. Take not gain or loss to heart. What man holds high comes to nothing.

- Wu Wie’s comment:-
You are not your gain; neither are you your loss.
Fain and loss are external to you, things with which your eternal soul is not concerned.
All gains and losses pass away at the time of death.
Do not waste even a moment on gains and losses when death is plucking your ears saying,
“Live! I am coming.”
~ Richard Wilhelm translation rendered into English by Cary F. Bayness, Bollingen Series XIX

I Ching Wisdom ~ The Book of Changes ~ excerpts ~

7. In general, opposition appears as an obstruction, but the superior person uses it to his advantage.

- Wu Wie’s comment:-
Upon encountering opposition, the inferior person, ignorant of the laws of the universe, bewails his fate, blames others or circumstances, and quits his efforts.
The superior person, knowledgeable in the laws of the universe, uses the opposition to gather strength, improve himself and take more beneficial course of action.
He seeks the cause of the opposition within himself, and through this introspection, the external opposition becomes, for him, an occasion of inner enrichment and education.
Adversity is for your strengthening.
A person of true understanding takes each ounce of adversity and turns it to this advantage.
By adopting this attitude regarding opposition, your strength will grow as a young bear’s, and you will reach your goals as though on the back of Pegasus himself.
~ Richard Wilhelm translation rendered into English by Cary F. Bayness, Bollingen Series XIX

I Ching Wisdom ~ The Book of Changes ~ excerpts ~

8. If you see good, imitate it. If you have faults, rid yourself of them.

- Wu Wie’s comment:-
This ethical attitude is the most important character attribute you can cultivate; it will lead to great good fortune and success.
It is one of the ways the superior person further brightens this already bright virtue.
For the persevering in this effort, even among those considered lucky you will stand out as the chosen one.
~ Richard Wilhelm translation rendered into English by Cary F. Bayness, Bollingen Series XIX

I Ching Wisdom ~ The Book of Changes ~ excerpts ~

9. Passion and reason cannot exist side by side.

- Wu Wie’s comment:-
When anger, lust hatred, or love consumes you, clear, rational thinking is impossible it is only yourself and “look in on yourself” that true detachment is achieved, which then permits rational thinking.
~ Richard Wilhelm translation rendered into English by Cary F. Bayness, Bollingen Series XIX

I Ching Wisdom ~ The Book of Changes ~ excerpts ~

10. The way of the superior person is to be joyous of heart, yet concerned in thought.

- Wu Wie’s comment:-
The superior person is concerned in thought because he knows that all periods of prosperity are followed by times of decline & all people are not as they should be.
He therefore takes thought for the future & exercises caution in his dealings with people.
Nonetheless, no matter how concerned he is in thought, nor how weighty those thoughts my be, his concerns are never enough to dim his inner joy because, above all, he remains aware that he is an indestructible child of a golden universe.
~ Richard Wilhelm translation rendered into English by Cary F. Bayness, Bollingen Series XIX

I Ching Wisdom ~ The Book of Changes ~ excerpts ~

11. In the hands of a great master, all material is productive.

- Wu Wie’s comment:-
He can find a use for everything and everyone.
He wastes nothing; therefore, he always has enough.
He values everyone; therefore, everyone values him.
~ Richard Wilhelm translation rendered into English by Cary F. Bayness, Bollingen Series XIX

I Ching Wisdom ~ The Book of Changes ~ excerpts ~

12. Pleasant manners succeed even with irritable people.

- Wu Wie’s comment:-
If you do not allow the irritability of other to affect your own pleasant conduct, your pleasant conduct then influences them.
~ Richard Wilhelm translation rendered into English by Cary F. Bayness, Bollingen Series XIX

I Ching Wisdom ~ The Book of Changes ~ excerpts ~

13. It is wise and reasonable not to try to obtain anything by force.

- Wu Wie’s comment:-
That which is obtained by force must be held by force.
That constant exertion drains your powers, invites censure of others, and inevitable leads to regret.
It is a law of the universe that what you obtain by force will ultimately bring you misfortune in one form or another, and a superior person will have none of it.
It may appear that something obtained by force is a temporary benefit to the person who obtained it, but in the end, the law will be fulfilled.
~ Richard Wilhelm translation rendered into English by Cary F. Bayness, Bollingen Series XIX

I Ching Wisdom ~ The Book of Changes ~ excerpts ~

14. In times of prosperity it is important to possess enough greatness of spirit to bear with the mistakes of others.

- Wu Wie’s comment:-
Just as water washes everything clean, the superior person pardons mistakes and even forgives intentional transgressions.
In that way he insures the upward spiral of his prosperity.
The inferior person cannot resist that opportunity to chastise another and, in so doing, incurs resentment, destroys unanimity, and crushes enthusiasm, thereby destroying his own chances for success.
~ Richard Wilhelm translation rendered into English by Cary F. Bayness, Bollingen Series XIX

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