Okay, so I wanted to try something new, and the I Ching caught my eye. I’m not really into spiritual stuff, but I thought, why not? Let’s give this a shot.
I started reading about the Ji Ji hexagram. Apparently, it’s number 63 and means “After Completion” or “Already Across the River.” Sounds deep, right? This hexagram is made up of six lines, which can be solid (yang) or broken (yin). And these lines are stacked in two groups of three, called trigrams. Each trigram represents some force of nature like Heaven, Earth, Water, you get the idea.
I learned that to get this hexagram, you first create the lower trigram, which is fire, called Li. Then you figure out the upper trigram. The whole process seemed pretty involved.
Next, I found this phrase: “J j: hēng, xiǎo l zhēn.” It’s supposed to be some ancient wisdom, but honestly, it just looked like gibberish to me. I moved on, determined to figure out what to do with this hexagram.
I started to read all of the hexagrams and their divinatory texts. The main idea of I Ching is that you can understand the universe better through this system. I wasn’t buying it entirely, but I was curious. I decided to do an experiment. I’d use the I Ching method and compare it to some other random methods to see if it made any sense.
So, I spent hours going through this stuff. I compared the I Ching results with three other control methods. Guess what? Only 4.5% of the control methods showed anything meaningful, which could just be luck. But with the I Ching, about 14% of the tests had some interesting results. Maybe there’s something to it after all?
I decided to dive deeper. I found out there’s an I Ching Diploma Course that takes about 150 hours to complete. I mean, who has that kind of time? But I was already in it, so I started the course. I worked on it whenever I could, fitting it into my schedule.
The course covered a lot. It showed how to use the I Ching for personal reflection, thinking about big life questions, and even for planning stuff. I practiced using it for different things, just to see how it worked.
After weeks of studying and practicing, I finally finished the course. I felt like I had accomplished something big. I wasn’t sure if I believed in all the spiritual stuff, but I had a new tool in my toolbox. I could use the I Ching to think about problems differently and see things from a new perspective.
- Completed the 150-hour I Ching Diploma Course.
- Conducted an experiment comparing the I Ching method with control methods.
- Learned how to form and interpret hexagrams.
- Explored different ways to use the I Ching for personal reflection and planning.
Results:
So, that’s my journey with the Ji Ji hexagram and the I Ching. It was a lot of work, but I’m glad I did it. I learned a lot, and now I have a new way to look at the world. It’s not magic, but it’s definitely something interesting to think about.
