Author's Statement
My first I Ching experience was with a Montana high school humanities
class in 1971. Our text was the Wilhelm-Baynes edition and its
imagery fascinated me. During my turbulent teenage years, its words
provided guidance. Friends asked me about the I Ching and it soon
became my constant companion.
I misplaced my first copy, but many years later I found a dusty Wilhelm-Baynes
in a Christian bookstore tucked away in a small, rural town. I felt like I
had met an old friend. Since then and like most seekers, I've accumulated
numerous I Ching versions I use to educate myself.
Self-awareness and harmony are goals we share with most students of this ageless Chinese oracle.
Heaven to Earth, I Ching sprang from the hexagram arrangement found
on pages 730-1 of the Wilhelm-Baynes edition (Princeton University Press). The
two authors attribute the arrangement to Shao Yung (1011-1077). Unfortunately, little
is known about his efforts.
However, his arrangement made sense to me. I updated
it as the Change Cycle and used it to form the Heaven to Earth
interpretation of the I Ching. Rather than presenting the 64 I
Ching hexagrams as pairs of opposites, which is tradition,
the 64 hexagrams are ordered into a sequential, organic, and cyclic
arrangement in the Change Cycle. I introduce new
terms and concepts to describe the impact of the Change Cycle
on the I Ching.
Based on the Change Cycle, I have conducted readings for pleasure, “profit,”
and more importantly, for outreach to people for over twenty years. As a
result, I've collected hundreds of questions and
personalized change cycles. I wove these into Heaven to Earth, I Ching. My private practice also
involved university lecturing, adult education classes, advertised classes
and weekend retreats, and festivals and fair booths.
For those individuals who hold a more classical I Ching perspective,
this material appears to counter antiquity. I suggest it rather complements
and deepens our current I Ching use, so set aside your past practices
and explore new horizons.
For the newcomer, this material empowers you to make effective life
decisions. The struggle to define events with a good question starts
your spiritual, emotional, and mental journey. The Change Cycle responds by
revealing events with actors and actions. We live along a timeline, so
our effort should be to apply I
Ching wisdom back to the question and to your life. This is your
task.
Heaven to Earth,
I Ching guides us to profound understanding rendered meaningless unless
it is applied correctly to the optimal situation. Welcome to Heaven to Earth, I Ching.
James R. (JR) Wilkinson, January 2008
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Dedication
Heaven to Earth, I Ching
is dedicated to those who learn trust by listening to the wisdom of a
seemingly random act. To her, and to all, may you find your path
through these ideas.
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Contact:
James R. (JR) Wilkinson
503.269.4263 - jrw@changecycle.org
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Copyright (c) 2008 James R. Wilkinson.
Hexagram and line text used with R.L. Wing permission.
All Rights Reserved. Printed in the United States of America.
No part of this website, its contents, or any Wilkinson or Heaven to Earth Foundation
publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or
stored in a database or retrieval system, without the expressed, prior
written permission of the author.
