Behind my Tattoo Kanji
The I Ching (or Book of Changes) goes back over 3,000 years to pre-Confucian times. It has been used as an oracle, as a stimulus to creativity and intuition, and as a focus for meditation ever since. It first came to the West some 100 years ago and has been enjoyed and used by many people.
I used the I Ching regularly from the ages of 17 - 21 years, and many, many times, I could offer no other explanation for the accuracies offered by it. It was almost like having a fortune teller sitting right in my living room, offering me advice. Once, when I was asking the same question two and three times in a row (not being satisfied with the answers I was getting), I came up with a reading that told me, point blank, to stop asking, that only fools continued to ask the same questions again and again. It was so real, this oracle telling me to shut up, that I had to laugh.
The 51 Hexagram (called Chen) of the I Ching has come up again and again in my life and has special meaning to me:
__________ ___________ __________ ___________ _______________________________ __________ ___________ __________ ___________ _______________________________
This hexagram (as are all the hexagrams in the I Ching) is composed of two trigrams, one upper, one lower. They are identical here, both being (also named) Chen (pronounced "Jen"), thunder and movement. It is an exceedingly strong hexagram, very determined. The meaning of Chen is as follows:
The power of thunder is immense as it rolls across the sky with sufficient strength to kill people or animals. There is nothing to compare with its power. The first yang line (the solid line) stands between two yin lines (the broken lines) and has the power to shudder violently. Legends say that all the Chinese emperors came from Chen so that Heaven and earth are moved by their power. Chen's way is worthy and good and nothing can stand in its way. People have to alter and change, and you can learn to respect but not be fearful of a sudden and close clap of thunder.
I have, for all my life (just ask my mother) been afraid and actively opposed to change of any kind in my life. But, as we all know, change is inevitable, and it is either roll with it or be rolled over. I choose to roll with it, and Chen reminds me of that choice. Chen says that if the thunder is shaking the earth, moving it beneath your feet, if only you will keep your knees bent and ride it out, you will remain standing while others around you will fall from shock and fear. I plan to remain standing.
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