Hi. This is my first entry in the WordPress blog. Impressed with the ease, accessibility of the program. I just like that term ‘open source’….. ‘source’ is also the first word in many of the Chinese Yijing hexgram texts. The phrase many of you will know – if you have read my previous site is yuanheng lizhen… ‘Source of the blessings – favour devotion’. I have just re-translated this phrase – yuanheng lizhen 元亨,利貞,…”originating blessings – favour the steadfast opening of the heart”. The important points here are the personal identification of the phrase, and particularly the character zhen with the ‘opening of the heart’ – the Yijing is concerned about YOU, and how you interact with the world/other people. In fact, prefaced to my Tao Booklets translation I had the following poem – I accompany it with a picture, a village scene and study in light, for perusal. Good night..

Read and ponder:

The Book of Change

A BOOK OF WISDOM AND UNDERSTANDING,

One the warp, one the weft of the Universe,

Both revealed in the teaching of this Book.

Through dealing with change, we come

To an understanding of the Spirit.

You need someone with you to take this on,

Both the wisdom and the divination;

To maintain the fabric of the Book of Change.

Pass it back and forth, it will not fall apart.

One giving, one following,

One with the reins, the other being led.

One without t’other leads to twisted,

And confused teachings.

The Task allotted in this Book

Is no more than understanding Yin and Yang,

Light and dark, matter and spirit,

Leader, follower, push-and-pull, both

Shown in the firm and yielding lines.

The various trigrams and hexagrams

Have their proper positioning

Place and Timing in this World.

Thenceforth the role of the Great Individual

Is to promote the Yang, to contain the Yin,

To enable the life-force to permeate the people,

And bring order, peace and clarity to all.

Introductory Blithering