Evidence for this is found in the fact that the four respected scholars named above sometimes vary widely in their interpretation of the same original material. The pictorial characters of Chinese writing have far too many nuances of meaning to ever be fully transposed into English. For that matter, there's no such thing as a 'perfect' translation either, and there probably never will be. Although paraphrases are often extremely valuable while learning to decipher the meanings of the lines of the I Ching, they are not viable substitutes for the original images, and no serious student of the book should rely upon them exclusively.

These are: The James Legge translation - 1899 The Wilhelm/Baynes translation - 1950 The John Blofeld translation - 1965 The Da Liu translation – 1975 In addition to these original translations there are numerous paraphrases in English which restate the Chinese symbolism in modern Western idiom. There are many English interpretations of this world classic, four of which are both well-regarded and generally available. Miyamoto Mushashi - A Book of Five Rings (Samurai sword-master -1584-1645) Unless you are fluent in Chinese, you must depend upon a translation if you wish to study the ancient and venerable I Ching, or Book of Changes.

If you merely read this book you will not reach the Way. If you interpret the meaning loosely you will mistake the Way. Further annotations and commentary are encouraged.ĬHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTORY CONCEPTS This book is a spiritual guide for the man who wishes to learn the Way.Study this book read a word then ponder it. This document is not for publication or sale: it is a personal workbook for students of the oracle to use and share with their peers. The editor offers this, his personal study-guide, freely to those who wish to use and annotate it for their private, not-for-profit edification. Although the original Chinese text has been in the public domain for more than threethousand years, the present manuscript (the fruit of over thirty years of intense study) is currently un-publishable because most of the English translations and paraphrases (included herein solely for purposes of scholarly comparison) remain under copyright. Continuing commentary on The Book of Changes by its millions of students is an ancient and open-ended labor of love. The editor of this study has no idea of how many translations, how many editions, how many commentaries must exist for this single volume - many thousands, certainly, considering its long life. While some obscure Sumerian or Egyptian texts may pre-date it slightly, the I Ching is unique in that it is more available today than at any other time in its history: it has to be the oldest continuously published book on the planet. NOTICE The I Ching or Book of Changes is one of the world's most ancient manuscripts.

The I Ching is not magic it is science that we don’t understand. THE GNOSTIC BOOK OF CHANGES Studies in Crypto-Teleological SolipsismĪ Symbolic Key to the I Ching based upon the Insights of Analytical Psychology and the Western Mystery Tradition

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