Fascinating essay on the I Ching by Will Buckingham, a philosopher and novelist. Money quote:
"...Sitting with the coins or yarrow stalks in my hand, going through the ritual of asking the I Ching a question, I am not looking for some irrational mystical guidance. Instead, I am looking for a release from the prison of competing certainties, a way of letting loose the simmering doubts and confusions that accompany all thought, so that I can take advantage of their creative richness. In other words, I use the I Ching not as a certainty machine, but as an uncertainty machine. Dissolving false certainties, it integrates the fact of unknowing into the fabric of my thinking, opening me up to hitherto unimagined possibilities, scattering the monotony of my either-or dilemmas into a myriad of forking paths...." Read more: http://www.aeonmagazine.com/altered-states/the-i-ching-is-an-uncertainty-machine http://www.aeonmagazine.com/altered-states/the-i-ching-is-an-uncertainty-machine http://www.aeonmagazine.com/altered-states/the-i-ching-is-an-uncertainty-machine http://www.aeonmagazine.com/altered-states/the-i-ching-is-an-uncertainty-machine
